57

10 minutes later,

A tall, violet-haired, fair-skinned man (wearing a golden-beaded, black-lapelled crimson tuxedo) ascended the golden platform and waved at the audience with a smile. His medium quiff hairstyle made him look more handsome as it danced with the wind.

"Hello, fellow werewolves. Ah, sorry. Ladies and gentlemen." he said with the microphone downwards. "Ah, so sorry. I forgot I needed the mike." he brought it under his mouth and glanced around the place. "Woah. So many people. Please don't mind me. It's my first time. Haha. So many of you look fresh but I see some with panda eyes. Why? Didn't you sleep well? Haha. Don't mind my loud mouth. Why should I focus on that? Haha. Sorry." he bowed his head and then stood up straight wearing a serious face, now with an imposing aura.

"Alright, playtime's over. I'm Rex Miller, Beta of the 5th ranked pack, Amethyst moon pack. Welcome to the long-awaited, grand event. This is the triennial contest. Some of us here are veterans, and others are first-timers. Whichever group we fall into, it's good to have you all here. Today, as we all know, is Elimination day. I wish the Alphaless packs here today lots of fortune in getting the 50 points needed for the next level. But you must know there is no mercy for the losers. You must be extra careful in choosing the warrior to partake in an activity. If your chosen warrior gets 5 points for one activity, then he can either carry on to the next or hand over to another warrior from his pack.

Because if he chooses to go on and loses in that second activity, 3 points will be deducted from the earlier score. However, if he can last till the 3rd activity, even if he loses, the earlier 10 points will be untouched and the pack can send out another warrior to continue. If the warrior steps down from the first activity, the one who replaces him for the second will have the chance to either continue until the fourth activity or drop out at the third activity's onset. There are 12 activities that will take place today. Fighting isn't allowed, but there could be injuries. So you must send out the best people for all the activities. Am I clear?"

"YES!!" the members of the Alphaless packs yelled.

Mr Rex nodded and continued. "Great! I wish you all the best. Be sure to give us a good show. Three Alphas have been secretly tasked with the privilege of gifting 5 points to any pack that impresses them the most. So what do you say?"

The Alphaless packs howled in response.

"Alright. I look forward to your outstanding performance. The first activity of the day is... football." as he said this, he glanced at those concerned.

Many of them looked at each other in bewilderment. Since the history of the contest, there's never been this activity. Why was it suddenly included?

Rex continued. "Bring out the selected warrior from your pack by the count of 20. 1... 2...3..."

Rolandro turned his head to look at Phoenix, just like the others.

"Why are you guys looking at me?" Phoenix asked with creased eyebrows.

"Well... it's pretty obvious, Phoenix. We've chosen you to represent us in this game." Mel said with hands folded.

"Actually, we've decided that the first activity is yours. You can hand over to any of us for the second," said Oliver while adjusting his glasses.

"When did you decide this?" Phoenix asked.

"Um... Before we departed the hotel this morning." Zehelina confessed.

"Oh, I see." he nodded and turned to look at his mate. "Lavana, do you agree with this?"

"Well, I'd love to see you in sportswear," she responded with a smile.

"You guys are bullying me," Phoenix complained.

"Don't worry, even if you don't pass, I'll still reward you with a kiss." his mate said in a soothing tone.

"Really? What if I pass?" Phoenix asked with shining eyes that caused the others to shake their heads.

"A French Kiss and of course, I'll grant a wish of yours," Lavana replied.

"Alright. I will do my best." Phoenix declared.

"Em... Phoenix, sorry to ask. But how good are you?" Zyair suddenly asked.

"You guys didn't think this would be the first activity. You didn't even care what kind of activity before choosing me behind my back, right?" Phoenix questioned with arms folded.

Rolandro harrumphed. "It's meant to be your lesson."

"For your information, I can not play and have never played soccer before." Lavana's mate revealed.

"Really? But you've seen it on tv, right?" Dante questioned.

"I don't have time to watch tv," Phoenix replied.

"Seriously? Then haven't you encountered…” he got interrupted by Lavana’s mate.

"Don't have time for your questions. Lavana, I'm going to impress you." he blew his mate a kiss before heading to the spot where picked warriors from other packs were standing.

"Alright. Countdown's over. For this contest, 61 Alphaless packs have signed up. So for this game, you'll be split into 4 teams. These four teams will play 3 matches. The 3rd match gives you the points you desire, so if you lose in either of the first 2 matches, you have a zero. All chosen warriors, please head to the costume centre. One of you might be fortuitous to get an armband and automatically be the captain of your team. It is your responsibility to lead your team to victory. You all must be back in 5 minutes starting now.” Mr Rex proclaimed.

