Page 49 of Rejected By the Alpha

I could sense the nervous energy in his voice as he strived to keep it steady, but nothing could dissuade me from my goal. This was between Miranda and me.

I placed my hands on top of the fence and vaulted myself over it, landing on my feet opposite the conniving she-wolf. Cheers from our pack rose up from the crowd, with the other two packs joining in. None of the alphas or lunas had participated in tonight’s event, and I could sense that they were all looking forward to seeing what skills their newest luna had.

I may not have had a lot of friends growing up in Sparkle Hollow, but what I did have was a lot of free time to practice maneuvers and build my strength. I hadn’t seen Miranda fight, but I felt confident I could take her down. I was stronger than I looked, and my moves were precise.

“Just a refresher of the rules before we begin,” Nile said to Miranda and me. “You may not go for the opponent’s throat or face. Do not use intentional force to break your opponents’ bones or aim for their major organs. Are you both clear on the boundaries?”

We both nodded, not breaking eye contact, as we began to circle each other in the ring.

“You may fight in human or wolf form,” Nile said. “The winner will be declared after they pin the other person to the ground. Begin!”

Miranda and I ran toward each other at full speed and launched ourselves into the air while we transformed. Destiny and Miranda’s pale gold wolf collided with a thud, falling to the ground as the audience cheered and screamed. Her golden wolf had the advantage of size, but Destiny was more agile. She avoided each pounce and swipe with relative ease, returning a few minor blows of her own.

As time went on, the golden wolf began to pant in frustration and exhaustion. Destiny circled around her menacingly, snapping at her legs.

The golden wolf lunged and was about to catch the fur at the back of Destiny’s neck when I suddenly changed into my human form to slide underneath her. I rolled on the ground under her paws, narrowly avoiding being hit.

I landed with a smile on my face, kneeling on the ground as she spun around in surprise. “Don’t you have any other tricks?” I teased.

The crowd laughed, and I wondered how often others switched between forms during their skirmishes. I hadn’t seen anyone do it tonight, but Nile had said it was allowed. What made Destiny and I such a great team was that we always played to each other’s strengths. There were times when one of us could accomplish something that was beyond the abilities of the other. Since we were always working as a team, it only made sense for both of us to participate.

Miranda transformed as well so she could respond. “Stop playing around and attack me!”

“Why would I do that?” I asked, rising to my feet and brushing the dust off my jeans. “You’re doing such a good job of defeating yourself, I don’t think you need my help.”

Another laugh from the audience met my jibe, and Miranda’s fury overcame her. She ran at me full force, transforming into her wolf once again. When she was only a few feet away and unable to stop her trajectory, I stepped nimbly to the side and allowed Destiny to take over.

Realization widened the eyes of the golden wolf as she saw that she had placed herself in the perfect position to be trapped. Destiny pounced on her back, rolling her to the ground as she barreled past, and landed with her paws pining the other wolf to the ground.

I howled in victory, stepped off the golden wolf, and we both transformed. Miranda’s face was red with embarrassment—where it wasn’t covered in dirt—as she lay on the ground.

I bent down to help her up, but as I leaned over, I looked into her eyes. “Don’t ever try to take what’s mine again,” I whispered. “Understand?”

Miranda nodded in fear as she realized she was completely outmatched and allowed me to help her to her feet. She limped out of the arena toward her sister as the rest of the group clapped.

“Congratulations to Luna Leah on her first win!” Nile announced.

I smiled and waved at the assembly as I made my way back to Killian. I was thrilled with my win, and even more pleased when I saw the bright smile on my mate’s face.

“I won!” I cried excitedly, running the last few steps toward him in celebration.

He pulled me into an embrace and twirled me around in celebration while I laughed.

“That was incredible,” he said. “You have no idea how turned on it made me to watch you take your rightful place as luna to the pack.”

I raised one eyebrow, wanting him to continue. “Oh, really?”

“You were so intimidating, tough, and collected,” Killian said, keeping his tone low so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I’ve never seen anything hotter. All I can think about now is how badly I want to touch you.”

“Want?”

“Need,” he growled into my ear.

A shiver ran down my spine at the seductive timbre in his voice. The power I felt after my victory made me want to feeleven more. As much as I wanted to be with him, I also wanted him to work for my attention. Just this once.

I looked around to see if I was being watched by anyone else. Noticing that the attention had shifted away from me, I decided now was the perfect time to test Killian’s need for me.

“Come get me, then,” I dared him.

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