We all assembled behind our Pack’s Banner for the Opening Ceremony. We stood proudly with our Alpha waiting for the Alpha King to Open the Tournament. The setup reminded me of the Olympics, but Werewolf Style.
Beta Walsh appeared on the podium and announced, “Please draw your attention to the podium for Alpha King Matthew.”
We all bowed as he appeared front and center on the podium with his sons Prince Michael and Prince Myles. Alpha King Matthew surveyed all the packs lined up in front of him before he spoke.
“Good morning one and all! Welcome to the Grand Tournament. This year we have 46 packs participating out of 68 packs. Out of those 46 packs, only 28 packs have she-wolves participating. Therefore, we will have all she-wolves participating first followed by the male wolves. The tournament will be in both human and wolf form. We expect you to be at your fighting location well before your competition begins so that the competition runs smoothly. I look forward to a good, clean competition. Good Luck to You All in our Quest to see Who is the Top Male and Female Warrior!
I NOW DECLARE THIS TOURNAMENT OPEN AND READY TO BEGIN COMPETITION!” commanded Alpha King Matthew
Howls and Cheers were heard at his declaration. As a sign of respect, we all patiently waited for the King and his sons to leave the podium before we left our assigned areas.
Alpha Richard turned toward Melissa and me to let us know when and where we would be fighting since we would be fighting first. “Melissa it looks like you are up first at Ring 1 in 20 minutes. Melanie, you will be fighting at Ring 6 in 40 minutes. Since we can’t be in two places at once, Joshua and I will go with Melissa to support her. Kyle will go with Melanie since I know her mate and her father will be there to support her. Sound like a plan?” Alpha Richard asked us all.
“Sounds like a plan,” we chorused together.
“Once your fight is over, get treated for your injuries. Then, go and support Joshua and Kyle. Joshua and Kyle are fighting this afternoon. If you need me or Delta Troy for anything, use the mind link. Good luck and remember, no matter what, I’m proud of you!” announced Alpha Richard to the four of us.
We all beamed with his praises and then we answered, “Yes, Alpha.”
We picked up our training bags to head out to our assigned areas.
“Good luck Melissa. Remember, you’ve got this,” I declared with certainty in my voice.
“Good luck to you too, Melanie. You’ve got this too. See you later,” declared Melissa as we departed our ways to go to our respective rings.
We easily found Ring 6. I took a seat near the ring since my fight was next. My Dad joined me and gave me a side hug. The next thing I know, I have two strong arms being wrapped around my waist. I gasp slightly until I smell his cinnamon goodness.
“Hi, baby. I see your fight is next. Do you mind if I keep you company until your fight?” inquired Anthony with a wolfish grin.
“Not at all. I didn’t get a chance to ask you how you were feeling today. So, how are you feeling today? I inquired with a silly grin on my face.
“I’m doing better now. After your fight, why don’t we get some lunch and talk some more? What’ll you say?” he softly asked me.
“I can go for that. But I need to be back in time to watch Kyle compete. Alpha Richard wants us to support each other. When do you compete?” I asked him matter a fact.
“I compete right after lunch. In fact, I fight Kyle from your pack,” he announced with his head held low.
“Really? Wow. That’s really going to be a conflict for me. I want Kyle to win because he’s from my pack, but I also want you to win because you’re my mate,” I stated sullenly because I was now conflicted.
“Hey, no worries. Don’t worry about it. You need to concentrate on your fight, not mine. Just relax,” cooed Anthony into my ear.
I snuggled closer to Anthony so I could relax. The first fight was about to begin. Both participants entered the ring along with the referee. We all listened as the Referee went over the rules of the fight.
“You must remain within the confines of the ring. You cannot obtain assistance from anyone. You can change into wolf form at any time. The winner is determined when the opponent submits or is unconscious. Any questions?” the Referee inquired of both fighters.
Both fighters acknowledged with a ‘No.’
“On my command, you may begin,” the Referee stated. He took two steps out of the way as the fighters took their stances. “Fight!” he commanded.
At the command, both lunged at each other. They seemed to be evenly matched. I didn’t know either she-wolf but they weren’t very proficient in the MMA. When they shifted into their wolves, they were better fighters. The match didn’t last very long.
Before I knew it, they were calling for my match to come to the ring. I was paired with a she-wolf from the Frost Pack. I know their Alpha but nothing about their training techniques so this should prove to be interesting. Before I went up to the ring, Anthony wished me luck with a kiss on the cheek as well as Dad.
I entered the ring and I began sizing up my opponent. She was slightly shorter than I was. She was leaner with almost no muscle mass on her. I wouldn’t be able to deduce much more about her until she took her stance or until she began fighting.
The Referee called us to the middle of the ring to go over the rules. Once again he stated, “You must remain within the confines of the ring. You cannot obtain assistance from anyone. You can change into wolf form at any time. The winner is determined when the opponent submits or is unconscious. Any questions?”
We both stated, “No.”
“On my command, you may begin,” the Referee stated. He took two steps out of the way as we took our stances. “Fight!” he commanded.
At the command of Fight, she lunged at me. At the last moment, I stepped to the left to avoid her and hit her with my knee in her midsection. All you heard was her ‘oomph.’
I moved off to the side to see what she would do next. She righted herself and just looked at me with a look like ‘What did you just do?’ As I continued to size her up, I got into my defensive stance to await her next move.
We began to circle each other, then she decided she would try a right, left combination which I deflected easily. She had an incredulous look on her face like I wasn’t supposed to deflect her hits. I guess she had enough of trying to hit me in human form because she quickly shifted into her wolf.
She lunged at me aiming for my neck. Her wolf is quick but not quick enough. I was able to step to the right and grab her wolf under the muzzle and around the midsection. I was able to easily bring her wolf down even though she was thrashing and growling.
I continued to hold her down on the mat. “Submit! I do not want to hurt you! Submit!” I commanded her.
She continued to whimper. Finally, she stopped thrashing and whimpering. She submitted. When I released her, I asked for a robe for her. I held it for her so she could shift back to human form.
When she shifted back, I asked her what her name was. I told her that I was going to ask her Alpha if I could have her and a few other she-wolves come to our pack to learn how to properly train. She thought that was a good idea.
I exited the ring only to be enveloped in the arms of my mate Anthony. “Congratulations Melanie,” he praised as he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.
“Thank you, Anthony. Come on, we need to go,” I declared as Anderson motioned for us to follow him.
Anthony took my bag from me and wrapped his right arm around my waist as he guided me toward Anderson.
‘You hardly broke a sweat Mellie,’ Dad proudly stated in our link as we walked out of the area.
‘I know. What’s wrong with these packs not training their she-wolves properly Dad?’ I growled as we walked back to the main area.
‘Calm down Melanie. Not all packs believe as we do. Like I told you before, you have exceeded my expectations. You can beat most of our warriors, not everyone can do that. Just remember that’ praised Dad as we continued to walk.
‘Yes sir. I’m sorry for being judgmental. It just makes me angry that we have females who cannot protect themselves properly because they haven’t been taught to do so,’ I accused as we neared Alpha Richard and Melissa.