Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 4: The Challenge

Just before lunchtime the next day, the entire Tall Pines Pack and all their guests gather at the training grounds for the Alpha Challenge. Kylie is with Nate, Betsy, Adam, and Beth hanging out with Jonah before the fight, keeping him company and showing their support. Both Nate and Adam have already given him inspirational pep talks, which he seemed to greatly appreciate.

Once it seems like their family support group has digressed into a make-out session between Jonah and Beth, Kylie and Adam decide to leave and join Tian where he waits in the crowd. They arrive to find that he is engaged in conversation with Alpha Clayton from the Hidden Moon Pack, and Kylie notices that two other Alphas, Alpha Raymond and Alpha Stephen, have also remained at Tall Pines for the challenge.

“Guess Alpha Gregory and your nephew went home already,” Kylie points out to Adam when she notices that the representatives from the Redwood Pack are not in attendance.

“Guess so. Makes sense that Alphas from packs a longer distance away wouldn’t have wanted to spend extra time so far from their packs, especially when it’s pretty easy to predict how this will go,” Adam responds, and then adds with a chuckle, “You and your brother have that powerful aura in common, it seems.”

Kylie waits until Tian has finished what he was saying before stepping up next to him and giving him a quick side hug. Alpha Clayton acknowledges her and Adam with a nod before turning his attention to Alpha Raymond beside him.

“How fares the future Alpha today?” Tian asks them. He seems to be in especially good spirits, and Kylie wonders if it has anything to do with the conversation he was just having with Alpha Clayton.

“He seemed to be feeling pretty good when we left him,” Adam smirks.

Tian smiles knowingly as if he understands what Adam is alluding to. “Good. That should help him do what he needs to do here today.”

A few moments later, a man Kylie is unfamiliar with steps into the area set aside for the challenge and motions to silence the crowd. He seems to be well-respected among the pack because people quiet down without giving him much trouble.

“That’s their pack trainer,” Adam whispers into her ear. She nods her understanding.

“Today, we gather to witness the dawning of a new era here at Tall Pines,” the man begins his speech. Impressively, he is able to project his voice and does not seem to have need of a microphone.

“Our beloved Alpha Mitchell has finally been reunited with his grandson,” he continues, “who has come here today to challenge him for the honor of becoming our next Alpha. Should he succeed, we will be sorry to see Alpha Mitchell step down, for he has served as a strong, just, and compassionate Alpha for many decades, but we will also celebrate with gladness for it will mean that the strength of our pack has once again been renewed. So, without further ado, it is my honor to welcome Alpha Mitchell,” the man pauses and gestures in the direction from which Alpha Mitchell is making his way toward him, then turns and gestures in the opposite direction, “and his challenger, Jonah Logan.”

Once Alpha Mitchell and Jonah are both standing before the man, he indicates for them to shake hands and take positions on either side of him.

“Now, gentlemen,” the trainer proceeds, “allow me to review the rules before we begin the challenge. First, this is not a challenge to the death. A winner will be declared either when one of you has been knocked out and cannot get back up, or when one of you concedes the fight because you feel that continuing would be life-threatening. In a third case, I may step in and end the fight if I witness an injury that I feel could be life-threatening, but I will only exercise this power in extreme cases.”

“Second,” he continues bellowing, “no weapons are allowed, but you may fight either in human form or in wolf form, or any combination thereof. It is not required that you shift, but should your opponent decide to shift then it is recommended that you do so as well. Third, this is a one-on-one challenge, and no external influence will be permitted. I’m reminding you both of that, but I am also reminding our audience here today that any intervention on behalf of either participant is not permitted and will invalidate the challenge. Are there any questions?”

The trainer waits a moment, looking between Alpha Mitchell and Jonah who both shake their heads, before proceeding.

“In that case, once I have cleared this ring,” he gestures to where a circular marking has been made on the ground, “you may begin. Fight well, gentlemen.”

He begins to step backward out of the circle, and as he does so Jonah and Alpha Mitchell size each other up, both looking eager to begin.

