Her tail was still aching by the time it was her turn to hunt, so she tugged a little strength from her pack. It wasn't her fault the other alpha had picked a fight out of turn, so it wasn't cheating to pull from her pack.

"You sure you're all right?" Leah asked, feeling the tug.

"I'll be fine," Natania said, calmer this time. "She just injured my tail."

"You also opened your neck fighting against Alistair's hold," Leah pointed out. She ran a paw over Natania's neck and showed her the blood on her paw.

"It's nothing," Natania muttered. "I can catch a stupid rabbit."

"Okay," Leah said hesitantly, "good luck."

Natania joined her group, noticing with a touch of satisfaction that Alexandria was nowhere to be seen. Hard to compete with a broken leg. Ezra opened a kennel, releasing dozens of rabbits about a hundred feet away from the starting point. The creatures looked around in confusion, then bolted in all directions.

"Begin!" Alistair shouted.

Natania leaped forward, separating from the group of females, there were only about twenty eight of them this year, and going into the woods. All of them chasing in the same area would just send the rabbits into a panic, she had to approach alone. Natania crept through the undergrowth, ignoring a squirrel that ran right in front of her. Two rabbits had stopped to nibble at a plant.

Natania was almost in pouncing distance when one of the other females ran out of the bushes, sending the rabbits into a panic. Natania pounced as one of them hared toward her, slamming her paws down. She trapped the creature under one paw and sank her teeth in its neck to finish it off.

"That was mine!" the other female growled, approaching Natania.

Natania dropped her prey and stood up, raising an eyebrow. "You want to fight for it?" She was still covered in Alexandria's blood, she had been too angry to bother with grooming, and the other female hesitated.

"Uh, nevermind," she muttered, backing away slowly.

Natania snorted and scooped up her prey. Normally she would have buried it to return for later, but there was a good chance one of the others would snag it if she did, so she carried it with her while she sought out more.

She caught two more before there was a loud trumpeting sound, signaling the end of the hunt. Natania carried her prey back the way she came, dropping them at the base of Alistair's perch and watching the others return.

An embarrassing amount of them caught nothing, slinking back with their tails drooping. The wolf that had tried to steal Natania's first catch didn't have anything either. Of the twenty eight competitors, only nine had caught something. Iris had two, Morrigan had one.

One other wolf, a white and red spotted wolf, half the size of Natania, had two as well.

Natania glanced up at her father, he almost looked disappointed with how sad their catches were.

"It's not fair," the spotted wolf complained, pointing her tail at Natania. "This is her territory, of course she knows how to hunt in it."

Natania shrugged. "I'm willing to concede the win."

Alistair scowled at her words. "All of you should be able to hunt. We didn't have anyone complaining about the fishing last year."

"Just admit you suck at hunting," someone in the crowd shouted.

The spotted wolf pinned her ears. "I caught something," she snapped. "Let's see you do better, Gerald."

Natania glanced over but couldn't make out who had spoken, though the spotted wolf had clearly recognized him.

"Enough," Alistair said, "save your energy for the fighting. Males are up."

There were forty six males, so they set up two kennels to release. Natania stood off to the side with Leah. "There's a lot less competition this year," Leah remarked.

"They paired up," Natania said. "That's the whole point." Ten new pairs since the first year she had competed from what she remembered, but only a couple had become of age in that time.

Leah scowled. "For some of you."

Natania pressed against her mate, wishing she didn't have to think about it herself. "I'd still pick you," Natania purred.

Leah rolled her eyes, flicking Natania with her tail. "I might have picked Iris," she teased.

Natania set her jaw, even though she knew her mate was joking, she still felt a flash of jealousy. "I suppose, as long as it's not Alexandria."

Leah snorted. "Nah, way too snarl-y for me. Iris looks like she could throw me over her shoulder and carry me to safety."

Natania barked a laugh then threw a paw over her mouth. "Is that what you're into? I could carry you too."

"I already know what you can do," Leah purred, then got slightly more serious. "I'm just talking hypotheticals here."

"Hypothetically," Natania said, "the women are off limits for us both anyway. Pick a male to moon over."

Leah frowned, wrinkling her nose. "That is a you problem, my love. I don't have to settle for a man."

Natania would have laughed if it hadn't hurt. She didn't want to settle for a male. She was happy as she was. Natania sighed, falling back on her rump and stared up at the sky.

