I had woken up about half an hour ago and I had come down to eat breakfast with the others. However, Theo and the higher ranked wolves could not be seen anywhere. Somewhere inside of me hoped that Talia had ditched the duel. My anger and drive from last night was long gone. I just wanted to do nothing. But if she chose proceed, then may all hell break loose.

Upon my arrival, all the wolves had quickly gotten up and left, dumping their leftover breakfast. They told their friends about their newfound excitement on training purposely loud enough for me to hear.

It was pretty clear to me that it was merely an act. Even if I had only stayed for two nights in this pack, I knew that training didn't begin until a quarter of an hour later.

I knew that they felt restless and even some, disgusted at my mere presence. It would be surprising if someone actually cheered for my victory.

I'll cheer for myself if I have to.

I try to not let them get to me by focusing on my growing hunger instead.

I look around the room, only to realize that there was no extra meals. I didn't want to disturb the kitchen servants just to cook for me.

I grab an apple, considering it was the only thing I could find since I was too lazy to make a sandwich.

I was about to leave the kitchen, when a craving pops in my mind. Looking down the apple for the longest time, I try to resist this craving.

Too healthy.

I walk back to the pantry and grab a can of Pepsi.

Then there was footsteps. Boisterous, loud footsteps.

A hunk of flesh with long curly hair enters the room. Everyone in this pick must be really mad. Everyone seems to wake up on the wrong side of bed every morning.

It was Beta Felix. His gaze fixated on me before he stomps to the pantry a few feet away from me.

Soda in one hand and an apple on my other hand, I gape at him. Him slamming the cabinets as he grabbed a peanut butter container and bread made it feel too awkward to make any movement.

My feet remain planted on the ground. I took a risky move and bit into the apple, making a small 'crunch.'

Beta Felix's eyes snap to mine for a fraction of a second before returning to his task.

At the corner of my eye, I grew wary as he grabs a table knife, roughly plunges it into the peanut butter container, and spreads it on the bread. His brows were furrowed as he repeated this process.

He huffs as he hurls the the knife into the sink, not bothering to wash it. Then, his head snaps to me.

What did I do now?

On his face was the same enraged expression he wore the second he entered the kitchen and even, from yesterday's lunch.

Geez, this guy was a rock.

I was about to take a bite of my apple when he takes a step towards ms, grabs the fruit, and flings it into a trash bin.

I stare at him, my jaw on the floor due to this act of monstrosity.

The Beta grabs my hand, twists so that my palms were facing up, and places a peanut butter sandwich on my hand.

Without saying a word, he stomps out of the room while munching on another sandwich.

This pack must be really insane.

I take a bite of the sandwich, thankful that its taste was not like it's hideous outer appearance.

I make a mental note to thank him one day as I munched away.

I spend the last 15 minutes stretching and warming up for the upcoming face-off.

When I had finished, I picked someone's lock and stole a black oversized shirt and black sweatpants to wear under my cloak.

No way in hell was I fighting without it.

Taking one last look at a mirror, I grin, glad that I looked like a grim reaper.

I make my way to the training grounds, where I was told the fight was taking place in.

When I had arrived there, the area was surrounded by hundreds of werewolves who were anticipating for my defeat—maybe even death.

Their attention immediately focused on me when I made my presence known. Conversations ceased—a presentation of my wonderful and jaw dropping presence. I march to where an angry Talia was.

"Mommy, I'm scared, she looks like those bad guys from Harry Potter," a little girl says as she tugged on her mother's dress. Her mother hushed her.

The crowd exploded into whispers once again as I got closer to Talia, who looked more irritated every second I closed the distance between us.

"Dressed like a grim reaper, I see," she tells me in an irritated tone. "No wonder you were late. How was the Halloween Party?"

I wasn't gonna deny it. Talia was a beautiful woman, but the ugly sneer she frequently wore nulled out that trait.

"It was great," I mutter. "I'll admit, however, that your costume outshined mine. Who did you come as? The Hulk?"

Talia ended the conservation with a growl, which resulted in a smug smile on my face. We didn't dare speak to each other in the next few minutes, itching to get this over with.

I watch as the wolves regarded me, inspecting my worth. I made sure to catch their eyes and give them a menacing growl in return. Immediately, they diverted their attention and pretended to be infatuated with one another.

To my fortune, the conservations soon ended when my mate's alluring scent reaches me. He refused to spare anyone a glance as he hops up the slab and sits on a stone like chair.

The wolves didn't speak and only bowed slightly to Theo, who wore an indifferent expression in his face. His grey eyes were cold and deprived of any signs of emotion.

Following him right after was his Beta, Gamma, and Gamma Female. Both his Deltas were nowhere to be found.

Pussies.

Theo didn't waste any time, merely opening his mouth to release a stern, "You may commence."

There was no other words spoken and no long speeches as if fights like this have occurred too many times to be counted.

Or maybe they just wanted to cut to the chase, eager to see the outcome of this battle.

I take a quick glance on his steely grey eyes. As if noticing me shooting lasers with my eyes, he finally acknowledges my existence.

