Page 3 of He Claimed Her Heart

Mate

“Hurry up Bree! What’s taking you so long?!” Tom shouted from the living room.

“I’m coming! Give me a sec. Geez.” I yelled at him as I came barreling toward him. I had everything I needed to go to the lake with me in my tote bag.

“Let’s go already. Grab the other end of the ice chest so we can go,” Tom demanded.

“Aplease would be nice,” I said as I grabbed the other end of the ice chest.

Tomgrowled at me as we walked out the door to his truck. We put the ice chest in the back and got into the cab of his truck. He started the truck and backed out of the driveway. We drove down the dirt road to the lake. It was a short and bumpy ride. When we got there, the party was just getting started. The music was blaring, the grills were being set up, and clothes were being shed in favor of bathing suits.

Everyone seemed toneed to unwind and let loose. The beach vibes were definitely in full swing. Everywhere you looked, people were laughing and having fun. Some were playing in the water, some were chilling out by the water talking, others were cooking on the grills, and others just doing nothing at all. It was doing what you wanted kind of day and it was all right. I watched everyone have fun and play around. Tatum came over and asked me if I wanted to join them in the water for some water volleyball. I declined because I really don’t like volleyball that much, but I didn’t want to give Tatum the wrong idea either. I knew he liked me. I liked him, but as a friend only.

When I got home from the lake, I started reading the information about the tournament. It seemed simple enough. You are put in brackets, and you compete against opponents from different packs. You fight in human and wolf form. The first person to submit or become unconscious, loses the bracket and the winner advances to the next bracket. Simple enough. I doubled checked the website I was given to double check to make sure I didn’t miss any information. I decided we needed to come up with a plan to ensure we could place in the top five for male and female brackets.

I woke up the next morning and headed to training. I talked to Tom about the information I learned about the tournament. I asked him if he has ever participated in one before and I was surprised when he said he had. He never got past the third bracket. Wow. I never knew that.

Training ended and we went to breakfast. I went up to the suite and started to formulate a plan of how to train our warriors to win the tournament. We need strength and endurance on our side. I started to formulate a plan so that when dad got home this afternoon, I could run it by him for his approval. I couldn’t wait to talk to dad to get his input into my plan. For whatever reason, I was feeling a little run down, so I decided to lie down. I must have fallen asleep because my dad was waking me up.

“Hey Puddin’. Are you feeling alright?” dad inquired as he sat on the edge of my bed.

“Yeah, I guess. I was feeling a little run down, so I decided to lie down. How was your trip? Where did you go?” I inquired as I sat up to give dad a hug.

“I’ll tell you about my trip when Tom gets home. We need to have afamily talk. Why don’t you get up and we can talk about the tournament? I already know you have formulated a plan, so let’s talk about it,” dad suggested as he got up and made his way to the door of my room.

“Okay,give me a few minutes and I’ll be there. I have a plan, but I have a few questions too. I want to see if what I want to do is feasible,” I replied as I got out of bed.

I went into my bathroom and turned on the water in the sink. I splashed some water on my face to wake up. I grabbed the towel and dried my face. I looked at my reflection and saw that I looked tired. Why did I look this way? What was wrong with me? I pushed my thoughts down and made my way to meet with my father. I found him in the kitchen sitting at the breakfast nook. He found my notes and was already reading them.

“Hey, so you already found some of my notes. What do you think so far? I think we need to focus on strength and endurance toget ready for the tournament. What do you think?” I asked my dad as he continued to read my notes.

“I like the idea of working on strength and endurance, buthow and who? Whom will you choose to go to the tournament and how will you train them?” dad quizzed me.

“I get to choosewhom we take to the tournament? I didn’t know that,” I admitted as I sat down next to him at the breakfast nook.

“Yes, I thought you knew that?You get to choose four males and four females with two alternates each. The only problem is that the Alpha has to approve of the choices,” dad warned as he put my notes down.

“Do you have anypreferences that you would like to have on the team? Is there an age limit for the tournament?” I questioned dad.

“Well, I thinkthe Alpha wants the warriors who were in the meeting with you yesterday for the males, but I might be wrong. We might need to ask him to be sure. As for the females, I’m not sure whom to choose. Do you have any suggestions?” dad inquired as he got up to get some water to drink.

“I’m not sure.I have a few I’m thinking of, but I have to ask them if they’re interested in the tournament. Do you think you can get me an audience with the Alpha so I can ask him some questions?” I asked my dad as he sat back down.

“Of course, I can. I’m his Beta.I can set you up with a meeting later today or after training tomorrow. Which would you prefer?” quizzed dad.

“How about after training tomorrow? That will give me some more time to solidify my plans a little bit more. What do you think?” I asked dad with a grin on my face.

“That’s my girl. Tomorrow it is. Now, where’s your brother?” dad inquired.

“I’m not sure.I haven’t seen him since training this morning,” I replied as I started to wonder where he went.

Dad and I talked for a while about what I wanted to do for training while we waited for Tom to come home from wherever he was. He finally came homemidafternoon. Dad announced that we needed to have a family meeting when he was ready. Tom took his time getting a snack and changing his clothes before settling down on the sofa for the family meeting.

“I know you both have questions about what happened to your mother and where she is. Well, I can tell you she will not be with us until the time of the tournament or after the tournament. Alpha Bennett has ensured that she will not interfere with Bree while she prepares for the tournament. We already know how she feels about Bree being a warrior,” dad explained.

“Yeah, instead of being proud of her, she feels insulted that she has a strong daughter. Go figure!” scoffed Tom.

“Exactly. So, Alpha Bennett has sent her to a university for a class that she must complete to his satisfaction, or she will face the consequences,” explained dad with a serious expression.

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