I am mad.

First, I do not judge Colin for not telling me his mother is human. It is not something people ever lead with, so I get why he felt self-conscious about it. I am not angry at him for withholding that information; it wouldn't matter to me anyway.

We werewolves do not get to judge people's mates. It's a slippery slope and the next thing you know, you are an infertile monarch unable to find a mate and have children. I was brought up with the knowledge that we do not get to pick our partners; we surrender ourselves to the choices made by our Goddess.

If She chose a human for Colin's father, then that is what he needed to be paired with. Personally, I wouldn't want a human mate, but I would never reject them either. That's not an option for me. Alphas need Lunas, period.

But Prince Elton calling my roommate a 'mongrel' was too much for me to bear. I cannot tolerate this level of disrespect to him, especially since he never did anything to disrespect anyone here. He didn't deserve that.

I am sure in ancient centuries I would be put to death for calling a Royal Prince an asshole, but this is modern times and princes have no real power - especially in his case, who is a nephew to the King. If he were the son, then I could be banned from Chateau Blanc, to say the least.

Be that as it may, I am not sorry for calling the prince out. Not even a little bit.

Now he has just threatened my life and every single contestant and military personnel has witnessed that, which is good for me. Witnesses. Who knows what that boy is going to do to me?

Elton is seething in anger at me, but if he thinks I am going to escalate things further because he just threatened my life, he is in for a shocker.

"Your Royal Highness, so that you know, it's against the tournament rules to fight with any contestant outside the ring. If that boy shows up here with a black eye, I will disqualify you from the tournament. Then, good luck being our next King." Colonel Armstrong cautioned him, weary that he might try something against me later. He looked a bit frazzled.

Elton glared at him so many daggers that a lesser man would cower in fear.

"Thank you for that reminder. I'll be sure to add to the list of grievances when I'm King." He spat at him, livid.

"You keep saying that, but if His Majesty wanted you to be our next King, you would be. Now you are playing by my rules. And if you don't abide by them, I'll disqualify you in a heartbeat. I don't care who your parents are!" Armstrong pushed back, not backing down.

Elton is fuming. He is probably moments away from shifting into a wolf he is so angry.

"That goes for every single one of you, by the way. I don't care who your parents are, in this place, it's my rules or the highway. You all received the brochure upon entrance with the rules of living in this castle. Now you were given the rules for participating in the challenges. All fights are taped and supervised by one of my soldiers. One illegal move and you are out of here! Is that understood?" He stared at the crowd like a father giving us the verbal smack down.

The boys collectively answered 'Yes, Sir' which appeased him. Elton was still livid, not that far from me inside McCarthy Hall where the tournament would take place. Everybody in the room looked apprehensive because of the showdown that they just witnessed.

Armstrong touched a nerve for the prince. Nobody knows why his uncle refuses to favor him as the successor to the throne, but I guess even the Colonel is fed up with his antics, so he is not holding back anymore. Kudos to him, because if he wins the tournament, it'll be hell to pay later.

I turned to Colin, who was taken aback by all this, especially by being called out as a mixed-race werewolf.

"How are you doing? I'm sorry for what he called you before. No one should criticize a mate pairing and if your mother was chosen for your father, it's because she was who he needed to be paired with." I told him, low-key taking a jab at Elton in the process.

"I'm fine, it's not the first time people called me names. I love my mama, she is a great Luna to our pack, even if she is not a werewolf." He spoke with a twinkle in his eyes that told me she was a great parent.

"I'm glad to hear it." I smiled at him, despite the current circumstances.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, sounding concerned for my state of mind.

"I have to be. Plus, I am not scared of him. He is just a sad little boy who will never know what it's like to be mated. He'll never experience what it is to feel connected to someone else for the rest of his life and to feel like your purpose in the world has been achieved." I replied, taking a jab at Elton in the process.

"You fucking peasant!" He snarled at me, fuming.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Colonel Armstrong shouted, grabbing our attention immediately.

"I have had just about enough of this bickering. I don't want to hear another word or neither of you will compete in the tournament!" He threatened us, aggravated. Elton's eyes were shining in rage, barely being contained as his body irradiated anger.

I am silent as a mouse. I am no stranger to being called out by a father figure, especially one who reminds me so much of my dad - except for the difference in ethnicity between them. Not that I care about that anyway.

"I need you all to walk back to the wall before my people arrange the rings in which you'll fight today." He instructed us, so we did. Thousands of men were crammed by the wall, while the soldiers put together mats that formed a ring where the fighting would take place.

It is not a traditional ring, there is no rope or anything of the sort. It looks like a tatami where judo fighters compete in the Summer Olympics. It's simple enough that it can be assembled fairly easily and fast.

Meanwhile, Elton's friend was trying to calm him down after the heated arguments.

Minutes later...

"Before we start streaming, don't forget that this is being broadcast all across the world. So, no funny business. No pantsing the adversary or whatever prank you think it's funny. It isn't. And if you don't take this seriously, the King will take that into consideration later." Colonel Armstrong warned us with a stern look on his face.

"As you can probably tell, it will be impossible for everyone here to fight at the same time. So, while your name isn't called, you wait. All the opponents were selected at random by an algorithm, so no whining if your name doesn't get called right away. If you could wait hours in the nude for a physical, you can wait fully dressed as well." He said, reminding us of that fateful day - which was two days ago.

"So, the algorithm selected which guy we are fighting with?" One of the boys asked him, curiously.

"Yes, that's exactly what I just said." Armstrong rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Nervous?" Elton's friend asked him, sounding excited.

"Not in the least. It's just sad that I can't send that peasant home." He replied without missing a beat. Armstrong glared at the prince for that comeback.

"Are we ready for the broadcast?" He asked his people.

"Yes, sir." One soldier replied, who had a headset connected to the people in the control room.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Colonel Armstrong, of the United States Army, and I will explain the rules of the first challenge. The first thing that you need to know is that we designed these challenges to not favor any contestant in particular, despite their background. You should also know that every challenge is different from the previous one." He started, talking to us but explaining to the audience watching us.

"Today, we would like to start with something simple. Your challenge is to drop your opponent on the ground. That's it. Drop him and you're off to the next one. However, you cannot punch or kick him. You can only use your strength and knowledge." He declared, surprising everybody in the room.

"Those of you who succeed in dropping your opponent, you are excused for the day and I'll see you tomorrow at (1900) nineteen hundred hours for the next challenge. If you get dropped, thank you for participating in the tournament. You are dismissed." He continued, forcing a smile as he told us the news.

A|N: Prepared to be amazed!

Surprises come next. Don't ever think that you can predict the challenges. What would be the fun of that?

Happy Birthday to me! I hope you have a blessed day.

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Love,

Léo.