“Just because I didn’t play dirty in class doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass,” I snarled. Sydnee’s face turned red, sparks of anger flashing in her eyes.
Just when I thought she might actually go for it and challenge me right here and now, more commotion in the hallway had her releasing me and stepping back. I moved away quickly, shocked to see that Grey had challenged someone else after defeating Adriana.
While the first fight had been over almost before it began, Elana was more of a fighter than Adriana, and things were quickly escalating as the two wolves snapped their jaws and clawed at each other. Blood soaked the carpet, and my heart dropped. Would this one be a fight to the death?
We’d been here less than a week, and there had already been three challenges. Contestants were dropping like flies.
I saw Jessica moving toward me, and I hurried to meet her. “Should we do something? Get somebody? They look like they’re going to kill each other.”
“No, we can’t interfere in a challenge.” Then she leaned in and whispered, “What did Sydnee say to you?”
I shook my head, not wanting to get into it right now. Just when I thought someone was surely going to die, Grey finally submitted to Elana. I glanced at Sydnee, who was fuming. So, her little buddy was now out of the Contention. I’d bet my last dollar that she was the one who’d put Grey up to the challenges in the first place. That seemed about right—Sydnee having someone else do her dirty work.
The wolves both shifted back, and staff was already rushing in to assist them. Elana was losing blood fast from a bite on her thigh, and she was carried off to the infirmary.
“Okay, show’s over.” That was Willow. “Back to your rooms.”
A flood of assistants filled the hallway, ushering the rest of us back into our rooms.
“Are you okay?” Faye asked, giving me a once-over when she found me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” A little shaken up, but physically I wasn’t hurt.
“Good. Let’s get you cleaned up for your dinner with Kessa.”
In the chaos, I’d nearly forgotten my hard-won victory. It may have been a shitty day on most counts, but at least I could say I’d won this fair and square—and Sydnee had won nothing at all.
“Yes, that sounds great.” I smiled at Faye, surprising her when I said, “And you know what? I’ll even let you pick my dress.”
11
HOLDEN
For two nights in a row, I hadn’t dined with the contestants. Last night’s council meeting was to be a standard affair, discussing the technicalities of what needed happen over the coming months as I took over as alpha. Instead, it had turned into hours of discussion about Kayden’s pack.
Not only was Branson not completing his monthly check-ins with my father, as all regional alphas were required to do, but he had stopped responding to any messages or calls. Last night this all came to light when I brought up how Branson had behaved when we’d visited.
According to some members of the council who were our liaisons to all the packs, Branson had been poaching other packs’ members and bringing them into his fold. The real question was,why? What was he playing at? I couldn’t be sure, but instinct told me Branson was a troublemaker who was gearing up to create even more problems.
I sighed as I walked into the largest of our meeting rooms, where we would hopefully take care of the business we hadn’t gotten to last night. It held at least a hundred people, though only a quarter of that was present tonight. It was frustrating that I needed to spend so much time dealing with Branson when I was also supposed to be finding my future mate.
“Holden,” Garrett called, waving me over to where he was standing at the front of the room with my father and his beta, David.
I joined them, and Garrett grinned. “How’s lover boy today?”
Father chuckled and clapped me on the back. “Yes, son, any favorites yet?”
“Still getting to know everyone.” Even though I shook my head, my mind drifted to Kayden. She wasn’t afavorite, per se, but I felt more connected to her than anyone else—which was strange since she didn’t like me and clearly didn’t want to be here.
“Garrett and I were just discussing some of the upcoming changes that will need to be made as you take over,” David said, steering the subject away from the Contention and getting right to business. He handed me a sheet of paper. “This is a list of the retiring members of the council. You’ll need to fill these seats quickly.”
I glanced down at the paper realizing there would be more vacancies than I’d thought. “Many members are retiring.” I looked up at my father. “Is this typical?”
He nodded. “Yes, it was the same when I took over. Many of these council members have served with me from the very beginning. Thirty-five years is a long time. Besides, it will be good to establish a new guard. You want a team that can work well with your style of leadership. A fresh start is often the best.”
We’d discussed the intricacies of this before, but now that I saw which positions coming open, I could start thinking about who I wanted to work with.
“So, what’s on the agenda tonight?” I asked, folding the paper and tucking it into my pocket for closer review later.