17 NOT SO EASY

I crouched down on the mat as I prepared to fight. I may be a future alpha, but I was nothing when it came to brute strength against a male alpha.

They were just built differently, I was strong, but not as strong as them.

Despite this I knew I had other strengths, aspects of my own genes that even male alphas could not match.

"I don't want to hurt my mate." Jason said as he eyed me carefully.

"Trust me, my sister won't break so easily." My brother Merrick said with a chuckle as he stayed to the side of the sparring area.

Jason still looked at me with worry, it was clear that he didn't trust my brother's gauge if I could take him on in a fist fight.

'Set some rules' I mind linked to my brother. 'That should set him at ease.'

"Right, I forgot something." Merrick suddenly said as soon as my message registered with him. He might be strong, but my brother was never the smartest man around.

"What?" Jason grumbled.

"Rules!" My brother declared with a laugh.

I watched as Jason nodded as he listened to what my brother had to say.

"Alright, first, no shifting, not even a single body part!" Merrick explained. "Second, you are not allowed to cross the mat, if any part of your body crosses the boundary at any point then you are disqualified."

"How will we determine who wins?" I asked my brother.

Normally in our pack we had a way of determining the winner, but I didn't know if Jason's pack practiced something else.

"Till one surrenders." Merrick declared, to which Jason still nodded in agreement. "Or till first blood is drawn."

"No!" Jason's voice boomed as he heard that he would have to injure me to win.

"That's how we do things here in the Shadows Pack, Alpha Jason." I said as I challenged him. "Is it too much for the mighty alpha of the Silver Moon pack?" I asked.

'You really want him to get mad, don't you?' Ares chucked in my head as we watched him fight with his wolf.

"I'm not a fragile she-wolf, Alpha Jason." I said knowing full well that he would not like my tone or the fact that I was calling him by his title rather than by his name.

"Are you trying to test me, mate?" He asked in a much deeper tone. I knew now that Hercules had come out to play.

It seemed that I managed to trigger the big bad strong alpha that everyone feared.

"I don't like being underestimated, Hercules." I said as I acknowledged his wolf's presence head on.

Most would avoid calling an Alpha wolf by their name, mainly because Alpha wolves hated being disrespected by those lower than them.

"I don't want to hurt you, Amaya." Jason said in a more tender tone as his wolf settled back in his mind.

"I won't break." I told him with a wink.

"Start?" Merrick asked as he looked between me and my mate.

Jason had no choice but to nod.

"If you can't take it, you better tell me or Merrick." Jason warned from the other end of the sparring mat.

"Trust me, my sister doesn't break so easily." Merric said, repeating my words with a laugh.

My brother had sparred with me so many times that he was fully aware of what I could do. I could take on wolves twice my size and still win.

Merrick's wolf was still as strong and as big as an alpha wolf, maybe not as strong as Jason's, but enough for me to know what it was like sparring against an alpha.

Add to that the fact that my father had personally trained both of us the moment we were capable of fighting.

He kept us from wars and fights, but he wanted us to be capable of standing on our own and defending our people.

"Start!" I heard Merrick declare with much more force this time.

Jason walked around the mat, observing me, waiting for me to make the first move.

I knew he didn't want to make it, he didn't want to attack a woman, and if I didn't initiate this fight he would only stare at me the entire time.

Knowing I had no other way of proving to him that I could fight my own battles, I charged at the strong and powerful alpha that stood in front of me.

Jason tried to avoid my kick, but I was too fast for him and I came at him from the side which he least expected it to come from.

When my foot made contact with his jaw I quickly retreated, I knew it was his instinct to attack back, and I was right.

Jason threw a punch that missed me by a few centimeters.

I made sure to take advantage of his shock as I charged forward again and landed him a punch on his gut.

This time, Jason was quick to recover, tripping me, sending me falling to the ground and rolling to the other end of the mat.

I knew I had to get as far as I could. Large wolves like him were stronger but slower, he wouldn't be able to catch me at the other end of the mat.

"That hurt." He grumbled as he nursed his jaw.

"I warned you, don't underestimate my sister." Merrick said with a laugh as he watched from the sidelines.

"Yeah, that's never happening again." Jason said with a chuckle as he moved to tackle me to the ground.

Unfortunately for my mate, I was faster as I dogged him, once more moving to the other end of the sparring area.

I couldn't help but laugh as the large alpha landed flat on his face, it seemed he really thought he could catch me.

"This is going to be fun." I said with a grin as I watched Jason lunge at me again.