Chapter 550 A Challenge

“Oh, I see. She’s got a mouth on her,” Elizabeth said, stepping away from her husband and closing the distance between them until she stood directly in front of Viola. She looked down at her with a tight, humorless smile.

“We Darkbur know how to maintain our natural scent and body oils, not waste them away like you rich folks do by washing every second of the day. But you know what? I can still beat your ass so badly, you’ll be begging for a taste of my strength, hygiene secrets and all.”

Viola didn’t know whether to laugh outright or simply point out that the woman was dressing up filth with fancy language, or remind her that Darkbur wasn’t actually poor, their Alpha simply chose to live that way, despite all the land and natural resources at his disposal. But Viola bit the words back, since right now she didn’t want a fight, she only wanted these people gone from their pack and their people left alone.

“Elizabeth, I don’t want to fight you, I want—” Viola began, but Elizabeth laughed, running a hand proudly over her own pregnant belly. “Oh, but I want to fight you, bitch. I want that very badly. I’m due next month myself, and I promise you, my son is going to be born right here in Silver, so what’s it going to be? Are you packing your people up and getting the fuck out, or do you want to fight us for it?”

Sebastian was already parting his lips to answer when Price beat him to it, clapping his hands together loudly.

“I have an idea!” He called out. “How about a tournament, between our women? If my Elizabeth wins, Alpha Sebastian, all your people clear out of the north side, and my people move in. And if your woman wins…” Price looked at Sebastian with a smirk, already certain there was no way Viola could possibly win against his mighty Elizabeth. “I’ll pack my people up and leave your pack entirely. And there are no rules to this fight. They can kill each other, if it comes to that.”

Sebastian’s face twisted with displeasure almost instantly at those words. He would never allow his wife to fight in her condition, wouldn’t even entertain the thought, not in this brutal weather, but as though anticipating exactly that refusal, Price smirked, turning to challenge Sebastian’s pack members who’d gathered around them instead.

“Why’s your Alpha hesitating? Is that a sign you’ve got yourselves an incompetent Luna? For a Supreme, a fight with my Liza should be nothing, right? Or is she scared?” He turned to address Viola directly. “It’s not even an unfair fight, you’re both women, both in the same condition. What a disgrace, really, for Silver if you can’t protect your pack.”

His words rippled instantly through the gathered Silver Pack members, many of whom, if they were honest, had never fully warmed to the Luna chosen for them, half-mermaid as she was. But the idea that she couldn’t fight for them, that she wouldn’t fight for them, struck a much deeper chord in their hearts. After all, protecting the pack was just as much a Luna’s duty as it was an Alpha’s.

Alpha Price had just handed Silver a way out of the situation, yet their own Luna seemed unwilling to take it. Was she trying to doom Silver to becoming a joint pack with Darkbur?

“I always knew it. The moment it actually came down to doing something real for us, she’d back out. Look at her, she’s probably shaking in her boots right now.” Came whispered words from some of the people who’d made it their life’s mission to resent the Supreme Luna.

“The bitch. Oh, if she makes us lose this part of Silver to these barbarians, someone needs to send her out.” Came another murmur, sharp with resentment as it was one of Sebastian’s old flames.

“Will you all stop blaming the Luna? She’s carrying the heir to Silver. You can’t seriously expect her to fight in that condition. If it were you, would you want to face that woman built like a tank?” someone else shot back, clearly holding no grudge against their Luna.

“Oh, please! It’s not the first time a she-wolf carrying pups has fought. Last year, during the tournament in Blood Moon Pack, their Luna was pregnant, yet she still won the fight and led her pack to victory. So why should ours be any different?”

Soon, the entire street erupted into an open argument between the two sides, until one look from Sebastian silenced the crowd entirely, bringing everyone to an abrupt standstill.

Sebastian turned back to Price.

“My wife isn’t fighting. If there’s going to be a tournament, let it be between us.” He challenged, but clearly Price had already set his sights firmly on Viola and worked out every angle of his plan, and he only laughed.

“I’m not fighting you. If your wife can’t even face mine, then you can all simply pack up and leave right now, and let me settle comfortably into my new place.” Said Alpha Price, yawning dramatically, as though the whole exchange bored him.

“You fucking—” Sebastian started, lunging forward as though to strike the man, but Viola grabbed him back, turning instead to Alpha Price, who clearly wasn’t backing down from anything short of getting exactly what he wanted.

“Fine. I accept. I’ll fight your wife, but I want it written down on paper officially, that if I beat her, you take your people and leave for good.” She spoke calmly, and Sebastian’s displeased eyes bored into the side of her head for agreeing to this at all, but Viola knew this was the fastest, cleanest way out of the entire mess, the quickest path to sending these people far away from here.

“Then bring the papers forward, I’ll sign them right now!” Price said, clapping his hands together with genuine excitement.

A few minutes later, once the papers had been signed, the tournament was scheduled for that evening, shortly after sunset, giving both women time to rest beforehand.

Werewolf pregnancies were different from human pregnancies. A strong enough she-wolf could still hold her own in a fight while pregnant, just as she could when she wasn’t. Pregnant werewolves were not automatically considered too fragile to fight, and it wasn’t unusual to see them participate in battles in their world, provided they were strong enough to handle the physical demands.

Price and his people settled into one of the large buildings in the northern section of the pack he intended to claim. He watched his wife devour the lavish meal the Silver omegas had prepared for them, consisting of marinated chicken, ham, and plenty of other meat. He kept feeding her more and more, knowing full well that the more Elizabeth ate, the harder she fought, turning into something unleashed straight from hell. He smirked at the thought.

“I am going to beat her ass so badly she won’t ever talk smart to me again!” Elizabeth gritted out around a mouthful of food, taking another bite.

She was still fuming that these fancy werewolves thought they could speak to her that way, especially that little bitch who had dared to mock her hygiene as though it were something Elizabeth should be ashamed of. In fact, she was proud of maintaining her body’s natural oils, something most she-wolves outside their pack struggled to do, yet that little woman had acted as though it were something disgusting.