“We are ready for the next phase,” Finlay said.
“You now have twenty minutes to reach the top,” the commentator said. We jogged up to the rock formation and Finlay started to move up the first holds. He looked around to see if I was with him. I had no issues with the first holds. They were comfortable and even if the rock face was steep, they provided enough grip to let us climb them. One by one we climbed up. The path the holds took wasn’t straight up, but instead it sneaked around the formation. It meant we could only see a few feet of the holds in front of us and the ones above us. We moved at a slow but steady pace. I made sure to keep an eye on both Finlay and Jake. The higher we climbed, the narrower the holds became. I was happy we had chosen to go barefoot as I needed my toes to get the hold my feet needed.
‘It looks like we are approaching an out croup which will force us to use arm strength alone,’ Finlay told us. I leaned out as much as I dared to get a look around him. A piece of the rock formed a ledge and the holds were carved on the underside of it.
‘Get as close to it as you can and then stop. We will take two minutes to shake loose our arms,’ Sam said. We stopped and did our best to restore a decent blood flow and shake the muscles back to life.
‘Here we go, try and keep moving forward once you start. Use your body’s momentum to move forward,’ Finlay told us as he started moving under the ledge. I followed and could feel the hard stone dig into my fingers as my body weight was put on them. I moved steadily forward, Finlay was almost at the end of the ledge. I was focused on him. If he made it, I was almost there as well and I could give my fingers and arms a well-deserved break.
“Fuck!” I heard Jake’s call a heartbeat before I felt the rope around my waist pull tight. It knocked the wind out of me, but I didn’t let go of the holds. My fingers weren’t just holding up my weight, they were now holding parts of Jake’s as well.
‘Red, how are you holding up?’ Finlay mindlinked as he looked back at me.
‘Fine. I think I can hold on. But I don’t think I can pull him up,’ I said.
‘Ramses, Amie, stay put and hold on. Alpha, let’s make our way as close as we can. If they act as anchors, we can pull him up,’ Sam said. I focused on breathing and not thinking about the pain in my fingers. Finlay came back and was next to me.
‘Ready?’ Finlay asked.
‘Ready,’ Sam agreed. Finlay used one arm to reach across to where the rope was holding up Jake, swinging below us. When Finlay and Sam pulled on the rope, I felt relief as the weight was no longer on me. It was hard for them to pull him up using only one arm each, but it didn’t take long before Jake reached up and took a grip on the holds.
‘Got it?’ Finlay asked.
‘Yes, Alpha. Thank you, and sorry about the trouble,’ Jake replied.
‘Don’t think about it. Let’s finish this,’ Finlay said and started moving across again. My arms objected as I started moving. It was hard going from a standstill to swing forward. When we all had come past the outcrop, we took a moment to breathe again.
‘It won’t get easier, let’s get it over with,’ Finlay told us and we moved again. The climb became steeper, the holds smaller. As the top came into view, we could see how small it was. It would be a stretch for us all to fit. The holds were barely enough for me to be able to put my weight on. All parts of my body objected as we pushed forward. ‘I’m up,’ Finlay declared, and I felt him pull on the rope to help me with the last part. When I got up on the small flat surface, we took a hold of the rope connecting me to Jake and helped him up as well. We manoeuvred so Finlay could help Jake to pull Ramses up and finally Sam joined us. We had to hook arms around each other for all to stay in place and not fall off the edge.
“Blue Mountain pack, you have finished the game with four minutes to spare. One moment and we will get you down. Congratulations on finishing the first game.” There were howls coming from our pack members who had been watching us. Two officials brought over a ladder which we all climbed down.
‘Well done, everyone. Let’s join the others and watch the rest of the game and then we go back to the cabin and talk it through,’ Finlay mindlinked us. We all walked over to where the rest of our team sat on the benches.
“You were brilliant. Well done!” Matilda said as she handed out bottles and sandwiches to us.
“Thank you,” I said as I was grateful to sit down. My arms were burning and my fingers and toes were chaffed. They would heal before the end of the day, but for now, they were painful.
‘Are you okay?’ Finlay asked in a mindlink.
‘I’m fine. A little bruised, but nothing that won’t get better before the day is over. Especially when I get Matilda’s food. How about you? It was very impressive to see you and Sam pull Jake up like that,’ I told him. He gave me a smirk.
‘How impressive? Impressive enough to earn me a reward?’ he asked. I smiled and shook my head.
‘We will see,’ I said.
‘Eat,’ he told me and nudged me with his elbow.
‘You eat,’ I said, giving him a nudge back. We both smiled as we started in on our sandwiches. We watched as another pack started up the rocks. They had also chosen to tie themselves together with the rope. About halfway up the rock, the last one in their group lost his grip and fell. The second to last got the entire weight on him. There seemed to be confusion in the group about what to do and, in a panic, the second to last member used his claw to sever the rope. The member who was dangling from the rope gave a shout as he started free falling. I gasped. He hit the ground with an audible thud. Everyone watched the body on the ground. There was a moan, and he rolled over on his back. We all drew a sigh of relief. At least he was alive. The group, still on the rock, continued climbing and eventually reached the top.
‘What the fuck was that?’ Sam asked in a mind link.
‘Pathetic,’ Finlay said.
‘It’s not the first one. We have seen three packs that have lost team members on the way up,’ Hugo, one of our support staff, said.
‘Three?’ I asked in disbelief.
‘Some didn’t even use the rope,’ Matilda scoffed. It was clear what she thought of those packs.
‘But teamwork was one part they were scoring,’ Jake pointed out.
‘Some packs have too much confidence in their own capabilities. I bet my tail on that they all expected their pack members to make it to the top without issue,’ Finlay remarked.
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