Chapter 1

“I’m not a kid anymore! I’m a better warrior than anyone else here! You can’t keep me locked up forever!” I yell at my dad.

His deep brown eyes glare back at me, his jet-black hair a wild mess from the countless times he’s run his hand through it in frustration.

My hair, just as black, is in the same state. We’ve had this argument more times than I can count.

Dad always tries to shield me, but all I want is my freedom.

“If you’re not a child, then stop acting like one.” I turn to my mom, hoping for some support.

Our blue eyes meet, and I can tell she’s just as reluctant to let me go. “The warriors are tough, and they’re not women.”

I keep my gaze on my mom, watching as shock washes over her face. She spins around, her back to me, her furious eyes on Dad.

“Excuse me? What do you mean by ‘they’re not women’?” Dad rubs his face, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Honey, I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, his voice as sweet as sugar. But my mom, just as fiery as me—or maybe I’m just as fiery as her—doesn’t buy it.

“I think your words were pretty clear. You know what? Pick ten warriors for Katelynn to fight. If she wins, she gets to go. If she loses, she stays.”

Mom’s tone leaves no room for argument, so Dad doesn’t even try. He just nods at her, then dismisses me with a wave of his hand.

“You heard your mother. Go get ready, the fight is in an hour.” I let out a squeal of excitement, hugging my mom from behind before running upstairs to my room.

I use my witch power to swing open my bedroom door, not slowing my pace.

I grab my brush and quickly braid my hair into a French plait.

Once I’m done, I dive into my walk-in closet to grab my fighting gear.

I pull on leather leggings that fit like a second skin.

A tank top over it, and I’m good to go.

I glance at the clock and see that only ten minutes have passed.

I pace my room, back and forth.

I’m going to win this.

I don’t even need to shift.

I’ve watched every warrior train since I was a kid; I’ve trained alongside them.

I know their moves, their stances, their surprise attacks.

But they don’t know mine, because my witch training is different from my wolf training.

I check the clock again; another half hour to go.

I decide to go find Lucy, my best friend.

Lucy is my polar opposite.

She hates fighting, despises our training.

But her attitude is just like mine, only directed at different things.

I don’t bother knocking as I barge into her room.

Lucy lives with us.

She was born a day after me, but when she turned ten, her mom died of cancer.

Her dad is a warrior, so he can’t always be there for her, so she moved in with us.

“Luce! I finally did it! Mom did it. Dad pissed her off, so Mom’s letting me fight ten of the warriors. If I win, I get to go on patrol!” Lucy rolls her eyes from behind her desk.

I glance at the books spread out in front of her. Of course, she’s studying. I wiggle my way onto her desk, sitting right on top of her books.

“Luce, be happy for me,” I whine, pouting at her. She sighs, leaning back in her chair.

“The Mate Founder is next week. Do you really think your mate will let you be a warrior?” Lucy asks, sounding bored.

She’s been listening to my rants for ten years now. Since I was twelve, I knew I wanted to be a warrior. I’ve trained hard every day, seven days a week.

“I’m not going to find my mate, and if I do, he better not try to stop me. I bet I’d be stronger too.” My voice is filled with confidence, but I don’t care.

I’m finally here, finally on the path to becoming a warrior, and no one is going to stop me.

I could have been a warrior at eighteen if my dad had let me, but he didn’t.

Lucy’s eyes soften as she looks at me, a smile on her face.

“I hope you get everything you want. But things often don’t go the way we plan.” She gives me a quick hug before walking over to her closet.

Lucy is more feminine than me; her closet is filled with dresses and skirts. She pulls out a white skater dress with blue flowers on the skirt.

“I’ll come cheer you on as you kick their asses,” she says, grinning as she slips on the dress.

Her curly brown hair bounces around her face, her green eyes looking at me.

I glance at the clock and see that there are only fifteen minutes left.

I hop off the desk and tell her I’m heading down.

When I step into our backyard, which is really just a huge field surrounded by trees, I see my parents and the warriors already waiting.

Some of the warriors have shifted into their wolf forms, while others remain in their human forms.

I’m not going to shift, I don’t need to.

I walk over to Marcel, one of the warriors I’ve grown close to over the years.

He’s one of the best we have.

One on one, he often beats me, but he’s also taught me a lot.

“Hey Rebel, you finally got through to him, huh?” Marcel says, grinning widely. I know he’s happy for me; he knows how long I’ve wanted this. I return his grin, nodding excitedly.

“I’m going to kick your ass this time!” I stick my tongue out at him. “We’ll see, Rebel. We’ll see.”

He walks away to join Dad, and I turn around as I catch Lucy’s scent. She looks beautiful, as always. I glance down at myself and shrug. Well, warriors don’t need to be beautiful.

My dad claps his hands, drawing everyone’s attention. I notice that a good number of our pack members have decided to stick around and watch. Almost forty people are gathered around us.

