Darcingtowne Wolves: The Flower Moon Games (Book 2)

Chapter Six: Introductions

A smile bloomed wide across Sarah’s face. “Yes! Yes, I would love to be allies with you. Can we be friends too?”

“Sure! Does that mean you’ll help me get my face straight? I’m sure I look awful.” Carrie sighed. “It’s kinda gross to be putting on a show for a bunch of strange Alphas, but…”

“I know what you mean.” another woman said as she sat down in the third chair at the table. “Hi, I’m Yumi. Uhm...is it alright if I join you?”

It was the raven haired beauty from earlier, the one who had lost her glasses. Like Carrie, she was wearing a formal gown - strapless with a high low ombre skirt that showed off her long legs and strappy, bejeweled heels. Now that Carrie was really looking, she could see that this woman had the build of a warrior. She wasn’t overly bulky, but had clearly defined muscles. A build meant for a balanced mix of speed and strength, not unlike that of Carrie’s own Beta.

“Ah…” Sarah glanced briefly at Carrie. Carrie shrugged, seeing no reason to say not. Sarah adjusted her glasses and gave Yumi a friendly smile. “Please, go ahead.”

“Thank you for earlier...Sarah, is it?” Yumi said softly to Sarah. “I’ve never, uhm...lost it like that before. I guess it’s true that no amount of training can prepare you for some things.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Sarah said, giving Yumi a soft, empathetic smile. “And I used to wear glasses, so I know how scary it is when you can’t find them…”

“Even the most experienced warriors can freeze during battle.” Carrie added. “The only way to get better at it is exposure, and honestly...who wants to go through something like this once, let alone more than once?” 

“That’s why we need to band together. I’m not sure what kind of challenges these Alphas are going to throw at us, but I do think we’ll have a better shot of sticking it out if we band together.” Yumi said, her spine straightening as she poke. “I was hoping you wouldn’t just let me join your table, but your alliance as well. I might not be the strongest female here, but I think you two could use someone with a little bit more oomph.”

Carrie looked around, and saw that they weren’t the only ones forming up into little groups. There were a scant few women left sitting or standing alone. Three was a pretty small alliance, but...it was better than two, right? Besides, if the group got too big, infighting would undoubtedly start. And it’s not like she really knew any of these women enough to trust that they wouldn’t betray her if it came right down to it.

“The more allies the better.” Carrie said after a moment. 

“Come here, boy,” one of the haughtier looking Alphas motioned Desmond over. 

Des bit back a fiery retort, feeling the pressure of the Alpha’s aura niggling at him, trying to get him to jump to it. As a rogue, the aura of ranked wolves couldn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to, but they were extremely annoying. It was like a buzzing sound that grew louder the harder they tried to control him with it. Being in a room with half a dozen Alphas, who were all pushing their auras around in a sad attempt to exert dominance and control over each other as well as all the attendant ‘lesser’ wolves, was like being in a hive of pissed off bees.

Still, Desmond did make his way over to the Alpha that motioned to him. He leaned down, and inquired, “Yes, Alpha Jaxon, what can I do for you?”

“I understand that you concierges know the order of upcoming events...” Alpha Jaxon said, his yellow eyes meeting Desmond’s for the barest moment before looking away. He sniffed dismissively, as if unimpressed with Desmond’s performance as a bowing and scraping yes-man so far. Damn. Des thought he’d been doing pretty well so far, seeing as how he hadn’t ripped anyone’s throat out. “I would like to make a gift to the red haired she-wolf, but I’m not sure which challenge is going to be coming up first. Could you make appropriate arrangements on my behalf?”

“Of course, sir. It would be my pleasure. Do you have a budget that you’d like to stay within…?” there was probably a more sensitive way of phrasing that, but Desmond had chosen his words with care. He was hoping it would prick at the Alpha’s pride and…

“No, there is no budget. Just give her whatever you think will help her the most.” the Alpha replied coolly, before offering up a smirk for the benefit of the other Alphas, who now would feel pressured to do the same.

