I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm, all fresh as a daisy. No dark circles and no over riddle mind, a peaceful sleep I had; The calm before the storm.

Getting ready at my normal pace, I opened the cupboard door knowing that Dandeline would have done her job. Inside was a huge bunch of clothing items, casuals, formals, trendings, indoors and every other piece of clothing that I like or would look good on me. Damn, she went overboard with this!

I planned to go out for breakfast and have my fill, but when I opened the fridge it was overflowing with packaged food, fruits and all the ready to eat meals! A box which said 'All the best for tomorrow!' Was in the middle and I pulled it out, a complete breakfast was in there along with a smoothie kept aside!

I couldn't help but smile at Dandeline's efforts, I opened my mobile and texted her - 'Thank you for the breakfast and your wishes, you are the best Dandeline.'

I ate my fill and got ready, hung my keys in their usual place. The keys are usually kept inside the bedroom, only I know how to reach inside even when the door is locked so I usually don't bother carrying the keys with me. The door had a self-lock mechanism with no handle on the outside, so that wasn't a problem either.

I reached the training ground a few minutes before the reporting time and half of the people were already there. Some with swollen eyes showed how they didn't sleep a dim last night, and a few were now taking their time to discuss the strategy.

Our team white had done it last night and I bet every one of my teammates would come here feeling just as fresh as me. Things are always better when not left for the last moment.

My eyes spotted Hailey from our group and I averted them immediately, I didn't want her to notice me right when I had noticed her.

"Hey Selene!", I heard Arina's voice behind me and I whirled around to see everyone else from team white coming together. Well everyone practically lives in one residential area so this wasn't something unusual.

I waved back at them, "Did you guys have a good sleep last night?"

"Absolutely, slept like a dog!", replied Connie. This guy seemed to love his sleep a lot, yesterday throughout the dinner all he talked about was sleep and rest.

"You look fresh today Selene," Said Diana, "good to see you here first, I hope the same happens with your red task."

What was her comment? Yesterday I simply thought she was accepting the realities that were a handicapped team. But it was clear now how she felt that prickly on her road. I smiled politely, "thanks Diana, let us all cross the line first today"

I have had a lot of urges to go against a few people here, but I had to be patient as trust takes time. But it was funny for me to have thought that all my teammates would have accepted my luck making them but Diana just ran out of the road.

I heard a seductive voice play in my ear, making the small hair on my neck stand up. My head immediately turned to see Hailey standing behind me, "Good Morning Selene, Looking forward to us winning today" Her smile wasn't fake it was chill-evoking.

No one replied to her, but she didn't care, she was just concerned with me. And I was concerned about the fact that she had her eyes on me, it was a bit bothersome so I finally asked her, "You seem to have taken a liking to me!"

Hailey looked at me surprised and instantly started laughing innocently, "liking? What is that?" Her feet closed the distance as she stepped way closer to me and whispered in the most bone-chilling tone, "I just want to taste your blood, so I will make sure on my end that we win!"

My body was left frozen in place, I knew her intentions from the start. She would have been one of those who bully newbies, but Hailey didn't even for a single moment give that vibe.

It was pure Blood-lust.

I pushed her away from me, my entire being was scared to be around her now. There were chances that she might corner me in the first round of this competition itself when we would be somewhere deep in the thicket of the forest.

She didn't pester further, just a threatening, gentle smile that stared at me from the void.

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath trying to focus somewhere else, this fear was killing me inside. Why was I even feeling it I didn't know, but it certainly was skin crawling.

"Rest assured Selene," said Hailey, " I just want a duel with the new blood of our pack, I'm in this just for good fights. I hope you don't disappoint me!" She had a devilish smirk on her face.

Sam finally stepped in and stood in between me and Hailey, "Selene, don't let her bother you. She will get better when the competition starts, after all even she wants to win the round"

My lips pursed as my head nodded, hanging a bit low. I looked at the red orb I was holding, the one which had my task for today, my resolve to prove myself increased even more now.

Even though Sam and Arina were fine with it, Diana was extremely unhappy about the fact that we are a handicapped team. Hailey had her nasty goals, even though she wanted to fight me she still wanted us to win.

Looking at Connie, who was still yawning after a great deal of sleep, I realized that guy didn't care what disadvantage we had. There was odd confidence in him that the short end of the stick didn't matter.

I shouldn't let Hailey or Diana bother me, I was here for something bigger than this competition. Becoming the Beta was just the start of it and I already had two or three people in the pack who trusted me, this race was a stepping stone to my goal.

Now that I look at it, winning as a handicapped team who only play in my favour. More than bad luck, it was rather an opportunity for me to tell how I am capable of getting out even in a tugging situation.

I saw Channing heading towards the ground and something inside me jumped with excitement, it was thrilled more than excited. His presence had already declared the start of my first phase for the mission, to end the age-old war that even my father, the king failed to do.