“We’re here for a little competition,” he announces. “Katelynn, my daughter, will fight ten warriors. If she can beat them all, she’ll start as a bottom warrior. But we’re going to shake things up a bit. She’ll fight all ten warriors at once.”

A few gasps echo around me, and I see some members looking at me with pity. I hold my head high, my face set in a scowl. As if I can’t handle them all at once.

“Let the games begin,” my dad concludes.

The ten warriors line up.

Every other warrior has shifted into their wolf form, while the rest remain in their human form.

I stand about a hundred yards away from them.

I hold my head high, a wicked grin on my face.

I see them eyeing me cautiously.

I bet they’re not too keen on hurting the alpha’s daughter.

I stick out my finger and beckon them to come at me.

Marcel is the first to step forward in his human form.

Two wolves step forward with him.

They split up and start to circle me.

I stand still, using my nose to track their movements.

They move silently over the grass.

Marcel charges at me.

He jumps and holds his fist out.

I’ve seen this move from him many times before; he uses his whole weight to punch.

I drop onto my back and put my hands up.

A gust of wind knocks him away.

I can hear the rest of them coming too.

It’s a game of ducking and rolling as I try to shield myself from their punches and bites.

I throw punches at the humans, using my magic to make them crash harder.

Within minutes, four of the humans are knocked out, and I find myself being circled again.

This time by five wolves and Marcel.

They move in unison, all taking steps at the same time.

I slowly walk in a circle, grinning at each of them, my hand to the ground as a wall of fire appears.

One of the wolves, a younger one, whines and backs away.

I know he’s afraid of fire after burning his arm.

Two wolves on opposite sides jump through my wall of fire, and I duck, causing them to crash into each other.

I quickly roll back before they can crash into me.

A sharp pain shoots through my leg as one of the remaining wolves sinks his teeth into it.

I quickly thicken the firewall around us to keep Marcel and the other wolf out.

The wolf releases my leg as he crawls over me.

His teeth sink into my shoulder, causing more pain.

I let out a growl as I squeeze him hard around his neck with my arms.

I bury my head at the side of his face, and then I shift.

Before the wolf realizes what’s happening, my teeth are already in his neck.

I use my back paws to roll us over.

I use my weight to keep him pinned to the ground while I sink my teeth even further into his neck.

He whines, and I can feel his body changing under me.

Once he’s in his human form, I step off of him and throw him through the firewall.

The fire lessens as he hits it.

I don’t want to hurt any of them permanently.

When I look back, Marcel’s legs are already around my neck, making it hard for me to breathe.

The last wolf bites me in the same leg.

I let out a howl, angry at being hurt.

My howl is cut short as Marcel squeezes even harder.

I kick the wolf at my legs in the face while I lie down on Marcel.

I quickly stand up, throwing my head up and back down as Marcel smashes into the ground.

The blow has loosened his legs, and I use this to turn my head a little and bite him in his side.

I quickly release him as I realize the wolf is jumping.

I turn my head towards him and howl, the howl carrying my magic, and he too is hit by a gust of wind.

I turn around as I see that Marcel is just clutching his side, trying to control the pain.

I use my high position to growl at the last wolf.

The wolf bows his head in submission.

The cracking of bones grabs my attention, and I turn back to see Marcel has now shifted into his wolf.

His wolf is a little bigger than me.

The only sound I hear is the wind as Marcel and I lock eyes.

No witchy stuff. A fair fight, you and me.

I nod my head in agreement at his mind-link and take position to attack.

I leap towards him, and this time he rolls onto his back.

My teeth sink into his neck while his sink into mine.

I can feel the pain coursing through me, so I bite down harder.

We roll over the ground a few times, each of us trying to stay on top.

We end up with him on top of me.

His teeth are in the left side of my neck, while I hold him at the right.

His paws are on either side of my head.

I quickly release him to bite down on his front paw, breaking it.

He whimpers in pain, releasing me.

I push him off of me as I now sit on top.

I could have sworn I see him wink, but before I can ask, I hear my dad’s voice.

“STOP!” I get off of Marcel to face my dad. I shift back as I look at him. “Katelynn, you’ve won,” he says with a defeated voice.

The pack members around us start to cheer.

Lucy pulls me into a tight hug, a little too tight for my pained body, but I don’t care.

I have the biggest smile ever on my face, and if my legs didn’t hurt so damn much, I would be jumping around.

A hand claps my shoulder, and I turn my head to see Marcel.

I release Lucy and quickly heal his wounds.

Marcel pulls me into a big hug.

“You’re welcome, Rebel,” he whispers in my ear. I pull away and look at him in confusion, but he’s already off to his mate who’s holding out clothes for him.

My mom comes over to me, showering my face with kisses as she says a million congratulations.

She hands me sweatpants and a tank top that I quickly put on.

I’ve won!

I’m a real warrior!

Oh gosh, I can’t wait.