Chapter Two

"Damn, Minerva, do you literally have to beat me to the ground," he said as he coughs up spit mixed with dirt. He still manages to smile as he gets up once more.

"You aren't paying attention to what my next move is," I look at my new mate of a werewolf who looks as if he's never been a battle or a fight. "Have you ever fought against someone before?" He looked up and shook his head with a small grin. What!? I can't believe I mated with a man that's never been a battle!

"Are you serious? How are you supposed to win? The males look like they have all battled at some point in their lives," I say as I walk up to punch him in the chest. He grabs my fist in his hand and chuckles but stops after I sweep my leg under his and falls to the ground.

"Hey, I thought we were taking a break," he complains.

"Did I say we were taking a break?" He looks disappointed but doesn't answer. "If you are in a fight, there is no break when fighting for your life."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore. You are here to live a full and happy life without worrying about living a short life with Cidra." He gets up from the ground, but I put my foot to his chest to prevent him from doing so. As much as he was right about Cidra, I still couldn't help but miss my father. Before I could let him up, I push that thought in the back of my mind, so John won't see.

"I know. But you need to understand that you can't afford to lose this battle. You need to do whatever it takes to become Alpha. I need you to win, otherwise I'll be some sort of prize for the next Alpha." I let go of my foot and kneel beside him to look him in the eyes. "You brought me here and it's your responsibility to take care of me no matter what, especially since I'm the next in line to rule Cidra." I close my mouth and hope he understands that I can somehow join the two villages together.

"I know and it's only been five days, Minerva. Please understand that I am trying hard for you and the future of our children someday." He puts his hand on my back as reassurance but I back away and get to my feet.

"And I told you that I don't want to have children. You must respect my wishes if we are to continue to be mates." I left to the hut to get ready for sleep, leaving John on the ground.

As I wash my feet and hands from the training, I feel John's arms circle around my waist. I focus on washing instead of thinking about mating with him again for the fourth time this week. If we keep on mating, John will be extra tired for morning training as well as hunting for more food.

"I know you don't want kids, but what if you change your mind? You changed your mind with being my mate and living in our village." He tightens his hold on me but now I'm trying hard to swallow my rage from his stupid comment.

"John, let go of me right now," I say through clenched teeth. He sighs and let's go slowly and washes up next to me. "I choose to not have children, and it will be my choice to have children or anything else for that matter." I finish washing and turn towards the bed. Once I lay my head down, John tries to spoon me from behind, but I ignore his movement.

"Okay," he mumbles in a sad tone. "If you ever change your mind, please tell me immediately."

"You can hold your breath until that day comes." He stops breathing for almost a minute. I say nothing since he'll only pass out and automatically start breathing in his sleep. He starts to struggle and then let's go of his breath and I hear light snoring. I smother my laughing from his attempt and failure. Too bad he loses all the time, otherwise we could have mated tonight. I fall into a deep slumber as I concentrate on his breathing.

. . .

John and I trained for the rest of the week as I told him not to mate with me until the battle is over and he becomes Alpha. As much as I wanted to be with him intimately, I have no choice but to try and make him the best warrior from his village with the skills I show him each day. We wake up and eat a big meal and start off with showing John how to block incoming blows. Then I demonstrate how to pack a mean punch without overexerting his body and stamina. He likes to think of our sparring as dancing for our lives. I hate to admit but he's right about the for-our-lives part.

I tend to feel bad after training for the entire day because John has fresh bruises and small cuts from our sparring, but he always reassures me that he feels fine. On our last day of training, I tell John to come at me with everything he's been taught.

"John, come at me with everything you know and don't stop until I've fallen to the ground." I ready myself in the warriors pose and I see him come at me with swiftness in his step.

His eyes are concentrating on his blows and motions, I can clearly see the sweat forming on his forehead. His hand comes out to grab my shoulder, but I react and back away fast to circle towards his backside. He sweeps his leg to knock me over, but I jump back further. He turns and swings his fist with small force that looks weak but manages to make contact with my arm. I use my other hand to lock onto his wrist and twist behind his back. He counteracts with twirling to avoid the lock and uses the arm to twist me into a head lock. I hold my stance and use my heel to stomp on his foot and he loosens his grip for me to squeeze out and land a bunch to the face.

"I'm not delicate, John. COME AT ME NOW!" I run towards him and try to leap onto his shoulders to lock around his neck. He drops to the ground and rolls away that causes me to land on my feet. He leaps from the ground at me and manages to pin me with his hands directly on my wrists with my legs pinned beneath his body. He leans in to lick me on my face with a hint of smugness gleaming in his eyes.

