The guard behind me acted like a navigation device, barking orders and instructions to me with every step I took. It was bothersome, to say the least, but there was nothing I could do.

I was lead to the back of a building, the entire layout of the pack an entire mystery to me. Yet I persisted. When I entered the building, I was practically kicked in, realising the situation I was in.

The only people in the room were Alpha and Luna Montgomery, Alexander and myself.

I walked forward, causing the four of us to be standing in a square.

Alpha Montgomery was livid, "Care to explain yourselves? Or at least shed some light on this situation?"

Alexander talked first. "It's true, we're mates." I could have sworn that a blood vessel popped, Luna Montgomery's face was so red.

"I grew up fairly sheltered, having no idea of the basis or rules of the games. When the subject was brought up, I was interested, but we quickly figured that perhaps not. However, on further thought, we realised that I was exempt from the rules." I said, lifting my chin.

"Cassandra, as my mate, is immediately initiated into the pack, even without any of the rituals. However, she is not my Luna. Not yet." Alexander explained calmly.

In a moment of rage, Alpha Montgomery grabbed the back of my bodysuit, pulling me around and wiggling around the leather, trying to check for any sign of a mark.

"-As you can see, there is no mark. Nor have Cassandra and I engaged in... intercourse. She is my mate, but not a leader. The rules are that a leader cannot trial, however, there is nothing against an Alpha's mate."

"In most situations, there isn't a difference between the two." Alpha Montgomery raged. "We have no proof that you two haven't had sex, that small piece of information could change everything you know."

"You know me," Alexander deadpanned. "Do you really think that if we have had sex, my mate would be standing here unmarked?"

That at least seemed to put the situation into perspective.

"You're right," The Alpha muttered. "Darling, are they breaking any rules?"

Luna Montgomery continued to stare, "No. Technically they are not. A perfect loophole if one is being precise."

The Alpha ran a hand over his forehead, letting out a sigh as he did so.

"I see no problem. As you said, technically no rules have been broken. I'll have to make an official statement to clear everything up, but other than that, Cassandra you should be fine to continue to compete." He said with a sigh.

I bowed slightly, "Thank you, I-"

"Stand up girl," Luna Montgomery interrupted. "We're to be allies soon, on the same level of leadership. Do not be bowing to other Lunas or Alphas. Not anymore."

I nodded. "Of course. Thank you for being so understanding."

With Alexander hot on my heels, I exited the room, immediately feeling better as the warm wind hit my face. Without waiting for a second, Alexander moved around me so that my entire body was trapped within his arms.

Hesitantly, I let my arms move around his waist too.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I know we were keeping everything relatively private, but there's no other way."

I let out a breath and scrunched my eyes. "It's fine, I don't care. It's not that big of a deal."

We let go of each other, feeling awkward. Alexander glanced down to my ankle. "Is it alright?"

I shrugged, "I can barely feel it anymore. But I'll be careful throughout the rest of the trials."

Xander pushed his shoulders back, "I'm sorry-"

"Stop apologising." I interrupted, "It was bound to happen sometime. If you could stop acting like a schoolboy who forgot his lunch, that would be really appreciated."

He let out a breath. "I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like I'm a whole different person."

I rolled my eyes, leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You've got that right. Now, you go back upstairs and deal with the main brunt of press from the rest of the Alphas and whatnot. I'll deal with many issues within the other representatives, got it?"

Xander raised his hand in mock salute, "Got it. Stay safe."

"Yeah yeah," I huffed. "You too."

We separated, each going in two different directions. Before I turned the corner, I looked back to steal just one more glance before I reimmersed myself back into the trials.

Alexander was staring right back at me.

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

As I retook my seat in the room where the finished representatives were waiting, not one word was said. The TV was blank and any noise at all seemed to echo throughout the area.

"So, is it true?" Someone asked, "You're the Bloodlust Luna?"

I shifted my gaze. "No. I'm the Alpha's mate, but I'm not the Luna, not yet. There is a difference."

A snort, "Not in my books."

I leaned my head back and kept calm. "Via being mates, I'm initiated into the pack but to be a Luna, we need to be officially mated. You can check, I'm not marked, nor have we involved ourselves that way. Besides, if we were mated, and I were Luna, would you not have realised it?"

That shut them up.

"So... you're still competing?" Another asked.

I sent a glare, "Do you think I would still be in this room if I was?"

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

"The aim of the trials here is not to go on for days and show off our abilities. No, It's is for me, my mate and our council to make a decision on who will be representing the werewolves in the games. So, we will be doing rounds of fights. Five-minute intervals, and eventually, we'll just cut people out. Then, towards the end, we'll make our decision. Of course, the decision is made in comparison to all of your videotapes from the Trials, as we have stated multiple times." Alpha Montgomery stated, instructing all of us clearly.

There were twenty of us. All standing in one line. I recognised most of them, including Keagen, Alana, Titus and Springbridge.

I had already embarrassed myself by accidentally surrendering during the race, and I was certainly not in a hurry to repeat myself.

"Tallies will be taken on how many battles each person wins or loses. It will be taken into consideration, but not be a defining factor." Luna Montgomery finished. "Beta Wilbur will move you all into the correct positions for your fights to begin. You all have ten minutes before the cameras begin rolling and more instructions came to light."

Beta Wilbur moved forward and clapped his hands, pulling us all into the centre of the field in a circle space. Facing me was my first opponent, a complete and utter stranger who seemed to waver at the sight of me.

