Chapter 169

Adrian POV

I knew I had to stop my dad as he latched his fist around the arm of the 6 year old.

"If I'm not mistaken, it was you that caused the queen to take a lashing, the week before she was claimed by our great king." My father roughly shook the boys body and grinned wickedly when Freddie began struggling against his tight grip. “Makes you wonder how much she went through because of you…”

"Get off me... I haven't done anything." Freddie yelled while attempting to pull his wrist away from my dad who gripped it even tighter.

"I wonder if the king even knows his mate has a brother..." I did not like this situation at all.

"Let him go!" My own hand shot out to the poor boys arm, and I pulled him away from my father, he ended up tripping over and landing on the ground with a thud. The bottle of milk he had been carrying burst open splashing the white liquid everywhere. "He hasn't done anything wrong."

"No... you have, Adrian, you and your stupid sister... Yet, This boy will be the one to face harsh punishment. We all know what king Josh did to our queens mother... Imagine what he'll do when he finds out about your deceit." He'll kill Freddie without even blinking, or maybe the king would use him to lore Dylan back to this pack so he could take her yet again. No! That can't happen, Dylan has a purpose, and she needs to be away from the king in order to fulfil it.

"Why are you so intent on torturing innocent people? Do you get off on it? What have the humans done to you to make you like this?" My dad simply growled at my words and wrapped his fist around my top, dragging me close to him by the fabric. The movement took me by surprise and a grunt left me.

"You'll do well to remember your place pup, or it just might be me to deliver your next punishment." Flashes of the king, holding silver to my back shot through me, and a small shudder took over my entire body as I remembered the pain I felt. Still, I couldn't help but think about how our queen had gone through worse, and how her punishments were so regular, I had experienced one, but Dylan, she had been subjected to so many in such little time. That's not even including everything she took before the king had even discovered her.

I growled loudly, and forced my dads hand off my clothes, his claws had emerged, and so as his hand moved the fabric became torn.

"I am no longer a pup!" I growled out my wolfs eyes landing on his with a deadly calm, I was on the verge of shifting, I could feel it with every fibre of my being. "And I am about to show you exactly where my place is..."

By now we had a rather big audience, however most of the humans were watching from inside their homes, too terrified to exit. It wasn't every day that two alphas were seen fighting in the streets of the human district.

My father simply stared at me in shock, but that soon shifted into more of a smug expression. He let out a snarky guffaw and threw his head back, taking his glee to the next level. All the while I stood in front of him, disgusted by what I was seeing and by what he had become.

"And how exactly are you going to do that? A silly little pup like you? Maybe a short stay in the packs dungeon would solve this little attitude problem." He lunged at me again, more menace on his face now, and I was seeing my father in a completely different light.

He reminded me far too much of king Josh. Only focussed on his power, and the fear he could install into weaker beings. He played on his position, and used it for his own gain.

I reacted as quickly as I could, however one of his hands managed to swipe my shoulder, his claws penetrated my skin leaving blood to slowly drip out of the scratch he had made.

It was a truly sad day when you look your own parent in the eye and can't recognize the man he used to be.

"Right..." I whispered to myself, already knowing my actions before I spoke the words. I wiped the small cut on my arm with the palm of my opposite hand, and let my eyes darken before meeting my fathers, my voice came out strong and unwavering as I uttered my statement. "I alpha Adrian Stone, in witness of the goddess Luna herself, challenge you Alpha Stone for your pack and title!" Without missing a beat I clawed my own palm and let the blood drop at my dads feet solidifying the challenge and making it indissoluble.

"You... Challenge me?" He laughed again, while I simply stood staring at him in anger.

A challenge wasn't something to be taken lightly, it was a rare occurrence, and no one had heard of one taking place since the new world began 5 years ago. Also in accordance to our laws, an alpha challenge was a fight that guaranteed death to one of the participants.

"I have followed you and looked up to you for my entire life. Your word was law, but somehow in the past 5 years, you have forgotten that the new world was supposed to free us from our secrecy, and instead you used your position for abuse and corruption. I know now, that you are NOT the alpha we need when the new world crumples." My dads beta didn't say anything for a few minutes as he stared at my stance. He knew the weight that my actions would cause, but I knew, that I had to get my dad away from being in charge, or everything queen Dylan was doing would be fore nothing.

