Chapter 225

Julian’s POV

I kissed Amber again, not ready to say goodbye yet. I knew she would be watching me, but I wouldn’t be able to hold her and kiss her. At least not until the fight was over.

“We have to go,” Amber said to me, though leaned in to kiss me once more – briefly. “Everyone is waiting on you.”

I still hesitated, not willing to let her go.

She shook her head at me in a gentle, endearing way. “You have to win this fight, so we can start that future you promised for us.”

That was just the motivation that I needed and, with some regret, as I always felt when I let Amber out of my arms, I released her.

We held hands as we walked to the door together. Once there, we followed my beta as he led us toward where I would have to make my entrance.

Just out of sight of the crowd, with their cheers a loud roar in our ears, I turned to look at Amber once more.

“Wait for me?” I asked.

She smiled. “Always,” she said.

My heart swelled with pride and with love. With that word like a promise whispered in my heart, I looked at her once more, trying to remember everything about her in this moment, to hold me over through the fight when I could see her again. Then, I turned and walked out into the bright lights.

As I walked down the long pathway to the ring in the center of the area, the spotlights beamed down on me, blinding me from seeing any faces but those closest to me.

I could still discern the opinion of the crowd, however, from the split in their noise.

Half the crowd cheered from me. The other half booed.

As I moved toward the ring, the boos grew louder, as if Tony had made certain those that supported him were given seats closer to the ring.

Tony was already in the ring. Arms crossed, he glared at me.

We were both wearing dark tank tops and workout shorts of different colors. His were neon green and black, while mine were a deep blue color.

An announcer was there, as well, giving a rundown of the rules to the crowd through his microphone.

The rules were similar to my fight with Roman. For three minutes, we had to fight in our human form. After those three minutes, we could shift to fight as werewolves.

I was hoping to end the fight before the three minute mark, but I was ready to fight for as long as it would take to win.

I wasn’t going to lose this fight, not when doing so meant that I would lose my pack.

This was my home, and the future I had planned for Amber, Alice, and the other kids I wanted, involved us staying here. I wasn’t going to allow Tony to kick me out of my own home and ruin those dreams.

“The winner of this fight,” the announcer said, and paused for dramatic effect, “will be your next Alpha!”

The crowd roared, seemingly not split in their excitement for this moment.

Looking at Tony, he seemed confident, smirking at me.

But I remembered the person he was when we were kids, when he was following everyone around like a lost puppy, not sure where he belonged. We were never the closest that cousins could be, but he was still family. That still meant something to me.

“It’s not too late,” I told him. “You can still back down. Keep your dignity and let’s show the pack the unity of our family.”

“You back down,” Tony snapped, a growl in his voice. For a split-second, his eyes flashed red.

Was he that close to shifting already? The fight hadn’t even started yet.

At this rate, how would he even last three minutes?

The more I looked at him, the more I suspected that something might be wrong with him. He was twitchy, his hands clenching into fists and then releasing over and over again.

It could have been pre-fight jitters.

Or it could have been something else…

“Did you take something?” I asked.

“Screw you!” Tony barked. To the officiators on the sidelines, he kept that same tone. “Start the damn fight already!”

The officials seemed caught off-guard by the forcefulness, but obeyed. The announcer hurriedly scurried out of the ring.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath.

Either the room went quiet, or my ability to hear the crowd did.

I entirely focused on Tony and what I had to do to win this fight.

Then, the bell rang.

The roar of the crowd came rushing back. So did Tony, charging at me.

Alice’s POV

Aunt Kathy insisted we watch cartoons, but I didn’t want to watch cartoons. I wanted to watch the fight! I knew better than to argue with her though. She was old enough to be my grandmother, and having raised a bunch of kids already, she seemed to know the tricks I wanted to try.

She couldn’t scold what she couldn’t see though, so I waited until she left the room to make her tea or to make some popcorn, and then I’d switch over to the channel Dad’s fight was on.

I had to keep it muted so she wouldn’t hear. Fortunately, she was kind of hard of hearing anyway, so it wasn’t difficult to deceive her if I couldn’t find the mute right away.

As the evening went on, I got so good at flipping the channel that I knew simply to click the button on the remote labeled ‘previous’ and I could quickly switch between the fight and the cartoons with ease.

I knew Mom and Dad didn’t want me to watch the fight. They wanted to protect me, I guessed. But I wasn’t a baby! I knew what was going on, even if they wanted to pretend I didn’t.

I knew Uncle Tony was doing bad things and Daddy had to win to set everything right.

With something so important on the line, it seemed extra mean not to let me watch the outcome!

When Aunt Kathy returned from the kitchen, I quickly switched back to the cartoons and unmuted it. She glanced at the tv as she came through the door, then smiled at me like she was proud of me. I felt a little guilty for going behind her back.

But this was important. I had to see!

Aunt Kathy had only just sat down, setting the popcorn bowl between us when the doorbell rang.

“Strange,” Aunt Kathy said, checking her watch. “Who could that be?”

With a grumble and a grown, Aunt Kathy forced her body to stand again then left the room toward the front door. I quickly changed the channel and muted it.

On the screen, Dad took a punch to the face that made him stumble back.

Daddy!

I bit back a cry, not wanting Aunt Kathy to hear.

Out in the entryway, she was answering the door.

I wasn’t paying much attention, my eyes glued to the screen, until I heard Aunt Kathy returning.

I quickly changed the channel back, but didn’t yet unmute it when Aunt Kathy stepped into the doorway.

This time she wasn’t alone.

Olivia was behind her, holding a gun.