"BOW BEFORE ME!" The man roared.

A moment of silence awaited him, causing him to get angrier. "Did you hear what I said?! I said, SUBMIT BEFORE ME! Your alpha has been defeated, and by law, it means the victor has his title! I am your alpha now!"

Hesitation appeared on all the pack members faces, before slowly, one by one, kneeled and showed their necks, submitting to him.

Coco and Azrael seemed reluctant, as defeat rose on their faces.

They too, showed their necks, hating it with every fiber of their being.

When it came down to me, all kneeled and I refused. I knew where I stood, and I would rather die than submit to this asshole. My heart was still breaking, while tears still streamed down my face.

I just lost the love of my life.

And I knew what to do before anything else.

Just like that, his eyes soon rested on me.

Seeing how I refused to obey him, he walked towards me in angry strides. "You bitch, just because you're Luna, doesn't mean you can't submit to me. I am your alpha now, therefore, you belong to me!" He paused, looking up and down my body, licking his lips in a disgusting manner.

"Or... we could take this to the bedroom. I can forgive you for your rudeness to me if you do as I say. What do you say, Rhea?"

Anger quickly resided in me, that this sick man could possibly think I'll open my legs to him. Who did he think I was?!

"No." I replied harshly.

His face twisted in madness. Before I knew it, he rose his hand and slapped me to the ground. To the point where it split my bottom lip open. My vision became blurry, as I recovered to the best of my ability. Spitting some of the blood out, I looked back up to him in defiance.

As he looked down at me, he growled, "You will do as I say! You're a women. Your purpose is to open your damn legs and be the slut that you are!"

A moment of silence rose in the pack, as I found myself laughing. Despite everything that has happened, I could find myself laughing.

What a pathetic male.

A sexist one that deserved to die.

Finding my voice and the strength in me, I snarled, "Over my dead body. I, Rhea Grey, challenge you for the title of Alpha!"

Mutters and mumbles quickly erupted from the pack, their faces morphing into shock and disbelief. Even the man, seemed surprised of my declaration. It was then he laughed, "You? Challenge me? I think not. A mere woman can't be alpha. You cannot be serious."

I clenched my fists at his words, about to retaliate when Azrael spoke up lowly.

"Technically, Alpha. She can challenge you. Usually, after a victor defeats the previous alpha, they are to ask if anyone else dare opposes their rule. Clearly, Luna Rhea, does. She has a right, and you must obey to it. Her being a woman has nothing to do with it, so I suggest you cease your comments before more challenges occur."

The man clicked his tongue, glaring at Azrael with a glance before turning to me.

"As you wish."

Before I knew it, we took our positions as the challenges continued.

Grinning at me, the man taunted, "Just saying, once you lose, I'll have my way with you. Even if it's a dead corpse I'm doing."

I shivered in disgust, what a sicko.

Azrael started the countdown, and right when it hit one, I shifted, not giving the man a second to retaliate. So much sadness, loneliness, and anger rested within me. My heartache, my lost. My missing half, all went into my attacks.

They were relentless, all without mercy.

I attacked using every muscle in my body, not leaving him to rest.

Tears kept pricking the edges of my eyes as Rain cried, assisting me to end this man.

As the attacks continued on him, it got me thinking. There was something off about the challenge. Kronos wouldn't lose to just anyone. Examining the man as he attempted to dodge my blows, a bottle clinked against his belt. Upon further examination, I could see our greatest weakness tilt slightly, swaying as he moved.

He cheated.

With silver.

Rain roared.

I quickly tripped him over. The man fell flat on his back, grunting. As fast as I could do it, I reached over and tried to take the silver bottle from him.

Before I could take it, the man notices and grabs it before me. Swiftly, he crushes the bottle and splashes the silver all over me. Quickly slashing my stomach with his claws as a reassurance. The silver seeps into my wounds, causing me to flatter.

Being affected by the silver as well, he starts to weaken. However, since the silver splashed on me mostly, it didn't matter.

Seeing this, the whole pack goes wild. I can hear growls and snarls. As howls rang through the air. The pack link went crazy in my head. As voices started to flood my brain, my head pounded.

Pack members asked me if I was okay, or they were rooting for me. I could hear their fears. Their uncertainty. As well as their anger for this man.

My body slowly went limp, as I tried to have the strength to scream out that he used silver on me.

