Her Unexpected Luna

Chapter 15

Thalia

The training grounds were packed full of powerful and intimidating Alphas. A few familiar faces seemed to have stared a bit longer than what Tasia was comfortable with, Earning them a few warning growls and looks. Everyone seemed to be in their training gear or workout clothes. Thalia had on a dark purple sports bra underneath a pale blue baggy shirt with the sleeves and sides cut out along with a pair of black workout leggings that seemed to be a little snug around the back end making it safe to say that even with Thalia not being at her healthiest, she still seemed to carry more personality in her ass then Tasia did. Judging by Tasia's frequent slowing down so Thalia would walk in front of her, she's not complaining. They made their way over to where Marcus and Alpha Vincent was standing, filling out some sheets of paper on a table at a booth. They must be signing up for the tournament.

"There they are," Vincent said turning around. "It's about time, hurry up and sign in they are getting ready to close sign-ups, there aren't many spots left," He said handing Tasia a sheet of paper.

Before Thalia could stop herself, her body moved on Its own to snatch the paper away to look at it. From what it looks like the tournament lasts the entire day, Each territory challenges amongst themselves first. Ten challengers per territory, after all of the matches, the winner from each territory will go up against each other to see what Alpha will take home the All territories Strongest Alpha of the year Trophy and title. Tasia was right, this is nothing but a d**k measuring contest. Tasia raised her eyebrows to study Thalia with a smirk on her face. Thalia looked up at her to meet her gaze.

"what? you don't want me to do it?" Tasia asked teasingly as she crossed her arms with a pointed look. Marcus let out a scoff followed by a chuckle.

"Typical protective Luna. She doesn't want to see you get hurt. Haven't even marked her and she's already doting on you" He said. The sound of his voice made her want to rip his throat out. Regardless of what Tasia told her last night about Marcus, it hasn't seemed to change her opinion of him. He was testing her. Thalia kept her demeanor the same as if what he said didn't phase her. Tasia knew otherwise according to her growing grin.

"I want you to do it." Thalia said confidently as she handed the sheet over to Tasia. "and if this is something you feel like you need to do to prove yourself. Then take what you need." She said.

Tasia stepped forward to bring her face into Thalia's to press their lips together passionately, letting them linger for a moment before pulling away. Tasia grabbed the sheet of paper and grabbed a pin that was offered to her from Vincent to fill out the form and turn it in. The training grounds had five sparring rings set up spaced out in the shape of a diamond. There was a ring set up on the north side of the field, the Eastside, the Southside, and the west side. The fifth ring was set up in the middle of the field. It was obvious which matches were to be held in the different rings. Thalia studied the ring in middle, wondering what that one would be used for.

"The middle ring is for the final match. It's also used for anyone that wants to challenge another wolf for fun. A lot of betas and gammas use it to challenge each other. Even warriors, especially since the actual tournaments are for Alphas only. Some Lunas even get in there to put on a show. Quite entertaining" Marcus said chuckling at the thought. Thalia looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"So when Beta's and Gammas get in there, it's a match. But when Luna's get in there it's just a show to you?" Thalia asked. Marcus stared at her speechless. Like he was trying to justify what he just said but realized it was worse than what he meant.

"I didn't mean to.." He started but was interrupted by the raise of Thali's hand, telling him to not even bother. This irritated him, but before he could say anything he received a warning look from Tasia.

As they approached the center, a pair of wolves entered the ring and began circling each other before they got in their respective stances. They were both high-ranked wolves, warriors. One of them appeared to be a western warrior while the other was eastern. Once she saw his face she recognized him as the highest-ranked warrior of Acacia moon. It was Chase!

Once the match began, the western wolf immediately lunged at Chase. Chase blocked his move but made none of his own. The western wolf circled him again and began to launch a wave of several different attacks at once. He was fast and agile. He moved in a way Thalia has never seen a wolf move before. His only problem was that his opponent was faster. Chase saw every move before it was acted out. He blocked and dodged, staying one step ahead of his every move. The western wolf was losing his stamina and his energy. The moment he showed a weakness in his last attack, Chase didn't block this time. He allowed the wolf to land his attack, but it was a trap. Chase pushed the wolf back and directed a series of combined blows to the wolf's head and his abdomen. The final blow knocked the wolf down, unable to move. His energy and strength went, and the wind knocked out of him. This was the strength of an Acacia moon wolf. Their defense and ability to read into their opponent were unique and powerful. And chase was of Alpha lineage. She could only imagine what Alpha Ryan was like. Tasia began to pull Thalia away from the ring before Chase recognized Thalia and called out to her. Tasia huffed in annoyance but stopped to allow Chase to approach them.

