Chapter 107

Zenovia

Cynthia’s words made me angry and annoyed but deep down I knew she had a point. I had to stop

running to Callahan for every little thing.

He had hinted that himself. I wondered for a second if she was the one to fill his mind with those words

because both of them said the same thing.

Frustration was welling inside of me and I angrily pulled out the phone and dialed Matt’s number.

“Hello, Matt?”

I spoke. He was surprised to receive my call. “Hey, what’s up? A little busy here. Is El not there or…” I

cut him abruptly.

“I heard you are the one in charge of conducting the trials. I wished to register myself.”

Matt’s tone was a little hesitant.

“I don’t think that is possible. The list of participants is preapproved and no changes can be made.”

“Pre-approved by who?” I asked pointedly.

“Alphas and the Lycan King himself.”

“Did the Lycan King specifically ask my name to be left out?”

“No, but..”

“Are you the one in charge of the trials?”

“Yes, that I am”

“That is settled then. Where are the trials being held?”

“Open grounds a short distance away from our pack. But I don’t think…”

I disconnected the call and got ready for the trials. Walking back to my room, I grabbed a bag and

threw in a few spare clothes, a first aid kit, water bottles, and towels, and tied my shoelaces again.

Walking down the stairs, I zoomed into the kitchen and pulled out a few eggs, scrambled them, and ate

with bread to not pass out due to exhaustion.

I would have not even eaten anything but I did not want to risk appearing weak in front of the

participants.

Thankfully, I knew my way to the pack so I walked down the small patch that led to the packhouse a

short distance away from the grand mansion.

When I reached the gates, I saw the security guard and he immediately waved at me.

It was then that I recalled Elijah had asked him to let me in and out whenever I wanted. However, I was

not heading inside the pack.

I simply waved at him and began marching towards the open arena. A viewing area with chairs had

been constructed around a large open arena that was in the center.

The arena’s ground was filled with sand and there were a few men with a whistle and caps, instructing

everyone where to sit and what to do.

I looked through the crowd of spectators that was beginning to fill in the chairs. It was more like a

colosseum with tiers of seating, filled with plush chairs going around in concentric circles around the

huge space.

My gaze flitted through the crowd to spot Matt. He was holding a writing pad and a pen, scribbling

something on a paper.

“Beta Matteo” I called out over the hubbub of the crowd.

Matt looked up at me once and shook his head, “I don’t think you can participate in the trials. You are

not

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even supposed to leave the mansion.”

I pulled my hair back in a ponytail.

“So it was wise of all of you to be here and leave me all alone in the mansion? Great security?”

Matt opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. “There are enough security guards

stationed all around the mansion.”

“But everybody is here. And so am I now. So you either add me to the list or I simply challenge

someone on the spot.”

Matteo raised an eyebrow. “Who even told you all the rules?”

I shrugged, “People talk a lot. I picked up a few conversations on the way. Now, can I get that badge or

not?”

Matt frowned but wrote my name on the list.

“Technically, these are not the trials but more of a group activity to keep everybody engaged and

united. Take some stress off the rogue King and the attacks. You better be in front of me than anywhere

else if Cal were to find out you are not inside your room. So, yeah, I can let you in.”

He said with a small smile and I smiled back at him.

I went to the desk where a few young boys and girls were busy handing out instructions, registering the

participants, and noting down some basic information.

There were a few raised eyebrows when I told them my name and the pack I belonged to. Apparently,

the Skalbeck pack did not have many newly awakened wolves so I was the only one.

I took the badge one of the boys handed over to me while eyeing me curiously.

“Didn’t know there were participants from the Lycan King’s pack himself.”

I fastened it to the front of my shirt and muttered, “Now you know”

We were all asked to gather in a small room with a door that would lead straight into the sandy pit

where we were supposed to fight.

I looked around at the participants. Most of them were nervous but a few were smiling confidently.

I rubbed my hands as I realized this was going to be the first time I really fought someone. I had always

trained alone or with as less people around me as possible so to have so many eyes on me would be

daunting.

But I shook off the feeling. This was my one chance to not just tell that arrogant Lycan King but also

other packs know that I was not a weakling.

Matteo entered the room and pushed his hands in his pockets.

“Alright, everybody. The trials will begin in ten minutes. This is a good way for you to showcase how

much you have learned, how well you adapt to stressful situations, and in the future if you can take up

big responsibilities to save the pack.”

He eyed all the participants who were hearing him intently.

“I am the one in charge of these trials. This time, we don’t have a high number of participants since

many of your friends left the pack in search of better prospects. The situation is still under control as

your friends and siblings are just sitting in a room, idling around. But, if the time comes when there is

an attack, I doubt they will be strong enough to save themselves.”

I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and then at the others around me. It looked like not many knew

of the attacks in the south, or about the pictures that I had seen in Cal’s office last night.

“Show your strength but you are not supposed to seriously injure or maim your opponent. This is more

of a friendly spar. Understood?”

There was a stunned silence at his words. “Understood?” He repeated again.

One of the boys raised his hand and asked, “But if we fight in a friendly way, how would we know how

to fight rogues or enemy packs? We will be only limiting ourselves.”

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Matt only looked at him with a straight face, “There won’t be a full medic team on standby, neither a

group of supporters nor rule enforcers to save you from any untoward incident in a war. Real fights get

ugly. This is just a drill NOT a life and death fight. You will get many more chances to fight a real fight

soon enough.”

His answer silenced the young man who studied the floor.

“Anybody else has a question?”

Another girl raised her hand, “How exactly are we going to fight? Are we allowed to shift?”

“We start with a group fight and keep narrowing it down. You are 50 participants in total. First, we have

a 25 vs 25 fight. Then we narrowed it down to 5,3 and lastly one on one from both groups of 25

participants. The last man or woman standing from either group will have a one on one face off. You

are allowed to shift if needed but as I said you cannot seriously harm anyone. If I see someone

cheating or not playing by the rules, they will be immediately disqualified.”

“What does the winner get?” I asked.

Matt looked at me. “He or she gets to ask anything as a reward from the Lycan King.”

‘Perfect’ I thought with a grin.

Author’s note: Hello, my lovely readers. I apologize for the slow updates. I am very sick and it is the

festive season here hence the delay.