From Beta to Luna

Chapter 13 — The Issued Challenge

Damien

    The next three days were brutal. We had meetings every day and joint training sessions with the other packs, but Raina wouldn’t even look at me. Everywhere she went, she always had either Owen, Nathan, or Xander with her, and she was careful to keep any interactions with me to a minimum. 

    I didn’t want to push her to talk to me until she was ready, but every time she’d either avert her gaze away or suddenly excuse herself if I got too close, it felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest all over again. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep this up until I completely went insane. 

    On the third day of her ignoring me, we found ourselves sitting in the conference hall once again. Alpha John was going over the plans to implement Raina’s suggestion from the first day in an attempt to combat the rogue situation. 

    After finishing his instructions on what each pack needed to do once they went back to their respective territories, Alpha John concluded his meeting with, “Today will also be our last day of meetings and training. Take these next three days to relax and unwind and get to know each other better. The celebration on Saturday will be our final time to all be together again before we reconvene next year.”

    Everyone cheered, and I could feel the excitement buzzing through the hall at the prospect of getting to take it easy these next few days and just enjoy each other’s company. 

    “Before I adjourn today’s meeting and dismiss everyone, is there anything else anybody would like to discuss with the Council?” Alpha John asked, effectively quieting everyone down. 

    There was silence for a moment before a voice piped up, “There is one thing I’d like to discuss, Alpha John.”

    Every pair of eyes snapped over to the owner of the voice, and I could feel the anger instantly rise when I saw that it was none other than Lucas. My stomach began twisting in knots, already knowing I wouldn’t like what was about to come out of his mouth. 

    “Ah, yes, Alpha Lucas,” John acknowledged, nodding his head. “If this is about your pack’s admittance into the Allyship, the council will be taking a vote at the end of this week, and if it passes, the announcement will be made during the Saturday night celebration.”

    “That sounds wonderful, Alpha John, but this actually concerns a different matter,” Lucas responded with an easy smile on his face that made me want to punch him. 

    Standing from his seat, he gestured towards Raina, and proclaimed loudly, “I would like to issue a challenge for the right to mate Beta Raina.”

    Silence. 

    The silence that washed over the entire hall was almost deafening, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. 

    This f*****g asshole. I didn’t think he was actually serious about his threat a couple days ago. What did he even want with Raina? Was he just enjoying being an ass?

    “I beg your pardon?” Alpha John was the first to speak. 

    “The bylaws state that any unmated and unmarked female that has two potential mates, may be won in a challenge issued by said mates,” Lucas clarified, now directing his gaze towards me. “So therefore, I would like to issue a challenge.”

    I felt the anger bubbling up inside me, white hot rage. How dare this lowly Alpha try to challenge me and claim what was mine. 

    But before anybody could respond, I heard Raina’s almost manic laughter fill the room before she exclaimed, “You have got to be f*****g shitting me!”

    She shot up from her chair and pointed a finger in Lucas’s direction. “First of all, you are not a potential mate of mine. I want nothing to do with you. Second of all, I’m not some object that can be won as a prize just because someone decides they wanna be some macho man and claim me for themselves. I’m a person with my own thoughts and opinions, and right now, my only opinion is that you can take your stupid challenge and shove it right up your ass.”

    I smirked at this as I looked back towards Lucas, annoyed to see that rather than be offended, he actually looked slightly amused, entertained almost. 

    Alpha John cleared his throat and addressed Lucas, “Alpha Lucas, I believe you are mistaken. The mates challenge only applies if the unmarked and unmated female in question had two mates trying to claim her… From my understanding, Beta Raina hasn’t found her mate at all yet.”

    “That’s not true because I’m her mate,” I suddenly retorted before I could stop myself. 

    The whole room hushed, and I could see Raina staring at me with a furious expression, her eyes wide in disbelief. 

    f**k, I f****d up. 

    “Beta Raina, is this true?” Alpha John asked quietly, and all attention went back to her. 

    She took a deep breath, the fury in her eyes burning brightly before she tore her gaze away from me and directed it towards John. 

    “Yes, Alpha Damien is my mate,” she replied, her voice sounding small. 

    The room suddenly buzzed with chatter, whispers spreading about why Raina and myself would hide something like this. 

    “But I assure you, Damien is my only mate. I feel nothing towards Alpha Lucas,” she continued. 

    “That may be the case for you, but I know in my heart that you are my fated mate. I’ve felt the mate pull towards you since the moment I laid my eyes on you,” Lucas suddenly responded, and I wanted to vomit at the blatant lies. 

