Natania didn't know what to expect as the games approached. Her pack had never hosted before, and the territory wasn't exactly friendly to outsiders. Alistair had given instructions for the alphas to park at the school, which was empty for the summer season, the wolves had graduated without fanfare, and that one of his wolves would guide them to the valley.

By tradition, the alphas shouldn't have had to engage with any half-blooded wolf that wasn't the second to another alpha, but the four of them couldn't guide every pair that showed up. They could have marked the trail, but her father didn't want them wandering alone in his territory, and she had given up on arguing with him.

He had been increasingly prone to temper after her stunt with the food supplies, and she didn't have a death wish. Protecting the wolves she cared about meant going along with his rules and keeping her head down.

She was waiting in the valley, beside her father, as his pack ran around setting up. Otis approached with a crate of live rabbits and Natania frowned. "Where do you want these, boss?"

"There's three pens setup over there." Alistair pointed his muzzle to the east. He glanced at Otis and scowled. "Is that all they sent?"

"No sir," Otis replied. "We have uh, four hundred according to the manifest."

"Good," he dismissed Otis with a nod.

"Four hundred rabbits?" Natania asked, incredulous.

He gave her half a glance. "I told you I was having breeders bring some in. Anything they don't catch can go reproduce in the woods. Gods know we could use the extra population." He smirked. "I get free reign with the events, so I figure we'll release a few and let the wolves chase them."

Natania laughed at the thought, then grimaced, she'd have to be one of the chasers. "What are you planning for the other events?"

"Nothing special, they can race the valley, and we'll have the fights here," Alistair said, finally looking at her. "I expect you to do better this time. This is your last chance. Make your choice, or I'll make it for you."

Natania pinned her ears and looked at the ground. She still wasn't ready for that. Didn't think she ever would be.

Just then, the first of their guests began to arrive. "Go," Alistair ordered. "Be a good host."

Natania bristled but did as she was ordered, running down to greet their guests. She welcomed each alpha into their territory, forcing cheer into her voice. Their forest was a significant downgrade from the resort of the previous meeting, so she wasn't surprised to find some of the alphas were extremely bitter about the accommodations.

"This is the best you could do?" An alpha she didn't recognize sneered.

Natania rolled her eyes. "It's a forest, what do you expect? Gold plated trees?"

"I bet they want solid gold toilets." Tyson came up to her side and spoke good naturedly. "And those fancy steaks with little edible gold flakes." Natania snorted.

The alpha curled her lip and stalked away to find a space. "She woke up on the wrong side of the cave today," Tyson commented once she had left.

"I blame your uncle," Natania said dryly. "Spoiled the shit out of them last year, they forgot what being a wolf actually means."

"That event cost him almost a million dollars," Tyson said. "These fuckers sure can eat."

Natania raised an eyebrow. "Well, I hope they ate on the way, cause the only food Alistair's providing is of the soft, fluffy and alive variety."

"Oh gods, are we hunting rabbits?"

"Four hundred of them," Natania replied. "He had them bred." She knew why he had done it, but she pitied the runners that had to run four hundred of them up a mountain.

Tyson laughed. "I hate rabbits. The males are going to be at a disadvantage this year I see." He wasn't wrong, the males tended to be a little larger, and a little slower than the females, and rabbits were fast.

"You're not much of an alpha if you can't catch a puny rabbit." Natania glanced up at the familiar voice, her fur bristling.

Alexandria padded up to them, baring her teeth in disgust. "So you're hosting this year," she said, glaring at Natania. "At least your medic is nearby when you wimp out again."

Natania scowled. She hadn't wimped out. "This wimp was enough to take you out last year," Natania growled.

The red wolf scoffed. "You're lucky you even survived. I was fine, and I would have won the damn thing if it wasn't for you. You were injured so badly they didn't believe I was fit to continue." She flashed her fangs. "Try that again, and you won't wake up."

Natania rolled her eyes as Alexandria stalked off. Tyson frowned after her. "That's right, you cracked your skull didn't you? Glad to see you recovered okay."

"Fit as a fiddle," Natania replied. "Guess I have to kick her ass this year or I'll never live that down huh."

Tyson laughed. "Just make sure you crack her skull this time."

Tyson waited with her while she greeted the rest of the alphas, and Leah joined her once the setup was complete. Rigaldo showed up near the end, a black and tan wolf escorting him. Natania dipped her head in greeting. "You brought a second this time."

Rigaldo glanced at his companion and shook his head. "Not quite. This is Rolf, one of my doctors."

Tyson frowned at him. "That's forbidden."

Rigaldo grinned at him. "I got special permission after the events of last year." He gave Natania a pointed look. "There is no airlifting injured wolves out of this place."

