Chương 281: FIGHT! JUDE VS SAM

1 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, PAST BEDTIME For some reason, it felt like my mindlink glitched because suddenly all the mindlink channels I had flared up. Even the ones I wasn't sure I was supposed to have access to. My Wolfie was defective, I knew it! But I had no time to contemplate or emote on my defective Wolfie. Everyone was talking at the same time: HANK: {Gunshots in the penthouse. Securing perimeter.} HARVEY: {Nix is our side.} HANK: {Don't worry, Beta, we're with him. Apprehended 2 intruders. Night Forest Gamma and a human girl. Both wounded. Report from ground team: Suspect sighted behind the packhouse. On the run. Male, Night Forest warrior. In civi and carrying laptop.} HARVEY: {Capture suspect and acquire laptop.} HANK: {Understood.} GAMMA HARRY: {We've got a security breach. 2 extra Night Forest warriors, 1 human child. 2 apprehended. In chase for 1 more.} BETA LUCAS: {What do you mean extra Night Forest warriors?} GAMMA HARRY: {All 10 Night Forest warriors are with me. STOP THEM! Hang on, we holding down 10.} BETA LUCAS: {Ben, Harv. Wrap up here. Keep Sam out of trouble. I'm heading back first with Alpha and Alpha Louis. Flynn, I want the cars and an armed escort for Alpha Louis.} DAD: {Not necessary. My brother will ride with me.} I shut off the mindlinks. {So noisy} Oops, how did that happen? How did I intercept so many mindlink channels?

"Louis." Dad put a firm hand on his brother's shoulder.

"You had better come back with me." The other Alphas looked from Dad to Uncle Louis to me.

"Is anything the matter, Alphas?" Dad and Uncle Louis frozed. Beta Lucas burst into the refreshment hall.

"Beta Lucas mindlinked instructions to keep me out of trouble." I complained. I shrugged off the hoo-ha Beta Lucas' entry made.

"Dad and Uncle Louis has to go settle some stuff at home." Nothing like a cute girl complaining to make big macho men to make things feel like it couldn't be anything truly serious.

"Yes, ah, a couple of warriors from Louis' pack are injured. Nothing serious, but best we go back and sort it out, right, Louis?" Dad squeezed Louis' shoulder.

"Yes, quite right." Uncle Louis looked defeated. Aunt Jade sighed miserably. Mum managed to take her arm.

"Don't worry, dear, young male wolves fight all the time. Our Gamma is there, he's good at handling these things."

"Ah yes," one of the Alphas said knowingly.

"Put a group of warrior wolves from different packs in a room, and there is bound to be a fight.."

"Don't worry, we can help you keep an eye on your daughter." Calista's father volunteered.

"Calista would love to make a new friend."

"I would not, especially not with her." Calista hissed. Ben's growl took on a nasty vibe. I waved Ben down and reassured the adults.

"I'm fine, don't worry." And then because Calista was really annoying me, I added with a smile, "I'll go home with Ben." Another mindlink came in. Eh, I left my beta channel open. HARVEY: {Savy and Haylee are with me. Ben, what's your status?} BEN: {I've got Sam. You go back first.} HARVEY: {You sure? Your wolf's s**ing mad.} BEN: {My wolf is always mad. Just go.} Hahahaha. But at that moment, I suddenly ducked. It was mostly Wolfie who snatched control and ducked. Calista had made a swipe at me.

I looked at her hand. It was just a hand, with the cutest pink manicure with different shades of pink. Why was I expecting claws? OMO, was Ben's babe trying to slap me? Wolfie returned the control to me.

"Calista!" Her dad had caught her hand now, and was looking somewhat horrified at his offspring's behavior. The adults who were just about to leave stopped leaving.

"Go, go..." I waved my parents off.

"I'll behave." Calista growled, her eyes glowed in anger, her teeth were bared. What the hell? I kept checking her hand to see if she would produce those claws, but of course she didn't. Partial shifts required a deep merger with your wolf, followed by a vice-like control to maintain for any duration of time. But I kept checking anyway. Just in case she was only pretending to be a cute girl but was really a monster. But of course it didn't happen. When my parents were out of sight, I consulted Ben.

"What's happening?" The other minor Alphas and their Betas or whoever they had with them had gathered around.