Once the man is safely outside the circle, Alpha Mitchell charges at Jonah, who sidesteps the lunge at the last second. Jonah takes advantage of how this seems to unbalance his grandfather and grabs at his legs, knocking him to the ground. Alpha Mitchell quickly regains his senses and rolls out of the way before Jonah can attack him on the ground. He spins his legs in a way that gives him enough momentum to quickly get up and land a blow on Jonah’s side.

Their bizarre game of cat and mouse goes on for a few minutes more, and Kylie is impressed at how quickly Alpha Mitchell can move. He may be older, but he is holding his own. She isn’t worried, though. Adam already warned her that this is Jonah’s style. He likes to hold back and use his stamina to his advantage, letting his opponent get cocky enough to think it is an even match until the opponent starts to get tired and slow down. He bested Adam the same way.

Eventually, they can see that Alpha Mitchell is getting frustrated. His attacks start coming more slowly, and his reaction time is getting longer. He is also becoming noticeably riled up.

It seems that he did not want to be the first to shift, but he finally comes to a point of not being able to resist it any longer. He lets out a frustrated, growling roar, then quickly shifts into his wolf. Kylie is not surprised to see that his wolf looks similar to Jonah’s wolf, Milo. It has long, silky golden blonde fur and the same blue eyes as the rest of his family.

Jonah holds off shifting into his wolf for a little bit, opting instead to display his agility by baiting his grandfather’s wolf until he is outraged by how Jonah keeps dodging the full force of his attacks. Finally, Jonah gives way to let Milo take over, and a collective intake of breath can be heard when he does.

Kylie knows this is his pack reacting to the power they can feel radiating from him. She wonders how many of them now realize he has been holding back in order to give them a show.

Milo, unlike Jonah, seems eager to display his dominance. He slams into the other wolf with such force that it whimpers and is knocked sideways. The other wolf gets back up, but it is easy to see he is injured.

Milo lunges for the wolf’s back leg, grabbing hold of it with his jaw and ripping the tender connective tissue. The wolf screams in agony and attempts to turn to fight Milo off. Milo ignores the slashing of his claws as if he can’t even feel it and doesn’t let go until he decides he wants to. The other wolf finally manages to roll away to free himself from Milo’s hold, tearing his own flesh even more in the process.

The wolf attempts to lunge for Milo, and Milo lets him try, turning aside slightly to give himself access to the other wolf’s belly. Milo head butts him to knock him sideways a bit, then dives at his belly with his claws and snaps his jaw around the tendons of his front leg this time. The wolf is bleeding profusely by this point, and though Milo is bloody, it is mostly just from a few scrapes here and there. The other wolf hasn’t managed to land any attacks that have done serious damage yet.

Milo backs off the wolf, and Kylie catches the look on his face as he turns astride. If he were a human, she knows he would be grinning with sadistic glee right now. She doesn’t know whether to be proud of his prowess or concerned that he seems to be enjoying this so much. She decides not to concern herself with it. He is, after all, a wolf.

Milo backs up and puts some space between himself and the other wolf, and the wolf seems to be taking advantage of the breather wearily. Milo paces the space, sizing up his opponent, and probably deciding where and how to strike with greatest effect.

Suddenly, he lunges across the space and the other wolf barely has enough time to brace himself to meet the attack. Both wolves go up on their hind legs for a moment, and Milo pushes into his opponent, snapping at his neck and clawing at his body. The other wolf meets his challenge with some strength, but eventually Milo overpowers him and knocks him sideways. The other wolf shrieks when his injured leg twists beneath him, but still does not concede.

The two battle on a little while longer, with Alpha Mitchell’s wolf landing fewer and fewer offensive attacks over time while Milo ravages his opponent until he is so bloodied that his fur appears red instead of blonde.

Eventually, Alpha Mitchell’s wolf fails to get up, and Milo steps back and allows Jonah to take control. The pack trainer runs out to deliver some shorts to Jonah, and some of the pack nurses and doctors come to check over Alpha Mitchell. His wolf seems to be unconscious and has not yet shifted back.

