The Duel.

"And it's okay, but just know that you are never going to escape from this place you call shit hole and trust me when I say it, Ariel. because I will definitely make this place your hell on earth" Jacob threatened and left the attic, making sure he slammed the door with intense force which frightened Ariel.

Oop, someone was really mad.

Ariel smiled with her heart throbbing with joy, Jacob had finally left with his nuisance self and now she could finally be at peace. Her eyes travelled down to the tantalizing mouthwatering steak placed on the tray and she licked her lips hungrily before she devoured the enticing meal ravenously.

"I have seen worse, Jacob, so your little silly threat isn't going to be enough to scare me" Ariel spoke to no one in particular, munching down the steak into her throat as she wiped a few stains at the corner of her mouth.

Jacob was only blabbering if he ever thought she would be scared of him. The only person in the whole wide world that ever scared Ariel was her father so Jacob was only a mosquito that she could easily squash when it comes to comparison of him and her father.

But since she was starting to learn how to overcome her fears, everyone should now know that Ariel certainly fears nobody no more.

****

Seconds passed and turned into hours and hours passed and turned into a brand new day. The chirping sounds of birds and insects harmonized the entire compound of the Mills pack house.

And the yellow sun sitting high in the sky shimmered its rays of bright light down on earth, making it also a lovely sight to behold in one's eyes with the oak trees and other types of trees surrounding the woods.

There were canopies set around the large compound, with chairs set under them. Today was Saturday and during Saturdays most especially in the afternoon, each and every member of the Mills pack, both males and females always participated in a duel and fought against each other to test their ability and agility.

Alpha Mills was the one incharge of the training and also the one who set the duel among the members of his pack to fight against each other to make his pack members perfect, stronger and faster, and whenever one lost to another during the duel.

That one would always be seen as weak and there was no place for the weak in Alpha Mills pack, so everyone must be strong and fight against each other to showcase their strength. There was no mercy not even among friends because nobody wanted to be a loser like Ariel who always lost during a duel.

And she had never won, not even once nor twice even against her kind of werewolves, the Omegas. And that was the reason why Avril usually called her a weakling before she had a change of heart towards Ariel.

There were no friends during the duel because if one didn't harden their heart to fight against one another who may turn out to be their friend, then that person was sure to lose because once the duel started. 

Everyone's feelings towards each other would harden, leaving no soft spot in their hearts to have mercy towards each other once the duel was started.

The duel was so vicious, violent, intense and brutal but no one was meant to kill each other. That was the number one rule, so the least one could do was to fight and beat their opponent till they couldn't stand anymore or give up.

All the young males stood in straight, neat and well arranged lines with the young females standing opposite them. The young ones were the ones who were to compete in the duel, while it was the duty of the elderly ones to watch and judge.

There was no gender discrimination, because the females were meant to fight against the males and the males were meant to fight against the females. A male Beta against a female Beta and a male Omega against a female Omega.

Alpha Mills's motto in life was never to lose nor to surrender to an opponent, rather one must fight even on the verge of their death to gain victory, to conquer and triumph over one's enemies, but to do that one must be strong enough.

And that was the reason a duel was always held during the last saturdays of each month.

"Attention!" Alpha's Mills firm voice resonated loudly across the compound as he commanded the young members of his pack that were about to engage in a duel and they all obeyed, stomping their foots hard on the ground and it shook vibrantly with intense energy caused by the stomping of foots on it.

"We will be hosting a duel as we normally do during the last saturdays of each month and I know you all are well prepared even though we had serious issues at hand which made us all lose concentration and not well prepared" Alpha Mills announced firmly to the youngsters in front of them and sighed. 

By serious issues at hand, Alpha Mills mentioned in his statement, he was referring to Ariel crashing her sister's mating ceremony with Carter.

"But we shouldn't let that issues to bring us down and keep us idle or make us forget about the responsibilities we are supposed to carry out as a pack, so today you all have to showcase your strength and ability in this duel and make me proud as an Alpha" Alpha Mills smiled, and bumped his fists twice against his muscular chest.

"Now, do you all understand?" 

"Yes, Alpha!!!" Came a thunderous loud response from the youngsters in front of Alpha Mills, which resonated loudly across the compound. 

"Now everyone do move back to your former standing positions" Alpha Mills ordered, and the duelers in front of him all scattered their positions, returning back to the former positions they were in before they came to stand in front of their Alpha.

"Jackson and Shirley, please do move forward" Shirley and Jackson nodded on listening to their Alpha, and left their standing positions, moving closer to Alpha Mills standing in the center of the compound.

"The both of you would be the first to compete against each other, wish you both good luck" Alpha Mills gave the both of them a soft tap on the shoulder before he went back to his own seat among the elders under a canopy set for the elders only and sat down, preparing to watch the duel that was about to rain down.

A dead silence reigned all over the compound except from the moans and groans coming from the duo that had started fighting against each other. 

The ones who weren't able to watch the brutal fight going on between the duo, moved their gaze from there while the ones in support of the person they wanted to win, cheered their name with praise.

The fight went on for minutes till Shirley gave up after Jackson gave her a hard punch in the stomach that swept her off her feet. And Jackson's supporters rose to their feet, rejoicing immensely with great joy as he won.

Everyone clapped their hands for the winner including Alpha Mills who enjoyed the duel more than anyone else. He was about to stand to go announce Jackson as winner when Jacob came running towards his way.

Jacob ran and was able to meet up with Alpha Mills before he could finally leave his seat to go announce Jackson as winner, and Jacob then leaned closer to Alpha Mills, whispering something into his ear. 

Alpha Mills stared at Jacob puzzledly for a while, and also hesitated shortly for a second before he then said to Jacob.

"Okay, bring her out here".