"Cat fight! Whoot!" Big Mac hollared. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Jude tried to step forward.

"Now, now ladies..." So I did what I've been wanting to do to him all night. I socked him right in his face. I used a good amount of wolf power too. Last I wanted was for anyone to think I punched like a girl. Ben groaned.

"Sam, I thought you planned to behave?" Oh right. There was that too. I dusted off my hands and noticed my knuckles were bruised from the impact. I shook it out a little. It disappeared like magic. Mate's magic.

"Man, he's out like a light! What the heck." Big Mac announced. He looked at me wide-eyed.

"Alpha Princess, why did you go and hit him like that for?"

"I missed?" I said weakly.

"What the hell were you hitting at?" Big Mac half-screamed. He was really being too loud. I looked briefly at Calista and shrugged. Ben snickered. So I hit him too.

"That's for letting your personal life get in my face."

"Sorry, Alpha, it won't happen again." Ben said. Suddenly, he calls me Alpha. Did he think that would get him off the hook?

"Whatever." I shrugged. It was none of my business anyway. I looked stonily around. If the other Alphas had anything to say about a girl being an alpha now, they didn't say it out loud. Calista had left her mouth hanging open. The moment I turned to look at her, she took cover behind her father. Well, that took care of that. It wasn't like I knew what to say to her anyway. What? Like "Sorry my beta is such an a-hole. He didn't deserve you." Yeah, actually that sounded good to me.

Jude groaned and got up with Big Mac's help.

"What hit me?" I crossed my arm and waited for Big Mac to tell him, but I had forgotten that Big Mac was incapable of answering a question properly.

"She was like zam, boy, and you went down like a dog on Wolfbane."

"Who? What?" Jude asked. Yeah. Exactly. Anyway, Jude got up to his feet. He felt his chiseled jawline and muttered, "Definitely broken." His wolf had emerged, turning his gray-blue eyes silvery. He tugged his dirty blond hair back and squared off in front of me.

"Why did you hit me, princess?"

"Yes." I answered because Wolfie had taken control and Wolfie was bad at answering questions too. Ben's wolf was growling lowly behind me. I held up a hand to signal to him that I got this.

"Interesting. You wanna fight me, princess?" Jude asked.

"But I don't fight girls."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem, because I don't fight like a girl." I answered.

"Shall we make a bet?" Jude asked.

"If you win, I'll do anything you say. If I win, you do anything I say."

"Yeah, and what would you want me to do?" I asked. To my surprise, Jude actually answered me properly.

"Break off your engagement with James Lorent the Fourth. When you're 18, and if you are not my mate, you're free to mate whoever you want... But I won't recommend James. The only reason his fur is white is all the black from it has gone to his heart." How very poetic. My mate had a black heart. Thank you for reminding me.

"Don't say that, man." Big Mac said.

"Dun wanna shake the can, ya know what I'm saying? It comes back at you straight up your nose." I laughed. So they were familiar with Mate. In fact, from the general atmosphere, it seemed that the Minor Alphas were not on the best terms with my black-hearted mate.

"Okay, I don't mind a fight." I grinned.

"But I'm not your mate, Jude."

"You sure, princess?" Jude raised a brow and proffered one of his practiced smiles. I shrugged and smiled back.

"Yes." Because I knew how to answer a yes-or-no question.

"I just want to make one thing clear." I said, "I'm the alpha, I do what I want, when I want. Don't question me. When we fight, you won't be fighting a girl, you'll be fighting the Alpha." Jude laughed.

"Cute. I like sassy girls."

"I hope you like being beaten up by them too." I shot back with a grin. My Wolfie was happy. We were going to kick butt. Delta Charlie entered the hall at this moment.

"I beg your pardon, Alphas, but Alpha Sam is due home."

"Why? Is it past your bedtime, princess?" Jude taunted. I looked at the clock.

"Yes. So hurry up and let's get this over with." Jude laughed again. Ben waved his hand in one swift downward motion.

"Fight!" Everyone stood back. I bombed alpha dominance. This was not the first time I fought to prove myself. By the time I'm done here, no one would dare challenge my claim to Alpha. Jude looked surprised at first, and then he smirked and bombed too. Delta Charlie fled the scene. First minute. I attacked with increasing speed and strength. He blocked one and dodged the other. Then he threw a punch. It came at a weird angle. I dodged and made a roundhouse floor kick to trip him over.

