by Tamara White
It gives me hope for our future. Let’s just hope we make it through dinner and the trials without too much bloodshed.
Chapter 24
This is it. Today’s the day my mates will fight for their lives in a trial to prove they are worthy of being my mates.
Last night at dinner, Luke announced the order in which they would compete, explaining to the rest of the room that they would be facing six enforcers each, instead of the traditional four.
The order that they will compete is Stephen, Trey, Mitchell, Jonnie, Jason, Pete, Nate and lastly, Cam.
“How do they win? Is it just a whoever stays conscious type of thing?” I ask Tim, Dad and Laura, all of who are sitting beside me.
There were chairs set up around the training area when we got down here so we could watch what would happen. There aren’t enough chairs for everyone so only the more important members of the pack are allowed them. The rest are forced to stand or sit on the ground, which honestly would probably be a lot comfier than these thin plastic chairs.
“Yes and no. When we competed, it was based on who could protect our Queen better, against multiple attackers. For you, the Elders have devised a point system for your mates. They each have three minutes to defeat their attackers. At the end of the match, the Elders write the mates name on a card and their score out of ten, then at the end of the fights they tally them up. They’ve told us the four who have the highest scores, will make it through to the next trial with you,” Tim explains, watching the pack members.
James walks through the crowd taking a seat at my side. “Hi, Dani. How you doing? Nervous?”
“Nah, I know they’ll do well,” I tell him being as casual as I can while inside I’m screaming. My boys are fighting to get into the top four as my mates. There are six I want. How can I be with only four?
“What happens to the ones who don’t make it through to the next trial?” I ask.
“Well it all depends on you. They can still hang around if that’s what you’re worried about but you won’t be allowed to be intimate with them. No kissing, hugging or touching. You can only be their friend once they’re no longer in the running for the trials,” Laura says sadly.
I kind of figured I wouldn’t be able to but that doesn’t make things any easier. The Elders all stand from their seats at the front of the training arena, ready to begin today’s trial. Sonja steps forward to greet everyone.
“Welcome to the second Alpha Pair trial. Today our future Alpha Queen has presented her eight mates to compete. They must prove that when the time comes, they can defend her from any threat, such as the rogues we have constantly attacking our packs.
The four competitors with the highest point at the end will be deemed worthy of the Alpha King position and will move on to complete the next trial with the Alpha Queen.
Now without further ado, I give you our current Alpha King and Queen,” she finishes bowing deeply, stepping to the side as Luke and Carrie step forward.
“Hello everyone. My mate and I are here for two reasons today. Firstly, to watch the trials in which our son is proudly competing in,” Luke says gesturing over at Cam who smiles tightly not enjoying the spotlight. Or it could be that his father is blatantly being kind when he’s anything but.
“And secondly, we would like to announce to the packs that my mate and I are expecting a child. It’s very early days yet but we want you all to be a part of this wondrous journey. Now, let the trials begin,” he shouts making the surrounding people cheer with joy.
Just great. He’s turned our trials into a publicity stunt. Getting sympathy with his pregnant mate is low, even for him.
I watch as Stephen steps forward onto the field. It’s going to take twenty-four minutes for all of them to fight but it’s going to feel like hours watching those I care about, compete for their lives.
The fight with Stephen is over pretty quickly. He’s out cold after barely a minute. I try my best not to smile when he’s knocked out.
Trey steps up and lasts slightly longer but gets surrounded and taken down. Rookie mistake. You don’t let attackers box you in like that. Then you have nowhere to run to and get your ass kicked. I can’t help the smile that breaks free when he’s knocked out though at least I hold back the laugh.
Mitchell steps forward and I scoot forward on the edge of my seat, watching with bated breath. He’s fighting six people. Six enforcers that train to defend their pack every day. What makes things worse is that they’re all part of Luke’s enforcers. They’re just as ruthless as the ones I killed in the woods.
He fights fast and quick, lasting the full three minutes and knocking two of them out cold. At the end of it, he’s still standing, but barely. He goes back to the others and drops to the ground, panting heavily. Jonnie steps forward as two other enforcers pull the unconscious ones off the field and replace them.
Jonnie’s fight goes much the same way. He knocks out one and sends another to the ground, ready to finish him off when the buzzer sounds. That doesn’t stop one of them from landing a punch to the side of his head. Blood goes spraying and I’m up out of my chair before I even realize it.
The enforcer is on the ground with me growling over him.
“Stop! The fight is disqualified due to interference,” Luke calls.
“How dare you? The fight was over and this brute threw another punch! How is it interference?” I demand.
I help Jonnie up to see if he’s okay. There’s blood running from his nose which means it’s probably broken.
“Are you ready? This is going to hurt,” I tell him gently touching his nose.
He nods, grimacing when more blood sprays down his front and onto his bare chest. I brace my hand on his shoulder and let him hold my waist for support. There’s a clear crack when I set his nose.
Luke grabs me by the arms, swinging me around, getting up in my face. “You may think because you are next in line to be our Alpha Queen, that it gives you special treatment but not in my pack. Now get off the field!”
