Natalia’s P. O. V

They gaped at me for several seconds, frozen in place. Slow realisation bled into Harry’s face while Callum’s was struck with cautious, unsure recognition.

“Ari…” Harry said, drawing my name out slowly with caution.

I inclined my head and matched his tone with mock exaggeration, “Harry…”

“What are you doing here?” He tried to keep his voice light, but we could all hear the underlying tension.

By now, other members had noticed my sudden presence and were approaching us with confusion and curiosity. I didn’t miss the few mesmerised looks my allure garnered, but my attention remained on my uneasy targets before me.

“Oh, I just thought I’d stop by.” I waved nonchalantly, like my very presence didn’t hold the implications it did.

He took a few steps forward, and Callum remained planted in place, “It isn’t very appropriate to just drop by like that. We’re allies, you could have placed a visit request.”

“Oh, we’re allies?” I gave him a puzzled look and got to my feet, “Perhaps it’s cause I’m a new Alpha so maybe I just don’t know, but you haven’t acted like an ally at all.”

“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.” His tone was insufferably placating, “We just had two members pay you a visit.”

I clasped my hands together, “Oh, yes, the visit. That was a bit of nasty work. I have to say, this pack plays dirty, but then again, I guess you’ve always been like this. Good thing I dealt with the problem.”

At that, cracks in his ruse began to form, “Where are our envoys?” He demanded, his hands in fists and the air tense with his poorly veiled apprehension.

“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.” I parroted.

“Brittany and James…” He was anxious now, the caution for his sister’s sake holding back his obvious desire to resolve the problem before him with violence, “My sister and the Gamma, where are they?”

“I think you’re forgetting one person, unless Hannah just wandered all the way to my territory without your knowledge.”

The reveal of my knowledge shut him up and eroded what remained of his earlier pretence. His eyes followed me like a hawk, watching my every step as I moved to a table and picked up one of the little knickknacks that decorated the entrance area. I turned the small, chipped ceramic figure over in my hands, ignoring his loaded glares, Callum’s ghostly gape, and the curious stares of the gathering members.

“Oh, they’re here, by the way.” I said lightly, not bothering to look at him, “Just… out of commission for the time being.”

“What did you do?” His voice was low with threats.

This time I looked at him and smiled, “Nothing they didn’t deserve.”

His temper beat out his caution, and he rushed at me. The next instant stretched out to an eternity. He charged at me, face twisted in fury and claws outstretched in a half-shift. Callum snapped out of his daze, springing into action to catch Harry’s arm. All the while, the thrumming heat under my skin rose to an inferno and pooled under my palms, one hand reflexively raised to hurt him before he could me.

Callum stopped Harry before he could reach me, managing to hold him back with a strength he shouldn’t have had, “Don’t touch her!”

Harry whipped around, still full of violence, “I swear to Luna, Callum! What the fuck is wrong with you? You’d better have a fucking good reason for this!”

Callum didn’t pay him any mind, and instead looked at me with eyes brimmed with tears, “You didn’t die…”

I lowered my hands and stood upright, giving him a sour look to match the sneer of my voice, “Way to jump the gun, Callum.”

Harry looked back and forth between the two of us in mounting anger and confusion, “What the fuck are you two talking about? Callum, are you working with this bitch?” He wrenched his arm out of Callum’s grip, rounding on him with suspicious eyes, “You’ve been on thin ice for months, I should have stripped you of your title when you started moping about two years ago, and your cheating only made it worse.”

Callum met his gaze and his face contorted with sudden, explosive anger, “Like you’re one to fucking talk! You’ve cheated with almost every girl who’s even spared you a glance but you’re judging me for a stupid drunken kiss I already regret? I wish Kylie were here so she could find out how her inept Alpha mate is pack property. And let’s not even get started on your dear sister and her fucking harem! I mean, who has a whole ass harem for fuck’s sake?!”

Harry gaped at him in shock which was quickly overtaken by ire at such open disrespect, “Who do you think you’re talking to? You might be the Beta but-”

“Keep your fucking title!” Callum spat, “Kirstin had the right idea, I’m leaving this goddamn pack. And I hope whoever was lucky enough to get rejected by you for fucking Kylie leaves too!”

Harry looked like he’d been doused with ice, his face frozen with what looked suspiciously like remorse. I wondered if seeing that look on his face would change anything for Kirstin.

The members around us started chattering at the revelation that Harry and Kylie were not, in fact, meant for each other. And speculations of their original mates soon surfaced among them.

Callum didn’t seem to know who his true mate was, but I had no idea if Kirstin wanted that little tidbit known so I kept my mouth shut. Harry recovered soon enough, and shot Callum a venomous look, “Go then, and make sure you take your real mate with you before I get my hands on her.”

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At that, Callum’s attention immediately returned to me, with that stupid hopeful look on his face. He didn’t approach, didn’t even utter a word, lest I fly away like a startled butterfly. Harry eventually followed his gaze, turning to me with knitted brows as he slowly pieced together the puzzle before him.

“Don’t tell me…” He trailed off, looking at me with new eyes. Then he turned back to Callum, incredulous, “That’s your mate?”

The very insinuation of being mated to Callum filled me with fire and disgust, but I smothered my urge to deny it, and instead shifted the topic, “That’s not what matters right now, is it Harry?”

His face went dark, “No, it’s not. I won’t ask you again, why are you here and what have you done with my sister?”