He rolled over and was up on his feet quickly. Okay, I would say, by now our fighting styles were obviously different. I fought with well-drilled clean movements, in a distinct and somewhat traditional Lycan martial art style. Jude's fighting style was more freestyle, full of surprises but also riddled with holes and openings because he was undrilled. And like most guys who were strong and strapping, Jude's fighting style relied a lot on brute strength and fast reflexes.

Great for a street fight any day or even a run-in with rogues, but I'm not sure if Jude ever fought one-on-one with another Alpha wolf before. Maybe Mate. If so, I'm sure Jude had lost. Second minute. I quickened my attacks and took out my fancy footwork drills on Jude. I was just playing. I went through from the first movement to the last of our advance drill book. Harvey entered the hall. His mouth pressed in a thin line. Principal Charlie was close behind him. Did the Delta leave to get backup?

Harvey lifted a brow at my drill routine and then decided to hang back and watch, his usual wry smile in place. Fifth minute, okay, playtime was over. I released control to my wolf. Immediately, I lunged forward. Jude opened his arms as if he thought he would catch me? My claws came out. Face or heart? I tried not to think too hard about it.

"Okay! Alright! Stop!" Jude staggered back. I retracted the claws, but only barely. They cut through the fabric of his jacket and I knew I had scraped the flesh over his heart. Jude grasped at his chest, falling back dramatically onto the ground, "Arugghhhh... arughhhh..."

"It's just a flesh wound," I said. I could smell the blood, but it was not that much blood. Plus, wasn't Jude an Alpha? It should be closing up even as Big Mac scooped him up. The betas who had come to watch on the sidelines continued to stand there silently. Where was Jude's beta?

"Someone call a healer!" Big Mac shouted.

"There is an emergency clinic five minutes from here," Principal Charlie said.

"He's dying, man! F*** the clinic. If there isn't a healer, call the ambulance!" Big Mac screamed. Then Harvey walked over. He knelt over Jude and ripped off the fabric.

"It's just a flesh wound. And already fast closing up." That's what I thought! But somehow, when Harvey said it, it was like confirmed. Jude stopped yelling.

"The emergency clinic is well equipped to handle battle wounds," Principal Charlie informed everyone. Big Mac decided to help Jude get up. A very black-haired guy in a black leather jacket showed up suddenly. It looked like he was Jude's beta.

"Come this way, gentlemen," Principal Charlie said.

"We can take my car." I decided to remind them in case they forgot.

"I won. He owes me." The room turned to silently regard me. I silently dared anyone to protest. No one did. Jude grimaced, clutching his heart.

"What do you want, princess? Even my heart, I would give it."

"If I wanted your heart, I would have taken it." I huffed. I didn't know what I wanted though.

"I'll let you know if I ever think of anything."

"Alright then, playtime's over. It's past your bedtime, Alpha." Ben smirked.

"Harv, take care of things here. I'll return our Alpha home to her parents." Did Ben just order Harvey?

"Sure." Harvey answered, his usual calm.

"Leave it to me." Did Harvey just take it? As I walked past Harvey, the good beta had to feedback, "That was good form, Alpha. But you missed Drill #14 and your rhythm was off at least twice." I knew it! I knew our packs shared the same drill book! I shot out a straight punch into his shoulder as thanks, but Harvey caught it in his hand. His hand was large and warm around my fist. His wolf meeting mine with the touch. I smiled. Good beta.

"Train with me sometime and show me." I said. Actually, I wasn't surprised I missed Drill #14. This wouldn't be the first time I forgot it. Flynn would know. He had caught the slip-up more than once. But my rhythm was off? Hmmm... None of my trainers ever seriously commented on that before, although now that I thought of it, I remembered Flynn did very vaguely mentioned something being a little off, but because they had sounded like it was of little significance, I had never pursued it.

Ben took out the car key from his pocket, and Harvey exchanged it with his own. Then I felt Ben's hand on the small of my back as he led me out and through the school corridors to the familiar blue coupe sitting quietly by the porch. Ben opened the car door for me. My car! Yay! (No Lambo!)