As my eyes slowly closed to accept my fate, they snap open when I hear the loudest scream of agony. The pack rustled, all shouting.

Something was holding the man's leg before he could finish me off. A choked sob left me, as I realized who the person was.

His hand was embedded in the man's leg, as he ripped a chunk of meat and bone out. The man lost his footing, as his leg was now gone. He wailed, rocking back and forth.

Standing tall, the blood may have made him unrecognizable, but I knew it was him no matter how he currently looked. It was none other than my mate...

Kronos.

"The challenge... is... not over! I am not dead, and have not surrended! Back the fuck off... my girl!" He hissed, power radiating off of him.

He was alive, and fighting for his title.

And not just fighting for it, but he was fighting for me.

For us.

Another tear slipped from my eyes, as I whimpered for him.

Rain cried in a tired tone.

I nodded back weakly to her words, prying my tired eyes open as much as I could. It was difficult though, the silver was doing its works and of course, it didn't have much as effect on me as it used to since I've survived through this ordeal once already.

Once Kronos saw the man was withering in pain, he glanced around to scan his surroundings.

As his beautiful eye landed on me, they grew wide with fear and concern. With the best of his abilities, he limped over to where I was laying.

It amazed me to see my mate have enough endurance to stand the pain, to come to me when I needed him.

I smiled when he peered at me, checking over to where I was bleeding over my stomach. His hands grazed the wound, anger sweeping throughout in waves at what the man had done.

"Are you proud of me yet?" I asked wearily, coughing.

Kronos looked at me with a smile, "What are you saying, Rhea? I've been proud of you all along. Everything you've done for me never ceases to amaze me." He whispered, trying to stop the bleeding.

I choked on my tears, "I'm so glad you're alive..."

He chuckled, "As am I. Can you imagine if I left my perfect girl to the hands of the likes of him? Without no doubt, you can handle yourself, but I want to be able to witness all your moments of perfection."

Rain barked, opening her legs and closing them.

Amen to that sister.

All of a sudden, a loud clap echoed across the field.

Kronos, who had stopped my bleeding, helped me up, his eyes emotionless when they landed on the man we were to defeat. I leaned against him for support, as he leaned against me.

"While you two are reuniting, I'm fucking missing a damn leg. Stop being retarded fucks, and finish this! Leave the cheesy crap out of a fight!" He sputtered angrily, spitting everywhere while he was at it.

Kronos glanced at each other.

We knew what we had to do.

We probably looked wrecked, walking in sync with pieces of clothing missing from one another, blood stained in every corner of our body, broken limbs, limping, and more...

It didn't change the fact that we were a team in this.

And we punish those who dare think they can get away with an unfair challenge.

As we peered down at him, we spoke, "You are hereby charged with the penalty of cheating through a challenge, by using silver as your last defense. Your punishment will be death, as we don't want you to join some other rogue pack and lead it to try to attack the Xerxes Moon pack later on."

The man hung his head in shame, as the female guards dragged the man away.

Before they could, I stopped the female guards. The man looked up to me in disgust, "What do you want, you little fucking whor-"

And I kicked his testicles.

His screaming hitched, as he yelled out in pain.

"MY DICK! SHE KICKED MY FUCKING DICK!!"

I laughed, "Serves you right, you sexist bitch. You'd think I wouldn't say anything, did you? Funny."

And at last, he was pulled away and forgotten, whimpering as he clutched his precious jewels.

Without a moment to lose, the packs screams of happiness echoed throughout the pack.

Azrael didn't hesitate to stand, shouting, "The Victor: Luna Rhea and Alpha Kronos!" Coco jumped into Azrael's arms, jumping with joy.

Finally... the challenge was complete...

Yet, the feeling down my spine wouldn't go away, as I felt we were being watched every step of the way.

***

"Wow... you guys look awful." Azrael commented, frowning.

Not a second later, a hand from Coco came falling behind his head. "Dumbass, don't say that. I'm pretty sure Rhea and Kronos are aware they look like shit right now."

Azrael's shoulders sagged, faking a whimper. "Ah, I'm hurt, love. How could you beat your mate like that when he's only stating facts? Is this how play fighting occurs? If it is, I'm not into that sort of kinky shi-" he stopped, seeing how deadly her glare was.

"Guess whose not getting kitty tonight, bitch!" Coco yelled.

