N. Walters: Alexandra's Legacy

“What say you, Striker?” Donovan Brody took an aggressive step forward.

Joshua looked toward James. “The Striker family has always supported the LeVeau family. That has not changed.”

“You’re only supporting him because you want the woman.” Another man strode angrily into the circle.

Joshua shrugged, but didn’t deny the accusation. “That is a separate issue, Gavin, and will be dealt with after this one is settled.” The other man glared at him, but took a step back.

Alex’s stomach was churning. What would happen if her father wasn’t accepted as leader? What if he had to fight? What if he were killed? Her breathing was getting shallower, so she forced herself to breathe deeply. She had no idea what a challenge entailed, but it couldn’t be good. These were a brutal people.

Her thoughts brought her up short. She might not know what would happen, but her father did. These were his people. God, she was so confused.

Her hands were clamped into fists at her sides as she watched the drama unfold. A part of her wanted to run to be with her father, but her instincts told her that that would be a mistake.

“Don’t worry.” The words were a mere whisper beside her. She flicked her gaze to her side for a moment and was surprised to see Joshua’s younger brother, Simon, standing next to her. “Everything will be fine.”

“How do you know?” Her words sounded angry and belligerent even to her own ears, but he seemed to take no offense.

“I don’t really know your father, but I remember how things were when he was leader of the pack. I was just a young man when he left. But I do know the legends of James LeVeau. He’s not the sort of man who would start something he couldn’t finish.”

Alex forced her fingers to unclench. Simon was right. She had to trust her father. “Thank you,” she whispered back to him. Simon nodded and they both watched as several men stepped back until only four remained in the circle—Joshua, her father, Donovan Brody and one other man.

The crowd was growing restless as the younger men stared at her father. He stared back at them, waiting patiently.

“What will it be?” Joshua queried both men. “Do you fight or do you accept James LeVeau Riley as alpha?”

The larger of the two men, the one that was unknown to her, nodded at her father. “I will accept James LeVeau. My father always spoke very highly of you.”

Her father nodded back at the man. “Grady.”

Donovan shook his head. “I will challenge.”

Joshua nodded. “So be it.”

Alex bit her lip to keep from crying out as both men stripped off their shirts, tossing them aside. She could feel the growing excitement in the crowd as they began to circle one another. They were both exceptional specimens of manhood, but only one of them was her father. She tried to swallow but her throat was too dry. She twisted her hands in the tails of the shirt, unable to pull her eyes away from the scene unfolding before her.

Donovan lunged first. Her father easily sidestepped him and waited while the younger man gathered himself once again. She wanted to yell at her father. He seemed so relaxed and unconcerned. Then she saw his eyes. His body might be relaxed, but his eyes told another tale. There was death in those eyes. The other man would back down or her father would kill him.

Oh, God. What was happening to her world?

Alex stifled a scream as Donovan attacked again. James met his lunge this time and the two of them grappled, neither able to gain the upper hand. Dust flew around them as people began to chant in a language she didn’t understand.

The fight ended so quickly that Alex couldn’t believe it. In an astonishing display of fighting prowess and strength, her father flipped the younger man, tossing him to the ground. He then jumped on Donovan’s back, hooking his strong forearm around his opponent’s neck and arching it back. One twist and the other man would be dead. As it was, Donovan seemed to be having a difficult time breathing.

“Yield,” her father growled out from between clenched teeth.

At first, she wasn’t sure the younger man would yield. Her skin went clammy and her stomach lurched. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Donovan’s head gave a small jerk. Her father released him and Donovan fell facedown in the dirt, gasping for air. Her father stood beside him, watching and waiting. And when Donovan rolled over onto his back, James LeVeau offered him his hand.

Once Donovan had regained his feet, he nodded at her father and took a step back. Joshua strode forward. “It has been decided. James LeVeau is once again alpha of the Wolf Creek pack.”

Alex couldn’t contain herself any longer. As cheers rang across the clearing, she raced forward and grabbed her father, hugging him tightly. “You could have been killed,” she whispered.

Her father shook his head, gathering her close. “No, Alex. There was never any chance of that happening. Young Donovan wasn’t really trying to beat me. This was more for show to satisfy the crowd.”

Alex pulled back and glared first at her father and then Donovan Brody who was watching her with heat-filled eyes.

“Is that true?”

Donovan shrugged. “I want the man to be my future father-in-law, I’m not about to kill him am I?”

Alex took a step closer to her father. “I don’t understand.”

“Most everyone will easily accept your father as alpha.” Donovan’s tone was gentle. “He was one of the best leaders in the history of the pack. But the tradition of leadership challenge has to be upheld.” Moving forward, he stroked his finger across her cheek. “The real challenge is for the right to claim you as mate.”

Her gaze jerked to Joshua who was standing there with his arms crossed casually across his chest. “Did you know this?” He inclined his head toward her. “So everyone here knew that except me?” Anger coursed through her veins, firing her blood. “It was only stupid, uninformed me who wasn’t aware that I’m supposed to provide the main event in today’s entertainment.”

“Now, Alex.”

She whirled around and scowled at her father. “Don’t you ‘now, Alex’, me. Somebody should have told me. Somebody should have asked me because the way I’m feeling right now, I’m not in the mood to accept anyone for mate. Ever!”

She started to stalk off, but Joshua wrapped his hand around her upper arm, stopping her. “It must be done. That is tradition.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Tradition?” Her voice was soft, but she could see the worry clouding Joshua’s face. Good, he should be worried. Donovan chuckled and she turned on him. “You find this amusing?”

“I find you magnificent and worthy to be my mate.”

“Well good for you. I, on the other hand, don’t find you very worthy at the moment.”

“Alex,” her father cautioned.

But she was beyond caution. The anger and fear of the past days coalesced in this one moment. She jerked out of Joshua’s hold and stepped out from between the men. “Who else here thinks to challenge for the right to bed me?”

“Alex?” She could hear the anger in Joshua’s voice as he pulled her around to face him.

“That’s what this is about, isn’t it? It isn’t about the fact that I didn’t know until a few days ago that I was a werewolf, or at least a half-breed. It isn’t about the fact that the only life I’ve ever known is gone.” The crowd had gone silent. Once again she tugged away from Joshua and faced them. Strangers all, they watched her.

She saw anger on some faces and shock on others. A few wore expressions of understanding and sympathy, which had tears pricking at the backs of her eyes. She sucked in a breath. She would not let them see her as weak.