Fighting

ALLIE

I should have expected that at some point Karen would try to get in my face. She knows James and I are officially mates now, but that isn’t enough to make her abandon her feud with me.

A confrontation was inevitable. I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

“Karen, I don’t think this is appropriate in the luna’s first training session. Perhaps we—”

“No, it’s fine, Lucy. I’m quite happy to train with Karen,” I interrupt.

“Of course, Allie, but Karen has been training for years. She’s one of our more skilled warriors. I’m not sure she’s someone you want to fight on your first day of training.”

“It won’t be a problem, Lucy. I’m sure I can learn a lot from Karen.”

I beckon Karen forward, eager to see how this pampered princess copes with a real fight.

This isn’t going to be a practice bout. From the savage look on Karen’s face, she’s aiming to injure.

If she wants to fight, I’m happy to oblige. The best way to stop Karen is to teach her a lesson in front of the whole pack that she and the rest of the wolves watching won’t forget any time soon.

As the rest of my group moves back to give us space, Karen moves forward. A cold smile is fixed on her face, and malice gleams in her eyes.

I’m not sure what to expect. I know Danielle beat her before, but that hadn’t been in a formal fight. By the apprehensive look on Lucy’s face, I guess that Karen must be a competent warrior.

The confident way she stalks toward me shows that she thinks she’s going to win easily.

She moves into her fighting stance, and I copy her.

I simply watch her. I don’t plan to make the first move, so I can assess her ability before I strike.

She has no such qualms and quickly launches into her attack. There is no subtlety about her. Her intentions are clear, and with her claws out, she aims to tear into my face.

I pivot out of the way and punch her in the kidneys.

She snarls, turning her body back toward me. Her expression is pure pain and anger.

I leave her to recover and make no move to attack. I don’t want this to be over quickly. I’m going to beat her, and beat her conclusively.

No one who watches this fight is going to think she stood a chance against me, or that my beating her was a fluke.

She pauses for only a second before she throws herself at me again. This time her claws aim for my chest.

I don’t swerve out of the way this time, but move like lightning to grab hold of her arm just above the wrist and twist it back. I kick out viciously at her knee, and her left leg gives way.

She falls on her back, her head slamming against the ground. She groans and lies still.

“Do you concede?” I ask her.

She nods.

Confident that the fight is over, I turn my back on her and walk to my training group.

“Shall we carry on with our training session?” I ask.

Matt’s face changes and he shouts, “Watch out!”

I turn to discover Karen is on her feet and charging toward me with a face full of hatred.

I run to meet her head-on and slam into her with my claws out to punch her in the face. My claws tear into her cheek, leaving a deep gash.

She screams, but this time I don’t stop. I punch her in the stomach and then the chest.

Karen staggers back, barely able to stay on her feet. I follow her and grab her arm, twisting it behind her back. I push her around and shove her to the ground before I climb on top of her.

I pin her down so she cannot move. I hold my claws to her neck.

“Now this time, when I ask you if you submit, I want a truthful answer. Or, we can continue fighting. I’m quite happy to cause even more damage.”

“I submit, I submit!” she cries.

“Good.” I release her and rise to my feet.

I look around and realize that all the other fights have ended, and everyone is watching us.

“Good work,” Lucy tells me. “Next training session I’ll move you into one of the warrior training groups. Karen, I’m busting you down to the bottom group.

“Your attempt to attack Allie when her back was turned was shameful. You obviously need to go back and relearn the basics.”

As I walk away, I decide this hadn’t been a bad training session. I met more of the pack, and I humiliated Karen.

Happy days.

JAMES

I’ve spent the morning with my beta and Alexander. I hadn’t wanted to admit it to Allie, but the attacks have been increasing over the last couple of weeks.

The Savage Wolves are getting more and more brazen, and the attacks are getting closer and closer to the pack house.

Alexander is updating us on their incursions into Linton. It seems Ryan has built a wide-reaching spy network in the city.

He’s embedded wolves loyal to him in the university and some local businesses that the pack depends on.

They’ve been carrying out targeted raids on werewolf businesses and terrorizing some of the wolves that live in the town.

We’ve started the slow job of identifying and weeding out traitors, but we still have a long way to go. In the meantime, he continues trying to destabilize the Red Moon Pack with his constant attacks.

Fortunately, the pack has remained loyal, which I’m relieved about. The takeover has been smooth, and I haven’t faced opposition from the formerly ranking wolves. I can’t become complacent, though.

“So I think there is at least one wolf working or studying at the university who is sharing crucial information with Ryan’s wolves,” Alexander reports.

“I’m concerned that he or she may be trying to recruit the loners studying there to Ryan’s cause.”

“And what can we do about it?” I ask.

“We could throw all the loners out of Linton,” my beta suggests.

“No, that’s too cruel, too destructive. I want the ones responsible removed. Let’s keep this proportional.”

Alexander raises his eyebrows and smiles at me but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. I know what he’s thinking: being with Allie has changed my view of loners.

To some extent he’s right. But even if she hadn’t been my mate, I know that launching an all-out war on loners in Linton would only play into Ryan’s hands.

“My sources are closing in on pinpointing which one is the culprit. Once they have substantiated their suspicions, I’ll share the information with you.”

“Thank you. I’m sending in my own wolves, but they’re known to be loyal to me, which makes it difficult for them to uncover the truth.

“In the meantime, double the patrols and increase surveillance around the university. We don’t want to give Ryan any further opportunities to attack.”

I dismiss Chris and sigh when he has left.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to keep Allie safe. From the rogues we have captured, we know that Ryan is increasing his raids on the pack because he knows she’s staying here.

“I thought when he realized that she was under my protection he would back off, but he seems more determined than ever to have her.

“I need to find out why he’s so obsessed with her. Maybe then I’ll be able to…”

Lucy quietly slips into the room.

“You’re late,” I remind her. “The meeting has finished.”

“Sorry Alpha, the training session ran longer than normal. There was some trouble.”

“Trouble?”

“Karen fought with your mate. It was supposed to just be a training bout, but… Well, Karen tried to take it too far.”

“Did she hurt Allie?” I spring to my feet, intent on checking on my mate to make sure that Karen hasn’t hurt her.

“Oh, she’s fine. Karen, not so much.” Lucy grins. “Your mate can fight. Karen won’t bother her again. She’s with the healer getting her injuries taken care of.”

“Still think that Allie needs your protection?” Alexander asks.

“Fighting a spoiled she-wolf like Karen is one thing. Taking on Ryan and his band of rogues is completely different,” I point out.

“Maybe so, but it does prove that she’s not helpless and in need of your constant protection. I know that you can’t stop worrying about her, but don’t underestimate her.”