    Raina shot him an incredulous look and exclaimed, “You f*****g liar!”

    Xander suddenly grabbed her by the arm and forced her back in her seat, whispering something to her. She replied something back to him, and I wished I could hear what was being said. The whole crowd was consumed with whispers now, everyone wondering what was about to happen. 

    I wanted to skin Lucas alive for this little stunt he was trying to pull. He was trying to force my hand, knowing that if I were to lose the challenge to him, he would rightfully have a claim over Raina. 

    Like hell I would ever let that happen. 

    Alpha John called for silence, and everyone immediately quieted down before directing their attention towards him now standing on the stage. 

    “It appears the grounds of the challenge are legitimate,” he stated, almost sadly. “Alpha Damien? Do you accept this challenge?”

    “I acc—” I began, but I was immediately cut off before I could finish. 

    “I accept the challenge.”

    My eyes snapped over to see Raina standing in her seat again, her arms crossed against her chest in anger. Her expression was hard, and I could tell from all the way over here that she was pissed. 

    “Raina, you can't, you’ll be killed!” I exclaimed, standing up in my seat now. 

    “Beta Raina—”

    Raina defiantly held up her hand to cut Alpha John’s words off. “I am an unmarked and unmated she-wolf. My mate has no official claim over me. The bylaws do not say anything that prohibits me from fighting for my own hand. I accept Alpha Lucas’s challenge on my own behalf.”

    She snapped her steely glare towards Lucas, and if looks could kill, Lucas would’ve been struck dead right where he stood. 

    “Do you accept, Alpha Lucas?” she demanded, her expression never once softening. 

    He flashed her smile that could’ve been mistaken as charming if you didn’t know him or his true intentions, and I wanted to f*****g kill him. 

    “I accept,” Lucas responded. “This should be very interesting.”

    I looked at Alpha John with a pleading look in my eyes. “Alpha John, please, you can’t let this happen. Let me accept the challenge instead, please, she’ll die!”

    I heard Raina scoff before saying, “It would do you well to remember who you’re talking about. I am more than capable of handling myself, and I don’t need you fighting for me.”

    I flinched slightly at her words but turned my attention back towards Alpha John who only shook his head sadly at me. 

    “I’m sorry, Alpha Damien, but she’s right,” he responded. “The bylaws do not prohibit the she-wolf in question from accepting the challenge on her own behalf. This would just be the first time it’s ever happened. I can’t force her to turn it down; it’s entirely her decision.”

    I slumped back down in my chair, tuning out everything else. I was vaguely aware of the challenge being set for tomorrow at 6PM before Alpha John adjourned the meeting. The sound of scraping chairs broke me from my stupor, and I looked up in time to see Raina marching angrily from the conference hall, Xander and Owen following closely behind her. 

    I could tell Ethan wanted to talk to me, but I ignored him and immediately took off after Raina. 

    I found them outside and could hear both Xander and Owen pleading with her to back out of the challenge. 

    “Raina, I know you’re a very capable fighter, but he’s an Alpha,” I could hear Owen saying. 

    “More importantly, he’s an Alpha we know nothing about,” Xander added. “This guy could be dangerous, you could get seriously hurt!”

    “I don’t care!” Raina snarled viciously, running her hands through her hair. “If he thinks he can mess with me, then I’m gonna f*****g kill him! I’m gonna make him regret ever looking in my direction!”

    Her eyes snapped up as soon as she sensed my presence, and her eyes immediately narrowed. 

    “You!” she called through gritted teeth, seething with anger. 

    Her usual gray eyes were glaring at me, now completely black with rage. 

    She stalked towards me, and before I could say or do anything, she wound her fist back and punched me with full force square in the nose. I yelped at the sudden pain, hearing the c***k of my nose surely breaking. 

    “How dare you!” she screamed at me, fighting to break free from Xander’s arms that were suddenly restraining her. “You had no right! You had no right to announce to everyone that you were my mate, I told you I wasn’t ready! How dare you!”

    I kept my hand cupped over my now bleeding nose, wincing slightly at the pain. 

    “If you had just kept your f*****g mouth shut, Lucas would have had no grounds for the challenge!” Raina continued screaming at me. “This is your fault!”

    I grimaced slightly when I realized she was right. If I hadn’t said anything, and the Council believed that Raina didn’t have a legitimate mate yet—let alone “two”—Lucas’s claim for the mate challenge would have held no grounds. Goddess, why am I such an i***t?