"Did I just win?" He leans in again and this time I plant a kiss on his lips. He reacts fast and let's go of my hands to circle my waist. I take advantage and flip his body, so I pin his body beneath me. I take his hands and pin them above his head. I smirk as I nip at the tip of his nose that causes him to gasp.

"Um ow," he wriggles his nose like to check it's still there.

"I suppose you win this round," I let go and help him up from the dirt, "but now you have the opportunity of another pin down, go for the neck to finish the job. Otherwise, you'll be the one dead."

"Sure thing, Minny." He comes behind me and kisses me on my head. "Hungry?"

"Yes!" We hold hands as we come back to the hut. "When you win, what will you do?"

"The Alpha's role is basically the same as your father's: fix problems, hunt down predators, plan when the best time is to mate with the women, trading goods, and training." I would be doing the same if I were to return to Cidra, only I'd be in an arranged marriage.

"Do you know who you will battle for tomorrow?" If he dies, then I might as well know who will be next in line to try and be my next mate. As much as I trained John, I still need to know what my options are since I'm going to be imprisoned in this wolf-village.

"The Beta and Omega are always up for the Alpha position along with other men that go hunting and fight most of the time," I look away as he prepares food until he walks up to me to grab my chin to meet his gaze, "Please don't worry, Minny. I promise to win and to make you mine." His last words left an uneasy feeling in my chest as I nod and proceed with eating dinner. My best guess is if John doesn't survive tomorrow night, I might be paired with Greg since he has no mate yet. Enzo already has a mate with three children and another on the way. Either way I need John to win, otherwise if Enzo becomes Alpha, then I'll be the only woman without a mate and stuck in a position where no other females will fight for my rank. If Greg were to win, I'll be his new mate if he kills John in the fight.

"Minerva," John whispers in my ear as I prepare for bed, "It may be my last night with you, and I was wondering if you could—"

"You need to save your strength for the battle, otherwise you'll be weaker than the other males." I turn to stare him in his eyes trying to fight the fear and sadness inside my chest. I don't want to think about all the possibilities for the rest of the night until morning comes.

"I was gonna ask you to hold me as we sleep." He looks saddened from my outburst.

"Oh. Nothing else?" I look at the bed and then at him again.

"I mean as much as I would love to do more with you, I need all the rest I can get. I just want to be held before tomorrow. It'll be my first battle and hopefully I'll win, and you can stop worrying about your rank with our tribe."

"You wouldn't have to worry if you never brought me back in the first place," I mutter under my breath.

"You are my mate, and you belong with us, with me." He walks toward me and lifts me to the bed and together we lay wrapped in each other's arms until we fall asleep.

The morning comes and we train for a bit until John stops before we spar once more.

"I would like to show you something today after our training," he smiles as he readies his stance.

"What is it," I ask intrigued. I hope it not another one of his tricks like the first time, only the outcome was from my recklessness.

"It's a surprise, but I'm sure you'll love it." He comes towards me and swoops in for a quick kiss before he pins me to the ground as I taught him yesterday. I laugh it off and realize that he finally won our match. He helps me up after I surrender so he could show me this great surprise.

"First we have lunch and then we'll go to the place." He pulls me in for another kiss as we go to grab lunch in our home.

As we sit down to eat, he notices how quiet I am today.

"What's on your mind," he looks right through my eyes as if they speak to him.

"Nothing just looking forward to the surprise and the battle tonight." And the thought of losing John after so much we've been through in such brief time is mind boggling that it gives me a headache.

"As soon as we leave the house, I need you to promise me something," he waits until I nod. "Where the surprise is located, please don't get any wrong ideas of escaping or leaving me for dead, I only wish to make you happy and to spend the day with my mate as romantically as I can for the first time. No training or yelling."

"I promise that I won't run away or kill you," I giggle at the last part since I almost killed him three weeks ago and now, we are a couple. How odd is this village?

"It may be amusing to you but your way of fighting with men is still unnatural to us men. I'm surprised your father let you train so harshly."

"He never let me, he trained me himself after my mother disappeared. My training was top priority in the village against those who stole our women. Your village is the reason I am like this," I point at myself as I get up from my chair to walk outside for some fresh air. Every time we talk about this, I revert to being defensive and irritated with all these poor choices our forefathers have made in the past. I take a deep breath to try and maintain my coolness and stay on the positive side that way John can win tonight.

"Hey, you coming," John asks after he walks the other way into the woods and away from the village.

"Definitely," I run to catch up to him as we walk further into the woods and farther away from the Moon Village.