The One He Claimed

Chapter 176: New Alpha

Sophie

We didn’t get much sleep last night, but I can feel that Hunter is much calmer today, knowing that the battle is over and won. Over breakfast, he lets the other Alphas know that it’s done.

“What are your thoughts on having a trial for this one?” Ezra asks.

“Why would there be a trial?” I ask him. Margot is watching him intently.

He looks at Margot. “Here me out on this one. In your case, you ran. In Zahn’s case, he brought his mate to you, Hunter, and I’m sure he’s saying you’re keeping him from his mate,” Ezra says.

“That is true. Do you think I’m wrong for what I’ve done?” Hunter asks him.

“No, I don’t. But I think we can set a precedent right now to have true trials when one Alpha disagrees with another. If the roles were reversed, if he had Sophie and you attacked his pack…” Ezra begins but stops as Hunter snarls. The room goes quiet as I reach over to take Hunter’s hand.

“I’m perfectly safe, my love.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“And you’ll stay that way,” he growls, tugging me to his side and wrapping a protective arm around me.

“I think Alpha Ezra has a point. Again, not that I in any way think that you are wrong Alpha Hunter, but I do believe we have an opportunity here. We will have a new Alpha, and we’ve talked about bringing the Lunas in to be part of Committee, although, we need to change the name, since it’s not solely going to be a Committee of Alphas any longer,” Nikki says.

“What are you thinking, baby?” Robin asks his mate.

“What if we have our new Alpha preside over the trial. It would be a good opportunity for him or her to get involved and to see what the rest of their tenure as Alpha will be like. But Zahn can’t say that there is any bias, as the new Alpha hasn’t been involved with any of this. Even if it is one of our Betas who wins the pack, they weren’t at the Committee meeting where Hunter and Sophie were on trial, they weren’t in the pack when Owen or Joshua attacked. It also gives us, the Lunas, an easy start to being in these trials, understanding how they run, when and how to ask questions, that sort of thing.”

“So, it’s not really a trial?” Dutton asks.

“Well, it is, but I think we already know what the verdict of this one will be. Although, having a new Alpha on board may change the way we look at things. And, it will be Amelia’s first trial too, if she can attend. It would be good for her as well, I think,” Nikki adds.

Robin looks at the group, smiling proudly. He’s trying to hide it, but he can’t. “Unless you have a really good argument, Hunter, you won’t win this one. My girl doesn’t like to lose, at anything,” he says.

“He’s an Alpha, baby. He doesn’t like to lose either,” Nikki says a bit too sweetly, making Robin smile even wider. Those two…

Hunter looks at me. “What do you think?”

I look at the group. Everyone watches, waiting to hear my thoughts. “I think Nikki’s got a point, as does Alpha Ezra. It sets a precedent, and I can see the differences between this and what we’ve done in the past with the she-wolves on the run and even with Margot. I like the idea of making it official, especially, since I’m sure you plan to kill Zahn.”

“He attacked our pack. Yes, I intend to kill him,” Hunter growls.

“Then, let’s have a trial. Although would suggest finding at new place to hold these events. The old council chambers feel tainted,” I say.

“I agree,” says Kayce. “But there’s no reason why we can’t hold these events in one of our packs, is there? Even if that’s not permanent, we could do it until we build a new center for trials, not that we have them very often. But it would be nice to have a central location to meet for our Alpha meetings.”

“Okay then, let’s get through today and the second order of business for our new Alpha will be to preside over this trial,” Ezra says.

“What’s the first order of business?” Margot asks him.

“Getting his pack settled, of course,” he says, his gaze so intense, that she looks away, blushing.

“Well, then, let’s get this day started,” Robin says, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

“How many do you have left in the competition?” Hunter asks Robin and the Alphas all begin talking about how many pack members they have left. It seems pretty even.

“Thank you for supporting me,” Nikki says, linking her arm through mine.

“It’s the right decision. I have no intention of letting Zahn off, but I think the idea behind it and the way you presented it, are very good. Plus, I’m perfectly fine letting Zahn rot in our cells until his trial date is set.”

“How do you think Jocelyn will take it?” Margot asks.

“I’m not sure. She’s getting stronger and her wolf is as well. I think, with us there to support her, she’ll be okay. Dr. Caspian will be doing another surgery on her tomorrow or the next day because her right side is already healed.”

“That’s fantastic news!” Allison says.

“And it’s a good sign that her wolf is strengthening,” Margot says.

“What if we had the trial here?” Nikki asks, looking around. “It’s a fairly neutral place and our new Alpha could host all of us for the first time. If he’s mated, it would be a good opportunity for us to spend time with his new Luna, get to know her, and help her with anything she needs,” Nikki suggests.

I chuckle at my friend. “You’re working hard to be a trendsetter, aren’t you?”

“You’re damn right I am,” she says as we get to the table where we’ve already put together today’s pairings. “As it is, I’m having a boy, so I can’t even be the first one to have a daughter who takes her place as Alpha.”

I hear Robin chuckling and look over to see him smiling at his mate.

“He’s obviously very proud,” Nikki huffs, but I see her smile too.

“You wouldn’t have been the first anyway, Nikki. My daughter will be older than your son, so even if you had a daughter, mine would have taken her place first,” Allison says, beaming at her mate.

“And let’s not forget that my sister is already an Alpha,” I say, shaking my head at them as we split up, making sure everyone knows where and when they will fight and the day begins again.

Today, the battles are harder, but our jobs are easier. There are fewer pack members competing after each battle and our biggest issue was how to handle an odd number of contestants. We decided to offer points to the person who agreed to fight twice. They couldn’t be eliminated in the same round if they fought twice, but if they won their second fight, they would be given extra points so that if they made it to the final round and the fight was determined to be a tie, they would automatically win because they’d fought one additional time and won.

By lunch time, we were down to our final six. Three hours later, we were down to our final three. In this event, the final three, who were no surprise to anyone, drew numbers. Since Lucas and Dutton’s Beta, Miles, both decided to skip this competition and go for Alaric’s old pack, the final three consisted of Ezra’s, Robin’s, and Kayce’s Betas.

“I’m so torn,” Nikki says, coming up beside me. “I want our Beta to win, but I also want Jake to win so Letti can become a Luna.”

“These are good problems to have,” I tell her.

“They really are,” she says.

It’s later than any of us expected when the final competition ends. After a three-hour battle to the final two, we had to give Beta Jake a break before battling Robin’s Beta. Robin had to come over and wrap his arms around Nikki to keep her calm. I noticed his hand going to her belly several times over the weekend and realized that her bump finally came out.

In the end, it was Beta Jake, now Alpha Jake who won the pack, Letti at his side. She made it to the final twelve. We made sure to never put her against Jake in the competition, knowing it wouldn’t be a fair fight. But together, they will make a powerful Alpha and Luna of their pack.

We throw a party, well into the night, celebrating the new Alpha and Luna. Robin and Hunter spend time talking to the two of them about coming to our packs to meet with the previous pack members who want to rejoin the pack. Some of them are here, having competed to become Alpha of their previous pack and Jake and Letti spend a lot of time talking to them.

The festivities are still going on when Hunter leads me to our room. We’re both exhausted after two long days and a long night of worry last night, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t take time to show me, as he always does, how much he loves me before we fall into a deep, deep sleep.