    “Raina, I’m sorry,” I apologized, my voice sounding slightly muffled and nasally. “I couldn’t control myself, it was making me go crazy hearing him spout that bullshit about feeling the mate pull with you.”

    “I don’t care!” she yelled, staring at me with pure anger. “I told you I wasn’t ready, I told you I needed to think things through for myself, and now everybody f*****g knows, and now everybody has a f*****g opinion about what I should do while I’m still over here confused as s**t!”

    Xander was holding her against his chest, both his arms wrapped around her stomach, pinning her there as her feet dangled a few inches off the ground. I was honestly a little glad; she could f*****g punch. 

    After a few more seconds of struggling to break free, she stilled, crossing her arms against her chest and quietly cursing under her breath. 

    I took this time to take my T-shirt off, using it to wipe away the blood now smeared all over my face. Wincing slightly, I took a sharp breath before resetting my own nose. I grimaced at the pain but didn’t dwell on it for too long since I could already feel it beginning to heal itself. 

    “Raina, please, back out of the challenge,” I finally pleaded after the pain subsided enough for me to talk. “Let me do it instead. If you lose, he’ll have an actual claim over you.”

        “I’m not planning on losing,” she spat acidly. “I’m not kidding. I’m gonna f*****g kill him.”

    Xander finally released her after another minute or two, carefully setting her back down on her feet when he felt like he was sure she wouldn’t try to attack me again. 

    “Raina, Damien’s right,” he said, turning her by the shoulders so she was now facing him. “Are you sure you wanna take that chance? We don’t know anything about him, I don’t want you to do this.”

    I could see her frame visibly soften as she brought her hands up to cradle either side of his face. 

    “Xander, do you trust me?” she asked quietly. 

    “Yes, but—”

    “Do you trust in my abilities?” she cut off, not allowing him to finish his protest. 

    “Of course, but—”

    “Do you trust that I can do this? That I’ll make you and Silver Moon proud?” she finished, looking directly into his eyes. 

    He sighed. 

    I could tell that this was something that happened often between the two of them because it almost seemed rehearsed. 

    “Yes,” Xander finally responded. 

    Owen sighed and pulled her away from Xander into a tight embrace. “I don’t like it… But I trust you. Give him hell, Raina.”

    I stood there staring at them in disbelief, suddenly finding myself alone in my protests. 

————

    The next morning, I was a jumbled mess of nerves. My stomach was in knots, and I couldn’t eat anything in fear I’d throw it all back up. Ethan was trying to be understanding, trying to talk me down from the metaphorical ledge I was standing on, but I could barely process anything he said to me. 

    In less than six hours, Raina—my mate—would be fighting that sick bastard, and there was a very real chance I might lose her. Just the thought made me sick to my stomach. 

    I kept mostly to myself in my guest room, occasionally hearing people talking about it as they passed by my room. 

    “Yeah, and I heard her actual mate is that hottie from Emerald Moon! What a lucky girl!”

    “No kidding? Even that Lucas guy is gorgeous, too. Can you imagine having the two of them fighting over you?”

    I gritted my teeth in annoyance. They had no idea about the hell I was going through right now because of this stupid challenge, and they were talking about it so casually as if it were just the latest hot gossip. 

    I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, finding myself at a complete loss of what to do about Raina. I thought learning about her past would make it easier for me to fix our relationship, but it only made it harder. I was terrified I would either say or do the wrong thing, and she’d snap and leave me forever. 

    A soft knock on the door broke my mental babble, but I made no move to answer it, hoping the person would go away. 

    After a minute, there was another knock, and I growled, “Go away!”

    “Damien, it’s me.”

    The voice was so soft, but I knew instantly who it was. I almost didn’t want to believe it, almost didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I immediately shot up from the bed and ran towards the door, almost tripping over my own feet. I opened the door to reveal Raina standing there, and my heart swelled at the sight of her. 

    Even in just her simple black leggings and gray workout tank, she was the most beautiful person I’d ever laid eyes on. 

    “Can I come in? Is this a good time?” she asked shyly, hesitantly raising her eyes to meet mine. 

    “Of course, come in,” I responded immediately, opening the door wider to allow her enough room to walk past me. 

    She immediately took a seat on the loveseat in the corner, and I fought the urge to rush over to her and kiss her even though that was the one thing I wanted to do more than anything. She patted the open seat beside her, and after shutting the door, I strode across the room and sat down, turning to face her. 