"We'll figure something out," Leah said, brushing Natania's spine with her tail.

The horn sounded at the end of the hunt and the males trudged back slowly. "Suck it Gerald," the spotted female shouted as a medium sized tan wolf approached Alistair, carrying nothing.

"Shut up Alicia," he snapped. "We had more competition."

"And more prey," Alistair remarked.

Gerald shot him a glare, sitting down with a thump to wait for the others.

Tyson was the first to come back with prey, carrying two rabbits. He flushed with embarrassment when a couple wolves cheered for him.

"Not bad," Leah said.

She picked out Jasper, Barry and Noah, also carrying a rabbit each. Barry offered his to one of the females that hadn't caught anything and she backed away. The grey wolf shrugged and took his place at the center.

Natania counted twenty four males that hadn't caught anything. Most of them were stomping their feet, or lashing their tails in irritation. "Sore losers," Natania muttered, earning a laugh from Leah.

"Where's Rigaldo?" Leah asked, scanning the field. He shouldn't be a hard wolf to pick out, he was huge, coupled with his silver fur he stood out like a sore thumb.

"There," Natania pointed her ears, but he padded back into the woods. "What is he doing?"

Rigaldo walked a little closer, dropped what he was carrying, then returned to the edge of the woods, picking up another bundle and walking forward. "Guess he caught too much to carry at once," Leah said as they watched him. Once everyone could see him, he took his first bundle to the center before returning for the rest. Six, she thought.

"Well he certainly wins," Leah said.

Alistair didn't wait for him to finish transporting his prey. "Rigaldo wins," he announced. She saw her father do a quick count of the dead rabbits. "More than enough for the seconds to compete if they want to."

Natania nudged Leah forward. "Go, make me proud," Natania teased.

Leah rolled her eyes but joined the growing group of half-bloods. They didn't all compete, but enough did that they had two kennels again.

Rigaldo joined Natania, lying in a sphynx position on her left. "I hope I didn't hurt you earlier," he said.

Natania flicked her ears. "It's fine," she said.

"You fight very well." He glanced over her. "How's your tail?"

She wrapped it tightly around her paws, the motion hurt, but it wasn't as bad as earlier. "Fine," she repeated. She understood why he had done it, but she was still pissed he kept using his magic on her. She wished he'd take the hint and leave her alone.

"I can call Rolf to take a look, see if he can do anything for the pain," he pressed.

Natania growled at him, earning a look from some of the other bystanders. She growled at them too.

Rigaldo raised his paws in surrender, resting his weight on his elbows. "Okay, I'll drop it." They delved into silence while they waited for the competition to finish. Tyson joined them after a few minutes, squashing himself in the open space between Natania and Rigaldo, earning a soft growl from the latter. They both ignored it.

"Sorry," Tyson said as his flank pressed hard against hers. "You looked a little irritated."

Natania shuffled sideways so he would fit better, suppressing a laugh. "Thanks."

She could scent rage building in Rigaldo and glanced at him warily. The silver wolf had his teeth bared and was glaring at Tyson, who stoically refused to look back at him, though he got a little nervous.

"Careful," Natania warned. "He might bite you."

"I'm trying not to think about that," he said, a bit of a tremble in his voice.

Natania didn't like the look Rigaldo was giving him. "Trade spots with me," she said.

Tyson shot a glance at the wolf beside him and didn't fight her, sidestepping away from Rigaldo.

Natania moved between them, blocking Rigaldo's view of Tyson. He relaxed only slightly, his tail lashing repeatedly.

The ending signal made all three of them jump. Leah returned carrying two rabbits, which ended her in fourth place. They quickly moved onto the races. Natania came in second, Leah in first, Tyson in fifth, and Rigaldo in first in their respective races.

The sun was starting to go down as they got to the tournament, so the alphas agreed that the seconds wouldn't compete that year. They prepared the pairings for the fights quickly, and dread filled Natania when they announced that Rigaldo would fight Tyson in the first round.

"Oh shit," Natania said under her breath. "Rigaldo'll shred him." She instantly regretted allowing Tyson to antagonize the other wolf, there was too much satisfaction in Rigaldo's gaze as he faced Tyson.

Leah winced. "He's done for."

Tyson faced him bravely, but she could see the trembling in his limbs, his tail almost between his legs.

