The Adopted Alpha

Taste of victory

A lot of the pack members were came by to watch the competition. Some stopping for a few minutes and going back to things they needed to do while others sat to watch most of it.

The first round of the competition was a fairly easy one. They were given given colored flash cards and told to find and bring back two flags of the same shade scattered randomly in the woods. The first eight to return would proceed to the next round.

Clare got a red flashcard. One the other end was

"First you see me in the grass dressed in yellow gay; next I am in dainty white, then I fly away."

Clare immediately knew where her flags were. She ran into the woods and headed straight for the patch of dandelions.

There planted in their midst was her red flags. She quickly pulled them out and ran back out. She was the third person out and so, she automatically proceeded to the second round.

Clare grinned to herself, all the time spent solving riddles in her aunt's riddles books actually paid off.

Wait till aunt Lilith heard that!

For the next round, they were separated into two groups and cross paired. Clare mentally groaned when she was spared with Jeff.

"I don't want a f*****g weakling as my partner." He retorted at Tony sparing her a poisonous glare.

Whatever, she gave him a bored look, she was even less eager to be partnered with him too.

"Watch your tongue, Zachary." Delta Tony growled in warning. "You are not partners anyway. The person you are partnered with is your opponent. Team D is to Defend and Team O is to Attack." He announced to the remaining contestants.

Clare was on Team D which meant she had to assume a defensive mode for that round.

"Stuffed animals have been kept in designated spots in the woods. You would both have to find your wards using new flashcards." He raised a set of flashcards at them before continuing.

"The defensive mission is to get the animal back here safely within the hour. The offensive however are to prevent it by any means necessary." Then he added after seeing the evil grin Team O members gave the other team. "The sentence for murder is a minimum of ten years and attacking with malicious intent can get you disqualified from the competition. So, you had better get your head in the game."

Clare got a card that said to go atop the river birch by the river to get her ward.

At the blow of the whistle, Clare ran into the woods with the rest, then took a different path. A short cut to the river she had discovered during her many nature runs that she often did.

If she got there first and escaped through the short cut, she would not even have to face Jeff.

It would be so funny to watch him walk out confused about not finding her when the whistle was blown for the end of the round.

She got there on time and began climbing the tree. The birch was not an easy one to climb but she had found a way to do that once so she went ahead.

The tree was forked into two trunks, with the stuffed animal hanging on one of the branches.

After getting the monkey, she began to run back the way she came.

Clare came a crashing halt when a black wolf jumped into her front, Jeff Zachary.

"Hand over the animal, Omega, and I won't hurt you." He sneered into her mind through the pack mental link.

Clare was not going down that easy, the least he could say is 'please!'.

"I'd like to see you try." She yelled at her bully. He answered with a snarl and jumped straight at her. Clare turned to her right to avoid his sharp claws and sharply delivered a spinning kick to his side with as much force as she could muster.

Which was a lot apparently as his wolf tumbled and stayed down for a few seconds before getting back up and shaking his head.

Clare tucked the monkey into the pockets of her sweatshirt knowing that she had just enraged her bully and he was not going to let her go that easily.

Jeff barked several at her as he encircled her ready to pounce. Clare turned with him not taking her eyes off him and simultaneously searching the floor for some means of defense.

Coming up with a plan, turned finally showing him her back and hence an opportunity to attack, she ran a nearby birch tree. She could hear his paws hitting the ground behind her and a dangerous growl from his throat.

Clare braced herself and jumped sliding right through the narrow trunks of the tree. The much bigger wolf behind her though, got stuck.

Clare gave herself a mental thumb up at the success of her plan as she headed back to the training ground, monkey in hand. Let him try to free himself while she won the game.

They had a little break before the third round. Clare had a snack and tugged down half a bottle of water to wet her parched throat. She then poured the remaining half on her face and neck to cool down from the hot sun before using the towel provided her to dry herself up.

The third round would be a fighting round so, she was ready for her big reveal. During the break, Aunt Lilith and the Luna had joined the spectators.

They gave her encouraging smiles and thumbs up from their place halfway across the field.

