Alexander raised an eyebrow, "You don't know?"

I blinked at him, "Would I be asking if I did?"

"The Games are a yearly get together of sorts. It' a competition between us, The Fae and the Sirens. We usually have a coven of witches come as mediators and judges. Obviously, the fae and sirens are our main allies, and witches refuse to conform to either side so we bring them in to keep the peace. They may not be our allies, but they certainly have no problem in helping us if needed." Vance began to explain excitedly. "Basically, we'll choose one representative from our pack after a series of tryouts, then we'll head to the Desert Sun Pack, where the games are being held this year, for a final tryouts between every pack representative. The winner will then go up against two other competitors, one Fae, one Siren, obviously. The winner gets a trophy, bragging rights, and about $10,000 for their pack, court or choir respectively."

Suddenly, memories came rolling back to me. We had used the games to attack some packs with less defence since so many people were in attendance. But never once did we get near the actual event. I had heard that it was similar to the Human's olympics, but I had never been allowed to actually watch the broadcast.

Xander rolled his eyes, "It's embarrassing really, we came third last year, where was the wolf from, the Whitefang pack? Everything was going so well, apart from the fact that he couldn't seem to take his eyes of the Fae representative's arse."

I snorted, "Wow."

"Anyway, it's a huge deal. It'll be more competitive than ever since so many wolves are desperate to restore our name after last year's performance. My bet's on Parker Enoch, he told me specifically that he was trying out and everything, I haven't seen him leave the training centre, and he was the first person to submit his forms and application. The kid's dedicated, and I think he's got it." Vance said, rubbing his hands together.

"Why don't you guys try out? I'm sure you would be a much better candidate." I asked, brows furrowed.

"Well-"

"Oh I wish," Vance interrupted. "I was about seven and I started training in secret for the games because I wanted to surprise my parents. I got all my forms together and went to hand them to Xander's dad since I didn't want my dad to know just quite yet. You can hand your forms into basically any leader, but it usually goes to the Beta. Anyway, Rob sat me down and turns out, there are a bunch of rules that I had ticked off but hadn't actually read. To be a representative, you can't be a leader. Just like, in terms of favouritism and all that, it's a bad look."

We were almost back to our bedrooms. As an off comment, I said, "Wouldn't it be funny if I tried out."

Xander stopped walking, "Would you want to?"

I shrugged, "I mean it sounds fun. I certainly think that I would enjoy it. But I wouldn't be allowed to,"

Xander held up his finger, "Well, if you were Luna, then no. But, by being my mate, you're automatically part of the pack, but, we haven't mated. We haven't done anything, you haven't been marked so technically, you're not a Luna. There's nothing in the rules about a mate, only a leader. Theoretically, If you wanted to, you could."

Vance's eyes were flashing, "You definitely could, little miss loophole."

"Are you serious Xander?" I asked seriously, "Don't fuck around with me,"

He cracked a grin, taking over his entire face. "We'll fill out the forms into the morning."

----------------------------------------------------

I stood in the middle of the field, slowly pulling my arm across my chest, feeling the burn in my muscles. Apparently, this was a very public thing, and while the tryouts didn't start for another fifteen minutes, you could already feel the anticipation building in the air. I stood in a long line of other competitors, all seemingly doing the same thing as me. Slowly warming up and analysing their competition.

Myra and Harmony were seated with the audience, while Xander, Vance and Farren stood next to each other on a small, uplifted podium. I could tell that they too were looking over the competition. It was dire that the best person was chosen. Apparently, it was a huge honour for the final representative to be from your pack and so no mistakes could be made in the selection.

There were about fifty pack members currently standing with me, maybe 10 women, but other than that, it was completely dominated by men.

While I had seen a few lingering glances of confusion, no one had said anything. Xander had mentioned that towards the end, there was an opportunity for the pack to add their input. If anyone was going to say anything, it would be then.

However, regardless of being in the middle of a very important tryout, only one thing was really on my mind.

My heat.

We were expecting it, essentially, today. Usually it would hit in the afternoon, but if it decided to come earlier...

Yes, I had been able to tolerate the pain, and sure, I didn't want to have sex with him, but I didn't want to experience that pain again. I did have other... options. Perhaps it was something I should be more open to-

"Attention everyone!" Xander called out, his domineering voice turning every hush of noise into silence. "The time has come for the selection of the Bloodlust Representative!"

The crowd burst into cheers.

"We will begin by introducing each potential. When your name is called, please raise your hand. This will help not only us, but the crowd too in the final decision."

Vance pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket, "Will Scott... Gregory Pince..."

And so on, each name rousing a bout of respectful applause. I gulped as slowly, the names got closer and closer to me.

"Parker Enoch," The boy next to me raised his hand, resulting in the largest applause yet. He smirked, flexing off his arm muscles until the crowd finally silenced.