My wolf is pissed! She pushes her will and we watch in satisfaction as he backs off.
“You listen to me. I understand you are my King and I respect that. What I don’t understand is why you are bending the rules for your own people? If that was you and your mate stepped in, would you react the same? Would you be willing to let a disqualification happen because your mate cared for you?”
With each word I speak, he pales considerably. Not because of my words but because mine were loud enough for the whole pack to hear. There are whispers among the pack and among them is ‘why is he disqualifying him?’ I guess the people really don’t like favoritism.
“Fine,” he grumbles leaving me with Jonnie.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
“Yes, thank you for defending me. It was very sweet,” he says giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, then running back over to the others.
Walking back over to my seat, I hear more whispers among the pack. Things ranging from, ‘that’s so sweet,’ to ‘did you feel her wolf?’ It was both embarrassing and exciting. They’re already starting to feel my power.
I sit back down and the next three fights go better than I expect. Pete, Jason and Nate only manage to knock out two but at least they last the whole three minutes. It’s a lot harder than I thought to watch them but at least they haven’t been hurt like Jonnie. I don’t know whether the enforcers were scared of them or me but either way, no one made a shot that wasn’t justified.
It’s Cam’s turn now. My heart races watching him step out onto the field. The others each had the choice of wearing a shirt or not but Jonnie was the only on who chose to go shirtless until Cam.
He’s wearing a dark blue button up shirt and jeans. I expected him to fight fully clothed rather than reveal his scars to the pack, or his tattoo. Not many people know about it from what he’s told me.
Cam turns to face me, staring me down with a heated look in his eyes as he slowly unbuttons his shirt. It sends shivers
through me, the look of lust and determination in his gaze.
He rips the shirt off, throwing it to the side, baring his scars for the pack to see. Murmurs spread through them and I can tell they’re trying to figure out how he got such horrible scars.
Two of the enforcers are at Luke’s side and he’s whispering in their ears. From where they are, I doubt anyone can hear what he’s saying which frightens me. They nod and move onto the field facing Cam waiting for the signal it can start.
The fight begins easily enough and Cam knocks two of them out within the first minute. The other four try to circle him but he’s quick, knocking one down with a kick to the throat.
Three left, and just over a minute to go.
One of the ones that was talking to Luke, dives at Cam and I see the shine of silver in his hand.
“Dad? Is that a knife in his hand?” I ask, pointing to the shine just as he stabs Cam.
“Yeah it is. I’m sorry sweetie but you can’t interfere until the time’s up. If you do, if will disqualify him,” he responds standing to watch.
“What? I have to watch him bleed out after being stabbed and possibly get stabbed again?”
“Unfortunately, it’s part of the trials. We aren’t supposed to have weapons but even if we do, if we stop the trial, he’ll still be disqualified.”
Crap, crap and double crap. How the hell can I watch him be butchered by his father’s minions and not do anything? It looks like the boys feel just the same because Jason and Nate are being held back by Jonnie, Pete, Mitchell and Tim.
Cam knocks the fourth one out and is left with two knife wielding enforcers. The bigger enforcer, a guy easily 6’6 lunges, stabbing Cam along his rib making him wince and roll away before landing on his feet again. I’m counting down the seconds on the clock, waiting for the moment I can interfere. I won’t let him die.
Twenty-three seconds to go.
The other enforcer is limping slightly from damage Cam has inflicted to his knee yet they still try to gang up on him.
Fourteen seconds to go.
The first swings at Cam but he dodges. Silver must be addling his system though because he stumbles giving them the chance to jump on him, stabbing him over and over. I leap to my feet. I need to help him but Dad’s holding me back.
“Dani, you can’t. You have to wait,” he begs.
“Dad, they’re killing him,” I cry, watching as he’s stabbed in what feels like slow motion. They’ve already stabbed him eighteen times!
The timer goes off and Dad releases me. I run across the field shifting in mid-air. I grab the first enforcer off Cam but he fights back. I lunge and rip out his throat, throwing him to the side.
The remaining enforcer backs off, Jason and Nate are there pulling him away from me as I shift back.
“Cam, oh god, you have to shift and heal,” I beg moving my hand over his wounds trying to stop the blood but there’s too much.
“Dani, he can’t shift. It’s the only rule of the trial, you know that,” James says sidling up beside me. Pete joins me on my other side, placing a coat over my shoulders, trying to help me stow the flood of Cam’s wounds.
“You are not allowed to die!” I scream, shaking Cam by the chest.
“Jeez, Dani he’s dying and you shake him?” Pete’s trying to joke but it’s not funny.
“Dani, think. You healed Jake, you can heal Cam,” James whispers at my side.
Yes! I can heal him! I focus on healing Cam the same way I did Jake but it’s not working.
“It’s not working! Why isn’t it working?!” I scream in frustration.
“You have to relax. If your panicked, it’s not going to work,” James says calmly.
“How am I supposed to relax?! The man I love, is dying! All because his father is a sadistic son of a bitch!”
Luke chooses that moment to interrupt us. “I demand you move at once! I wish to be with my son in his final moments.”
