His Chosen: A Claim of Passion

Chapter 185: Beta to Alpha

Lucas

Today is the day. Well, the next two days are the days where | will truly see if | have what it takes to becan

Alpha. Hunter has faith in me. Sophie has faith in me. And my mate has faith in me. | can’t let any of them down.

When I'd first walked Alaric’s pack lands, | hadn't seen the devastation or the amount of tit would take to

rebuild what was broken in the pack. What I'd seen was opportunity. The opportunity to make something great

out of what Alaric left.

Based on what I'd seen in Owen's lands, this pack is in better shape overall, but it’s nothing like Hunter's and

Sophie's pack. And while these pack lands are smaller than Hunter's, | think | can make something great out of

this area. No, | KNOW | can make something great here. A place that is better for the people who used to live

here and a place that is better for my son to take over one day when it’s his turn to becan Alpha.

An Alpha. | never thought I'd say that about my son, but once the idea took hold in my head, | couldn't let it go.

If Kins hadn't agreed with me, if she hadn't been one hundred percent engaged in this process, | would have

walked away. She is too important toto risk our relationship. I've worked way too hard to build what we now

have together forto throw it away for a title. I'm happy as Hunter's Beta. Hunter's a good Alpha and I'm a

good Beta. The pack respects both of us and it shows.

“You've got this, my love. Especially today. Today is the easy day,” Kinsley says, looking atover her shoulder.

I'm wrapped around her in bed, lost in my thoughts, not realizing that she was awake yet.

I kiss her shoulder before taking a deep breath.

“You won't,” she says, watching me.

“Won't what?” | ask her, knowing that she must feel it through the bond.

“You won't disappoint me. You never have.”

“That's not exactly true,” | say referencing how I claimed her.

“That was different, Lucas. Times were different. This is a chance for us, for our children to be better, to be a part

of something better. And that wasn’t disappointment. You, my love, have never disappointed me. You've done

everything in your power to make this bond between us what it is now.”

“You were and continue to be worth it every day,” | tell her.

“You should start today off right, Lucas, by remindingof how much you love me,” she purrs.

| slide inside her, not able to take as much tas | want because of the competition starting this morning, but

by the twe're showered and headed to breakfast, my mind is settled for today.

When | walk in, | see Hunter across the room. He givesan assessing look, then nods, apparently liking what

he sees in me.

| get Kinsley sfood, then get in line to find out where I fall in the order for the first round of competitions. I'm

fourth in line to compete with Dutton as my referee. I'll be taking on one of Kayce’s warriors. Since | have a little

bit of tbefore my first competition, | grab sfood and join my mate. Unlike at Jake’ s new pack where

there was no other pack adjacent to it, we have access to Amelia's packhouse and kitchens, so while breakfast is

an outdoor affair, it’s hot food with all the normal breakfast options.

When we're given the announcement that the battles will begin in thirty minutes, everyone begins making their

way over to the vacant pack. Each referee has their own space where the competitors assigned to them will

have their battles. There isn’t a tlimit, but once one is done, the next one begins.

| get in line, introducing myself to the warrior that I'll be battling. There are more fighters this time, so we expect

that it will take two full days before one of us wins our pack. Today will be easier because the rounds will take so

long, and we'll have plenty of tto rest in between. Tomorrow will be much more grueling.

As expected, these rounds go more quickly and easily even though there are more of them, with those of us who

are ranked members eliminating the omegas and warriors that we compete against. The warrior that competed

againstwas good, but not nearly good enough to becan Alpha.

It’s after lunch when the first rounds are complete, leaving one hundred and ten of us to compete in the

afternoon. I'm farther back this time, competing against one of Robin's warriors with Ezra as the referee.

These battles take longer as everyone in this round has already competed once and won. It’s well past dark

when the last group finishes and the competition winds down for the day.

“We'll start at six o'clock tomorrow morning. Get your assignments and your refs so you know where to go. We

expect tomorrow's competitions to last even longer, so even though we have fewer of them, we still expect a full

day with the battles taking longer with each round.

Even though | only fought twice, | fall into bed, mentally exhausted. | watched other competitions, wanting to

see the skill that others had. The Betas, Alpha Calvin, and sGammas will be my biggest competition. All the

warriors are strong, but very few are strong enough to go against those of us who are ranked.

1 spent stwatching Beta Miles, Dutton’s Beta. Of all of them, I'd say he’s my strongest competition.

Normally, I'd think it would be an Alpha, but Calvin fights in an old school way. I'm not sure if it's because his

pack is segregated from the others and he hasn’t had a chance to learn other fighting techniques, but he seems

limited and consistent in his fighting. He's strong which is to his benefit, but his technique isn’t as varied as

sof the rest of us.