There was absolutely no going back now.

"Adrian, this isn't a game. If you two fight for the alpha position, then one of you will die by the others hands." Steve was attempting to be the voice of reason, however due to my actions, the challenge had already been set.

"That's what I intend."

I didn't waste another minute of arguing as I allowed my body to morph into that of my wolf form. My large brown Lycan stared at my father as i snarled viscously, lying in wait for him to also shift.

"Fine... but you brought this on yourself, pup." Him calling me that only cemented my actions, making me want to rip him to shreds more and more as every second passed.

I watched as he too shifted where he stood, the human district becoming an area filled with growls and snarls. I couldn't help but let my mind wander over to my poor mother, who was about to either lose her mate, or her son, whichever one of us would perish, she would have to live knowing that that we had done this to each other.

'I'm sorry mom!' I quickly mind linked the lady who gave birth to me, before focusing on the wolf in front of me.

This was it.

We slowly began circling each other, the space between us prominent and steady as we eyed each other up. I wasn't an idiot, I knew the first move had to be done by my father, and so I patiently waited, readying myself for the attack that was now imminent.

Freddie, who had some how managed to run back to Nicks old house, now clung to his guardians arm on the front door step, as they both watched on in shock.

My father took my distraction as a chance to charge, and without hesitation, he did so. His jaw widened in order to land a devastating blow onto my body, and his target was my neck.

I growled loudly, causing an echo to soar through the sky, as I dodged his first attack, jumping around and swiping his side with my claws as he shot passed my body.

I lunged again, jumping onto his back and digging my own teeth into the back of his neck in order to try and force submission. However, his wolf body rolled, and with it my own form slammed onto the ground with my father lying on top of me. Blood dripped out of his neck into my mouth as I remained latched onto his fur. While he wriggled and snarled on top of my stomach.

'You always were such a disappointment.' He snarled using the mind link to taunt me. He was getting extremely angry as now his wriggling became too much for me to remain steadfast in my hold.

I let go, and we both scrambled to our feet growling and snarling at each other as we once again charged.

His teeth landed a large hit on my right shoulder, while my claws left scrapes, oozing with blood on his left side.

It wasn't my intention to once again leave the human district covered in blood, but circumstances had made it so. The best thing for everyone in this district was to replace its alpha with someone who would happily promote change.

We fought, and we both fought ferociously, as the sun began its slow decent. It was getting late, and I was getting extremely tired, but I couldn't give up.

"STOP THIS... STOP IT!" My mother finally made her appearance. She sped up to where me and my father panted, bleeding onto the ground below us. My heart rate was rapid as my birth giver stepped between both me and my father. "This ends now!” Monroe, my beta stood to the side also, shock plastered on his face as he helped his father to move my mother out of the way.

“It won’t end until one of them reins victorious, I’m sorry Luna.” Steve and Monroe were quick to take my mothers hands and drag her away from me and my father. Her face held nothing but sorrow as she allowed tears to fall. “There is nothing we can do.”

‘Im truly sorry, mom.’ I felt her sorrow but remained adamant in my views. My father however took my mothers interference as yet another distraction for me, and quickly crashed into the side of me, causing my back leg to snap from the blow. I howled slightly at the breaking sensation, and scrambled to my remaining 3 legs, only to be pounced on again and hit by fangs.

My dad bit down, and he bit down hard on one of my ears causing the skin to painfully separate from my wolf head, and another howl erupted out of me. Blood oozed out of the new wound and down my face, causing my eye to become blurry and in desperate need of a wipe.

Using every last ounce of strength I had left in me, I spun my head and gripped my father one last time in my teeth, without thinking I swung his body and threw him up, not giving him time to find his feet before slamming him back to the ground.

The action caused a single thunderous bang to echo, numerous cracks sounded and blood quickly poured out of his mouth as his rib cage became crushed from the impact. I ran on three legs, and pounced on his tired bested body, cracking the remaining ribs in the process and damaging his heart beyond compare.

He shifted into his human form, unable to remain a wolf, and with a gasp of pain he smiled, blood coating every tooth. I felt awful as I watched him struggle for breath.

“Congratulations… Alpha Adrian.”

I looked at my mother, who fell to her knees, and screamed, a deafening, heartbreaking, agony filled scream.