---Ryan's POV---

Absolute shock had stunned me into silence, unable to move a muscle. The declaration that this girl, a rogue, who we had chased down on our lands and who was now undergoing a fight to be ranked as one of us....

She is an Alpha?

It had been shocking enough to be told she was an Outcast and not a mere Rogue but to realize she was an Alpha, born from a potent bloodline of an Alpha pair known across the continent...

The mindlike was absolutely silent, not a hushed whisper or stray thought until it suddenly exploded with jittery energy.

"An Alpha?!"

"She's a Born Alpha? No fucking way!"

"-but it would explain why she kicked ass-"

"-completely impossible-"

"ENOUGH!" I barked with enough power through the link to force the outraged teens into silence. It was rough to try and approach this with a rational mind, especially so when she remained silent after her revelation.

Jason was more resembling a fish on land, opening and closing his mouth uselessly without a sound escaping him. So I stepped forwards and asked the question that was burning in the minds of many of the young adults present.

"How do we even know you're speaking the truth?" I snarled angrily, positive that she was lying. Born Alphas were not a rarity but a pack would be foolish to cast one aside without proper reasoning.

Lyra observed me with a saddened but serious expression. "How else was I capable of stopping a border patrol of ten wolves, persistent to attack me?" She replied with her own question. "My powers were only recently awakened."

As I was still trying to progress this information, she shrugged. "But no need to believe me. If you don't trust me, do you at least trust your own Alpha and father to know the truth?"

Worthlessly, I looked at him tiredly, feeling my shoulders sag at the seriousness in his eyes. I didn't need to see him nod, or hear his affirmative "Lyra is speaking the truth. I have known her parents and she is indeed a born Alpha."

Another wave of excited rambling and chatter flooded through the pack link as I failed to collect my thoughts. "Then why have you never told me as soon as you realized that fact? Why go through this entire process?!"

My eyes snapped to her, voice forceful as I questioned "And why would a pack cast out their next Alpha-to-be, a born Alpha?"

None of the reasons I could come up with were good ones. They involved murder, treason, plotting unspeakable things to the pack or nearby packs.

All the more reasons to question the legitimacy for why on earth she was here. It was too easy, too convenient that she just happened to find someone related to our pack and brought her here out of the goodness of her heart. Especially so if she lived her life as a rogue ever since her banishment.

This time Lyra's eyes became frosty, a glare pinching her brows together. "Who do you think you are, demanding me to share my life story?" She growled lowly, muscles tensing with anger and annoyance.

"You told our Alpha, did you not?" I stated with exasperation. "Why can you tell him but not me, while I'm next in line?"

She scoffed, blowing out an annoyed breath. "As I said to Jason earlier ; Respect is earned, not given freely. What have you done up until now to earn any respect from me?"

A low growl rumbled from my throat but I had no way to defend myself. Yet at the same time, that ugly streak reared its head. The nerve that she had to call me out, not showing me any respect as the next Alpha.

Even if respect was earned, everyone received a certain basic respect. Someone in my position should at least receive more than average.

Her eyes sparked as she could easily detect the simmering anger in my scent. "Fine, I will tell you why I have been cast out, IF you tell my why you're so pissed off about rogues."

"It's not your place to ask me that." I snarled, pushing the painful memories aside. Memories of Sam's smiling face, the innocence that radiated off of her, the joy she experienced in life.

"Then it's not your place to ask me about my past." Lyra replied coldly, her tone clearly influenced by her Alpha voice. Even if it was hard to admit and swallow down my pride, her Alpha voice had an effect on me, so I lowered my head and backed off.

She turned her back to me without saying another word, aiming her attention back to a nervous Jason. "Let's continue the fights, shall we?"

---Lyra's POV---

Even if I saw Jason slowly approach with clear hesitation, my mind wasn't on the upcoming fight. Instead it was on the conversation I just had with Ryan. Or rather, listen to him bark as I spoke to him.

However, he chose to bark up the wrong tree. While I could see him withdraw when I mentioned his distaste for rogues, could see the barely concealed torment in his eyes, I wasn't about to back down.

Even my wolf agreed, silently snarling in the back of my mind. "He has no idea what we've been through yet choses to judge others from his own past experiences." She huffed with annoyance.

"Don't we all?" I questioned silently. After all, I too had been scarred by the actions of others. It was with a just reason that I had avoided other packs, had been judgmental in my own right.