And just like that, Azrael ended up screaming out, "Noooo! Not the kitty!!"

Having enough of their so-called argument, I growled out, "As much as I love you two, get the hell out if you're going to be fighting. As you can see, your two best friends are side by side in hospital beds, recovering, from silver that almost killed them!"

That shut them up.

"Sorry, Rhea. Coco has been hormonal lately due to the baby growing inside of her." Azrael states, crossing his arms.

"What are you saying? You tired of me already?" Coco frowned.

"No, I'm not. I'm just saying-"

"FOR FUCK SAKES, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" Kronos roared, his eyes pitch black.

I could sense their wolves whimper from the amount of authority rolling off of Kronos's words. My wolf didn't seem to mind, since it didn't affect her.

In fact, it turned her on as much it did to me.

'Damn you, horny ass wolf.'

Rain purred.

I dared not to look, there were children in the hospital.

Clearing my throat, I calmed the situation down and quickly changed the subject. "Kronos, we're not getting any sleep anytime soon because the reason Coco and Azrael came here in the first place was to tell us what they found with the scouts we sent out after the challenges."

He groaned, running a hand through his hair as he laid on the hospital bed beside me.

"And the funerals?" Kronos asked, referring to the pack members who had challenged him.

"All taken care of." Coco responded.

"Great... great..." Kronos sighed, pausing before continuing. "Let's hear about the reports. Not like I'm currently suffering from the side effects of silver next to the love of my life right now."

I held in a giggle, clearing my throat once more before motion to the beta family to start.

Coco and Azrael glanced at each other, before beginning their report.

"When you asked us to investigate the eerie feeling behind your backs, that someone was watching the challenges... we believe it was Fortrista." Azrael voiced, sounding quiet.

Our eyes grew wide, "Fortrista? How could she get past the patrol?" I urgently asked.

"That's the thing. We know she's a vampire. At least a mixture of a hybrid. Which is why she's able to hide her scent so well." Coco explained, her eyes frustrated with the lack of information they could find.

Right... almost forgot she was a hybrid. That last meeting with her when she had killed Nick and Laura... as well as Macy. I can never forget the blood bags Fortrista and her rogues took with them. As well as how long and dangerous her fangs were. Or how they sunk into Nick's neck, draining his life away.

Just thinking about it made me sad. I shook my head, needing more information. "What was she doing here though? What's her purpose in this?" I asked, tired.

"She was spying on us, Rhea. To see how far we've progressed and I'm sure she has gathered the information she needed. There is a possibly she even spied on us when Kronos was training with the warriors." Azrael chirped, adding in some more information.

"Dammit... there is no end to this, is there? Why can't we have peace for five minutes? This feels like some sort of drama, where it's one problem after another before everything settles down and there's a happy or bad ending!" Kronos rants.

"Exactly... what is life?" I asked.

"Not helping, Alpha, Luna. I understand you two are stressed, but we are in dire need of a plan. The scouts have seen something they shouldn't have seen, and that's a camp not far behind our boarders. It's fairly far away, but it's estimated they'll reach us in a matter of 3 weeks." Azrael explained.

"3 weeks?!" I shouted.

Kronos quickly jumped in, "I'm sure we're prepared and will be ready before 3 weeks, won't we, Coco?"

"Yes, Alpha. The troops have already been training for several weeks and have years of experience. With a little more time, possibly a week from my calculations, we'll be more than ready." Coco said, stepping in.

Kronos and I glanced at each other, nodding with some sort of communication of our own.

"Fine, ready all the warriors we have. Both shewolves and male wolves alike. We have a battle to end." I sounded, Kronos's nod of determination supporting my words.

"The only thing I'm not so sure of is why she's doing all this. Is this really just revenge?" I said loudly, unsure of everything.

Silence filled the room.

We were confused, not understanding Fortrista. Her last words stuck to me. What did she mean?

Kronos and I have been busy almost constantly since I've waken up. I haven't had the chance to speak to Ouranos about it. There was this one time where him and I were alone, but it was bad timing.

I mean, c'mon. His ex mate was having sex with another male.

Everything was a mystery.

I sighed, knowing that after this, I needed to speak to him. Closing my eyes, I became lost in my thoughts.

It's almost time.

To end a meeting between the Alpha and Luna's past.

We're coming for you, Fortrista.