It seems that news travels fast in our world. By the next morning, everyone knew that Anthony was now a member of the Brookwood Pack and my mate. I couldn’t be happier. I was told I would have my next match at 9 AM.
I was mentally prepared for the match against my opponent but I had a lot of things weighing on my mind this morning. Dad noticed this at breakfast so he thought he could ask me what was going on.
‘Mellie, what’s going on with you today? You look like you have a lot on your mind today,’ Dad stated as we all ate our breakfast.
‘Yes, I do have a lot on my mind today. So much is changing in my life right now and it’s a lot. Then, I have to finalize everything with the command center and then make sure everything was installed correctly at the pack. I feel ‘out-of-touch’ right now. I feel ‘unbalanced’ if you will and it unsettles me,’ I explained to him as I ate my breakfast.
‘I understand that but you need to concentrate on the tournament right now. Nothing else. Everything else will fall into place. Don’t worry about it,’ advised Dad.
‘Dad, one thing that is worrying me though. Where am I going to live when we return to the pack now that I am mated with Anthony? I know I can’t live at home with you and Mom. That would just be … weird. Can you at least help me figure that out within the next day or two so I can put my mind at ease? Please?’ I begged him with my best puppy dog eyes.
‘I can help you figure that out, yes. Finish your breakfast and relax. You have a match to compete in shortly,’ reminded Dad playfully as he chuckled at me.
We finished our breakfast and we went to the rings for our next match. Melissa was competing in Ring 1 and I was competing in Ring 2. Anthony was glued to my side. When he said he wanted to take care of me, he wasn’t kidding. He was treating me like I was a princess. My wolf was loving every bit of it, who am I kidding, so was I. I liked being pampered for a change.
When I arrived at Ring 2 for my match, I began to stretch out in order to prepare for my match. I had no idea who my opponent was. I just knew that I needed to clear my head and stretch my muscles to prepare. I was beginning to get in the zone when my phone dinged with a text message from Colonel Thompson. This is not what I need right now.
I showed the text message to my father and he said he would take care of it for me until I could handle the situation. Thanks, Dad. You’re a lifesaver. I was called into the ring by the Referee for the match.
My opponent was about the same height as me but with a little more muscle mass. I knew her but I couldn’t place where I knew her from. The Referee went over the same rules again. Once again, he asked if we had any questions. We both said, ‘No.’ On the command of ‘Fight,’ we were to begin. “Fight.”
Neither one of us moved toward each other. We began to circle each other to begin sizing each other up. It was then it dawned on me where I knew her from. She worked for us in one of our satellite offices. This was going to be an interesting match. I might actually have to put in some effort in this match.
I grinned at her when I recognized her. I didn’t say anything but I saw she was about to make her move and she did. She lunged at me with a right, left combination. At the last moment, I deflected the move with a backflip catching her under her chin with my feet. It knocked her off balance and backward.
It stunned her momentarily. She shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs and looked at me like ‘What did you just do?’ We charged at each other, both connecting with a combination of rights and lefts. She started to become frustrated that her blows were not causing the damage that she wanted. She went for a sweeping motion that I flipped over and that frustrated her even more.
She let out an angry growl that told me she was getting desperate and her next move was going to be out of desperation. She lunged for me and she tried to tackle me in the midsection. I, in turn, planted my feet on her stomach and flipped her over my body. Her response to that was to shift to her wolf. I rolled out to the side to get a good look at her wolf. It was a sandy-colored small-sized wolf. She looked fast. She growled at me before she charged at me.
I was just able to get back to my feet and into a defensive stance before her charge. Her wolf lowered her head as she ran toward me and leaped at my throat. I sidestepped her and tried to wrap her up but missed. I had no choice but to shift into my dark brown wolf to counter hers. My wolf had always been a medium-sized wolf but now she seemed to be a little bit bigger than before.
She came after me again thinking that I hadn’t quite got my bearing yet. She tried to go for my throat again but she only grazed my shoulder. My wolf was able to knock her down, er rather ram her down on her side. My wolf quickly wrapped her jaws around the she-wolf’s neck. The she-wolf began to whimper but didn’t submit so I tightened my hold on her neck until she submitted.
I released my hold on her neck and stepped away from her. Anthony appeared in the ring holding up a robe for me to step into so I could shift back. I trotted over to him and shifted into my human form to slip on the robe he was offering. I thanked Anthony for the robe and made sure the she-wolf was okay.
“Baby, your wolf is absolutely beautiful,” cooed Anthony in my ear as he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me below my ear.
“Thank you, my love,” I purred as I looked him in the eyes.
‘Melanie, Alpha Richard wants you to come now to the Conference Center. He wants to keep you and Delta Troy safe,’ declared Anderson who was waiting patiently for us to follow him to our designated location.
‘Okay, I’m coming, geez. I need to find a bathroom so I can put some clothes on first. Okay?’ I growled at him being impatient.
‘Come on, let’s go to the locker room so you can put some clothes on,’ Anderson growled back at me.
‘Congratulations Melanie. You did good,’ My father said as he walked with us to the locker room.
‘Thanks, Dad. That she-wolf works for us in a satellite office. She needs to learn more discipline in her fighting. She easily got frustrated, did you notice that?’ I inquired of my father as we continued to walk.
‘I did notice that. She needs to learn how to focus and think through every possible outcome like you do. That’s why you are as good as you are, you think things through thoroughly,’ Dad praised as we reached the locker room.
Anderson went in to make sure it was safe for me to enter. I went in behind him along with Anthony behind me. I went to a section where I had some privacy so I could have Anthony and Anderson stand guard for me. I quickly put clothes on so we could move out of the locker room.