"Thalia!" Chase said as he jogged up to them. "It's good to see you again!" He added before he noticed the other Alphas around her. He bowed his head in respect "Alpha Vincent, Alpha Marcus. and... Not.. Alpha Marcus's Luna.." He trailed off awkwardly. Thalia narrowed her eyebrow and was getting ready to say something till she was cut off.

"That's Alpha Tasia to you boy, and nothing less. Show some respect" Vincent snarled. Tasia carried an impassive facial expression, but Thalia knew she was jumping for joy on the inside. Thalia couldn't help but be so thankful Tasia had support from other Alphas. She could only imagine what Tasia has gone through to get to this moment.

"Yes Alpha, I'm sorry Alpha Tasia, that was inconsiderate and rude of me. It won't happen again" He pleaded. Tasia nodded her head at him with no response. He took one last look at Thalia wanting to say more but thought it would be better off to say goodbye and part ways. Thalia watched him scurry off as she reflected on how he addressed Tasia the first time. She looked over at Tasia as she slipped her palm into hers to intertwine their fingers together and give her a reassuring squeeze. Thalia looked over at Marcus who seemed to be uncomfortable under her gaze. As much as she hated him, Tasia was right.

"I still can't believe you pulled the Luna card. How desperate are you?" Tasia said breaking the silence and awkward tension. Vincent busted up laughing as he slapped Marcus on the shoulder. Marcus cracked a smile and shook his head as they started to head down to the southern ring.

"Not my brightest moment," Marcus said.

They still needed to find out who they were going up against in each of their matches. Thalia had hoped that neither one of them had to fight each other. Although Thalia wasn't fond of the idea of her mate fighting, she also had this feeling that there was something about Tasia that no one else would be expecting. And that maybe Marcus knew about it.

Once they reached the southern ring, there was already a match going on. It seemed to have been going on for about ten minutes already. It was already known that most Alphas have more stamina to be able to last longer in fights, so who knows how long each match was going to last. The two southern Alphas seemed to still have a pretty good amount of energy and power left. They both seemed evenly matched as well which seemed to draw it out even longer. Thalia noticed a slight change in Tasia's mood as she watched the match. It was Thalia's turn to squeeze her hand in reassurance.

"Who are they?" Thalia questioned.

"That's Alpha Alonzo and Alpha Sebastian. They are brothers-in-law, Their Luna's are fraternal twins and the two Alphas have become pretty good friends. They may seem evenly matched but they both have their strengths in different areas. Alonzo might be bigger and stronger, But Sebastian has more of a key sense of strategy. Even if he's overpowered, he uses that to exploit his opponent's weakness" Tasia said. Vincent seemed impressed at her explanation while Marcus nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to go see who we are up against, you think they will pair us again Vincent?" Marcus said with a wicked chuckle.

"If they do, I'll be sure not to fall for your dirty tricks," Vincent said as he rolled his eyes.

There was a tent that sat up in front of the ring. There was a table with some papers spread out and a whiteboard that stood up behind the pair of wolves that sat behind the table. On the whiteboard was a chart with the names of all the wolves that were competing. Tasia's name was at the bottom of the bracket. They only place who they believe is the weakest wolf at the bottom. Turns out Tasia was up next. Her first match was with a wolf named Alpha Axel.

Marcus and Vincent looked at each other with a weary look as they glanced at Tasia who remained quiet as she stared at the list of matches. Before anyone could say anything, Thalia felt a presence behind her. An aura that made her skin crawl. The power that emanated off this wolf was overwhelming. She turned around to find a man that stood so tall he had to lean over to fit inside the tent. He was even bigger than Marcus. He had shoulder-length dark brown hair that matched his chestnut brown eyes. His arms and shoulders were probably bigger than Thalia's whole body. He snarled underneath his breath as he looked at Tasia.

"This is a Joke" The wolf spat.

"Jokes are supposed to be funny. But Reality is Hilarious. And this" Tasia said pointing to herself. "Is real" She said as she pulled Thalia away from the tent. Thalia could tell she was putting on a strong attitude on the outside. But she was doubtful on the inside.