Cameras were placed over each station, a red light blinking in anticipation.

"At the end of each five-minute segment, you will all swap. We'll instruct you further when it happens. Is that clear?" Beta Wilbur instructed, causing nods from us all.

I wasn't worried, already assuring myself that when the time came, my opponents would be coming to me, not the other way around.

Everyone was back in formation, the audience on the sidelines and the Leaders back up in their untouchable box.

Next to the Alpha and Luna, who was now standing on a small stage in the centre as if to watch our every move was a man dressed in black, a microphone wrapped around his head. A clipboard was in his hand as he moved his lips into the small speaker. He held up his hand and counted down his fingers, five, four, three, two one. He signalled and Alpha Montgomery went back to talking.

The lights in the cameras were no longer blinking red, but a harsh, solid green.

"You have five minutes per fight, and you will all fight every single competitor standing on this field. You first fight beings..."

A large countdown, and this time, Alpha Montgomery didn't need to speak or countdown, the audience did it for him.

Three, two, one. Excited screams filled my ears as I pushed my fist forward, wasting no time and hitting my opponent square in the jaw.

It took a second for him to pay attention. In fact, it took him so long that I was practically won my battle within the first minute.

My second fight was similar, another stranger that almost seemed to scared to fight back. He was on the ground within thirty seconds.

Alana had no problem, jumping straight in. I appreciated thatx finally feeling like I was actually getting started. Fights were boring when your opponent was useless. Regardless. I sent my fists flying, relying on our height difference to put Alana at a disadvantage when perhaps in a certain moment she lost sight of me. It was almost as if I was invisible, darting around her like a ballerina on stage. I could feel the camera whizzing behind me, careful not to get too close but still crossing a line.

When five minutes were up, we moved on again. It was like clockwork, I barely had an opportunity to breathe.

I barely remembered most of them, each movement of my arm and leg a blur in my mind. When Titus had come my way, he decided to crack a joke before beginning.

"Now I'm definitely glad I backed off, Facing an Alpha's wrath definitely wasn't on my to-do list during trials."

I cracked a smirk, "Oh please, like Alexander could do anything to you that I couldn't. Trust me, honey, if I really had a problem, you wouldn't have any teeth right now."

He took it in a stride, hanging up his fists and once again, the alarms sounded. Apprehension lingers in his face, but not in his movements, not in his muscles. He was as harsh and determined as I was, which made beating him all the better.

Keagen made me think that perhaps he really was putting on a show, not trialling for the Games. Arms extended and muscles popping. He fought like a show pony, every move and hit deliberately made to show himself off. Perhaps it was a ploy, to distract me or maybe even confuse the judges into thinking that he was better than he actually was. Even after I sent a mean right hook to his chest, knocking him down to the floor, his aura stayed just as over-confident it had been in the beginning.

Out of all my fights, I had the most fun with Springbridge. He was the only one to beat me in making the first move and was the only one that, in the end, caused me any real injuries. Every move he made was laced with insults, laced with hate. Every single one of them caused me to bite back laughter. Even Parker was meaner than him, and Parker's eyes had the tendency to pop when he was mad. I said nothing, only keeping my face neutral as I continually hit and beat my way to another win. His attacks grew weaker as mine grew stronger, eventually landing the winning blow that caused a few droplets of blood to come coughing out from his mouth. After everything that had been said to me, seeing him useless and beaten on the floor seemed to make tolerating it, worth it.

Out of all nineteen out of the other representatives, I only remembered fighting with four. How boresome.

Finally, the Alpha lifted his hand as the final siren rang, signalling that the scratch matches were over.

I shook my opponent's hand and smoothed down the wild hairs that had gone astray as I moved back into the straight line that everyone had already gone into. We were all facing the Alpha, who now seated with his council on the stage, the only thing I was even able to pick up was murmurs.

Not a word was spoken among us. Alana and Keagen, who stood tall and proud by my side, shared a look between the three of us as if trying to send a mental word, even if it was just a prediction of what was going to be said.

Was the decision really to be mad this quickly? Or had it been made before when the video trials had been released and these trials were only to confirm their choice?

My mind was running a million miles a minute, analysing every move that every person standing in this line had made, every single little thing that could cause them to stand out over me.

Finally, they disbanded, and Alpha Montgomery moved to the front of the stage.

"We have come to our decision. But first, we shall introduce the tallies from today's two activities."

Luna Montgomery stepped forward. "Killian Jones, 150 laps. Richard Daves, 139 laps and finally Cassandra Verano, 128 laps."

Polite clapping, though my head was frazzled. How on earth had I managed that?

"And for our fights, our top position goes to Cassandra Verano, with 19 wins and one tie."

A few rogue whoops in the crowd but nothing more than that.

"We made our choice based on a few things today. I would say that our reputation as a collective group needs to be fixed after our display last year, so our chosen has shown that they are able to display proper etiquette. We wanted someone who would stand out, and truly make these games their own. Someone with an obvious background in fighting and presentation." He continued to ramble on, listing every single quality that was needed to be this years representative.

I bit back a yawn.

"And finally, what you've all been waiting for." Alpha Montgomery cleared his throat. The winner, and the Werewolf Representative for this year's games... Cassandra Verano from Bloodlust!"

The crown screamed, as his words dawned on me, I tried not to faint.

I was the Werewolf Representative.

I had won.