At the sight of her grandfather’s wolf lying motionless on the ground before them, Kylie can’t help feeling a bit worried and unsettled. Jonah was meant to win the challenge, but it’s a bit overwhelming seeing what that looks like in practice.

She feels Tian reach for her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, and then turns to Adam, knowing he probably has experience with a situation like this. She opens her mouth to ask a question, but he puts his arm around her and answers her quietly before she has even said the words.

“Even if he regains consciousness, he is probably too injured to shift back but will be okay in time. The trainer would have stopped them if there was anything too serious going on. I think Alpha Mitchell felt it was important to keep going until he couldn’t anymore to make sure the pack knows Jonah earned his title beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Kylie nods in response and squeezes him back, clutching Tian’s hand to herself as well. She knows all Adam said is true, but it was still hard to watch her grandfather go down so hard, and at her brother’s hand.

Alpha Clayton leans forward to look at her around Tian and smiles.

“That Jonah really is something. Or I guess I should call him Alpha Jonah now; he earned it. I’m proud to call him my ally, and as I said before, we’re all glad he’s on our side,” he chuckles.

“I’m proud to call him my brother,” she grins, finally letting it soak in that the challenge went exactly as it was supposed to, and Jonah really did achieve something great which they should be celebrating.

“I have to admit I’m kicking myself now for not listening to your grandfather when he offered your mother to me and told me she was somebody special. Obviously, she is. Just look at her children.”

Alpha Clayton winks playfully at Kylie to make his point, and she hears a low growl from Adam beside her. The former throws up his hands as if to show he meant nothing by it.

“Abby’s sister Evelyn remains unmated,” Tian points out, “though the girl has had her heart broken enough, so I wouldn’t advise pursuing her unless you intend to take her seriously. Otherwise, you’ll be answering to me,” he threatens nonchalantly.

“Is she now,” Alpha Clayton answers with interest. “My father had arranged a mate for me when I was first to become Alpha, but she seemed to only be interested in the perks of the role without any care at all for its responsibilities. I’ve been unmated for some time now. I should see about tracking Evelyn down before I leave in the morning. Perhaps she would be interested.”

“Perhaps, but keep in mind what I’ve said about breaking her heart,” Tian reiterates his threat to him.

They all tune into what is happening in the challenge area, where it looks like Alpha Mitchell’s wolf is being carried out and Jonah, now dressed and cleaned up a bit, is approaching where the pack trainer waits for him. They confer for a few moments, and then Jonah steps forward to speak to the crowd.

“I stand before you as the man you will call Alpha from this day forward, and it will be my honor to lead this pack as my grandfather has done so well before me. This evening, we will hold a brief ceremony where he will officially transfer the position to me, and I have decided that I would like to follow it with my mating ceremony. As many of you already know, when I first arrived here, I met my true mate, Elizabeth Leighton, which I took as a sure sign that I was meant to be here and to lead this pack. Fate seems to have connected the two events, and I would like to keep it that way. So, tonight, after I officially become your Alpha, I would also like to officially introduce you to your new Luna.”

Jonah continues speaking to his pack, but Kylie has gotten distracted. She turns and looks to Adam again, puzzled.

“Mating ceremony? I’m assuming that’s different from the mating ritual, right?” she asks him quietly.  

Adam puts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her to him so he can place a kiss atop her head.

“It is. When an Alpha finds his mate, who is to become the pack’s Luna, there is also a public ceremony to announce the mating and allow the whole pack to celebrate their joining. If I had met you before I became Alpha or while I still held the title, we would have had a ceremony like that, too.”

“Ah, so it’s like when Marc tried to announce that I was joining the pack,” she responds, but cringes when she sees the sad expression that creeps across Adam’s features, realizing she should have thought better than to remind him of that.

She leans into him and reaches up to stroke his beard, turning his face so she can look him in the eyes.