Hearing his words, something inside of me snaps. My wolf and I are at one, we know what this bastard deserves.
I rise up, feeling our power flowing through us. I face him and the look on my face sends him stumbling back.
“You will stop! You hold no power over me and if you are not careful, I will rip your throat out the same way I did to your scum of an enforcer,” I utter softly.
“How dare you speak to me that way? Threatening the King? You deserve to be put to death,” he says trying to drum up support from the packs.
“No, you deserve death! You tortured your own son, left scar after scar littered across his back all because you wanted a toy to play with. Now, you want to make demands on me when I try to save him?! Tell me something ‘Your Majesty.’ Did you give your enforcers the knives to kill Cam?” I ask, my wolf pushing force into my words.
“Yes, he was in my way,” he says simply before paling realising what he said.
“Detain him, until I heal Cam,” I tell James and Tim, knowing between the two of them, they will overpower him.
Dropping back to my knees, I feel Cam’s heart slowing and start to panic thinking I’ve wasted too much time. I focus on my feelings for him to calm myself.
Closing my eyes, my wolf and I travel into his body, giving him our strength, our power and our heart.
Once I give him everything, I slump down and open my eyes, glad to see his wounds are gone but there are fresh scars marking each wound. His father will pay for this.
Chapter 25
“Can you hear me?” I ask Cam, shaking his shoulder gently. It’s been ten minutes since I healed him and he still hasn’t regained consciousness.
“Maybe he’s sleeping? Let me slap him on the face. I’ve seen that work,” Pete says hovering above us.
“If you slap me, then I will slap you back,” Cam says slowly sitting up. He groans clutching his chest where the biggest fresh scar is.
“Are you okay? Does it still hurt?” I ask, helping him stand.
“No, it’s all good, just stiff. Probably from you forcing me to heal so quickly,” he says offering me a small smile.
“So, you’re definitely not in pain?” He shakes his head in response. “Good,” I say, shoving him hard in the chest.
“Now what the hell were you thinking?! Why didn’t you shift?” I demand. He could have shifted but he didn’t and I demand to know why.
“Dani, calm down. I’m okay,” he says trying to placate me.
“No, answer me! Why would you do that? I was watching you bleed out from silver wounds and you didn’t shift! I love you and you were willing to die because of some stupid rule!” I screech. He watches me while I pant trying to catch my breath to start yelling again.
He pulls me close, kissing me and I don’t get the chance to start screaming again. I sigh into his kiss before I push him back remembering I’m pissed.
“You can’t just kiss me and make it go away,” I tell him sulking as I turn my back on him.
“You love me,” he says softly wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“No I don’t. You heard wrong,” I say defiantly.
“Dani, I’m pretty sure you said-“
“Pete, if you finish that sentence, I will make sure you can’t walk,” I threaten.
“I’m sorry Dani. But you can’t hate me for long, you love me,” Cam whispers in my ear playfully.
I push away from his arms and walk toward his dad, I need to deal with this because I’m not ready to face my feelings for Cam or the others yet. Isn’t it too soon to love someone? It’s only been a week but it feels like a lifetime.
“You coming? It’s time to deal with dear old Dad,” I call behind me.
There’s something satisfying seeing Luke being held down by Tim and James. It’s like being a kid in a candy shop. Dad looks to be enjoying this too.
“Luke Bairn, Alpha King to our Alpha Pair, did you or did you not, instruct your enforcers to kill my mate, your son, Cameron Bairn?” I ask when I’m within distance.
Son
ja steps in front of him, ready to defend him. “How dare you treat our King this way?!”
“And how dare you stand by while my mate is being killed. It’s clearly a violation of the trials but you let it happen. I want the truth. If he didn’t give them the order, then he’s free to get up and I will accept any punishment he deems worthy. But if I’m right, I want his authority stripped,” I demand letting my wolf step forward to the front of my mind.
“Fine,” she waves me ahead to ask my questions. It looks like she wants nothing more than to stop me but she can’t exactly do that since the whole pack is watching us. Not to mention the members from visiting packs.
“Oh, before we start. James? Did you want to tell everyone here what’s so special about me first? You know the thing you said earlier,” I say, prompting him back to our conversation about my powers. It will click in a moment.
Mitchell, Jonnie, Jason, Pete and Nate all fan out behind Luke, just in case he attempts to run. They all know what I’m talking about.
Cam stays by my side, staring down at his father in disgust.
“Well as I explained earlier, you are the most powerful of your line. What that means is, it will give you abilities no other wolf has. The ability to heal others, your wolf will be more dominant so you can force your will, making a wolf tell the truth, and you will be able to scent lies,” he says listing off each of my new powers. What the others have figured out is, I know how to use my will to force him to tell the truth. I may not be able to scent the lies yet, but I can force him to tell me the truth.
Cam grips onto my hand, not sure if he needs comfort or he’s trying to comfort me.
“Now again Luke, same question. Did you give the enforcers who fought with Cam, knives made of pure silver?” I ask pushing my will into my voice.
He’s visibly sweating and I enjoy seeing him struggle.
“Yes,” he spits out, looking up at me defiance in his eyes.