"We have a doctor," Natania said. Elise was set up nearby, though out of sight, with both of her apprentices.

Rigaldo raised an eyebrow, then understanding flashed in his gaze. "Ah, right. I forgot this is your territory. Well, more paws can only help."

Natania shrugged. "You can try, but Elise is very protective of her patients."

"I'll only jump in if it's needed," Rolf said, dipping his head low.

"They're set up over that ridge if you want to introduce yourself," Natania said. "We should be getting started soon."

Rigaldo nodded at him and Rolf took off. Tyson glanced between them, a bit of nervousness creeping back into his posture. "H-hope you're up for hunting rabbits."

"Prey is prey," Rigaldo said, his voice serious. "Though, moose hunting is much more fun."

"M-Moose?" Tyson pinned his ears. "Those things are dangerous."

"Not if you have good wolves with you," Rigaldo said. "That makes all the difference."

Natania nodded in agreement. She enjoyed bigger hunts more as well, but they only really did those on the full moon. Though if a moose was spotted by a patrol, they usually took them out that day. They didn't want to risk a wolf being caught alone by an aggressive moose.

Barry arrived while they were chatting. He gave Natania a flirty smile, but one look at Rigaldo and he skittered away without making a scene.

"You gotta teach me to do that," Tyson said, watching the grey wolf flee. "He bothers a lot of the females."

Rigaldo put a paw on Tyson's head and ruffled his fur, making the smaller alpha tense. "You'll need to get bigger I'm afraid." Rigaldo's paw was almost the size of Tyson's head. "It's up to us to protect our mates. If you can't intimidate them with your size, then you need to do it with your fangs." Rigaldo dropped his paw back to the ground. "You're a little too soft," he said, voice suddenly cold.

Tyson's fur bushed up in annoyance, but he shrunk back again after meeting Rigaldo's gaze, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Ask your father to train you," Rigaldo continued. "You have a lot to work on, but I'm sure you'll manage eventually."

Rigaldo flicked Tyson's nose with his tail as he finally moved on to join the others. Tyson glared after him. "What a dick," he muttered.

Natania snorted, and he turned his glare to her. "It's not funny." He sagged his shoulders. "I didn't ask to be like this."

Natania brushed up against him. "I wasn't laughing at you. I agree he is unsettling. At least he seems to have his magic under wraps today. His charisma makes my skin crawl."

Leah came up on her other side and Natania brushed her flank with her tail. "At least he doesn't hit on you," Leah told Tyson.

Tyson flushed. "You're not going to go for that guy, are you?"

"Not in a million years," Natania said with a shudder. The last thing she wanted was a mate who could charm her, that was just asking for trouble. And if he could manage that without a connection, then she couldn't imagine the influence he could exert with a pack bond between them.

"Good," Tyson said, his fur lying flat again. "He creeps me out too. A guy like that, you'd just be handing over control of your pack." Tyson grinned at her. "You don't seem the type to accept standing meekly in the corner."

Leah snorted. "Control freak exhibit A over here."

Natania shoved her gently. "I'm not that bad," she protested.

"When was the last time you let Bran or I make a patrol?" Leah asked.

Natania tilted her head. "Um." She didn't decide every patrol ... did she?

"Exactly," Leah said smugly.

Natania flicked her ears. "Wolves volunteer for stuff all the time, I don't dictate them all."

"That doesn't make you any less bossy," Leah said.

"I'm not bossy," she argued.

"You get every report yourself. You decide every report yourself."

"You make it sound like I don't accept any advice or suggestions," Natania complained. "And I do."

Leah nuzzled her affectionately. "I'll give you that, but you are still a control freak."

Natania scowled at her, but Alistair called the summons before she could reply. The wolves glanced at each other, then dashed off to the center of the valley.

"Thank you all for coming," Alistair said, projecting his voice out to all the wolves that were present. "Glad you were all able to make your way here without incident. I know this is a bit rougher terrain than a lot of you are used to."

A couple wolves scowled at the passive insult. Natania guessed they were alphas that lived more in human cities than the wilderness.

"This territory is not equipped for such abundant hunting as usually takes place at these events, so we've had rabbits brought in. We'll release them into the undergrowth and test how well you can hunt and track in unfamiliar undergrowth." Alistair scowled as he added, "I'm afraid we'll have to ask that you leave other kinds of prey alone."

She could tell which wolves lived in similar kinds of territories as they nodded easily in agreement. The wolves who lived in abundant, or human based territories were grumbling under their breath and scowling.

"Why even host if you can't feed everyone?" Alexandria shouted. All eyes turned to her.