Yet it were these lasting impressions that had left their scars on me, on us. I couldn't judge Ryan for his actions because I had no idea what he went through.

He must have plenty of reasons to distrust, even despise rogues with a passion. In my personal experience, packs who had constant interactions with rogues were more inclined to cast rogues in a negative light.

Compared to packs who had very limited interactions with rogues, they often gave Nomadic wolves and Outcasts more leeway. Hell, even friendly rogues could skirt around the pack without being instantly attacked.

"Still doesn't excuse his behavior...." My wolf muttered bitterly and while part of me wanted to agree, I sighed softly and shook my head mentally.

"Look at what happened to us. We were cast out for the murder of our parents, a murder we didn't commit. A murder we were framed for by our very own brother, who wanted to be Alpha."

That silenced her completely, the anger disappearing in a split second. Just the memory of the pack crying in outrage, blindly following the words of the two eldest siblings.

Or the mere fact that they had forcefully branded me against my will, a brand that was usually given to criminals after they have shifted.

To give one to anyone pre-shift was cruel and extremely painful. Even my wolf, who had still been dormant up to that point, had awoken prematurely simply from the pain the mark had caused us.

"If we truly want to know the truth about Ryan, we need to offer him a chance to explain himself, explain the situation. We both know how it feels to be judged by how things look instead of how things are."

My wolf silently agreed to the thought before I snapped out of my mental musings, realizing a bit too late that Jason had been talking to me.

He must've noticed the confusion within my eyes as he smiled and chuckled slightly. "I was...wondering why you told us. About your birthright, I mean." He mumbled before averting his eyes nervously.

I snorted with amusement, drawing his eyes back towards me as I replied "Because every single one of you guys have been fighting me without giving me your best shot." Throwing my hands up, I huffed "Do you have any idea how frustrating and annoying it is to be handled like you're about to break in the middle of a fight?!"

Jason barked out a surprised laugh at that. "I shouldn't be surprised you'd feel that way." He snickered, inclining his head as he understood the issue.

To be treated as something soft and weak, something fragile, had been irritating my wolf, insulting it even. Unknowingly, all of our opponents so far with the exception of Eric, have been calling us weak.

Not worth to truly fight, to waste energy on. Insinuating to any Alpha, born or not, that they were weak was a surefire way of getting mauled by their enraged wolf.

"There must be another reason though." Jason motioned with his hand towards me, curiosity spreading over his expression. "Being frustrated by the fights is one thing but I doubt that it was your only reason to come out, so to speak."

Shrugging, I could feel my expression turn cold as I replied "To be quite honest, I'm more than done with being treated like vermin instead of a human being. Perhaps that played in my decision as well."

Even though I didn't look at Ryan directly, I could see him cringe and hunch his shoulders uncomfortably.

Good.

"So for this fight, I shouldn't hold back, right?" Jason drawled teasingly, making me roll my eyes with an amused snort. "Just to remain on your good side." He added, taking a few steps back to have a proper distancing between us.

When Blake announced the start of the fight, Jason surprised me by not directly rushing into the fight. Instead his eyes slid over my form calculatedly, judging my defensive posture for a split second.

Jason faked out to the side before rushing forwards, forcing me to leap back to avoid his sudden lunge. He quickly followed through, throwing a sudden punch that I blocked before returning the favor.

We struggled back and forth like that for a while, throwing punches and kicks while avoiding the hits of the other before Jason gained a sudden glint in his eyes.

Instead of sidestepping my next attack, he plowed straight into me and toppled us both to the ground. The force of impact pried a groan away from my lips before I glared at Jason hovering over me.

He had my wrists pinned above my head, knees digging into my thighs sou I couldn't exactly kick him in his groin. Even if I struggled, he simply used his weight and position to keep me pinned, all the while a grin started to slip on his face.

"Dude, keep that for the bedroom!" One of the other brats on the sideline shouted, followed with a loud wolf whistle that made Jason chuckle while I shot him a venomous glare.

A low growl escaped my throat as he pressed closer, followed by a venomously hissed "Don't you fucking dare."

I could see how his attention wavered, most likely communicating with his fellow pack members. Most of which were chuckling, shaking their heads at the display in front of them.

---Jason's POV---

Not letting this situation go to my head was more difficult than I had ever imagined it would be. I mean, come on; several of the pack were already secretly lusting after this feisty new she wolf that was joining us. And I had her pinned underneath me.