    She turned in her seat to face me as well, bringing her knees up to her chest before she rested her chin on the top of her knees. 

    Bringing her tiny hand up to my face, she gently touched my nose and quietly said, “I’m sorry I punched you.”

    I smiled and grabbed her hand, laying her open palm flat against my cheek and relishing in the warmth that immediately coursed through me. 

    “It’s okay, my love,” I told her, “we’re even now.”

    She smiled weakly at me before raising her head from her knees to look me squarely in the face. 

    “Xander told me that he and Nathan told you everything… About my past...” She trailed off, staring at me hesitantly as if scared of how I might react. 

    I pulled her hand that was resting against my face to my lips and kissed it gently, nodding slowly at her. I was confused at first about why she was here with a complete 180 change in attitude from yesterday, but if she had talked to Xander beforehand, it made sense. 

    Goddess, I need to remember to grovel and thank him the next time I see him. I wasn’t sure what he had said to her, but I was thankful nonetheless. 

    She took a shuddering breath, and I noticed there were tears brimming her eyes. Pulling her towards me by her hand, I wrapped my arms around her tightly, thanking the Moon Goddess I was finally able to touch her again. I felt my shirt slowly dampen from her tears, her tiny body wracked with sobs. 

    I didn’t say anything, just let her cry it out and waited until she was ready to talk. The room was filled with sounds of her crying while I simply held her and stroked her hair in a soothing manner. After a few minutes, her sobs calmed down to a few quiet sniffles, and she shifted, leaning her full weight into me. 

    She caught me by surprise, and I lost my balance, falling backwards onto the couch. She was suddenly laying on top of me, but she didn’t make any movements to get away. In fact, she leaned even closer towards me, nestling herself securely in my arms and resting her head against my chest. 

    I smiled, feeling like my heart might burst from happiness. It felt so right just laying there, like this was exactly where I needed to be. 

    “I’m so sorry, Damien,” she apologized tearfully, and I shushed her, gently stroking her hair and placing a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m so sorry I was such a bipolar b***h to you.”

    She raised herself up, using her arms to brace herself against my chest as my hands instinctively went down to her hips to hold her steady.

    Staring directly into my eyes, she said, “I was just so confused about everything. I was so scared, I wasn’t sure what I wanted. But these last few days spent away from you were horrible. The aching in my chest made me feel like I was dying. Every time I saw you, I wanted to run straight into your arms, but I wouldn’t allow myself to, not until I was completely sure about everything.”

    She sniffled again, fighting back a new wave of tears before continuing, “And Goddess, I punched you! I was so blinded by my anger and consumed with my emotions, that I punched you! Amelia’s been so mad at me, she hasn’t stopped yelling at me.”

    I smiled at her, reaching a hand up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Your wolf’s name is Amelia?”

    She smiled slightly in return, nodding. “She had been ignoring me for three days because I had shut you out, then started yelling at me nonstop for punching you yesterday.”

    I laughed, my hand making its way back down to her hip. “You can tell Amelia that I’m fine. Her mate is a lot stronger than that.”

    She smiled before leaning back down and nestling her head back on my chest. 

    I held her tightly, never wanting to let her go again. I never wanted this moment to end, but I knew that in just a few hours, I might never get to hold her again. 

    “Raina.” 

    My voice sounded weak even to my own ears. 

    “Mm?” she responded against my chest. 

    “Please back out of the challenge.”

    She stiffened slightly in my arms before replying quietly, “I can’t do that, Damien. I’m sorry. This is about more than just you and me.”

    She sat up again, and I almost whined at the loss of her in my arms. 

    Staring directly into my eyes, she confidently stated, “I’m no one’s property. I won’t be bullied into submission by some dumbass Alpha who thinks that just because I’m a woman, I’ll gladly cater to his every desire. He needs to be taught a lesson, and I’m gonna make sure that I’ll be the one to teach it to him.”

    I stared at her for a moment before sighing, knowing that there was nothing I could say or do to change her mind. 

    Raising a hand to place on the side of her face, my fingers tangling themselves in her hair, I quietly asked her, “Can I kiss you?”

    She smiled before nodding, and I pulled her face down towards mine. The kiss was sweet and loving, but I made sure to pour all my love into it, so she knew that what I said next was genuine. 

    Breaking the kiss, I looked in her eyes and said, “Make sure you kick his ass. Make him regret ever messing with Raina Sterling. And then come back to me in one piece. Please promise me you’ll come back to me in one piece.”

    She smiled at this and nodded. 

    “I promise.”