Experience Tumblr Like Never Before
So, the other day “[Not] ASMR | Pack Fight Night” appeared in my head as a concept and… this got long. I never thought I’d write a one-shot longer than “Fringes” ever again but here we are. This one literally took me several days It also switches POVs a lot so whose POV is it is at the top of their section, as usual. 7.6k words PS, I had to make up a couple wolves to fill out the roster. We had a bunch of their names but not enough and I needed more for the bracket.
CW: fantasy violence, mentions of blood, some Quinn memories
—
Darlin’
“So… let me get this straight. You’re having a bracketed tournament in the woods with your pack. Where y’all do one-on-one fights until someone is the champion,” Sam said.
“Yep.” I nodded, stretching my shoulders.
“Do all shifter packs do that?”
“How would I know?”
Sam made a noise of mild frustration, but didn’t give me attitude about my attitude. “Who all fights?”
“Whoever feels like they’re up for it,” I replied. “Usually the younger members. If they’re under eighteen they can’t fight without their parents’ explicit permission given to David, and there’s actually a separate bracket for those who are under eighteen. A little league sparring match, as it were. But everyone eighteen and older is the main event.”
“Who’s the reigning champ?”
“David. But that’s a given. The competition is for second place every year. We all know David’s gonna get first.”
“Alright. Who’s last year’s runner up?”
“Ash. I wasn’t here for it. The year before, Ash barely beat me out for second and I’m still bitter about it. So this year, I’m gonna try to beat him. But I might not even need to fight him. He might be on David’s side of the bracket so David can take him out.”
“Who makes the bracket?”
“An online generator. We just put in everyone’s names and it makes the line-up. Keeps it fair that way.”
“Anythin’ else I need to know?”
“Uh… sit with David, Ash, and Milo’s mates? If you want? Don’t be surprised when we’re brutal with each other? We play rough and always have. We’re shifters—it’s part of the deal. I don’t know. If I think of anything else you need to know, I’ll tell you.”
“Alright.” Sam shook his head.
We ducked into his car.
—
Angel
“This is gonna be fun,” I said, pulling my large plastic bag of popcorn out of the car with me. David climbed out of his side of the car and threw his jacket down on the driver’s seat, leaving him in just his jeans and tank top. Which I was absolutely shamelessly staring at. All chiseled muscles and skin gleaming softly in the moonlight.
“I agree.”
“Are you actually going to have fun?” I asked. “Or is this some sense of duty thing for you? Like, proving you’re strong enough to be the alpha?”
David leveled his vibrant green glare at me. “Tonight is a friendly competition, angel,” he said. “This has nothing to do with proving myself worthy.”
“Good. So that means it’s fun, right? You’re, like, capable of having fun?” I teased.
He swung an arm as though to try and catch me around the waist but I dodged away and started running up the trail. As always, we were the earliest to arrive so we had the hiking trail to ourselves.
I heard David’s boots crunching up the earth behind me. He was significantly taller and faster than I was, so I didn’t actually expect to get far.
I got maybe a dozen yards before he caught me around the waist and held me there—but he was smiling and laughing. “You are such a little snot, you know that?”
I laughed and squirmed, trying to wriggle free. “Yep!”
“You’re lucky that I love you.”
“Or what?”
“Or I wouldn’t put up with your teasing,” he growled. I kept laughing.
“Lemme gooo, Davey!” I protested.
“Why should I?”
“Because we still gotta set up for the tournament.”
“But you haven’t paid your Little Snot Tax,” he said.
“Which is what, exactly?”
“Give me a kiss, you menace.”
“You shoulda led with that,” I remarked, twisting around in his hold to do as he requested. I managed to keep the bag of popcorn almost as tall as I was out of the way to avoid it getting crushed as Davey’s arms held me tighter. Even in just a tank top and jeans, he was warm, pressed against me. He hummed quietly against my lips, acknowledging my words.
When he pulled away, his exasperated grin was fond, too. “C’mon. Let’s go set up.”
He held my hand and helped me up the trail. I didn’t need help, per se, but I liked letting him pull me. Made it easier on me.
When we got to the clearing, I set the bag of popcorn on the ground and slung my backpack off, pulling out the small red-and-white paper bags to distribute the popcorn out for the rest of the pack. Everyone else was in charge of bringing their own drinks and/or chairs, but we’d brought popcorn and a foldable table. As I started dishing popcorn into the white paper bags, David went back down the trail to go grab the table in the back of the car and our camp chairs.
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