Stella’s POV
The Alpha had made good on his promise of setting the fight up. I had made sure to train well the next two days after we got to go shopping. Raven had come out with me, and we both looked super cute in our matching outfits. I had gotten us a black two-piece set with a cute purple swirl on the sides of the top, and leggings. We also had two more sets that were black, one with an emerald swirl on it, and one with a teal swirl on it. I loved having a best friend, and I looked forward to training now, more than I ever had before. Just as the Alpha and I suspected, Raven was tough, and she caught on quickly. She listened to our instructions and did exactly what we told her to do. She had complete faith and trust in us, and Alpha Cole brought Lanie in as well. He seemed to be wanting to get Raven up to speed very quickly, but she was doing it. Even in just two days’ time, you wouldn’t even believe the improvement she has made.
The twice-daily training was great. We trained with my dad and Alpha Cole for two hours in the morning, and with Lanie Alexander, the head female trainer, and the head male trainer, Charlie Benson, in the evening. Joshua kept training too, and he would smirk at me every time we met. He was looking forward to the fight, and he had no idea how much I was looking forward to it myself. I made sure that whenever he was around that he never saw me in action. That is when Raven trained. I wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face, I have for years. I usually let my anger roll off of me. But he insulted my best friend, and the things he suggested about her made me furious. Raven was much more easygoing than I was about him implying that she was a gold-digger, and a slut. He tried to force her to leave the pack, encouraging her all because he and Carter were scared that Raven was going to take over the pack. She didn’t want that, if they had spoken to her at all they would have known that. I knew her, she is a kind, and quiet girl, but she pushes back now, and I couldn’t be prouder of her.
I was thrilled when I first saw her do it, after rejecting her mate and then telling off her piece of crap sister. That Reagan girl was shameless, and I wanted to cross over the gate and beat her ass myself. I have never wanted to do that to someone so much ever before. She deserved it, she really did, as you could tell that all of her choices were made to try to hurt Raven, it was her main goal. I mean we have some mean girls here too, girls that I really cannot stand. I can spar with them, but I am not allowed to hurt them, as I am much stronger as a fighter. I beat the leader of them, Courtney Gray, up pretty well a year ago in our junior year. I found out that they weren’t really my friend and didn’t actually like me, they were just using me. Hearing her making fun of me in the bathroom with Denise, and Marie, that day was totally humiliating and broke my heart.
Just remembering what happened that day helped me out. I was furious now, and I was finishing my warm-up with Raven right now to get my muscles loose. We were on our last mile of a five-mile run, and I just did some stretches already. I have been taking classes in town for over two years now, and I have a few surprises for my dear big brother. Even if I just hold my own with him, that is good enough for me. Joshua was cocky for a reason. He is a machine. He is a very strong fighter and has been training since he was five years old. That was why my dad and Alpha Cole had stepped in the last two days. Joshua knew things that I didn’t and for me to be safe, they had taught me the countermoves to block him when he attacked. I already knew that mom and dad were proud of me for doing this. They knew exactly why, as Joshua has really gotten out of hand lately. The closer he and Carter get to time for them to take over the pack, the more smug and arrogant they got. They felt like they ran things around here now, and after how they treated Raven, it will be my pleasure to take him down a rung or two. No one knew I had extra training, they were all in for a surprise. Even if dad and Alpha Cole hadn't shown me the counter moves, I would have been OK with what I knew to do to protect myself in a fight.
I know that Alpha Cole and dad had a long talk with both of them after the hospital and that things were indeed better between them and Raven. They got even better still after the horrible show at Silver Blade, but Carter was taken down a peg then too. His drawing Reagan as his true mate was tough. He lucked out, only because that poor guy took the hit. What would have happened if he had met her at the mall or something, and not known who she was? He could have marked and mated her, and his sister avoid him, and this pack from then on. They would never have had a good relationship, it would have always been strained. It worked out the best way that it could have for them all. Carter was indeed lucky. Luna Olivia said that the Goddess had blessed both Raven, and Carter, with how it worked out. She said that they should both be glad for what the Moon Goddess had done for them both. She also assured them that just like she and Alpha Cole were blessed with a wonderful second chance mate, they would too.
I hope they both are. I also hope that wherever Raven ends up, that she is close to our pack. I don’t want to lose my friend, It would break my heart. She needs our help as she learns her way. I feel like her big sister for all the things I have helped her learn to do the last 2 weeks. She was never given shorts to wear and refused to wear any of Reagan’s hand-me-down slutty dresses, so she fell through the cracks. She didn’t get told about basic things that we take for granted. She had long sleeve shirts to hide the bruises, as it made her “parents” feel bad about her rough treatment. So the fact that she had never shaved, was never noticed. After we got back from the mall and Raven got to see her new room, we spent a long time setting up her bedroom and bathroom. We talked a lot that night, and I told her that I felt like Alpha and Luna Sullivan had lied to her all the time. If it actually did make them feel bad, they would have made the pack stop doing it. I am glad Raven knew that it was lies, all the way around with them. I doubt they have ever told her the truth in her life.