Alistair bared his teeth at the interruption. "Everyone takes a turn hosting," he growled. "We don't get a choice. We've provided prey. Or are you too fat and slow to catch a rabbit?"

Alexandria snarled, bunching her legs under her like she was about to pounce. "Why don't you come say that to my face?"

Alistair leaped down from his perch, the other alphas parted for him, leaving a direct path to the red wolf. Her father stalked forward until he towered over the other alpha. "Are you too fat and slow to catch a rabbit?" he repeated, unimpressed. His gaze flickered to Natania then back to her. "You couldn't even beat my daughter, and you think you can fight me?" The crowd opened up a path to her as well.

The red wolf snarled up at him, looking like she was going to attack him anyway, but at the last second she twisted, turning her attack to Natania instead. Natania grunted in surprise, the two of them tumbling over. The crowd spread out around them, making a space. Leah snarled, but Rigaldo put a paw in front of her before she could attack.

"Don't," Rigaldo warned. "This is her fight."

Natania shook off the surprise and dove into the fight, snapping her teeth at Alexandria's throat. The other alpha ducked her head, shoving it into her chest and they broke apart as Natania flew across the ring. Natania rolled back to her paws and sprang, swiping her claws across the red wolf's muzzle. Alexandria took the attack directly and tackled her, pinning Natania beneath her. Natania kicked with her hindlegs, gouging her stomach and shoved her off.

She took the momentary reprieve to catch her breath while Alexandria got back to her feet, snarling with rage.

"Should we stop them?" someone in the crowd asked.

"Nah, let them get it out of their system."

"Go Nat!" Natania snorted as she recognized Tyson's voice.

The two wolves stared at each other for a long moment. "Come on then," Natania said, keeping her stance loose. Alexandria roared and charged at her like a wild animal. Natania ducked down and twisted so she could swipe her claws down her chest as she passed. Alexandria instantly dropped like a stone on top of her, trapping Natania on her side. "Oof." The impact knocked the wind out of Natania.

Alexandria sank her teeth deep into Natania's tail. Natania bit back a squeal, the tail was a sensitive limb, she tried to kick the other wolf off but she was at too bad of an angle to get a good shot. The other wolf kept a tight hold on her tail, jerking her head back.

Natania kicked desperately, still unable to get a good shot, then rolled sideways, managing to throw her off balance. Natania dug her teeth into Alexandria's hind leg. No longer concerned about the damage she caused, she crushed the bone under her teeth. Alexandria squealed, finally releasing her tail and Natania put distance between them.

"You bitch," Alexandria snarled, balancing on three legs, her hind leg tucked in close to her side. "I'll fucking kill you."

"Try it," Natania snarled back. She lashed her tail a couple times and shuddered at the pain of it. She crouched down to spring again, if Alexandria wanted a fight, she'd get one, but her father stepped in her path.

"That's enough," he said. "I think it's clear that Natania is the winner."

"Hide behind your father like a fucking coward," Alexandria roared.

Natania snarled, bunching her muscles and leaped over her father, bowling Alexandria over. With an injured hind leg, Alexandria wouldn't have the strength to shove her off and Natania pinned her down, gouging her claws down her unprotected stomach again and again, until blood dripped freely from her paws.

Alexandria tried to shove her off, dragging her claws across Natania's cheeks when she couldn't get a good hit, but Natania was too blinded by rage to notice. She leaned down and sank her teeth into the wolf's throat, but there were teeth in her scruff before she could make a killing blow. Her father dragged her off. "Enough." His words were muffled by fur. Natania twisted out of his grip, feeling the skin on her neck tear, and snarled at him.

"That's enough," he repeated. "We don't kill each other here."

Natania crouched down to pounce on him and another weight landed on her back, a muzzle pushing her head down. "Calm yourself," Rigaldo purred in her ear, his magic flowing over her like a slimy blanket. "Get Alexandria out of here," Rigaldo ordered no one in particular.

Natania shoved against him, but damn was he heavy. "It's okay," he soothed. "You won. That's enough." Slowly, his influence calmed the tide inside her.

"Get off me," she hissed.

Rigaldo stood up, but kept one paw on her neck. "You good?"

She growled with irritation, but stopped fighting him. "Fine."

He released her, taking several steps back, and Leah ran to her side. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"I'm fine," Natania snapped, getting to her feet and shaking out her pelt. Her tail sent waves of pain up her spine at the motion. "Fucking bitch went after my tail."

"Do you need to see Elise?" Alistair asked, his voice bored.

"I'm fine," she snarled again, wincing as she lashed her tail out of habit, then stalked back into the crowd, Leah at her side.

"Well then," Alistair said. "Now that that is over with, let's proceed."