“You don’t know how sorry I am that it didn’t work out, Adam. I know you love that pack and feel very connected to it. Now I feel like I’m dragging you away from your home, and you don’t deserve that. I wish I could be that perfect mate who just naturally fits into your family and your pack and doesn’t cause all kinds of problems and disrupt your whole life like I have.”

He looks startled at her declaration and quickly changes his stance so he can lean down and take both of her hands in his, looking her directly in the eyes with an intensity that takes her breath away.

“Hey, listen to me, Kylie. Yes, things didn’t work out the way we planned, but I do not regret for a minute that you are my mate and that you are someone so special that the normal way of doing things just doesn’t fit you.”

The crowd starts dissipating around them, so Jonah must have finished what he was saying, yet Adam continues like they are the only two people in the world right now.

“It was a shock to have to let go of that dream, sure, but I am so glad to be able to be with you on this journey, wherever it might take us. It’s terrifying because nothing you do is easy or safe, and it’s scary because so much is uncertain right now, but I do know one thing and that is that as long as we do this together, it will all work out in the end.”

She senses Tian moving away from them, and assumes he is leaving along with everyone else, but she pays it little mind. Her mate is riveting, and she continues listening to what he is telling her with tears in her eyes threatening to break free.

He continues, “Wherever we end up, I’ll be happy because I’ll be there with you. Eventually, we’ll have a new home and a new pack, and we’ll raise a family together. I’m nervous to be heading right back into the life I thought I left behind, the life of leading a pack, but you know what? It’s kind of exciting because it will be your pack, and I’ll get to play the support role this time.”

Once he says that, she fights the urge to laugh and can’t help blurting out, “What do you even call it when a man is the Luna?”

He laughs in response to her question, which makes them both laugh, and that is what they are still doing when Tian approaches them again.

“You two seem to be having a good time all by yourselves out here,” he comments, an eyebrow raised in amusement.

“Tian, what is a male Luna called?” she asks him, still giggling.

Tian smiles, now understanding the train of thought that they find so humorous. “There isn’t much precedent for it, but in my experience, the female Alpha’s mates were also called Alpha.”

“So, you were once Alpha of a werewolf pack?” Kylie persists with her questioning.

“Technically, yes, though to me I was the Alpha’s mate. Pack members did address me as Alpha, though. Dorian as well. It was certainly an experience.”

“Did you find that the pack had some difficulty accepting a vampire and a warlock as their leadership?” Adam wonders, thinking of what he has witnessed while at Tall Pines.

Many werewolves seem to find Tian’s involvement aversive. It’s a different way of thinking than what he is used to, growing up and living his whole life in a neutral territory.

“Of course, especially during that time,” Tian answers him. “It wasn’t as common then to come across a vampire who did not live by the nature he is born to. The reputation of vampires in supernatural lore as ‘monsters’ has not come from nothing. I was rather unique then because of how I live. In fact, you could say that the number of vampires you find today who have learned to temper their bloodlust and desire for power and dominance over ‘inferior’ species is largely my doing.”

“How so?” Kylie asks, finding herself intrigued once again about her friend’s history.

“I discovered long ago that it is a much more rewarding existence to learn to blend in with the other beings with whom my kind shares this world. That means learning to feed humanely and following a philosophy of avoiding harm to others whenever possible. I have shared this philosophy with all my progeny, and they have passed it on to their own. Considering that I have lived longer than most vampires, at a certain point the balance noticeably tipped in our favor and rather than remaining the minority among vampires, it has actually become more common to find ‘good’ vampires today than those who have been left to their base nature.”

“Fascinating. And I am assuming you do not mean that you have biological children?” Adam questions, now curious if Tian has any offspring roaming around the world.

“I do not. Not that it wouldn’t have been possible, but I have never had a relationship that could have resulted in offspring. No, when I speak of my progeny, I am referring to those individuals I have turned. Early on, I was like any other vampire and fed without concern for what became of my meals, but eventually I developed a conscience. I made a point of tracking them all down, those who still lived anyway, and taking them under my wing. I created them; they were my responsibility. After that point, I would only turn those who desired it, and even then, I was picky about it. I have also used this ability to create vampires in situations where someone was so severely injured or ill that they would not have survived, and only in cases where it felt right. There is a balance to life and death, and it is not my responsibility to decide who lives and dies, but sometimes, a person just seems too special to let pass.”