After getting her bedroom and closet done, we moved on to the bathroom. There I got to play the role of the big sister again as we sat in shorts on the edge of her tub. I used my razor to show her how to shave her legs. She had her own now, courtesy of Luna Olivia sending someone from the pack out while we were shopping at the mall and getting Raven the same items I have in my bathroom. She liked them, and it made it easy for them to shop for her. Luna Olivia and mom had started running the laundry on both the Alpha and Beta floors to wash and dry all her new stuff, including her new bedding set while we got her room ready. We had fun, danced as we listened to music, and Raven loved the new bedding that we had got for her. I knew that she liked mine, and felt Raven’s should be similar, but not exactly the same. I had a big crush on the head trainer Charlie, but he wasn’t my mate. I was upset at first, as I wanted to stay here in the pack, but I have always wanted my true mate. Wherever he lives, I will be happy going with him.
We got back to the training grounds, and I had expected that it would just be the Alpha and Beta family there, but apparently, Joshua has been bragging that he is going to kick my butt, and the bitch brigade has shown up now. Courtney is still mad that I beat her up. She talked a good game, but she couldn’t back it up, and I didn’t mind handing her ass to her. But her parents complained, even though she started it, they felt that since I was of Beta blood, the fight had not been fair. It wasn’t according to Courtney, even though she had her two friends Denise, and Marie, jump into the fight to help her. I dropped all three of them. They had nothing to complain about, as it was three-on-one, but of course, I was told to leave them alone, by Carter. I hated seeing them standing there with big smiles, waiting on me to get beat up by my brother.
Courtney can’t keep her big mouth shut so she had told the whole junior and senior class, so it was half and a half for rooting for me, and the other half mainly girls, rooting for Joshua. He gave me an even bigger smile, at my expression when I saw that we had clearly over 100 people there. I had not agreed to this, but it just fuels me up to make sure he remembers this for a long time to come. He outweighs me by over a hundred lbs. and he is confident of a win, I may not be able to beat him, but I am going to give him a run for his money.
Alpha Cole enters the sparring ring and motions us both in. Raven stops me and then gives my hand a squeeze and said, “Hey, you really don’t have to do this for me. Joshua will have to work a lot harder than that to upset me.”
“No, I will be fine, your dad will call it if it gets out of hand. It isn’t just about how he treated you, it is about how he judges women as automatically weaker. He judged you, said a lot of ugly things, and basically told you to get out of the pack. It isn’t acceptable. You are like a sister to me, and I am going to take great pleasure in letting him know that he cannot act like he does, and not expect someone to call him on it. I may not beat him, but I am going to let some of that air out of his head today. His lesson in humility starts now as I have been wanting to take that jerk down a peg for a few years” I told Raven, and she smiled and leaned over and said, “Kick his ass, my money is always on you.”
I smiled as I walked up to the ring, and Alpha Cole grinned back at me, as I knew he had heard what we just said. He has faith in me, and my parents are standing there right in the middle of the two groups, to support us both. They won’t take a side, but I know that if dad was teaching me countermoves, he wants me to give Joshua a taste of the attitude that he likes to dole out to everyone. I stretched and then ran in place, knowing that I am as loose as I can be, and stepped into the ring. Joshua had entered the ring first a minute ago and was smirking like I was wasting time getting my muscles warmed up. He underestimates me, and I am going to let him do it.
“We will do three rounds, five minutes a round, no intentional injuries, and no phasing into your wolves. Remember you are Beta blood and represent our pack. I want you to fight with honor, we will fight to submission. If your opponent taps out, release him, or her, immediately. Do you understand the rules as I have explained them to you?” Alpha Cole asks us both, and we both nod and say, “Yes, Alpha.”
We nod at each other and go back to take our positions up at our side of the sparring ring. The ring is 30 feet in diameter across and gives us both room to navigate. I already know my cocky brother will not want this to continue on for long and will attack me as soon as the Alpha starts the match. I am ready for him. I get in a back stance and wait for him to attack. I didn’t have to wait long. The second Alpha starts the fight, Joshua lunges at me with power. He is not playing around and wants me to be done in the first minute. I watched him approach and when I turn to give him my back, I made sure to track him with my eyes and gave him a back kick that busted his nose. I immediately set up for a crescent kick before he could recover and when he saw me stepping up to him, his eyes widened in surprise, and then my other foot shot up and kicked him in the side of the head. I can’t let him get the upper hand. I had to play this smart, he is a much stronger opponent.