Immediately, all the selected warriors who were to partake in this game ran towards the indicated area speedily. They ran into the building, grabbed hold of the jerseys and trunks that were heaped upon the exquisite wooden table and stripped, soon changing into the sportswear. Then they neatly folded their clothes and placed them in the varied color nylon bags provided.

At the 4th minute, many were already returning to the field in haste. At the fifth minute, Phoenix and others came out. However, while the others were running to join the others who were already waiting for them, he, on the other hand, was jogging, even taking his time to wave at the spectators and blow a kiss at his mate.

"Hey you, hurry up.” Mr Rex rebuked. He'd never seen such a lax werewolf in a grand competition as this. Did he think this was his local pack competition?

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean it." Phoenix apologized and started running. Reaching where the others stood, he held his knees, exhaling heavily. Mr Ren shook his head. Why did this person's pack choose this weakling to represent them? He even had the armband for his team and just this little race has sapped him so much. This kind of person will only drag his team down. His team’s just unfortunate. Maybe his pack just wants to use him as a warm-up. There were still 11 activities to go.

He internally sighed before speaking. "As I earlier said, for this match, you'll be divided into four teams, Arle, Driz, Vine and Cobra. Those of you wearing red, you belong to Driz, those of you in yellow jerseys and blue trunks, you belong to Vine, those in white, you are Team Arle, those in black, you already know where you belong."

…

Minutes later, all 61 warriors had formed the 4 teams. Phoenix was in Cobra which had 16 members in contrast to the other 3 which had 15 members each. All teams seeded out the substitutes who were to sit on the designated benches while the others remained on the field. There were 4 warriors dressed in kits that were different from the others. They chose which team they’d be the goalkeeper for. Now each team had the complete 11 players lined up.

Seeing this, Mr Ren clapped once and resumed his speech. "Alright, Teams Arle and Vine will be up for the first match. I look forward to your outstanding performance." Mr Ren said with a smile before descending the platform, which automatically flattened and assumed the look of grass. Teams Driz and Cobra were led away to another building to wait. The captains of the two teams called their fellow members together to discuss in hushed tones while the goalposts were set up by those assigned. The two goalkeepers from each team and the assigned referee assumed their positions, the same time as the 10 players of each team. The captains of both teams met and flipped a coin and Team Vine got the tail.

2 minutes later, the referee blew the whistle. A player from Team Arle who’d been standing in the middle kicked the ball towards his teammates. Those from Team Vine ran forward in an attempt to gain possession of the ball.

*****

Meanwhile, since it wasn’t essential for the top 3 Alpha kings to be present on Elimination day, Alpha Chase remained at his lodging. His mate, Jacinta, was currently kneeling before him and holding a plate of strawberries which she fed to him while he glanced through some documents and made vital calls. After he finished reading the last document, he sighed and stretched his arms sideways. Being an Alpha is a glory but it also comes with loads of work behind the scenes.

Jacinta fed him a berry while he browsed through the net searching for a particular item that she’d never heard of.

“Dear, are you having fun?” he asked, his eyes still fixated on the phone.

“Yes, my love.” his mate replied with a bright smile.

Deep inside, she was very angry. Last night, he forced her to do unimaginable poses while he f*cked her with her mouth taped. She wondered if this was how her husband truly was from the beginning but just feigning the loving and caring soulmate. The current him derived joy from hurting her and he still dared to ask if she was having fun?

She had a hard time kneeling with her back straight because she still felt pain from what he did last night. And what also pained her a lot was that all those hours that he f*cked her, he only kept mentioning one damned name- Lavana!

That damn b*tch who escaped from the pack, their former punching bag. That skinny soul was nothing to write home about, even pigs wouldn’t desire her in their dreams. But how come her husband was calling her name so passionately throughout the night? Didn’t he despise her to the extent that he put a bounty on her head?

She suddenly felt a poke on her head dragging her back to reality. She looked at her mate with a smile.

“You dared to zone out in front of me? What are you and your wolf discussing?” he questioned with a frown.

“No, we weren’t discussing anything. Verixa is in a slumber. You know just like yours she only speaks whenever she feels like it but the full moon night is a must. You know that, Chase. Um… I was just thinking how our baby would look like when he’s born. Will he be a chubby boy? Will he look like his mom or his dashing daddy? I guess I got too engrossed in thinking about our child. Haha.” she chuckled.

“Oh, that’s quite a good excuse but I don’t believe you. If you were indeed thinking about our baby why did you have a murderous expression? Are you thinking about harming my heir?” he barked.

“No, no. Chase, I wouldn’t do that even in my dreams. Okay, I admit. I lied to you. But…” his panicked mate couldn’t continue her words as she got a hot slap on the left cheek. She gasped and looked at him in disbelief.

“You…”

“If you don’t tell me the truth this instant, I’ll hang you upside down from now till tomorrow,” he warned.

