Page 43 of Kidnapped By the Alpha

“You got yourself a strong luna here,” one of the neighboring wolves said to Jasper.

“The strongest there is,” he agreed.

Dunking the alpha had broken the ice between our packs, and for the next hour, the two packs intermingled as they engaged in the festivities. With my plan a success, I decided to enjoy myself as well. Jasper purchased snow cones for us, and we meandered through the festival, watching our pack enjoy themselves.

Once the sun had fully set, everyone found a spot to sit with a clear view of the sky. Jasper pulled me onto his lap as he sat on a park bench.

“Saved you the best seat in the house,” he whispered into my ear.

I giggled like a young girl at his flirtatious tone, unused to the attention he had been giving me lately.

When the fireworks began, he reached around my waist to pull me close to his chest. The crowd went silent as the pyrotechnics lit up the sky, but I was paying far more attention to the man behind me.

For ten minutes, Jasper held me, making small circles on my arms with his thumb. I was nearly driven to distraction, but as soon as the show ended, I knew it was time for us to gather our pack and head to the forest.

We filed out of the town in groups of twos and threes, heading for the previously agreed-on location. When we arrived, I saw that the same clearing that Jasper and I had picnicked inhad been ringed in with a circle of rope. Inside the circle were a number of obstacles—hay bales, fallen logs, and wooden barrels—that would create cover for the wolves engaged in the skirmish.

“Gather around, everyone,” Nile instructed. “Find a spot, and we will give our instructions momentarily.”

The packs did not intermingle when they arrived. Instead, they separated so that one was on each side of the ring. I felt nervous as I saw the separation between the packs, feeling as though we hadn’t done a good enough job of helping them see each other as friends instead of foes. Jasper, picking up on my unease, leaned over to speak to me in a low voice.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“The packs can’t stay separated all night if we want this to be successful,” I said tensely.

Jasper looked around and saw what I meant. He nodded in understanding, and I knew he was coming up with a plan.

Everyone had joined the circle when Nile began to speak again.

“Alpha Jasper and the wolves of the Dark Moon pack are joining us tonight for what we hope will be the first of many events between our two packs,” he said. “I have set up this ring to test our speed and skill. Two wolves from each pack will enter the ring at a time. Each team will be given a flag, which can only be held when they are in their human form. The goal is to be the first to retrieve the other team’s flag. The first to grab the flag from the other team will be the winner.”

Excited chatter from the crowd greeted Nile’s instructions, and I could see the wheels beginning to turn on many of their faces as they analyzed strategy.

Nile nodded to two of his wolves—one man and one woman—who entered the ring. Jasper nodded to Killian, who grabbed a young man from the crowd. I saw that it was the same man who had told us earlier in the day that he was feeling nervous about the future. The one who had only had his first shift a few weeks ago.

“Good choices,” I said to Jasper in approval.

“They’ll set a good example for the rest,” he said.

One of the Pinedale wolves distributed a strip of red cloth to each team to serve as their flag. The teams spoke to each other briefly, then took their stances. On the Pinedale team, the man remained in human form while the woman shifted to a wolf. Both Dark Moon wolves remained in human form as they awaited the signal. I realized that it would be difficult to tell which of them held the flag, whereas we knew right off the bat that the Pinedale man held their flag.

“Begin!” Nile shouted amid cheers from the crowd.

Killian and the young man separated immediately, each running towards an obstacle on the edge of the arena while the opposing team rushed forward together.

“Run, Michael!” a voice shouted at the young man from the crowd.

The Pinedale team was running toward him, thinking he had the flag. The she-wolf reached him first, but instead of shifting and giving away that he wasn’t the flag-holder, he threw himself under an elevated stack of wood. He waited there, just out of reach of the wolf.

Meanwhile, the crowd could see that Killian was hiding the flag inside one of the hay bales. When he had finished, heshifted into wolf form and charged the opposing team, angling not for the man carrying the flag but for the she-wolf.

I clenched my teeth, worried that he would hurt her, but my fear was unfounded. Killian easily subdued her without injury while Michael and the man from Pinedale grappled hand to hand.

As soon as the she-wolf was taken down, Michael shifted as well, and realization of what had occurred crossed the opposing man’s face. He turned toward the hay bales Killian had been hiding behind earlier, but there was no chance of him outrunning the Dark Moon Pack. Michael overtook him quickly, gently forcing him to the ground as he plucked the red cloth from his back pocket with his teeth.

The Pinedale wolves clapped politely while whoops and hollers sounded from our side of the ring. The wolves in the arena shifted back to their human forms to shake hands and return to their places around the circle.

“Excellent work,” Nile commended the participants. “Do we have volunteers for our next round?”

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