I extended the hand still holding the figure and unceremoniously dropped it, letting the shattered shards fill the floor between us. Before he could look up from the ground in his shock, I stated evenly, “I’m here to challenge you.”

Harry’s P. O. V

I looked at her, the incredulity of it all leaving my mouth agape.

My sister, bitch as she was, was in the clutches of this nobody of an Alpha, all so she could challenge me?

I burst out laughing, my entire body shaking as my relief and amusement spilled out of me.

I’d been worried that she wanted to use Brittany to blackmail us, to force our hand in some way. I’d dreaded the tongue lashing I’d get from dad, because even though the plan for sabotaging her pack had been his prerogative and Brittany’s design, the failure of that plan would still be my fault somehow. I’d thought of how her, and later Callum’s, blatant disregard of who I was would reflect in the other members attitudes going forward.

But all I had to do to circumvent all that was just beat her in a challenge? With Brittany and James, she could have approached us any number of ways but instead chose this? Who even challenged anyone anymore anyway?

It was funny how stupid she was.

“On what grounds?” I asked her, wondering what ridiculous excuse she’d come up with.

“Honour.”

I laughed again, “You can’t be fucking serious. That’s the lie you’re going with? None of my members have ever done anything to yours.” She couldn’t possibly be challenging me over whatever Brittany and James may have done, not when she already had them Luna-knows-where. If anything, we should be the ones challenging her over our missing members.

She didn’t budge, “I don’t care what you think you know, this is a challenge of honour. You can accept it, or I can find some other way to right this wrong.”

Was this bitch threatening me?

“I accept your damn challenge.” I ground out.

I’d just get one of the packs vying for our allegiance to oversee it and spread the word of how I absolutely dominated her.

She gave me another one of her blood-boiling smiles, “Great. Let’s go.” She told me then turned for the door.

My brows furrowed in annoyance, “What are you talking about? Are you so new that you don’t even know that we need another Alpha to oversee the challenge? And it can’t be one of your puny allies.”

She looked back at me, “I know, I brought one already.” Her expression shifted to mock concern, “Or is this too soon for you?”

My eyes narrowed at her insinuation, “No.”

Whoever she brought didn’t matter, she was still going to lose and once we got our members back from her, there’d be hell to pay.

I pushed past her with a grunt and stalked over to the training grounds. We rarely used it, but it would serve for this sham of a challenge. I could barely hear her footfalls, but was acutely aware of her trailing behind me, Callum behind her, and the curious members from the house several paces behind him.

Closer to the grounds, I saw Beta Howling at the entrance, speaking to someone beyond the door with barely contained exasperation and panic. When he noticed me, he hurriedly excused himself and jogged over to me.

“Harry, where have you been?” He near-demanded, then looked behind me and at Ari, “Who is she?”

I pushed aside my annoyance at his omission of my title, “What’s going on?”

I‘d heard his voice requesting for me in my head some minutes ago, but had ignored it for the problem in front of me, thinking it due to my absence from the work house.

“We have a situation. Some Alphas just walked onto our territory and are refusing to leave. They said they’re waiting for you.”

Some?

I glanced back at Ari, and she met my eyes with a cool gaze.

I turned back to him, “This Alpha is a recent ally of ours. She’s unpleased about something and has come to challenge me.”

Beta Howling had been running point with Brittany on her mission, and got the hint immediately, “I see. Then that must be why Alpha Claw is here.”

My eyes widened, “Alpha Aaron Claw?” Of the Claw mood Pack?

He nodded.

I turned back to her again, this time finding her looking at me with expectant eyes. Something in me told me to be careful, but when her lip quirked up in a smirk, my irritation flared and burned away any echo of caution.

‘Let’s teach this bitch not to mess with us.’ Tay growled in my head.

“Have the preparations made for a challenge.” I ordered.

Several members sprung into action. Beta Howling opened his mouth to interject, but I shot him a glare that shut him up and sent him off. One of the members guided her around to one of the opponent locker rooms, while I marched off to the other.

Alpha Aaron Claw, head of the Claw Moon Pack, the second largest and most influential pack in existence. He’d brushed our alliance requests aside and dodged conversation with dad whenever he tried to connect in the Palace. How that bitch had managed to get him to officiate this sham of a challenge, I had no idea, but it didn’t matter.

He was here, in the flesh and on our territory.

My easy win would leave a good impression before I went to greet him after the challenge was over. He’d admire my strength and we’d talk. I’d be able to do what my dad couldn’t and forge an alliance.

In my locker room, I perused the selection of weapons before me. I questioned if I even needed them to achieve the complete victory I was certain of, but picked the pair of knuckle dusters anyway. I could hear the chatter of voices grow, as members from all over the pack, drawn by the fast-spread news of the situation, gathered in the seats.

A voice called out, quieting the crowd instantly, and its power told me it belonged to Alpha Claw.

“Lightwood Pack.” He addressed us, “Pardon our intrusion. This is a most unusual visit, I’m sure, but today’s case is just as unusual. What is about to take place today is a challenge of honour between Alpha Ari of the Vengar Sanguine Pack and your very own Alpha Harry Lightwood. She called me here as the officiant and the rest of the Alphas with me as spectators.”

He paused for the chatter that arose, but it died as soon as he continued, “Per the customs of a challenge of honour, should Alpha Ari lose, she will return to her pack unvindicated. Should Alpha Lightwood lose, he will receive any punishment Alpha Ari sees fit.”

He paused again, this time purely for dramatic effect. This time, the whole grounds were still, every mouth silent with expectation.

“Let the challenge begin.”