“I… Chase, I am your mate, your soulmate. Do you have any idea of the pain you caused me last night?”

“F*cking you is my exclusive right and your honor. Dear, I was a pure virgin on our wedding night. No other female except my mom has touched me. I allowed you to touch me everywhere, you should be over the moon, mate.” he spat.

“Being mates isn’t only about f*cking,” she yelled and rose.

“Rebellious, I see.” he nodded with an alarming smile.

“Chase, tell me, what wrong have I done? You said another woman’s name severally last night.”

“Me?” Chase chortled. This female was really good at spewing falsehoods now, huh?

“That b*tch is not in the pack. She’s something even ants won’t desire, a bag of skin and bones. How could I lose to her in your heart? Chase, you desire to f*ck that worthless thing that much? Chase, I’m your soulmate and your wife. I won’t tolerate this from you. It’s…” she halted after receiving another slap. But then her eyes suddenly glowed and her voice deepened. Apparently, her wolf spirit had taken over.

“You son of a goat,” she growled.

“I’m Alpha.” Chase corrected smugly.

“I’m gonna kill you.” his mate barked and suddenly pounced on him, raining punches at him speedily but they did him no damage at all.

“You’re so feeble.” he ridiculed while shielding his face with his hands. She suddenly shifted focus and attempted to hit him in the balls but he intercepted her.

“Mate, you want to render me impotent?” he questioned in ire.

“You merit death. Chase, you are evil. How can you be calling another woman’s name while doing me?” she cried. He pushed her off him and smoothened his attire.

“I would never do that. You are my mate so it’s only logical that I call your lovely name,” he said with hands folded.

“Chase, what is she to you? What is that damned Lavana to you? Tell me?” Jacinta barked.

“Lavana?” his eyebrows creased.

“You were screaming her name last night, Chase.” she disclosed with gritted teeth.

Chase chortled. “My dear, lying is not good.”

“Say that to yourself.” she threw a recording pen at him. He doubtfully started playing it. He heard the sounds of skin slapping hard and then his voice. He was actually calling… Lavana’s name?

“What?” The pen fell from his hand as he sat in the chair, dumbfounded. How could he possibly say this last night?

“You see what I’m saying, Chase?” she rose. “I loathe you. And if what needs to be done is murdering our son, I will gladly do it.” she spat and turned to leave.

“If you dare hurt my heir, I will wipe out your entire family and make you wish for death. You know my methods, Jacinta. I’m not one to be intimidated.” he warned.

“Chase, I need an apology. You say I’m only good at opening my legs, you are blind Chase. Have you bothered finding out about my talents? Nah, you were only concerned with my body.”

“Well, you can obviously cook well. But my mom’s better at it. Still, I faithfully stuck to eating your food, Jacinta.”

“But you don’t even acknowledge me in your heart anymore. It’s that worthless thing you desire instead. If I find her, I swear, I’ll hack her into a million pieces and deliver her meat to you, fried and fragrant.” she spat before opening the door.

“Lavana is mine to kill. If you dare touch her, I will cut off both of your arms.” Chase cautioned.

His mate simply walked out and slammed the door behind her in anger. Now that his mate was gone, Chase fell into deep thought.

“Maybe I didn’t hear well.” he thought and picked up the pen. He then played the recording again and ended up throwing it at the wall at the extreme, causing it to break into pieces.

“Ivan!” he growled. His stupid wolf must be responsible for this. He knew no matter how much he called, that annoying wolf of his won’t answer him. But much to his surprise, that lazy spirit replied leisurely.

“Chase, what is it?”

“Ivan, what did you do last night?” he inquired in an unhappy tone.

“I didn’t take over when you were doing that ugly lass,” Ivan replied.

“Then what’s with the recording? Why did that cursed wrench’s name slip out of my lips not once but times without number? Tell me!” Chase barked.

“That’s clearly your problem, Chase. You don’t like that beautiful soul but chose this fish eye, ditching the genuine pearl since you are blind.”

“Shut it, Ivan. How dare you call Jacinta a fish eye? She’s even carrying our heir.”

“Our heir?” Ivan scoffed. “No, that’s your heir. I have never approved of that female from the start.”

“So you’re telling me that you aren’t responsible for what happened last night?”

“Chase, you rejected that precious pearl, you hurt her and she turned out to be an Olmpha in the end. She’s miles ahead of you in rank. The one you chose is a weak Beta female.”

“So you’re saying this is the backlash from rejecting an Olmpha?” Chase questioned, riled.

“Think what you want. I can’t be bothered to speak with you any longer.” Ivan retreated to slumber, driving a frustrated Chase to clench his fingers into fists and grit his teeth.

“Lavana, you better show yourself in time, let me finish you off once and for all.” he hit the armrests causing them to shatter.