Lilith

Chapter 14

It took two days for the visitors I'd been waiting for to arrive. Cain and Evangeline entered the dungeons as if they owned the place. Given there was a she-wolf hanging onto Jack's arm, I was pretty sure I knew why. Clearly, Evey had finally brought Jack's mate to him.

As soon as Charlie saw Cain, he started begging. "Pa! Ma asked me to come! She told me to come! I even called to make sure she wanted me here! It's not my fault, Pa, I promise!"

Cain glanced at him. "Quiet, Boy."

Charlie shut up. Evangeline, on the other hand, was staring at Charlie, flabbergasted. Finally, she rhetorically asked me, "You actually brought him here? I mean, you threatened, but..." Then she spun to face Alpha Jack. "What were you doing to her?" she demanded, pointing at me.

"I was under the mistaken impression she was my mate. She was being difficult." The she-wolf growled at me, shooting me a glare. A glance at her shoulder told me she and Jack had already marked each other as mates.

"And it didn't occur to you she might be telling you the truth?" the old crone I call daughter demanded.

"No, I really didn't think she was telling the truth."

"Werewolves," Evangeline muttered.

If I knew Evey and Cain, then they were intending to get me out, then have Cain escort Charlie back north. If I knew werewolves, Jack was planning to keep us, and the she-wolf was planning to have me killed. When the conflicting plans became apparent, there was a decent chance what was left of this pack would be killed. In the interests of being a nice person, and making a point, I decided to preempt all of that.

Looking the she-wolf in the eyes, I calmly stated, "I challenge you for the right to be Luna of this pack."

Jack's eyes got so wide they about popped out of his skull, Cain frowned slightly, and Evey groaned. Charlie, the ever helpful lad that he is, asked, "Can I eat the loser?"

"No, Charlie, you can't," I stated calmly.

Jack got control of himself and narrowed his eyes at me. "You're up to something."

"I am, but I've also issued a challenge, and you cannot deny me my right, under pack law."

"You don't want the position," he noted.

"The challenge has been issued, regardless of my intentions."

"Come on Evey, let's go get a good seat," Cain said softly to my daughter. They left, leaving me with a confused alpha, a pissed off she-wolf, and a hungry wendigo. Shaking his head slightly, Jack unlocked my cell door and lead me and his mate outdoors.

As we moved to the grounds in front of the pack house, I began the process of increasing my regeneration rate. Normally, I kept it as slow as possible to avoid issues with accidental cuts giving me away. Under these circumstances, however, I knew I'd need it cranked all the way up to put on a good show.

Unsurprisingly, by the time we reached the front of the pack house, all the werewolves were there to watch. It was a perk of werewolves that they had a limited form of telepathy. Right now, they were all glaring at me. I'd had the audacity to claim the right to be their female leader shortly after directly causing the decimation of their pack.

Without explanation, the she-wolf transformed and launched herself at me, ripping out my throat. I fell hard to the ground and she danced around, showing off to the assembled crowd. I stood up and took up a fighting stance almost immediately, and before she had noticed I was up, I could speak again to state, "A bit early to be celebrating, don't you think?"

She whirled around and stared at me in shock. That gave me the opening I needed to step forward and round-house kick her in the side of the head. It didn't knock her out, but the fact that it connected took another edge off the cockiness she'd had so recently.

What followed was a fight that was undoubtedly as bizarre to the pack, as it was boring to my family. At one point, she lunged at me to bite me, and I simply shoved my hand in her mouth and grabbed her tongue. Sure, she was able to gnaw on my arm, but I also had complete control of her movements and could pummel her head and body with near impunity.

She ripped chunks out of my flesh and broke bones, only to have the damage disappear almost as fast as she released me. I retaliated with a mixture of karate, tai chi, and krav maga that would have killed her multiple times over had she not been able to regenerate, too.

As the battle wore on, it soon became apparent to everyone that she was tiring, and I was not. My body viewed exhaustion as damage, and healed it like everything else. Finally, when it was clear she could not beat me, I clasped my hands behind my back and exposed my throat to her.

Once again, she ripped my throat out, but this time I didn't regenerate it. I let myself bleed out, going unconscious and giving her the victory. My last thought was a fervent hope that I'd played things right.