They were the only friendly face to her then. Jeff especially looked bitter at loosing the competition. And especially sour at his friends teasing him for loosing to an Omega.

She avoided his gaze while he kept staring at her with a hint of confusion but majorly anger as he held an ice pack to his left trunk that had a huge bruise from her kick.

Hopefully he had taken the hint that she could not be messed with easily again. If he hadn't, this next round was more likely to get the message across.

Clare took off her sweatshirt, not wanting to get it torn in her unavoidable scuffle with her opponent.

What? It was one of her favorite clothes, okay?

Clare stood in the imaginary ring in a black sports bra and her grey joggers. There were four contestants left. Herself, Kat Zachary;Jeff's older twin was staring her down with as much hatred as her brother was, Michael Myers; the son of a rouge that joined the pack years ago and a beta by rank, and Rick Adam; Her adoptive cousin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final round of the intrapack Treis-dynámis Tournament." Harry Zachary, the Beta announced when it was about time for them to start.

By then, most of the pack members were on the field surrounding the training grounds looking forward to the most exciting event, the one part they would actually witness. And more were arriving.

Clare felt her stomach in a knot as she realized that this was it. It was now or never.

And she did not know what to expect. She had not met anyone that had switched ranks before and she didn't know how people would react to her morph.

A figure in a black getup arriving with her father caught her eye. Clare squinted, not believing what she saw. Hunter Pyrros was here, in the tournament?

He was not even a werewolf! She saw him look in her direction, staring straight at her then gave her a little wave.

Her lips pulled into a wide grin as she gave him a more enthusiastic wave. This was definitely a nice perk from having an Alpha father.

Hunter nodded at her before following her father to find a seat next to her Aunt and Mom.

Clare felt her nerves relax as she was them all together. A new found confidence washed all over her, if her family were here, she was going to be okay.

Clare forced her mind back to the present when her name was called.

"....and Clare Adam-Baros. And for the second round, we have Michael Myers and Rick Adam. The winners would then represent our pack at the Treis-dynámis regional Tournament."

The crowd roared loud, a lot of people began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Get them, girl!!" Aunt Lilith shouted above the murmuring around her waving her hands carelessly in the air along with Julia. The sight bringing a smile to Clare's face.

Yeah! She was going to be fine.

When the whistle was sounded for the start of her fight with Kat, Clare took her place and assumed an alert stance like Hunter taught her.

Kat's friends and supporters were all chanting her name. Clare was unfazed by that, especially not when her two mother figures were yelling hers above the other hubbubs.

She tuned it all out, reducing them to white noise. She needed to concentrate on Kat.

They both encircled each other waiting for the other to attack first. Clare didn't make a move knowing that the other's need to settle a score with her would wear out her patience soon.

True enough, Kat lunged at her with a jab. Clare sidestepped to avoid it but Kat seemed to have expected that as she threw a second one at her side.

Clare clenched her teeth in a silent hiss as Kat smirked at her and her supporters went wild. "That's for the bruise you gave my brother." She spat.

The other girl seemed less reluctant to attack anymore as she came at Clare with an uppercut. Clare reacted quickly raising her right leg and bringing it down on Kat's wrist.

Kat retracted her hand in pain.

Clare then attacked with another kick to Kat's midriff returning the favor. Kat retreated with a glare as the crowd went "ooh!"

Desperate not to lose face, Kat transformed into her wolf. "Come on, Omega. Play time is over."

The moment was right now, Clare decided. A band-aid or a slow burn.

Clare decided a band-aid was more to her advantage. "Let's see what you've got." She taunted smirking at the beta.

As expected, the wolf reacted out of fury and came at her snarling. Clare morphed when Kat was a few feet from her and went straight for her neck.

Kat never saw it coming. In one second, she was predator pouncing, the next she was prey underneath an Alpha wolf with Clare's teeth clutching her jugular but not clamping down while her weight pressed onto her from above stilling all her movements.

The whole crowd was eerily silent. Deathly still. Then the whistle sounded.

Clare had won.