SELENA'S POV

There was total silence in the arena.

My father's wolf pulled back from the grip of Darth's jaws, but the damage was already done.

If he was in full condition then the outcome would have been different.

Alpha Gideon gave a last show of defiance and strength, even in the face of death.

He remained upright as if nothing had happened, even as the blood sprayed out from his missing throat. 

I thought I could see a glare from his yellow gold eyes. Then he fell.

Darth moved forward in his wolf form. He had sustained deep injuries and they affected his movement now. He prodded my father's body with a paw. Then he raised his head to the sky and howled.

That was enough to break the spell that had covered the arena.  Suddenly it was enveloped in chants. I had no idea if they were jeers or cheers. None of it mattered.

My mother fell from her chair and on to her knees. "Gideon?" She asked in a low voice. Tears flowed down her eyes.

My eyes were on my father's body.

I felt... empty.

Was he really dead? Just like that?

I remembered the father I had played with as a child. He was always so supportive of me. Even when I expressed interest in fighting more than playing with dolls. Even when I got into many fights with other male wolves. He was patient with me.

And he had supported me when I told him I was going to be Alpha.

I promised I would make him proud.

I wanted to see him smile as I became more than he could have ever hoped for.

Now, he laid in a pool of his own blood. His body stiffening in the sand.

Darth shifted back.

There were deep gashes across his arms and chest, but it didn't weaken him.

His voice was booming and loud enough to be heard over the noise.

"Alpha Gideon is dead!" He announced.

That seemed to tip my mother over the edge.

She fell fully to the floor and curled up in a fetal position. Then she screamed.

Her mate was dead. The pain she would go through was unimaginable.

I stood up from my seat. I reached for her.

Darth voice called out again as I knelt to hold my mother. Tears streaked down my eyes but I took no notice.

"He was a weak Alpha! He conspired with his mate to make a woman the next Alpha! His actions were to bring the ruin of our pack!"

The crowd cheered. Darth's supporters were emboldened.

He pointed a finger to the royal stand.

I stared at him and met his eyes.

I could see the smile in them as he said his next words.

"Arrest those traitors!"

I stood up immediately to protest. My mother remained curled on the ground. But suddenly the warriors who had been standing close by, watching the Alpha's family stepped forward.

"Don't touch me!" I hissed at them.

The three of them hesitated. But moved forward.

Traitors.

I punched the first one in the face, he fell down.

The others grabbed me from behind before I could shift.

One held my neck in a choke-hold. I tried to pry his hand open but I wasn't strong enough.

Even as I screamed and cried. I wasn't strong enough.

...

I looked up from the dungeon cell that my I had been locked in for the past week. The shackle around my neck and arms restricted my movements.

My clothes were already in tatters from all my struggling. My mother had been locked in here with me for three days, then she was taken. She had refused to speak through out. She only had an empty look in her eyes.

I screamed and threatened but they wouldn't tell me what they did to her. In my alone time, I cried. I kept imagining her lifeless body buried beside my father.

Darth was standing outside the cell, partially obstructed by the bars.

His eyes glinted. "Your mother has been a good concubine to me lately." He said.

"What!?" I was rabid as I tired to charge forward. The chains held tightly and yanked me back.

Darth chuckled. "I promised her that I will let you leave the pack if she complied."

I glared at him even as I felt my heart break further. She was sacrificing herself for me?

Darth's men took me out of the cell. I didn't fight them. I wanted to see my mother. "Bring my concubine." He commanded as we reached the throne room.

A few minutes later, my mother was escorted out. Her eyes widened as she saw me.

"Selena." She whispered.

I felt happy to see her alive and talking. I had feared the worst during my many dark nights.

"It's good that you are reunited, although for a short time." Darth said.

My mother turned to him. "You promised you'd let her go." She said.

Darth smiled. "She is going out of the pack yes. She is going to be a concubine for one of our new partners. He is old but she can manage." He said.

"What! No! That's not what you said." My mother screamed.

The slap resonated through the entire throne room. "Shut up you stupid bitch." Darth said.

My mother held her face tightly but didn't stand down. "Please! I have been willing to be your concubine, but please keep my only daughter away from this!" She pleaded.

I felt rage boil from within my soul at the scene.

How dare he touch my mother!?

Suddenly all the bruises on her body became visible to me. He had been hitting her a lot.

I wanted to rip off his head!

I tried to step forward, but the wolf holding the chain around my neck pulled me back. It choked me, but my rage made me ignore the pain.

"Darth! I will kill you for everything you did!" I screamed the promise. It was as true as a blood oath to me.

Darth laughed. "Tell that to the old Alpha who you will be concubine to. You should be happy that you are still of use to me as a political device. That means I might keep your wench of a mother around for longer." He said.

I tried attacking but the four wolves holding my chains dragged me off. I was to be sold to an old Alpha of a different pack.

We entered a carriage. The journey would take us through the wilderness before we reached the other pack. No wolf who had gotten lost in the wilderness had ever been found. It was a land of no return.

But I felt no fear. Only rage.

I was never going to tie myself down to serve a man.

I waited for the wolf warriors to get distracted.

