Page 201 of His White Moonlight
They didn’t like having their argument thrown back at them.
“You shouldn’t have accepted the challenge,” Mom said from beside me.
“Do you honestly think they were going to stop if I’d said no?”I panted, desperate for the lingering sting and throb in my arm to stop.
“No.We knew they wouldn’t, which was why we were willing to leave the pack.Wulf Enterprises has a global reach.We can move our headquarters and start a new pack anywhere.”She spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Clever woman.She was giving them all a choice.Fight fair, or the Wulf’s will leave.
“Well?”Miranda demanded.“Who’s first?”
Milena spread her arms wide in acceptance.
“Skin or fur?”she asked Milena.
Milena answered by shifting.Miranda was a second behind her, which Milena tried to use to her advantage.It didn’t work.Miranda twisted out of the way as her claws formed, and she raked them across Milena’s face.
Milena yipped and snarled as she tried again.It took seconds for me to realize that Miranda was toying with her.But why?She had four more to fight.She couldn’t afford to—I glanced at them and realized the four women were starting to look worried.
Understanding hit me like lightning.I knew from my own experience that body strength and speed were only part of the fight.The rest was mental.
“If Miranda takes one of Milena’s eyes out, can I have your card for another shopping spree day?”I asked Bennett.
One of the four women paled.
I glanced at Bennett, who was still staring at my arm, or rather, the bloody shirt covering my arm, and stuck out my bottom lip in a pout.He glanced up, and I watched him have a full facial twitch, like he couldn’t decide how to feel about what I was doing.
“Please?”I said softly.
His gaze met mine again, and he looked drunk.
“Anything you want.”
I grinned and looked at Miranda just as she snarled and dove for Milena in a direct attack.
Milena squealed and immediately rolled to her belly before Miranda even touched her.
The chuffing snort that came out of Miranda conveyed her contempt quite well.
“Milena, you’ve forfeited your right to challenge for Wrenly’s position as Bennett’s mate,” Dad said.“Yours is the only forfeit I’ll accept tonight.”
“Why?”someone called out.
“A challenge isn’t a game.Each challenge questions the strength of our hierarchy and destabilizes the pack.We fight until we cannot stand.Now, who’s next?”
The other four exchanged glances.The most nervous of them stepped forward.
“I withdraw my challenge.”She faced me, got to her knees, and bowed until her forehead touched the ground.“I recognize Wrenly as Bennett’s future mate.”
The other two quickly followed suit, with Olivia reluctantly kneeling last.
“This ends tonight,” Dad said.“All challenges to Wrenly’s position as your future Alpha’s mate are open for the next three days.After that, if her position in this pack is ever again questioned solely based on her race, the Wulfs will leave the pack.We want nothing to do with a pack that discriminates based on race rather than looking at an individual's contribution to the pack.”
I watched the group opposing my position exchange glances.
“An Alpha who prevents challenges isn’t fit to lead,” one of them said.
“I’m not preventing all challenges—just the ones issued because of her race.If you don’t believe she has a place as the future Luna of our pack, know that Wrenly has saved Wulf Enterprises over three billion dollars since returning home.I used the moneyshefound to invest in Bill’s garage, Emily’s middle school, Carly’s catering, and Winter’s farm.Cars were purchased for the families who needed new ones.Your pups’ tuitions were paid.And all of it was because Wrenly found the extra money.
