The Dragons' Mates

The Challenge

The Challenge

Anna POV

This is fantastic. I didn’t even have to issue the challenge, she did. She put a lot of conditions on the challenge. I’ve never heard a challenge with so many conditions, it doesn’t matter, I am going to win, and she will reject Jace. It will weaken her and the witches can take her away and I’ll never have to see her face again. ‘I don’t like this Anna. We can still concede and live a happy life with our mate,’ my wolf says. ‘No, I will be a Luna, not just a warrior’s mate,’ I respond and close the link. I don’t need her distracting me.

I make brief eye contact with Eve as I head towards the grounds for the challenge. I do not go to her as I do not want anyone to suspect anything. She nods to me. This was the plan. She will be weak from the challenge and then have to reject Jace. This is perfect.

I stand there watching the other people fill the grounds and form a circle. I see Mina walk into the circle. I frown as Jace pulls her into a hug and whispers to here. Ugh, why does he think she is so great? She’s not even that pretty. I can’t wait to beat her and watch as she rejects Jace and then gets dragged off by the witches. I feel my wolf sigh in my head. Ugh, stupid wolf.

Mina POV

Jace pulls me into a hug and whispers to me, “I have faith in you sweetheart. Kick her ass and this will be over.” I laugh at what he says and say, “Don’t worry. I am a fierce fighter. She won’t know what hit her.” I pull away and give him a kiss. I smile and walk towards my position for the challenge. Anna gets to her position and, once again, smirks at me. What is with this girl and smirking. ‘She thinks that she is going to win. She doesn’t know how hard we train,’ Sapphire says. I mentally nod to her.

The head councilman steps to the center, “This challenge is between Mina and Anna. No one is to interfere in anyway, magical or otherwise. The rules of this challenge are as follows, there are to be no kill shots and there will be no shifting. Are you clear on the rules?” He looks at each of us. I nod when he looks at me as does Anna. Out of the corner of my eye I notice that my family and friends along with the allies that we have made are spread out around the circle, but I can’t focus on that right now. I trust that they will handle whatever is going on.

The councilmen steps back. I get into my fighting stance as does Anna. ‘Is that really her stance? I don’t think she is a fighter.’ Sapphire says. I agree with her and focus. I do a quick evaluation of her. I notice that her nails are perfectly manicured. Her legs are skinny as are her arms. She focuses on her looks and not on her strength. That is her weakness.

The council booms out, “Begin!” Anna immediately runs towards me screaming like a banshee. ‘Is she serious?’ Sapphire says as I dodge her. She comes to a skidding halt and almost falls over. I laugh at her, “You can’t even stop.” Her face gets red as she screams in frustration. She launches at me in rage, ‘Big mistake,’ Sapphire says as I sidestep her and kick her right leg, right behind the knee. She crashes to the ground. “You can give up now and save yourself anymore embarrassment,” I say to her. She screams at me and again launches at me. She goes low so I grab a hold of her hair and yank up. She screams and I punch her in the face. She has blood running down her lips from her nose. I throw her to the ground and land a kick to her side. She is curled up in the fetal position. “Are you going to concede now,” I ask. She is just whimpering. I can’t hear anything coherent. I look to the council to see what they are going to do. They are talking.

Anna still hasn’t moved from the fetal position. It has been several minutes, and she is still whimpering. The head councilmen steps forward and says, “the challenge is over. Anna is unable to continue so the council is declaring Mina as the winner.” He steps away. ‘I don’t like the feeling that I am getting from this councilman. Something is going on. He is very displeased with us winning the challenge,’ Sapphire says. “I agree. We will bring it up again to dad and to Jace,’ I say. Jace is at my side before I realize it with his arms wrapped around me.

Jace POV

After hugging Mina, she gives me a kiss and steps away. I am fighting every protective instinct that I have. I am standing in the center just outside the challenge area. Maximus and MJ come up on wither side of me. Maximus puts a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry son. She is a strong, well trained fighter. Anna will not know what hit her.” “She may literally not know what hit her,” MJ says with a chuckle. I relax a little after hearing this. “We have asked our allies to position themselves around the challenge area to prevent any mishaps as we are concerned about that witch coven,” MJ says. I nod and relax further. These men will not let anything happen to Mina. I have a feeling that them and the other dragons hear could bring everyone here to their knees if Mina was severely injured outside of this challenge.