I hadn't even imagined I would've been capable of pinning her this way but when the opportunity presented itself, I just couldn't resist. And now I was happy that I went for it, given how I was forced to press tightly against her in order to keep her down.

"Don't you fucking dare." She snarled, eyes narrowing as I smiled, shaking my head slightly to get rid of the more dangerous thoughts.

"I'm behaving, aren't I?" I stated rhetorically, referring to the fact that besides pinning her down in this rather intimate way, I was keeping my hands to myself.

Lyra scoffed at that, letting her eyes flit lower for a split second before angling her hips away. "Really?" She snorted, making me flush as I too lifted my hips slightly away.

"Sorry love, but I'm still a guy. I can't control biology." I smirked, though my smirk faced to a concentrated frown when she started struggling once more.

And her struggles were doing nothing against the burning arousal I felt, or the growing agitation of my wolf at the sensation of her body underneath mine.

If it were up to me, we wouldn't be fighting right about now, but using the energy in our bodies in a whole different, less platonic matter.

My eyes were constantly slipping back down to her lips, something that she took a quick notice of and growled harsher.

Just as I felt my wolf snap and take control, I could see a little smirk on her lips. Before she tilted her head back, forcing me to kiss her throat instead of her lips, which I had been aiming for.

"And that's it, Jason is out!" Blake shouted, followed by the roar of the public and the annoyed, frustrated growls of the already defeated guys.

Wait, what? Out?! I wasn't out?! I had her pinned down with no way to get up! How was I the one who was out when she was laying down in a submissive manner?

Lyra started chuckling, shaking her head at my apparent confusion. "Only a submissive wolf will lick, or in this case kiss the opponent's throat, Jason." She managed to say between her growing laughter. "You should've known better."

I could feel my jaw slack with surprise, even more so when Lyra effortlessly shifted her hips with a jolt, causing one of my knees to slip from her thigh before I found myself face first in the dirt.

By the time that I scrambled back on my knees, she was already up on her feet. And that was the moment I finally fucking realized I had been played.

"You faked being pinned down in order to win?" I squeaked in embarrassment, feeling even more flustered when she tapped a finger against my chin, causing it to snap shut.

Lyra's voice was still heavily laced with mirth, eyes sparkling as she replied, "Yes. It didn't take me too long to realize your most obvious weakness. To be blunt, well... you're a guy."

Several of the pack snorted and joined in with her laughter as she continued "I had a feeling that once you had me pinned, your hormones and control, or lack thereof would guide you towards attempting to steal a kiss."

She crossed her arms, shaking her head. "So I played your weakness and saved my strength for the final fight against an opponent who doesn't think with his dick."

"Which, speaking off; what kind of an asshole do you have to be to try and force a kiss in a situation like this?" She growled, not needing a reply as I flushed and scratched at the back of my neck.

Utterly, completely embarrassed. And deeply ashamed of myself. "Seriously though," Lyra continued, eyes narrowed and dead serious as they locked with mine. "You need to stop treating women as if they're nothing more than a scrap of meat to drool at. We are human too, we have feelings, emotions and opinions. Just because you find yourself irresistible, doesn't mean that any of us share that opinion Jason."

"Way to rub it in." I muttered halfheartedly, making her roll her eyes with a frustrated sigh. "I would never do that, you know..."

Her eyes instantly pinned me to the spot. "Yet, presented with the opportunity you discarded any consent and went straight for what you wanted, Jason. Do you know who else does that? Rogues."

That hit a painful spot, especially coming from someone who has lived as a Nomad, has encountered more rogues in her lifetime than I'd ever would.

"Let this be your lesson, an awakening of sorts. Stop being a sexist pig that underestimates women simply because of the gender they are born with."

She didn't give me a chance to reply, instead turning towards Ryan, who was slowly approaching the pair of us. Judging from his blank expression and the calm manner in which he carried himself, he had al least come to a decision for himself.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to smile at her." I stated over the link when I spotted his lips twitching, as if he was fighting to keep his expression neutral.

"I know that but after everything that has happened between us so far, I can't just act as if everything is normal and nothing has happened." He replied with a strained voice, eyes darting to Lyra before he sighed. "I need to apologize to her, for everything I've said and how I reacted up to now."

Ryan? Swallowing his pride and apologizing to someone who technically isn't pack yet? Someone who he had considered to be nothing but a Rogue until he changed his mind....

What's next? Pigs learning how to fly?