He pauses for a moment, considering, before he adds, “In sum, I have just shy of twenty progenies who still live, if you were wondering.”

“I know I was, so thank you for that. And thank you for sharing,” Kylie tells him with genuine gratefulness. “I never really thought about how many different phases there must have been to your life. That’s a whole other aspect of you I knew nothing about.”

“I just hope that it doesn’t change your opinion of me. Either of you,” Tian admits, and Kylie senses a vulnerability from him she hasn’t felt before. It strikes her that he fears their rejection, which is a sign of how much they mean to him.

“Of course not,” she reassures him, reaching out to embrace him. “I actually find it incredible that you were able to fight your nature on your own, without anyone telling you that you could or should. That, to me, is a testament of what a good person you are deep down. You couldn’t stand living a life that no one would have blamed you for because it was what was then expected of your kind. And in doing so, you changed the world. I feel honored to be your friend.”

“And I agree with Kylie. You’ve always been good to us, Tian, and that’s all that matters,” Adam adds, touching his shoulder reassuringly. “But thank you for sharing your personal story. I’m sure that’s not something you enjoy talking about so openly.”

“It is not,” Tian confirms, and purses his lips together as if contemplating something. “I do appreciate your seemingly unconditional support and understanding, but I would prefer not to speak more of this. Plus, I believe your grandmother is serving quite a luncheon inside the packhouse, Kylie, and I’m assuming that is of particular interest to you, if your appetite lately is any indicator.”

She notices a slight smirk forming at the edge of his lips and senses that he is quite amused with himself for that remark.

Scoffing and rolling her eyes, she turns and begins walking briskly in the direction of the packhouse. Her grandmother’s luncheon does interest her quite a bit.

“I’m going to ignore the part where you’re teasing a pregnant she-wolf about her appetite and simply thank you for the update,” she replies to him.

Kylie can hear them laughing together behind her and smiles at the realization of how close and comfortable they have all become with one another. She leads them to the dining hall, the two men following a few paces behind her the whole way, chatting with each other.

Spotting her brother at the head table along with their grandmother and Beth, she heads straight toward him not even caring if there is some rule against it. He sees her approaching and stands to meet her, not even flinching when she throws herself at him to hug him tightly.

“Guess you’re not hurting too much then,” she whispers to him.

“Oh, I’m hurting, but it’s not like I’m going to let anyone see that,” he whispers back.

“I’m proud of you, little brother. Alpha Jonah.” She pulls away to look him in the face and he grins.

“Thanks, Ky. Not too much longer and we’ll be having this conversation again when you whoop some Alpha ass of your own.”

Smirking, she takes the opportunity to give him one last hug. “Well, for now I’m going to focus on annihilating that buffet over there,” she points to where a long table full of food has been set out. “But congratulations again, and I’m looking forward to all the festivities this evening.”

He grins in response before returning to his seat next to Beth.

Kylie heads to the buffet and begins stacking food on a plate, suddenly struck by the energy she feels all around her. The whole pack is abuzz with the excitement of welcoming a new Alpha and Luna, and she can feel how much they value and respect Jonah. She begins to wonder if this might be what can be expected when she becomes Alpha of her own pack, and for the first time feels more than dread and anxiety regarding the future.

Reflecting on how Tian was able to change the world by just being himself and showing people like him that there was a better way to live, she realizes that by contrast, all she needs to do is convince one werewolf pack to change its ways. She even feels more at peace about what she needs to do about her father and finds herself embracing the challenges before her with cautious optimism.

When a man clears his throat behind her, Kylie realizes she has been daydreaming and snaps her attention back to the task of piling food on her plate. Then she joins Adam and Tian at their table, eager to share her epiphany with them.