Chapter 24

**Justin’s POV—The next day**

I tossed and turned all night. Between my need to be around my mate and Ares incessant whining, I did not know what was driving me crazier. At this point, it was Ares. He was constantly complaining about wanting his mate and letting him take control so “he can go get what is his.” I tried telling him this was not what would attract any female, but he did not listen. He told me that I needed to listen to my “baser instincts.” All I could do was shake my head at him.

I was now getting ready to head to the pack house for a meeting with Elder Christopher. He linked me last night and asked me if I could meet with him this morning, said there was something that he needed to talk to with a few of the warriors and myself. I hesitantly agreed, even though I was sure that he was not giving me a choice in the matter.

I leave my house in just a tee shirt and shorts. As soon as I stepped outside, it was pouring down rain. I turned around and grabbed my jacket from just behind the door. I looked up at the sky and it was a dark gray with heavy storm clouds. I sighed. This was not what I wanted to walk into, plus I still had to lead training this afternoon. Afternoon trainings in the rain were usually a pain in the ass. There were warriors that would constantly complain about having to spar in the rain.

Once I left my house, I jogged to the pack house, trying to make it there as quickly as possible. Once inside, I made my way to the Alpha’s office, where this meeting was being held. The door was opened, so I just walked in. It looked like the warriors were already present, but the Alpha and Elder Christopher were nowhere to be found.

I made my way to sit next to Garrison, “What is going on?”

“None of us know. We all received the same link last night asking us to meet in the Alpha’s office today because Elder Christopher needed to speak with us.” Garrison responded.

I looked around the room and took notice of everyone that was present in the room. Elias. Liam. Caleb. Jean. Gael. Amir. Aziel. Plus, myself and Garrison. There was, also, one female warrior present, Jessica. Hmm…I wonder what they all want from us.

Elder Christopher walked into the room, followed by Michael, Oliver, James, Elijah, Beta Damon, Gamma Sean, and the Alpha. Elder Christopher goes to sit in one of the chairs behind the Alpha’s desk and begins speaking.

“I am sure you are all wondering why you are here. As you all know, Michael has decided to relinquish his role of future Alpha to his sister Kataleya. However, the Elders and some of the pack members are concerned about Kataleya’s ability to effectively run and protect this pack.” Elder Christopher paused and I used this time to look around the room and gauge everyone’s thoughts on what he was saying. The Alpha and Beta looked thoroughly pissed and most of the warriors, including myself, were confused about where this was going. Christopher continued speaking, “So, the Elders and I have decided that in order for her to claim her role as Alpha, she needs to prove herself to the pack and us. In order for her to do this, we decided to have a battle royale of sorts. Each of the warriors in this room has been chosen for their abilities on and off the battle field. The ten of you are ranked as the best of the best for warriors in our pack. First, we plan to have the ten of you fight Kataleya at once. All she needs to do is either injure you to the point you cannot continue or force your submission. Then, she will face Oliver and James as the next Beta and Gamma of the pack. Afterwards, she will fight Elijah and Michael. Once again, it will be either severely injured or submission. Finally, she will take on our current Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to see how she fares against them.”

When Christopher finally finished speaking, several warriors spoke in outrage, myself included.

“This is fucking ridiculous.”

“You are insane.”

“Kataleya will kill us!”

I waited for everyone to quiet down before I asked my question, “Why does Kataleya have to fight 17 people in order to prove her worth to you? You never considered this when Michael was the future Alpha and you would not have done this if Elijah was going to be the future Alpha. Kat can do this if you just gave her a chance. Plus, fighting ten of us at once is not something that I would consider highly fair.”

Christopher regarded me for a second before he responded to me. “Kataleya is a female. Females are not meant to be alpha. The Female Alpha is meant to be a legend, not real. Michael and Elijah are both males and are fit to run this pack on their own. If there was an attack on the pack, there is a high probability that she would have to fight 10+ wolves on her own. Kataleya has already told me that when she finds her mate, she still refuses to hand the title of Alpha solely over to her mate. This fight will allow us to see if Kataleya truly has what it takes to defend us and be a true Alpha.”

I still did not think it was fair for them to think that Kataleya was not fit to be Alpha because she is a female. As for her not passing the title on to her mate, I cannot believe they asked her to pass on her birth right. Even though she was not the first born, she is still of Alpha descent and Skye is an Alpha wolf, even if they were not willing to see that. Just from seeing Skye for the first time, I could tell that Skye was a strong wolf and I could tell that she was meant to be Alpha, not Luna like they were expecting her to be. If Kat chose to accept me, I would 100% be her Luna if that was her choice. I would do anything to remain by her side. I would do anything to support her.

“Regardless of what you think you are doing, I hope you plan to give her some form of time in between each match. It still is not fair to her to pit her against seventeen people in the span of a few minutes to a few hours, while everyone watches and takes bets on her,” I said to Christopher. I got up to walk out of the office when Michael placed his hand on my arm.

“Does this mean you are refusing to compete in the challenge, Justin?” Christopher asked me.

I turned around to look at him, “No, I will still compete, but only because I believe in Kataleya. I believe that she is strong enough to do this, even if I have to train with her every single fucking day until this challenge takes place.” I shrugged Michael’s hand off my arm and left the office, slamming the door behind me. I felt marginally bad for slamming Alpha’s door, so I linked him to apologize.

‘Sorry, Alpha. I could not sit there and listen to him continue to tell me all the reasons that Kataleya is not meant to be Alpha or the fact that they expect her to fight 17 people on her own. When in reality, if there was ever an attack on the pack, she would not be alone. Our warriors will be there with her. We would never let our Alpha fight on her own.’

The Alpha replied almost instantly, ‘It is okay, son. I would not have expected any less from you. I appreciate you standing up for Kataleya like that, even though you two are struggling with your relationship and what you will be to each other. I applaud you for continuing with the challenge as they have asked. I struggle with the prospect of hurting my mate in the slightest. I can only imagine how you feel about the prospect of having to fight your mate and the probability that you will injure her. I saw your struggle yesterday when you two were sparring and she was injured. Thank you for trying to help her. I will let you know what else they say about this challenge and if there is anything you should know.’

At least the Alpha understood where I was coming from. Once I left the pack house, I headed home to change my clothes and decided to go shopping in the city center. I never got the chance to get Kataleya something for her birthday and I really wanted to. Now was the perfect time for me to go search for the perfect gift for her.