Jennie stood with Jisoo and Rosé by a tree as the three of them watched their surroundings with silence.
Ethan had chosen the spot in the woods, completely secluded from the town and away from any humans. All the pack members were there, standing off to one side and sizing up the lone wolves who stood at their own spots beneath the glow of their Mother Moon and the darkness of their Shadow King.
"They all look strong," Jisoo commented worriedly, taking in the sight of very well-built young strangers.
"But dumb," Rosé assured with a nod.
Jennie had seen Lalisa the moment she arrived, still looking as dangerous and as beautiful as the last time she'd seen her. And she mentally cursed her for it.
"I can't believe you're not participating, Jennie," Jisoo said fearfully,
The blonde shrugged. "It's my choice," she said, tearing her eyes away from Lalisa.
Rosé rolled her eyes. "Right," she said skeptically, "And it's not because of that certain brown-haired honey we ran into a few days ago . . . "
Jennie became silent.
Lalisa' eyes stayed on her, not bothering to study and examine her other competition. She couldn't help it. She couldn't look away when she was looking so glorious with her blond hair up in a twist, dressed in a light-yellow top that bared her neck and shoulder, a dark olive-green skirt that went down past her knees, and a pair of vintage heels.
Lalisa smiled.
Looking sexy for the battle, a trophy worth showing off to stimulate those who were fighting for the name as the Slayer Clan's pack leader.
And boy was it working.
Lalisa could tell from the numerous amounts of looks the other males threw at her, except Eunwoo who has had his eyes on Jennie's brunette friend, that they would go to any lengths to win this particular battle for her.
"Attention!"
Everyone looked at Arthur who stood on the middle of a circle white stones half dug into the ground. The old man was dressed in an old gray robe, a rope tied around his waist. He stared at the crowd, his blue eyes twinkling with an unknown force.
"It is time!" he shouted, and the gathered group of werewolves roared in cheer. Friends laughed and embraced each other, wishing them luck. The group quickly morphed into wolf form, barely waiting another second. The sounds of bone crunching and the sudden growls and howls of the changing animals permeated the air like a song in the night.
"Those who will fight for leadership, step forward," Arthur ordered, and the group obeyed as males of all different shades and sizes stepped into the circle.
"My prayers and wishes go out to all of you," Arthur said sincerely, "The last wolf standing will be named as the Slayer Clan's pack leader." He stepped away from the circle. "The battle begins . . . now!"
With a thunderous rumble of roars, werewolves lunged at each other with feral attacks. Jennie watched on in fear and fascination as Lalisa, notorious in black coat, attacked the nearest male, biting him with her large and powerful jaws.
The male went down with a whimper as Arthur pulled him out of the circle before his companions, who chose not to fight, dragged him away from the crowd. Time seemed to go on as more of the males sauntered out of the circle with broken bones, bleeding wounds, and other major injuries.
And Jennie watched with complete enthrallment as Lalisa took down every single male that came at her. She looked so powerful, a magnificent specimen of a werewolf. Her eyes gleamed with animalistic passion as she bared her teeth, showing off her sharp canines with a growl. Her dark eyes, now specked with amber and yellow, stared at the challengers with violence and fierceness.
The air became even more pungent, but this time, with blood and the small cries and whimpers of those who were wounded and hurt. Jennie moved closer to the circle, her silver eyes fixed on Lalisa as she continued to battle with passion.
Lalisa was having a high as more power surged through her wolf form. She fought with viciousness. And through all this, her thoughts were on Jennie, who she knew was watching with keenness and acuteness.
She had been feeling her eyes the whole time . . .
And by the end, it was only, Lalisa and Kai left standing.
The two circled each other, scrutinizing and looking for any sort of weakness. And Lalisa found his. The other wolf had been wounded badly on his left shoulder. And Kai soon found the other competitor as well, and with a grim smirk, sauntered off towards Jennie, looking shocked as he licked her face.
And from pure instinct, Jennie nuzzled Kai's neck, not really knowing what she was doing as she kept her eyes on Lalisa.
Instead of getting weakened by the act of affection between the bleached blonde ass and the mate she wanted, Lalisa got angered, causing more power and strength to flow into her.
Lalisa lunged at Kai, catching the male off guard.
Kai struggled beneath the feral wolf. He opened his jaws, twisting his neck to bite at her shoulder.
Lalisa almost laughed. It was bad move. The werewolf's neck was open and vulnerable, and Lalisa took that to her advantage. With one fierce snarl, she bit into the neck, causing her opponent to whimper in pain.
Jennie watched, wide eyed as Lalisa won the battle. Arthur pulled her away from the injured Kai.
"The Blood Moon Battle has ended. Lalisa will take her place as pack leader for the Slayer Clan. The Moon has called it!" Arthur shouted.
The whole crowd was stunned into silence, amazed and shocked at the turn of events. A stranger, a lone wolf for that matter, had won The Blood Moon Battle, and against a Slayer Clan member.
Jennie howled . . . and the others soon followed, praising their respect towards the new leader.
Lalisa licked her lip, her glowing eyes still on Jennie as the whole entire group of wolves howled their call. She was now the Slayer Clan's pack leader.
Diana was the first to attack, knocking Jisoo down on the ground before biting the girl's shoulder. A pitiful whimper escaped from her the auburn-haired werewolf.
Jennie took a step forward, face fallen from utter horror as Haein pulled Jisoo from the circle she had been thrown into. What the hell was Diana doing?
Rosé snarled and lunged after her . . . but Diana reacted quickly and slammed against her. The sound of bones breaking echoed through the air.
Alice entered the fight as soon as Rosé went down, but she was quickly disabled when Diana clawed at her. The girl slid across the ground in helpless whimpers.
Jennie watched as Sidney came forward but was quickly injured with an angry bite to her shoulder.
And then her mother came into the circle as the two circled one another. With a howl, Jennie jumped inside to protect her mother, but was too late. Diana quickly nipped at the older woman's neck, and Jennie watched helplessly as her mother fell to the ground.
With a ferocious roar, Jennie tackled Diana to the ground, completely blinded by fury. She bit, she growled, she stomped, and she clawed. No one touched her mother. She may be no reigning queen any longer, but no one dared touch her. But her attack on the werewolf was interrupted when she was roughly pulled away.
She looked at Arthur and growled at him in warning.
"The Moon Dance has ended. Jennie will take her place as Lalisa' mate for the Slayer Clan. The Moon has called it!" Arthur presented.
The whole crowd roared and howled, growled and barked. But Jennie shook her head and stepped away from all of them, denying the fact that she had just won herself the Bitch's Dance. And by accident!
Her eyes landed on Lalisa, who stared at her with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Lalisa changed her form, and Jennie watched in fascination as her human features took the place of her wolf form. Blood and bruises covered her body, but she paid no heed to them.
Jennie morphed back as well, not caring that she was naked. That didn't matter, not when she had just won herself as her mate.
Lalisa stared at her frightened expression and brought up a hand to caress her face. She smiled when Jennie didn't pull away as she continued to stare at her in utter shock. Lalisa took that moment to bring her lips down to hers, amused when Jennie pulled away to glare at her.
Lalisa grinned. "I'm pack leader now . . . and you will be mine," she promised her.
Jennie gazed at her defiantly. "Don't be so sure," she said and morphed back into wolf form before she turned and ran deeper into the woods.
Lalisa chuckled lightly before changing as well to follow her into the night, the sounds of howls flooding the night air.