Then I hit the one closest to me in the crotch and jumped out of the carriage.

They couldn't stop quickly enough. So I shifted with the chains still around my neck. Then I escaped into the wilderness with my promise fresh in my mind.

I passed through the gates into the Silver Claw pack in my tattered robes.

It had been ten years. Ten hard and bloody years.

The Silver Claw pack was different than I remembered it. The pack looked like a man who had fallen sick.

Where the lush garden and streets were tended to before, they were now left dirty, dusty and dying. I saw many more half starving wolves on the streets and I knew that my precious pack had also been through hard times these past ten years.

As I walked through the pack, every head turned in my direction.

I was like a ghost as I passed through. My face was covered with a hooded cloak.

Every wolf in my way, parted in a hurry as I passed through. They murmured around me, but none dared approach me.

I knew that it was what they saw in my silver blue eyes that made them wisely stay away.

They saw death in them.

It wasn't their death, but it could easily be the death of whoever stood in my way.

One name resonated through my mind.

Darth.

I arrived at the Alpha's manor. I immediately noticed that unlike the rest of the pack, the manor seemed to have flourished.

The buildings were painted freshly and many more buildings had risen from the ground. The trees were fresh, green and full of life. Unfortunately for them, it was death that I brought with me this day.

"Who are you!? Stop there!" The first warrior guard at the manor gate asked. His voice trembled slightly.

The second one stood away, his spear held tightly in his hands. Their wolves were sensing me. And they warned the warriors. If only they were smart enough to listen.

The first guard charged me with his spear when I ignored them. The movement was slow to me. I side stepped it easily and he fell to the ground.

"Stay down. I'm not here for you." I warned.

The second warrior guard seemed to take his fallen comrade as a cue to attack me. I was less lenient with him. I dodged his spear thrust and snapped it with a single blow from my open palm. Then I hit his stomach with my elbow. He coughed up a small amount of blood and fell to the ground.

"Stay down." I warned, allowing them to feel the full force of my will. Their wolves trembled and whined within them. They obeyed.

I passed through the open gate and walked into the manor. Alpha Darth met me outside before I entered into the building.

"Who dares to walk into my manor!?" He asked.

I saw that the years had been kind to him. His sunken cheeks had filled out and he carried a new pot belly. He stared down at me with visible disdain. I dropped the hood from my face and looked up to him.

I held his gaze easily. "Alpha Darth. I am here to take my rightful place as heir to the Silver Claw pack!" I declared.

By now many more warriors and Darth's vassals had come out of the manor at the spectacle. They surrounded me.

The murmuring began as soon as they saw my face. 'It's a woman.'

"What nonsense!?" Alpha Darth shouted.

They could all clearly see my waist length black hair. My silver blue eyes. Sharp cheekbones, full lips and button nose.

It showed them that I was a woman.

"You are a woman!" Alpha Darth shouted as if that settled the matter.

"I am Selena! Daughter of Alpha Gideon! And I challenge you, Alpha Darth to a duel before the Moongoddess!" I declared.

The crowd around me murmured.

'What! Selena? Wasn't she eaten by rogues in the forest?'

'She has been missing for ten years! How is she still alive!'

'Can a woman really challenge the Alpha like that?'

I ignored all the noise they made around me. My eyes were on one thing.

That was Lord Darth. Or the so called Alpha Darth.

He couldn't reject the duel. It would make him look in front of all his vassals. The last thing he wanted was to look weak like how my father had looked weak in his last days. If not he would be dethroned quickly by the snakes he surrounded himself with.

"Fine! I will kill this ghost of the past before the entire pack!" He declared.

I smiled. He had just signed his death warrant.

He had no idea what I had gone through in the wilderness.

"We will sign a pact before the High Priestess. The winner of the duel is the next Alpha of the pack." I said. I knew that he and the other council members were snakes.

"Fine." He waved his hand. His belly jiggled as he turned back into his manor.

I followed and ignored all the murmurings around me.

Darth went to the throne and sat down on my father's throne. My throne.

"Call for the High Priestess." He said. Then be smiled. "Call for my first concubine too. I want to be fed."

I stiffened. He wouldn't dare.

My mother was so thin that she was almost bare bones. Chains dangled around her neck, arms and legs. She had been locked in the dungeons. Her hands shook as she fed Darth grapes.

My wolf surged in rage. I crushed the hand of my chair and it flew into splintered wood.

When she turned to see me, she fainted.

"What is wrong with this stupid bitch!?" Darth kicked her.

I stood up. "Enough! We sign the pact now and then I spill your blood!"

Darth smiled. He thought that he had ruffled me enough. He was confident that be would win.

We signed the pact.

...

The crowd cheered as Darth's wolf circled mine. I stayed still and tracked his movement.

He tried to attack from behind me. But he was just as slow as the guards.

I hit him and pinned him to the ground. It was easy even though his wolf was larger.

He struggled but I glared at him and expressed my will.

He whimpered.

I let him go and he shifted back. He had a look of horror on his face.

"I'll give you all the treasures you want. There's need for..." I pounced on him. Then I ripped off his head.

The crowed cheered for their new Alpha.