Miles, however, is creative in his fighting approach. He's a smart fighter, willing to take a hit to win the battle.

I'm the sway, so if | end up going against him, I'll need to be careful.

In the morning, fifty-five of us are ready to begin battles. Apparently, they offered to let someone compete twice

in case there is a tie at the end of the competition. Then the person with the most points wins. | put my nin

for an extra battle and | notice that Miles does as well. Alpha Calvin doesn’t and | assthat’s because he’s the

only Alpha and he assumes he’ll win.

There are two opportunities to fight twice, and Miles and | both get chosen to take those on. I'm chosen to have

an extra fight during the first round this morning, with Miles getting one later in the day. I'm thankful mine is

earlier. Because I'll be fighting twice, my first battle is moved up, so | have my initial fight in the matchup with

Alpha Amelia as our referee.

It does take longer to win this morning, my first battle lasting an hour. Since my next battle is with Gamma

Caleb, Amelia’s Gamma, I'll have to shift to a different referee. | get a couple of hours rest, before my next

competition, going around and watching sof the other battles, keeping an eye on my biggest competitors.

Alpha Calvin, Beta Miles, and both Robin’s and Kayce’s Betas move to the next round. Then it’s tforto

battle Gamma Caleb.

| notice the other Betas cto watch my match, apparently taking in their competition, me.

“You've got this, baby,” Kinsley says, givinga kiss for luck. It turns out that | didn’t need it. Caleb is another

one that isn’t as good as he thinks he is. However, he doesn’t want to give in, even after I've obviously defeated

him. | take him down two more times before Alpha Robin calls it. Caleb becomes irate, screaming that Robin is

cheating and that the entire thing is rigged.

It takes several Alphas’ presence to finally get him to calm down and accept defeat. Like the poor loser he is, he

doesn’t shake hands with me, he just walks away in a huff.

Because we start early, we're able to start the next round before lunch. This time, I'm closer to the end of the

competition because | battled twice. | still feel good, but now that we're down to twenty-seven, the battles are

definitely lasting longer. This round, Miles takes the extra match, and he wins both of them.

Because we both won twice in our rounds, we're still at odd numbers and Kayce's Beta wins the toss for the next

person to take an extra battle. While I'm interested in watching his matches, after mine is done, | realize that

Miles and Calvin are fighting and most everyone who isn’t fighting is watching them. When | walk up, | see

Kinsley watching their fight.

“How long have they been going?” | ask her, noticing that Hunter is refereeing this match.

She looks at her watch. “Nearly two hours.”

“Shit!” No wonder everyone is watching them. Both of them are pouring in sweat, but Calvin seems to be

slowing down faster than Miles. Calvin is several years older than Miles, but I'm guessing it’s more than that.

Whether he doesn’t train as hard, or everything going on with his mate and newborn daughter are taking a toll

on him, it isn’t long before | can see the tide of the battle turning in Miles’ favor.

The battle goes on for another hour and by then, all the competitors in this round is done, even Kayce’'s Beta

who had to fight twice. Everyone has gathered around to watch this massive battle.

Since | know my Alpha, | know he wants to call it, but he’s hoping that Calvin will concede. | doubt he will. He's

an Alpha and unlike Hunter, Calvin would not want to concede to a Beta. | watch as the other Alphas gather

around, probably expecting the fight from Calvin. When Hunter calls it a tie, it takes Calvin a moment to realize

that means that Miles won. Miles took an extra fight earlier and the whole point of that is to give one person the

benefit if there is a tie as there is now. Not unexpectedly, Calvin begins complaining, saying he can still fight, but

the other Alphas all step up, supporting Hunter, before Calvin finally concedes. To his credit, he was a gracious

loser and shook Miles’ hand before leaving the ring.

By the tthat battle ended, it was well past lunch time, and the next round started. Each of these took longer

and longer. In the end, it wasand Miles as the final two. It had been a long, exhausting day, but both of us

wanted to be done, so we both agreed to fight.

As | expected, he was a formidable opponent. He and | had similar ways of fighting and when it was all done, |

was able to hold out just long enough to defeat him.

When Alpha Kayce calledthe winner, | stood there stunned.

“Congratulations. Best fight I've had all day man. You deserve it,” Miles says a moment before Kinsley rushes

into my arms.

“I'm so proud of you! | knew you could do it!"

“Alpha Lucas!” Hunter calls and the rest of the crowd quiets down. “Congratulations on winning your pack and

becoming. part of the group of Alphas.”

“Thank you!” | say, feeling overwhelmed with all of the emotions that are rushing through bothand Kinsley.

So rather than do anything, | stand there, holding my mate, my Luna, looking out over our new pack lands.