"Cassandra Verano," Silence. Complete and utter silence. I raised my hand, and the crowd went wild, screaming and shouting even louder than they had for Parker.

Vance moved on, reading out the rest of the names.

"You know, they only clapped so loudly because you're the Luna," Parker whispered in my ears. "No one would want to disappoint or disrespect the Alpha."

I refused to even face him. "Do you see any mark on my neck?"

I watched his head peer around to get a proper look. "Other than your traitor tattoo, no."

"Then why would I be considered your Luna?' I spat.

"It's obvious you're mated to the Alpha." He said as if I was stupid. "You live with them, you walk by his side, the rest of it. Besides, It's not like we're blind. Watching The Alpha look at you is like watching a porno."

My eyes bulged out of my head before I quickly composed myself. "That's irrelevant, I'm not your Luna right now this very second? No, so keep your nasty, irrelevant comments to yourself before I punch you unconscious."

That seemed to do the trick, Parker not saying another word. Then, "Please, the only reason you're here is because of your mate. Bet you can barely hold your own in a two-person fight."

"And finally, Oliver Nowles. Now," A grin took over Vance's face. "It's time to begin."

The anticipation was thick in the air. I had been slightly briefed on what to expect, but it was time. Nothing more could prepare me other than my own strengths and skills.

An obstacle had been set up around the field, dangerous and perfectly built, with a completion time over three minutes would result in disqualification. My guess was that it would get rid of a lot of people, show who could keep up and who couldn't.

Then they could really get into the selection process.

"The order that your name was called out will be the order that you participate in the course. If you take longer than three minutes to complete the entire course, you will be immediately disqualified." Vance ordered. "At the end of the course, there is a red flooring. Once any part of your body touches that, your time will stop. At three minutes, a separate sounder will go off alerting you that you've missed the cut off time. You are required to complete the course regardless. Will Scott, please proceed."

I suppose it was to my advantage that I was so late in the line, maybe around the 30th person or so. I could watch them, see how they reacted to each section and the average time.

Until a black piece of material was thrown into my hands.

I looked beside me in confusion, every other contestant was tying it around their face, acting as a blindfold to prevent them seeing. Perhaps it would put me at a disadvantage, yet it was certainly fair. And I couldn't argue with that.

I tightened the material around my eyes, adjusting it so that I was sure I couldn't see anything. And then I heard the siren, and almost as a tell tale, the audience began to sound.

Will had begun.

I tried to make out as much as possible, yet I was too far from the actual course itself to properly hear it.

That's what happened for every single person. Once a finishing siren went off, whenever the person reached the end, their name and final time was called out.

It seemed that many people were struggling.

As we were blindfolded, someone would come along and move us forward. Finally, as that happened, a gruff voice whispered, "You're next."

My stomach started to churn in excitement. This was my perfect opportunity to show what I'm made of, to the disbelievers in the crowd, to those curious about my true extent of power, and of course, to my mate.

The finishing siren went off. "Parker Enoch, Two minutes and fifty two seconds!"

Another round of applause. I felt my blindfold being ruffly tugged off my face as I was pushed forward.

I blinked, taking in the obstacle course properly.

It was huge.

I gulped as I spared a glance to Xander, who only sent a nod of encouragement. I cracked my neck, then my knuckles. I looked to the audience, all who looked thoroughly bored.

I suppose it was time to give them a show.

3... 2... 1...

The starting siren blared.

And so I started to run.

The first section was easy, small pedestals about 30cm off the ground. I jumped from each one before throwing my body on the ground and sliding underneath a long netted rope. It took me no time at all, pulling myself onto my feet.

Then it started to get hard. A long chasm filled with water, the only way across being long pieces of rope with hoops attached. It was like the monkey bars, causing an annoying redness to form in my hands as I gritted my teeth to make my way across.

Next was more water, except the only way to get through was another round of pedestals, except these seemed to be attached to a series of springs, making them unreliable as they twisted and turned. I dropped myself from the rope onto the pedestals and stepped lightly, barely lingering long enough to do any real damage. I could see tall, wooden pillars next with small splinters of wood standing out as a method of crossing. As if.

As I reached the last pedestal, I used the springs to propel myself upwards onto the top. From there it was as easy as breathing, jumping from one to the next before I tumbled to the floor.

A wall, that's what stood in front of me.

I took a breath and started to run. When it got too tall, I jumped, leaving me able to grab the top with my hand. I wiggled my way up, staring at the next obstacle. Two long bars of metal, Just to high for me to walk over, so, like I had done in the basement all those weeks ago, I swung myself up and used my separated legs to move myself forward. But that was taking too long, so, in one quick movement, I shifted my weight and jumped, allowing me to run the remainder of the way across a single bar.

