Run Like a Rogue (Under Construction)

Chapter Five: For the Love of the Fight

"No. I haven't left the office much in the past few weeks, so I haven't had a chance to watch the defense training. If any of the warriors have improved since the last time I saw them fight, tonight will be their chance to show it." He held me pressed against his side and I could feel him talking. Too say I was uncomfortable would be a massive understatement. But I knew that the pack needed the illusion that we were head over heels in love, or at least got along. It would be a long night.

By the time I zoned back into the conversation, people had gotten over their shyness and were throwing questions at him. The guys seemed to be reminding him of their strengths, trying to up their chances of being chosen. The girls just wanted to know about us. How did we meet? Had we gone on a date yet? Typical. Damien answered all of them as diplomatically as he could, but after a while he held up a hand.

"I would love to talk to all of you after dinner, but for now I think it's time that my mate met my friends." At that, the girls practically swooned. I rolled my eyes. Sara caught my expression and winked before Damien pulled me away.

"So," he said, as we walked away, "I'm guessing it was Sara's idea to make you look like a badass rogue?"

"Yeah," I said with genuine happiness, "Isn't it awesome?"

"Definitely." His eyes traveled from my bare feet, slowly over my legs, up to my face. I growled lowly.

"You know growling just makes you look hotter, right," he whispered. That made me want to growl at him some more, but I held back. I think he could tell by the look on my face, because he started laughing at me.

"Damien," someone shouted, "How 'bout you stop hogging your hot little mate and introduce us?"

I looked over to a group of male wolves and saw that the one shouting was bulky and red-faced. Damien growled. The sound was low and dangerous.

"Is he drunk?" I asked Damien as we walked towards the group. Most wolves would know better than to hit on an Alpha's mate.

"No. He's naturally an asshole."

Oh, this is going to be fun, I thought happily. I stepped right in front of the wolf, too close for comfort. He looked pleased at my actions. "Hi, I'm Alana and I believe that men who feel the need to yell across rooms are compensating for something." I glanced down at his crotch and looked back at his face, smiling sweetly. If possible, his face turned redder. Before he could open his mouth, undoubtedly to yell at me, the other wolves started laughing and teasing him. Soon he relaxed and started laughing as well. Just like that, they accepted me. Boys were easy.

After dinner, the fights began. It was exhilarating to watch. I had seen fights before, but these wolves were so well-trained it was like they were choreographed. When one wolf moved the other reflected it, back and forth, darting and twisting and reaching and retreating. It was a dance. I was still next to Damien. Occasionally I would feel him watching me but I was too caught up in the fights to care.

"You're going to love the next part." He said suddenly.

"Huh?" I said not turning away from the fighters.

"You're going to love the next part," he repeated, "I don't know if you've heard, but females demonstrate their strength too. As Luna, you fight first."

"What?!" I turned to face him fully.

Daniel's eyes softened. "None of them know you Alana," he explained, "They're scared. Of the rogues. Of the future. They need a Luna."

I nodded once and stood to face my new pack.

My opponent was confident, cocky actually. She looked me over with a sneer then turned to face a group of girls and on cue they all started laughing. She was tall and looked like an athlete. The look in her eyes told me that it wouldn't be enough to beat me, she wanted to destroy me. I recognized a queen bitch when I saw one. Beating her in a fight would be a hell of a first impression.

From the moment we started she was on me. I noticed immediately that her movements were strong, but they seemed too planned. The choreographed movements that I had loved watching earlier weren't flexible enough for a real fight. She was shocked when she didn't take me down right away. I saw the moment she decided to take me seriously. She had more strength than I did and each hit could have been enough to finish me, but I managed to dodge them all. She doesn't even know me, but she has judged me. I thought about the incident, the one that I usually fought hard not to think about. I let the anger take over. After that, I wasn't thinking about what my next move would be. Each move seemed like the natural extension of what I was feeling. The rest of the fight didn't take long.

When I won, no one clapped. There was total silence. I knew most of them didn't like me, but I had a few friends, right? I walked back to Damien and sat down. Everyone was staring at me.

"Why are they staring, Damien?"

"Because, Alana, they have noticed something that has disturbed them." In fact, even the stoic Alpha looked mildly upset.

"And what is that," I asked cautiously.

"You fight like a rogue, Alana, and we don't."