Chapter 59: Challenge Day
ARIA POV
I ducked as the massive black wolf struck at my throat. His teeth snapped inches from my face, the sound booming across the challenge circle.
All around us, wolves from both packs watched in tense silence. Shadow Fang and Moonclaw, enemies for generations, now gathered to watch this fight that would decide everything.
Alpha Thorne of Shadow Fang was twice my size, with fight scars covering his dark fur. He’d killed twelve competitors before me. And now he had my father locked away somewhere, a bargaining chip to force this battle.
"Too slow, little girl," he taunted through the pack-mind link that linked all wolves in the circle. "Is this the best the daughter of the Great Alpha can do? Run and hide?"
I didn’t answer, focused on my breathing as I circled away from him. Three days had passed since the Silvercrest Institute had shown me my father was alive. Three days of desperate planning that led to this moment.
"The challenge is simple," Elder Malin had explained. "Defeat Alpha Thorne, and both packs must follow Shadow Fang rule and release your father. Lose, and you give yourself to them."
The deal had gotten my pack safely away from the Silvercrest hunts. But now I faced something perhaps worse.
Thorne charged again, faster this time. Instead of dodging, I stood my ground until the last second, then turned sideways. His speed carried him past me, and I managed to bite down on his back leg.
He howled in pain and rage, spinning to face me.
"First blood to you," he growled. "It will be your last."