I grinned with a nod and the rest of the group paired off again. We started sparing, it was light sparing and we did so for about an hour. Kevin tried to get the upper hand on me for the entire time, to no avail. When Victor called the light sparring to a halt I was laughing a little.

“You might need to pair off with Victor, Alyce. I don’t think any of our warriors could take you. You are fast and strong, I am happy to have you as our Luna.” Kevin complimented with a grin.

“Thank you Kevin, I will do my best to live up to the title.” I turned to Victor, “How about it? Wanna put your skills to the test?”

“No ma’am. I know you can take me. I’ve felt your aura. If you want a challenge you would have to take on Tristan or Daemon.”

“Daemon would be an interesting spar, he absolutely has an advantage with his height and reach. Too bad he’s not out here this morning.”

“What? You don’t want to spar with me?” Tristan scoffed, “Worried I’ll kick your butt?”

I arched an eyebrow at him with a smirk, “Not at all. More likely I’ll embarrass you in front of your pack by kicking your ass.”

There was an echo of ‘ooooooos’ throughout the crowd when I said I could kick his ass rather than him mine.

Victor’s eyes glazed over, *Spar at the training grounds! Alpha versus Luna! Start time, five minutes! My money’s on the Luna!* he sent out a pack wide link with a laugh, “It’ll be a show now.”

“Oh, you’re on Ma’am.” Tristan smirked as the crowd shifted and formed a circle around the sparring ring, “And Victor! How could you?! You really think Alyce can take me?”

Victor laughed, “I sure do. You forget where I’m from already? I know the blood coursing through her. My money is absolutely on her.”

“It’s not too late to back out Alpha, no one would blame you.” I grinned at him, tauntingly. The crowd was beginning to grow, more and more pack members coming to watch the event.

“Oh no Ma’am. This is happening.” Tristan chuckled.

“Don’t let her innocent look fool you! She’s fierce!” I heard Jake yell through the crowd and I laughed.

“Tooting your own horn Jake? I did learn it from you.” I cackled.

“No Ma’am, that’s all you. We just taught you how to use it!” Faith retorted as she joined her mate.

Mat and Cedric shoved through the crowd, “Kick his ass, Red!” Mat hooted and hollered.

Cedric was looking a little unsure beside him, “I’ve heard of Tristan’s skills. You really think Alyce will beat him? She’s a tiny thing.” he whispered to Mat

“Call me Red again and I’ll kick your ass next!”

Mat just laughed and Tristan was even snickering, “Don’t underestimate her based on her size. I’ve trained with her and my parents our whole lives.”

“It’s true, she may be small, but she is fiery and fierce.” Tristan added as his parents and Kami joined the crowd.

“This ought to be interesting.” Ivy murmured.

“At the very least it’s entertaining.” Kami snickered, giving me a thumbs up.

“Alright, time to start. Alpha, Luna, to the ring!” Victor bellowed.

Tristan and I came to the center of the ring and I flashed him a sweet smile, “May the best wolf win.”

“This will be a human form only fight, submission, forfeit, or mock killing blows will determine the winner. Jake and I will oversee the fight.” Victor spoke, waving Jake down to join him. Jake made his way down to the ring, coming to stand with Victor.

~Third Person~

Alyce grinned and kicked her shoes off to the side leaving her in her bare feet which caused some of the crowd to murmur curiously. It was not common to see someone train or spar in bare feet, but she always felt more grounded when she could feel the earth beneath her feet. She was the same way about all of her senses honestly.

Tristan grinned back and got into his ready stance. She followed suit as they prepared to spar. Victor and Jake took opposite sides of the ring so they could have a wider perspective between the two.

“Are you two ready?” Jake asked.

“I am.” Their answers were in unison and Jake nodded.

“Begin!” Victor declared as he and Jake moved to the edge of the ring.

Alyce and Tristan circled each other, neither one of them making a move as they studied each other. After a moment or two of this Tristan lunged for Alyce, trying to grab her and use his size to his advantage, but Alyce was prepared for this, it was a common tactic against her. She jumped at the last moment, putting her feet squarely in Tristan’s chest. This move sent her to the ground as he staggered backward, but she rolled with the landing and was back on her feet while he was focused on keeping his balance.