Not all the Alphas were as bold as Jaxon, though. Some of them were more calculated, and would bide their time - wait to see how the she-wolves perform first before they decided who they wanted to back. They hadn’t even finished introducing themselves yet, after all, and no one really wanted to back a losing prospect. Then again, if you backed a she-wolf early, she had a much better chance of lasting through to the end.

But, these games weren’t intended to kill off all the she-wolves, no, that would be a huge waste. The challenges were meant to push the she-wolves to their limits. That might mean that some of them got injured, or unfortunately perished, but that’s why there were more she-wolves in the pool than there were Alphas. The WIC Company calculated past losses versus the number of Alphas participating and provided enough she-wolves to ensure that even if losses were sustained, there would still be at least one she-wolf per eligible Alpha.

It was a very orderly approach to calculating the statistics of life, mating, and death.

Desmond wasn’t the most devout of the goddess’s children, and he hadn’t grown up with a solid pack to provide him with a religious grounding, but even he knew that this approach to finding a mate went against everything that the goddess wanted for them.

“Very well, sir. Would you like to include a note with your gift?” Desmond inquired in as obsequious a tone as he could manage, forcing his lips to turn up at the corners into a pleasant, subservient smile.

“Hmmm.” Alphas Jaxon considered this for a moment, sipping the glass of fine forty year old scotch that Des had fetched for him earlier. “Just say something complimentary and sign it with my name and title.”

The introductions began, and Carrie found herself and her two new allies watching them intently. They hadn’t so much as said it, but Carrie knew that all the gathered women were keenly aware that the information they gave during this information wasn’t just for the benefit of the Alphas. Anything they said to impress these Alphas could just as easily give the other women, their competition, information that they could later use to their advantage.

First up had been the catty overenthusiastic blonde. Her name was Tanya and she was just so excited to be here, oh my goddess!!! Blech. Carrie rolled her eyes, but managed not to make the gagging sounds that she would have done had she not been trying to stay on reasonably good terms with all the women there. It wasn’t worth it to alienate anyone at this point.

Especially not someone who had a pretty solid looking alliance backing them. Tanya had teamed up with a woman named Waverly that had golden eyes and a punk rock vibe, with her hair dyed a vibrant blue and shaved along one side. She was also, easily, the tallest and strongest she-wolf of the group, and looked like she could - and would - snap Carrie like a twig if she so much as looked at her the wrong way. The third member of Tanya’s alliance was a tall, skinny she-wolf who spoke at length, in a snooty nasal accent, about all her accomplishments as the Alpha’s daughter.

Carrie might have been more impressed if they had more to do with things that would actually be of benefit to their current situation, but knew that was a little unfair. After all, being an olympic level equestrian was nothing to sneeze at - especially since most horses had an aversion to werewolves. Still, Carrie felt like there might be more to ...what did she say her name was? Blaire? Yeah, that was it. There had to be more to this Blaire woman than met the eye.

Sarah was called up next, and the shy young she wolf stumbled a bit as she reached the stage. Clearly nervous, she rested her small hand on the microphone, as if holding it gave her some much needed stability.

“H-hello. My name is Sarah Stone. I’m the daughter of Alpha Cedric Stone.” she said softly. Unlike the woman who had just left the stage, Sarah’s voice was a gentle alto with a slight rasp that gave it an almost sultry quality. “I grew up in the Dunes, but I moved to Darcingtowne after my father was killed during an Alpha challenge. I know I don’t look like much...but I’m stronger than I look.”

There was a little snickering from the group of she-wolves, specifically from Waverly, who was shaking her head in disbelief. Carrie understood; Sarah looked like she was about as strong as a damp piece of single-ply toilet paper.

Sarah ignored this, and continued speaking, her voice growing a little raspier, “After all, how else would I have survived on my own in the wake of my father’s defeat if I was a weakling?”

Then, the sweet looking brunette she-wolf did something that Carrie had never seen before, and wasn’t even aware was possible.