Next, more bars, this time in four shorter strips. Like a monkey bar. And so, I grabbed it with my hands, using my own weight to propel myself to the next bar.

I was beginning to stress, I couldn't have much time left. After the fourth bar, I dropped myself onto the next and final obstacle. A series of deep set stairs. I wasn't going to make it, not with all the stairs.

And so I did what any rational person would do,

I jumped.

Leaping into the air as far as I could, at least thirty metres above the ground. In that moment, I heard someone yell, screaming in fear. I pulled my body in, tucking into a metal position which caused my whole body to spin as I fell.

In the last few moments before I hit the red padding, I let myself go, spreading out a leg and hanging a hand forward.

I felt my body connect with the ground, one leg tucked beneath and one out, one hand tucked in and one fist out.

I heard the finishing siren.

"Cassandra Verano, Two minutes and fifty eight seconds." I heard Vance's voice boom out, a slight shake to his words as he spoke.

I dragged myself up in one long moment, and the crowd went wild. I waved with one hand as I placed the large smile on my face, and then, just for fun, I bowed, causing the audience to go even louder. I looked up to see Alexander, expecting an expression of pride. Something I certainly didn't get. His normally olive-gold skin was pale, completely ghost-white with wide eyes and a shaking leg. I snorted. Guess I gave someone a fright. I walked away, off onto the side were about fifteen people sat. All who I recognised from their names and faces as successful.

I collapsed onto the seat, letting out a loud breath as I picked up one of the pack-provided water bottles.

"That was amazing," A man said, completely flabbergasted.

I shrugged as I let the water guzzle down my throat. "I know my way around tricky situations."

"No really," Another protested, "I've never seen anything like it,"

I locked eyes with Parker, whose face was set on a deep scowl. "I'm not that good, isn't that right Parker? I bet I wouldn't even be able to fight someone and win in a one vs one."

Only two more people joined the seating area. It was nice to watch how other pack members reacted to the course.

Finally, when we were all done, Vance announced another endurance test. Essentially, it would all be endurance tests up to the final two. If you couldn't handle the pressure or your body couldn't take it, you weren't cut out for the final tryout in Desert Sun, and you certainly weren't cut out for the Games.

Next, they moved us to a long bar, hanging highborns above the ground.

And then they left us, our hands holding onto the bar the only thing that kept us from falling. Vance had said that the first five people to fall to the ground were disqualified, so I kept my grip firm. Not that I was struggling, Master Skotus used to force me to hang from trees for hours on end as another form of punishment.

Nothing I wasn't used to.

Honestly, I was half tempted to start doing some pull ups.

They dropped off like flies, the first barely able to make fifteen minutes. The fifth finally let go after around forty minutes, causing Vance to signal us down.

There were only twelve of us left.

This final test would bring us to the top two.

"Everyone shift into your wolf forms please." Vance ordered, his expressions getting giddier by the second.

One by one, we did, relishing in the moment to be in our forms.

"As you know, there is a section to show off just what we can do in our natural forms. Now of course, we always score the lowest in this section," Vance joked. "For each wolf here, an animal has been provided by our local butchers. We do not ask you to glorify death, but rather show us your natural wolf's reaction. The two winners will be chosen by the audience. Allen, you're up first."

My wolf watched with careful eyes, paying attention to each person and the audience's reaction.

Finally, my name was called, and an animal was released.

I lowered myself close to the ground, keeping out of sight from the animal as I stalked my way through the grass.

I didn't want to waste any time.

Once I had aligned myself perfectly, I leaped, clamping my mouth around the beast's neck and moving slightly, killing it in one swift motion, practically painless, yet the action looking as if it was cruel. Blood slowly began to drip, the remainder on my teeth as I pulled away and stalked back into the area I had been before, shifting back and running my forearm over my mouth.

I then strolled over to where the people who had gone before me were standing.

We said nothing to each other as the remainder of the participants took there turn until Farren walked over,

"Come into the centre, the crowds about to make their decision."

We all walked forward, my heart a nervous thump in my throat.

They lined us all up again, this time with a good metre or so between us.

Vance ran through our names again, "Now, I ask you to make a decision. I will call out each name, and the two wolves with the most votes will go through to the final round. Is everyone clear?"

A round of yes's sounded through the crowd.

I refused to look, facing the grassy floor as Vance ran through every name. A heavy silence as no one spoke, save for a few curses from my fellow competitors.

The last name was called, and I looked up, watching as Vance, Xander and Farren huddled together, most likely to confirm what they had seen.

"The first competitor to go through is... Parker Enoch!"

Parker stood forward, an overly-confident smirk plastered on his face as he blew kisses to the crowd. Vance raised his hands, hushing them immediately.

"And your second competitor is... Cassandra Verano!"

I felt my heart stop.

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