Chapter 32

Now that it was just Oliver and I, I wasn’t too worried about the fight. Oliver was strong and a great fighter, but I was better at combat than he was.

Oliver lunged at me again and partially shifted. He aimed his claw towards my rib cage and he barely grazed my ribs. I felt my skin break open and I hissed in pain.

I decided that the only way I was going to get the one up on Oliver would be to surprise him with a shift. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

We circled each other for a few minutes, before I decided to make the first attack. He stepped to the side to avoid me, but my fist still caught the edge of his jaw. He aims his foot at my chest and manages to kick me back. I rushed at him, jumped into the air and shifted. I knocked him down and latched my teeth into his arm and bit down hard. I tasted the metallic of his blood rush into my mouth. Oliver screamed in pain while he tried to dislodge my teeth from his arm.

I took my claws and scratched his chest. I could see the pain in his face and while I hated hurting him, I was ready for this to end. He realized that I was not going to let up anytime soon, so he tilted his head in submission. Once he submitted, I quickly let go of his arm and shifted back into my human form.

“Kat, that fucking hurt,” Oliver grumbled at me.

“I had to end it quickly, which is what I did.” I shrugged at him.

Several nurses rush over to Oliver to check him over. His bite did look pretty nasty. One of the nurses looked at my wounds. She clucks her tongue at me.

“Dr. Leigh is not going to be too happy with you, Kataleya. You ripped open the stitches she put in earlier. It is going to take a lot more stitches to fix this. James really did a number on you with his claws, and so did Oliver.

I laughed, “I guess they did get me pretty good, huh? This reminded me of having to spar with them in wolf/human form during training.  At least my blood is not all over the place like it was after the last challenge.”

My father, Michael, and Christopher walked over.

“Well done, Kataleya. We are proud of you. Are you going to need any down time before you begin the challenge with your brothers?”

“No, Alpha. I think I will be fine. I just need some water and to go to the bathroom and then I will be ready.” I saw the look on the nurse’s face and added, “After I get some new stitches, of course. I don’t want to be stuck bleeding out all over the place, now would I?”

My father laughed, “Go ahead and get everything taken care of, so we can begin your next challenge.”

I rushed off to get some water and go to the bathroom. Once I finished, I met the nurse at the nurse's station and she began to stitch me up.

Even though I all but pushed Justin away earlier, I am kind of upset that he did not come to say anything to me after this fight. I never realized how much I enjoyed talking to Justin. Maybe he reached his final straw with me and decided to stay away. Maybe he finally had some sense knocked into him and realized that I really was no good for him.

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**Justin’s POV**

Goddess, Kataleya was so infuriating. I wanted to go talk to her after the fight with Oliver and James, but I didn’t want to take the risk of her rejecting me on the spot.

I would at least prefer, if she decided to reject me, then at least do it in private. However, I wouldn’t put it past her to not do it…

Watching her fight those two was nerve-wracking for me. I kept thinking about what was going to happen if she was too injured. I remember how much blood she was losing when she fought the ten of us and I was going to freak out.

I tried telling myself that maybe I should skip watching the rest of the fights, but for some reason I just couldn’t get myself to get up and walk away.

I hope she sees reason soon...

All I ask for is an honest opportunity, where she takes a risk and trusts me. I could be what she needed.

I listened to the conversation that she had with her father, Michael, and the nurse from afar. I knew she was going to need more stitches. I could tell that James had caused her stitches to rip back open. I think that was one of the scarier things that I have seen happen to her and, frankly, it scared me.

I looked at the field and saw her walking onto the field with the Alpha and Christopher.

The fucking prick…

I can’t wait until Kataleya proves the Elders wrong.

She can do this. She is capable. Even without a man by her side. She is a force to be reckoned with.

“Welcome back, Kataleya has successfully overcome the first two challenges. We are going to switch things up for these last two challenges. Instead of two separate challenges, Kataleya will need to fight them at once, much in the same way that she had to do the first challenge. This challenge will consist of the other two Alpha children, the ones that should have been made Alpha—” As soon as Christopher spoke that, the entire crowd yelled their disagreement with their statement. I watched Kataleya’s expressions throughout his speech. I could tell that she was pissed. He must not have said anything to her beforehand, so she wasn’t prepared for this change in events. Christopher continued on as if nothing was said, “Elijah and Michael Frost and she will face our current ranking members. Alpha Michael, Beta Damon, and Gamma Sean. Good luck and let the challenge commence.”

I gritted my teeth at his words as I looked at Kataleya as she prepared herself in the center of the field, surrounded by her competitors.

Elijah was the first one to do something quite unheard of and I honestly thought that Kataleya was going to kill him. Elijah made no move to attack her, instead he fell to his knees in front of Kataleya and bared his head to her in submission. Before I knew it, Michael dropped to his knees, and bared his head to her in submission too.

Wow! I did not see that coming. The crowd gasped and several members of the crowd started to cheer for her. While there were a few members who were shouting their disagreement with what Michael and Elijah had just done.

The crowd watched with abated breath to see how the current ranked members were going to react.

I watched in amazement as Beta Damon and Gamma Sean both dropped to their knees and offered her their submission.

Kataleya was facing my direction and I observed her facial expressions. I could see the tears in her eyes as she watched them offer her their submission.

Finally, the Alpha spoke. “Kataleya, they didn’t want to fight you. They have already accepted you as their next Alpha. I will not fight you either. You have been through enough today and I appreciate all that you have done to prove that you are worthy of this title. I am proud to not only call you my daughter, but my successor.” As he spoke his last words, he tilted his head in submission towards Kataleya too.

Kataleya looked into my eyes and I offered her a small smile.

I turned my head to see Christopher’s reaction and you could tell he was pissed. He looked as if he was ready to kill. They do have the expression, if looks could kill…