Alistair called a start and Rigaldo didn't hold back. He leapt straight for the smaller tan wolf, Tyson ducked, knowing that Rigaldo would easily shred his soft stomach if given the chance. Rigaldo spun around as he landed, sinking his teeth into Tyson's neck fur, he was large enough to pick him up by the scruff and shake him like a piece of prey.

Tyson lashed out a paw, trying to land a hit anywhere, but Rigaldo threw him to the ground. Tyson scrambled to his feet, ducking down. "I give u-" he started to say but Rigaldo cut him off with a sharp blow to the head.

Tyson's gaze was unfocused and he shook his head, trying to clear it. "Sto-" Rigaldo ripped his claws along Tyson's flank and Natania stood up, prepared to jump in to stop him herself. Leah sank her teeth into Natania's scruff.

"Don't," she pleaded. "He'll shred you too."

Natania hesitated, meeting her mate's equally grieved gaze.

Tyson squealed at the sound of a snapping bone. Natania shook off Leah and leapt into the middle of the fight. "That's enough," she shouted, squeezing into the space between them.

Rigaldo paused, one paw raised to deliver another blow and Natania braced herself for the hit, but it never came. With an angry exhale he backed off, dropping his paw to the ground. Natania bared her teeth at him, then turned her glare to her father. "He tried to surrender twice, you should have stopped this."

Alistair shrugged. "If he can't verbalize it, and is still standing, then it's a valid fight."

Natania snarled with disgust and turned her attention to Tyson. Rigaldo had broken his foreleg, and riddled him with scratches. Natania shifted forms, earning a cluster of outraged protests from the crowd that she ignored. She scooped the wolf up, grunting a little at the weight, and began carrying him to Elise.

Reagan and Howard joined her. "I'll take him," Reagan said, shifting as well, "He's my son."

Natania nodded and let him take Tyson from her arms. "Our doctor is set up over that ridge."

Reagan nodded. "Thank you," he said, dipping his head. Natania nodded once more, then shifted and returned to the crowd.

"She broke the rules," Alicia, the spotted wolf, growled when she returned.

"Emergency circumstances," Natania spat.

"He wasn't going to die," Rigaldo growled, padding forward until he stood over her.

Natania bared her teeth, resisting the urge to cower. "You don't get a vote," she snarled. "You blatantly ignored his surrender."

"Was that what he was trying to do?" Rigaldo said with mock regret. "My bad, hard to separate it from his usual whining."

Natania hissed with rage. "Does it make you feel powerful to beat people when they're down?"

Rigaldo smirked. "Why don't you tell me? I didn't see you holding back when you tried to kill Alexandria. The difference is that I didn't try to kill him."

Shame coursed through Natania and she hesitated. She didn't really have a leg to stand on there, she had gone for a killing blow.

Natania bowed her head. "I give up the competition," she said, backing away from him. "I'm done."

Leah ran to her side. "Are you sure?" she whispered urgently.

Natania nodded. "I'm out. I'm done with this shit." She turned away from them, and started the trek home.

It didn't take long for Alistair to find her after the competition was over. He cornered Natania as the wolves were leaving for their territories. "What?" she asked, pelt bristling uncomfortably. Leah stood up, but stayed where she was, watching him warily.

"Since you seem to think I'm joking," he growled. "We have a guest. I didn't want to do it this way, but you've left me no choice." Alistair sniffed crossly. "Don't come crying to me about it, I gave you a chance, and now we're bargain bound. He's your responsibility."

Natania pinned her ears. "What are you talking about?"

Alistair jerked his head, indicating someone behind him and Natania froze.

The wolf Alistair had invited to stay with them...

was Rigaldo.

"You have to be joking," Natania said, dumbfounded. She wasn't going to mate with that asshole, not in a million years. Not if he was the only person left on the entire planet.

"Not even remotely," he said.

Natania swallowed thickly, fear snaking into her chest. "I'll go get Tyson, he'll-"

"No," Alistair stalked forward until they were nose to nose. "We made a bargain. You're his problem now."

Her blood ran cold, did he mean a blood bargain? Natania glanced up at him.

"Yes," he growled, "that kind of bargain."

Her mind whirled. Blood bargains could not be broken. Not by magic, not by consent of both parties, nothing. Even death couldn't stop them. The magic would bring the other party back as a ghoul to see the bargain completed. Natania shuddered.

"I warned you," he growled softly. "I wasn't joking."