Both times the bows landed I could hear the crowd that seemed to be growing with each passing minute, and I hated that they were clearly mindlinking others to come. This was originally supposed to just be us, and as each person arrived, Joshua was going to get madder and madder. His attacks will be stronger, and he will soon change tactics to hurt me, just to end his embarrassment. Even Carter had been like, “Dude, she is better than you said” before glancing over at me in admiration. I don’t need it. I am proud to be a member of the pack, but it would never have come to this if Joshua, and Carter, hadn’t started up with Raven. That was why dad and Alpha Cole were secretly supporting me. What Joshua, and my parents, didn’t know was that I had been going into town since I started driving, to go to the Krav Maga class, I also get some other training in several different styles. I didn’t have any friends, and I got bored easily. I needed something to do, and I liked it. I am very athletic, and training can only make me stronger. I also took some kickboxing classes, as our legs are known to be one of our strongest features. I just didn’t mention it to anyone, No one asked where I was, so who was I going to tell about it?
Well, Raven knew. I told her when she wanted to cancel the whole thing this morning. She was worried about me and as tough as I know she is, she learned to hide her feelings very well. I heard her that the first morning she arrived. Crying her heart out in the tub. Mom heard her too when she brought Raven’s food up. But she came out looking fine, not really speaking, and glad to be safe and have a good meal. If she thought a sandwich was a good meal, that was the worst part of it. I also planned to train Raven in what I knew too. I want her to be strong, and not have to worry about anyone hurting her ever again.
My second kick had knocked Joshua off his feet, and his growl made several wolves tense up as he got back up. I guess his embarrassment started early. He started making better moves, than him trying to rush me, and he got several good blows in on me. I am going to have bruises on both sides of my ribs, but my training helped me go with his force, so I was just bruised, but no bones were broken. Every time I managed to keep from getting seriously hurt, Joshua’s growls would get louder. The first round ended, and he cocked his head to look at me like he couldn’t figure out how I was still good to go before he left the ring. His eyes narrowed at me, as he got a drink of water from the bottle that Carter was holding and had a talk about what to do for the next round.
Raven had my bottle of water, and I have to admit, Joshua is tough. I knew it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, but he is not pulling his punches because he got his nose busted by a girl. He is such a baby. Luna Olivia is with Raven, and she leaned forward so they couldn’t see her mouth when she said, “Stella, he is telegraphing so watch out with that, and he does not have as much power in his left hand. So make him punch with that hand, and just keep moving. It takes more energy to move bigger bodies around than it does smaller ones. Just stay light on your feet like you have been doing and keep up the good work girl. I am so proud of you, I knew you were a great fighter.”
I nod at them both and headed back to the ring. I see Joshua limping a little. I kicked him in his right knee a few minutes ago. I see him favoring it, and I know I need to hit it again. If I do that and manage to stay out of his reach, I might be able to make it to the end of the match without serious injury. Joshua is much less cocky now, and he is sizing me up before we go again. No rush moves, and he seems to be waiting on me this time. I smiled at him as he clearly realized that I am a better fighter than he first assumed and that he is waiting for me to kick him again. I will be kicking him again, and I know that he is going to try to catch it. I wish him well in it. I do a front push kick, as I know he wants to catch my foot, luring him in to do just that. He has my leg against his waist holding my ankle and smiled at me like he had me now. I turned my foot against the small of his back and used it to pull him in towards me. When he was close. I pushed up with the leg I was standing on and pulled his head down as I did. I brought my knee up and connected with his nose again. His nose is broken this time with this second blow, and Joshua is furious. I keep moving and the pain he is in from his broken nose is keeping him from focusing correctly, as he is working just out of anger, and not thinking about how to defend against me.
I land a few more kicks, just to make sure his ribs hurt just as much as mine will tomorrow. It is the least I can do for him. The second round is called, and I have an actual chance at beating him if I can hit his knee again. I didn’t do it in the last round. But he is really angry now. He invited a lot of people here to watch him beat me, and now he is sorry for it. I didn’t invite anyone. I thought it was just for our families. He is not playing anymore, and I realize to save face, he may really actually hurt me. He did before when the punches to my ribs as he gave me a punching combo, I only barely avoided my ribs getting broken, or cracked because of my additional training. I glanced over at mom. She is staring at me, and she is scared. Dad is concerned but is hiding it much better than mom is. Raven is clearly worried, Joshua only landed a few good blows on me in the first round. The crowd is jeering him now, and his embarrassment is complete. I never wanted it to get to this point, but it is clear that he has to do something drastic to win now. I don’t want to take him down. He is my brother, and I just wanted to teach him a lesson. He needed it, but with him getting it in front of a group that has grown to over 200 hundred people so quickly. This cannot end well, one of us is going to have to lose, and the likelihood of one of us getting hurt is much higher now.
Admitting Defeat