Haelyn's POV

When I arrived at the grounds after dawn, I realized that I wasn't even that early.

The place was filled with men, and would you look at them?

Well, I had never seen so much young men gathered in one place before. They all looked masculine, ragged, and brutal. I had the consciousness to turn around and flee from the sight of some of the young men who had arrived to contend because I wasn't really sure how I was going to get past those. But something else told me that someone might just eliminate the fearful ones for me. If I was lucky when the draws were made.

I had already assumed a new appearance. I cut my hair and made it short, made it rough as well, wrapped my chest tight with a piece of clothing so that no one would notice my breasts, then I kept my head and my voice low. Also, I tried not to let anyone notice that I was limping a little bit.

I walked past some men and took up position at a pillar that offered support, my left hand never leaving the hilt of my sword.

My eyes scanned some of the men. Some I recognized. There was Weston. He was from Crystal Pack. I knew this because I had left there some days back and his ragged face was all over the place. Reason for leaving? I had to escape being caught for stealing roasted pork.

Son of Alpha Aaron, Weston wanted everybody to know that he was the strongest of the bunch. In fact, he always told his men that Crystal Pack was the strongest, and that he would prove it some day. I guessed he had finally found that day. He was someone I never wanted to fight with. I mean, the man was fierce looking and twice my size.

Then there was Roan, crown prince of Red Pack. I wondered what he was there for. His pack had almost everything. So if he was there, then that meant it was because of greed.

My eyes wandered, and suddenly met with someone. I had a feeling he had been staring at me for some time because he still held my gaze. I had never seen him in my life, but he was dressed so much like me. Tattered clothes as dark as his eyes were. I wondered if he was also there for revenge too.

The chatter among the men suddenly died down and my attention was drawn to the someone I had never seen before. He looked like a gladiator and I was pretty sure that he was going to be our guide.

He was bare chested, like most of the men around, but he had gold bracelets around his arms and wrists. His head was bald too, and he seemed to look at each one of us with obvious impunity.

I could relate to that. Until he was sure that we were worthy to be called warriors, that expression wouldn't leave his face.

"Assemble!" his voice thundered.

The men looked at each other and moved slowly towards the embarkment. I didn't move an inch.

And neither did the other one dressed in black.

"Welcome! I don't know you by names or by faces or by reputation, but I know you all are warriors. And that is what we all have in common, which we shall see to its fullest!

"Alpha Roy, our benign ruler of Silver Pack has seen it fit to organize the Alpha Trials, and whoever is left standing at the end of it all, will take the grand prize..."

He paused and looked at the men. It was as if he was waiting for something, waiting for the curiosity to grow.

Eventually, he said, "The throne of the Alpha King."

There was silence, then the young men around me started murmuring in unison.

"Let the trials begin. First, hand to hand combat. Whoever knocks his opponent out, moves on the the next round!"

The guards came out to push us in line. We followed them through the garden and to the back of the castle. There was a combat ring that I hadn't seen before. Must have been built when I ran away.

The elite warriors of Silver Pack were already there and they turned at looked at us as if we had all lost our way.

"Bunch of amateurs!" one of them cupped his palms over his mouth and hollered.

They were all wearing their vestiges. Red and black. I watched as one pointed his finger and me and made a slicing motion with his thumb across his neck. "Come here to die, baby!" he said to me.

I averted my eyes immediately. I had never been among such number of young men before. The smell was something new. Their bodies smelled of stale clothes and leather. Some smelled of wood and some just smelled as bad as rotten apples.

I counted our numbers. Twelve men. That many? Well, I felt that way. And there was the elite squad of Silver Pack. I watched their faces, knowing that two of them had dragged my mother to her death.

I prayed that they paired me with any of them. I was surely going to kill whoever it was, no doubt about that.

We all stood facing the combat ring. My weapon was collected from me by one of the guards, and he said, "Not yet time for this."

"Then make sure you keep it safe for me," I said.

"Name?"

"Bernard," I told him.

"Hope you don't die too early, skinny Bernard."

He wrote that down, grinned at me and collected weapons from two others. I flexed my fingers as the pairing was conducted and prayed within that one of the elite warriors was going to end up as my opponent.

The draws were done. I heard my name being called out to the combat ring. Then my opponent's. The name was Weston.

Weston? Was it the Weston of Crystal Pack?

I stepped into the ring and came face to face with the very one.