I turn my attention to the fight. Mina and Anna are both in place. The head councilman says that the rules are no kill shots and no shifting. ‘There is something in his grin that I do not like. I think he will be all to happy if Anna wins this challenge,’ Xavier says. I can sense the worry in him. He wants to protect his mate. ‘I agree. He has been the main one pushing me to specifically choose Anna. He never mentioned one of the other ones the council chose me to look at. We will watch him. Let’s watch the match, MJ and Maximus say that Anna won’t know what hit her,’ I say and end the link. I watch as the fight begins and Anna just rushes Mina. Mina gracefully dodges and then laughs at her. Why is that hot? ‘Because mate is hot and her fighting for us is hot,’ Xavier says panting in the back of my mind. I nod and continue to watch. One more lunge from Anna, a punch from Mina and Anna is on the ground. Anna tries to stand but Mina kicks her in the side. Anna is whimpering and not moving. After a few minutes of this the council reluctantly decides that the challenge is over and Mina is the victor.

I rush to Mina’s side, hug her tight, then face the council. “Please go over the stipulations of the challenge again and then order Anna to back off and never to approach my mate or I again,” I state. The head councilmen looks like he swallowed a lemon whole. “Very well, Anna, Mina is the victor and you are to no longer approach Alpha Jace or Mina again,” he spits out. He doesn’t even bother to hide his displeasure about this. I can hear some other alphas murmuring about this.

As we are about to walk away Anna gets up, shifts into her wolf and lunges. I don’t even have time to react before Mina has her by the throat and, in one of the most demanding voices I have ever heard, commands, “SHIFT.” Anna shifts back and is shaking. Mina, still having a grip on Anna’s neck says, “I have won. He is mine.” She pulls her shirt to the side to show my mark on her. Anna starts crying, “This isn’t fair. I rejected my mate for you Jace.” I look at her with no mercy in my eyes and say, “That is your fault. You tried to kill my mate outside of the challenge after you lost.” In a deadly tone Mina asks, “What is the penalty for breaking the rules of a challenge by both shifting and trying to kill.” Lord Drake appears at my side simply staring at Anna and says, “Death.” “As the Dragon Princess and the future Luna of the Black Diamond Pack, I sentence you to death.” Anna’s eyes go wide and Mina, in one swift motion snaps her neck. She releases, and Anna crumples to the ground. Drake glances down at Anna and then up to Mina and smiles. “Well, I’m am glad that the future Luna of the Black Diamond Pack has a back bone and will follow the law. You showed her a mercy by killing her quickly. That is admirable as well,” Drake says and then turns to me. “We have some things to discuss in you territory. Send word when you are available,” he says and the zips away.

I grab hold of Mina’s hips and pull her flush to my body and kiss her. I don’t care that everyone is watching. They need to know that she is mine and I am hers. I pull away and she is blushing. “Don’t worry sweetheart, most everyone is happy for us,” I whisper to her. MJ, Gem, and Maximus come up to us. “You did good sweety,” Maximus says pulling her into a hug. “Ditto sis,” MJ pipes up. Gem is practically bouncing, “Oh my gosh Mina! You are so awesome. Will you train me? I can fight but you took her down with two hits.” Mina laughed, “Well, she wasn’t much of a fighter, but she pushed me too far after she lost. I can’t forgive that. I must protect my family, and that includes Jace.”

I hear a throat clear behind us. I turn and it’s the f***ing council. “Congratulations Mina. But was killing Anna necessary?” the head councilman spits out. I was about to answer when Mina cuts me off, “Yes, she attacked post challenge, after losing, shifted and then lunged for my throat. Lord Drake said the penalty was death for that matter, so I killed her. If she was willing to attack me here, I cannot guarantee that she would not attack me at my own home.” She stares down the council until they concede. “Yes, well, we should head into the meeting hall. There are still matters to handle,” another councilman says. They walk past us. I notice the glares of at least four of them. I take note of who they are and lead Mina back into the meeting hall.

As we are walking in, I can feel the stares of everyone. For the most part, I don't sense ill intent. I can sense fear and awe for the most part. We get to the meeting hall and take our seats. I glance around and see our new allies, Alpha Bryant and Kent sitting at the table next to us. Another Alpha has joined them, I think his name is Alpha John. Bryant and Kent nod at me with a smile saying they are happy about how the challenge turned out. I look towards the table the Lord Drake was at before. I see him and we make eye contact. He nods at me with approval. I nod back and focus my attention back on Mina. "I am so proud of you my sweetheart. You have proven yourself as a fierce Luna. No one will stand against you, at least no one that is smart," I say. She smiles and leans into me. "I am happy that it turned out OK. You never know, she could have surprised me by being a really good fighter," she says. I nod to her. 'Mate is right. She didn't know what kind of fighter Anna would be. She took the challenge knowing there was a possibility of her losing. She had enough faith in her abilities to make the challenge and she won. I am so proud of her,' Xavier says. 'Yes, she is amazing. She will be a great Luna. She asks for advice and does not make decisions lightly and, she is not afraid to take care of issues,' I replied. 'I look forward to getting her home and introducing her to the pack,' he says. I do not respond. I just think about what the future hold for us. I can't help but smile.