The last thing I saw before concentrating back to the fight was the amused twinkle in his eyes.

Talia lunges at me right away—a move that was usually risky. Clearly, she thought I was weak and could easily defeat me. I take a step on my right on reflex and unleash the dagger I was allowed to wield.

Talia didn't bring any weapons, relying only on her claws and her werewolf form. What's up with these werewolves and being one with their wolves?

She was playing the offensive side, knowing based on our last meeting that I would crumble under one touch. One mistake and I would be dead meat. It was a truth I cannot deny.

I was forced to play the defensive side just like I had planned. Then, I would tire her out so I could utilize my final move—a weapon that I've been waiting to set free.

My plan was simple, yet it was one that lack decency. Wolves took pride in their combative strategies. Running, dodging, and play defense for most of the match was definitely not one that was prideful.

But when you want to win, you've got to do everything to win. I wasn't one to give throw my sword away so that my enemy and I could fight equally.

It always confused me why movie characters make a whole ass speech before killing off someone.

Talia charges towards me and swings her fist, targeting my nose and likely hoping that she would successfully hit me, which would cause temporary vision loss.

To her dismay, I easily took a step back, her punch barely missing my nose by a few inches.

We continued the same process: me dodging and her targeting my face, attempting to land a hit on my jaw and nose.

I notice her quickly shifting her weight, striving to hit me with a roundhouse kick. I duck and swiftly dive, slashing her leg with my dagger.

She growls in frustration.

She recovers quicker than I imagined and she succeeded in landing a hard punch to my shoulder.

I wince slightly, the impact throwing me off by a little bit.

I too, recover quickly and avoided another punch coming my way.

This time, Talia fakes a move. The sight of her right fist yielding back and her left fist aiming for stomach with undeniably incredible speed was too easy for me to not miss.

I yank her arm and propel away from her.

I could see the aggravation on her face. Her last bits of patience were trickling away by the second.

Her strikes became more predictable—too predictable.

"What is this? A game of Infected? A round of tag?"

I didn't dare waste my breath and only release a chuckle.

Talia swings her arm to strike my kidneys—a move that was again too obvious. I swerve and evade it too easily. Her moves were becoming riskier and more obvious. She was set on ending the match as quickly as possible.

I, however, had different plans.

She charges towards me in order to close our distance. Taking the close range as an advantage, she attempts to throw a left punch and an uppercut. Again, it was too predictable.

I speedily lean away.

For a long time, she continues to waste her energy by throwing useless punches and pointless kicks. I could tell that she was getting more and more agitated.

However, this drill was soon discontinued when Talia leaps towards me and shifts mid air, her wolf form too quick to avoid in human form and too heavy for my weak self to sustain.

I notice the air around me as it stilled. Spectators held their breaths in unintentionally and leaned forward, waiting for me to shift. They were anxious as they waited every passing second that I did not shift into wolf form.

The thing is, I couldn't.

Not on my own will, at least.

Talia realizes this and the bright yellow eyes of her grey—almost white—wolf snap at me with a satisfied gleam.

She pawed at me and scratched me repeatedly with her claws.

Welp, this was definitely gonna leave a mark.

She managed to inflict a damage on my jaw causing blood to drip from my jaw to my neck. I groan. There was a harmonious intake of breath among the audience.

With my last bits of strength, I grasped her paw, struggling to push her wolf away from me. I managed to keep her away from me but only a moment now and she would ultimately be released from my hold.

Come on, come on, come on. Make me mad, you goddamn fool.

Talia unbinds herself from my control and bites into my neck. I was able to make ends meet by ramming my knee on her wolf before she could fully injure me.

I needed something to make me angry to the point my wolf would show itself.

For a quick second, I glance at Giovanni, knowing that his smug expression would make me furious.

And it did.

The satisfied, ugly smirk on what could have been a handsome face made me enraged. He notices my stare and his smirk only widens.

Even better.

If he only knew that he had caused my victory.

My heart thrums with vigor and my stomach churns with anticipation.

I was blazing, my temper increasing uncontrollably. I was about to go apeshit any second now. I felt the familiar feeling of my skin morphing and my bones cracking painlessly. I also perceive the feeling I knew too well of me losing control.

I shift quickly into my wolf form, void of any pain. My wolf, who looked fairly normal with her light brown fur, except for the permanent gruesome scar that ran across her side, pounced on Talia.

Talia was powerless against my wolf's strength and weight, who growled dangerously at her. My wolf clawed and bit at her body, leaving unsightly scars that healed too slow for a normal wolf. She repeated this until Talia's whimpers faded and only the sharp intake of breaths and gasps were heard, the air around me a disturbing silence.

Talia irritated the both of us and she would do anything to dispose of this threat.

"STOP!" I hear Celestina command.

My wolf's blood red eyes look up to Theo, who sported a cold facade, yet I didn't miss the devilish twinkle in his eyes.

My wolf strikes at Talia's wolf one last time, making sure to leave an ugly scar that would forever remind her of us for the rest of her life.

It was a threat.

She was warning everyone.

A/N gonna make same major editing and changes soon because I never realized how crappy the story actually sounded so ignore pls 😙