She didn’t give him a chance to recover, she ran toward him, dropping down and kicking her leg out to sweep his legs out from under him. He jumped back over her leg and she popped up, bringing her knee up into his abdomen. He grunted and doubled over, grabbing her ankle in the process. He shoved her backwards from her ankle and she stumbled, falling backward.

She landed on her back and used the momentum of the shove to carry her lower half back over her head, rolling to her feet and rushing him again. She feigned another kick and when he went to catch her leg again she dropped her leg and swung her left fist into his kidney. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her, flinging her horizontally across his body and sending her rolling across the ground.

Alyce landed with a thud, the air momentarily knocked out of her. She rolled away as he came towards her, getting to her feet with a little less enthusiasm than she had the first time. Tristan was circling her. She held her ribs like they were injured, waiting to see if he would fall for it. He stalked towards her, a grin on his lips, and when in range he swung his foot out toward her ribs.

Sucker! Alyce caught his foot, which caused him to stumble, and she flung him to the ground, going down with him and straddling his thighs as she shoved his hands under his butt, effectively pinning them with both their weight as she scooched upwards, sitting on hips. She let her fists fly into his sides, going for the soft flesh surrounding his organs rather than the tougher region of his ribs. She knew he would get free of the pin rather quickly so she jumped away after a few hits. She took a moment to glance around while he was curled up on the ground trying to get his bearings as he got to his feet.

She didn’t wait, she let out a feral growl and jumped on his back when he was about half-way up. Her arm went around his neck, choking him, her legs wrapping around his waist. She was like a little spider-monkey, refusing to release her grip, even as he launched himself backward, driving her into the ground with force.

They were both panting and groaning, trying to catch their breath. Tristan more so than Alyce as she had him in a choke hold. She was tougher than he had given her credit for. He rolled again, trying to get to his feet as he struggled to pry her arm from her neck.

Suddenly she let go, using the momentum of him pulling on her arm to swing herself around his frame like he was some kind of pole. Suddenly her face was in front of his and she grinned, kissing him swiftly.

Tristan blinked, a little confused as to why she was kissing him in the middle of a spar, but his instincts took over and he lowered his guard to enjoy the kiss. Only it ended as soon as he lost his focus and she was falling backward from his chest, but keeping her legs around his waist. This pulled him forward and she used her legs to fling him forward over her form as her hands hit the ground.

“That’s cheating!” Tristan yelled as he saw the ground rising to meet him quickly. After some tumbling the two came to rest with Alyce once again on top, but she had her fangs at his neck, mouth wide as though she were going to tear his throat out.

“ENOUGH!” Jake yelled, while Victor was also bellowing, “Final blow!”

“Everything is fair in war!” Alyce laughed as she got to her feet, offering a hand to Tristan. Tristan took it, getting to his feet as he pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply. He was proud that she had won.

“Your winner! Luna Alyce!” Jake announced as he walked over to the couple with Victor.

The crowd erupted into a mix of cheers and heckling. Tristan laughed and grabbed one of Alyce’s wrists, raising it up in victory, “I am proud to know that my mate, your Luna can go toe to toe with the best of them! We are a lucky pack to have such an amazing, strong leader in our pack!”

Alyce blushed a bit, “I have no doubt that this battle could have gone either way! Tristan is as tough as his reputation says he is, I am the lucky one to have him, and all of you!”

More cheering, less heckling in the crowd which was quickly silenced by Victor letting out a high pitched whistle, “Alright, training is over for the day, go get yourselves some breakfast, I will see some of you later for the evening training session.”

The crowd started to disperse, many of the pack members patting Tristan on the shoulder as they passed, either giving him crap or congratulating him on having such a strong mate. Many of the women were asking Alyce about training them herself.

Alyce smiled, “It’s something we can discuss further another time. There are some matters that need to be attended to before I can set anything in stone, but I am flattered that you would ask and we will revisit this once the pressing matters are taken care of. In the interim, maybe you can get together a list of those interested and find some times and days that will accommodate everyone.”

“Of course, Luna.”

“Thank you, Luna!”

“We’ll work on that straight away!”

“Oh, no rush. We have time!” Alyce laughed a bit as the women wandered off towards the pack house for breakfast.