His Chosen: A Claim of Passion

Chapter 176: New Alpha

Sophie

We didn’t get much sleep last night, but | can feel that Hunter is much calmer today, knowing that the battle is

over and won. Over breakfast, he lets the other Alphas know that it's done.

“What are your thoughts on having a trial for this one?” Ezra asks.

“Why would there be a trial?” | ask him. Margot is watching him intently.

He looks at Margot. “Hereout on this one. In your case, you ran. In Zahn’s case, he brought his mate to you,

Hunter, and I'm sure he’s saying you're keeping him from his mate,” Ezra says.

“That is true. Do you think I'm wrong for what I've done?” Hunter asks him.

“No, | don’t. But I think we can set a precedent right now to have true trials when one Alpha disagrees with

another. If the roles were reversed, if he had Sophie and you attacked his pack...” Ezra begins but stops as

Hunter snarls. The room goes quiet as | reach over to take Hunter's hand.

“I'm perfectly safe, my love.”

“And you'll stay that way,” he growls, tuggingto his side and wrapping a protective arm around me.

“I think Alpha Ezra has a point. Again, not that I in any way think that you are wrong Alpha Hunter, but | do

believe we have an opportunity here. We will have a new Alpha, and we've talked about bringing the Lunas in to

be part of Committee, although, we need to change the name, since it’s not solely going to be a Committee of

Alphas any longer,” Nikki says.

“What are you thinking, baby?” Robin asks his mate.

“What if we have our new Alpha preside over the trial. It would be a good opportunity for him or her to get

involved and to see what the rest of their tenure as Alpha will be like. But Zahn can’t say that there is any bias,

as the new Alpha hasn't been involved with any of this. Even if it is one of our Betas who wins the pack, they

weren't at the Committee meeting where Hunter and Sophie were on trial, they weren't in the pack when Owen

or Joshua attacked. It also gives us, the Lunas, an easy start to being in these trials, understanding how they run,

when and how to ask questions, that sort of thing.”

“So, it's not really a trial?” Dutton asks.

“Well, it is, but | think we already know what the verdict of this one will be. Although, having a new Alpha on

board may change the way we look at things. And, it will be Amelia’s first trial too, if she can attend. It would be

good for her as well, I think,” Nikki adds.

Robin looks at the group, smiling proudly. He's trying to hide it, but he can’t. “Unless you have a really good

argument, Hunter, you won’t win this one. My girl doesn’t like to lose, at anything,” he says.

“He’s an Alpha, baby. He doesn’t like to lose either,” Nikki says a bit too sweetly, making Robin smile even wider.

Those two...

Hunter looks at me. “What do you think?”

I look at the group. Everyone watches, waiting to hear my thoughts. “I think Nikki's got a point, as does Alpha

Ezra. It sets a precedent, and | can see the differences between this and what we've done in the past with the

she-wolves on the run and even with Margot. | like the idea of making it official, especially, since I'm sure you

plan to kill Zahn.”

“He attacked our pack. Yes, | intend to kill him,” Hunter growls.

“Then, let's have a trial. Although would suggest finding at new place to hold these events. The old council

chambers feel tainted,” | say.

“I agree,” says Kayce. “But there’s no reason why we can’t hold these events in one of our packs, is there? Even

if that’s not permanent, we could do it until we build a new center for trials, not that we have them very often.

But it would be nice to have a central location to meet for our Alpha meetings.”

“Okay then, let's get through today and the second order of business for our new Alpha will be to preside over

this trial,” Ezra says.

“What's the first order of business?” Margot asks him.

“Getting his pack settled, of course,” he says, his gaze so intense, that she looks away, blushing.

“Well, then, let's get this day started,” Robin says, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

“How many do you have left in the competition?” Hunter asks Robin and the Alphas all begin talking about how

many pack members they have left. It seems pretty even.

“Thank you for supporting me,” Nikki says, linking her arm through mine.

“It's the right decision. | have no intention of letting Zahn off, but | think the idea behind it and the way you

presented it, are very good. Plus, I'm perfectly fine letting Zahn rot in our cells until his trial date is set.”

“How do you think Jocelyn will take it?” Margot asks.

“I'm not sure. She's getting stronger and her wolf is as well. | think, with us there to support her, she'll be okay.

Dr. Caspian will be doing another surgery on her tomorrow or the next day because her right side is already

healed.”

“That's fantastic news!” Allison says.

“And it’s a good sign that her wolf is strengthening,” Margot says.

“What if we had the trial here?” Nikki asks, looking around. “It’s a fairly neutral place and our new Alpha could

host all of us for the first time. If he’s mated, it would be a good opportunity for us to spend twith his new

Luna, get to know her, and help her with anything she needs,” Nikki suggests.

| chuckle at my friend. “You're working hard to be a trendsetter, aren’t you?”

“You're damn right | am,” she says as we get to the table where we've already put together today’s pairings. “As

itis, I'm having a boy, so | can’t even be the first one to have a daughter who takes her place as Alpha.”

| hear Robin chuckling and look over to see him smiling at his mate.

“He's obviously very proud,” Nikki huffs, but | see her smile too.

“You wouldn't have been the first anyway, Nikki. My daughter will be older than your son, so even if you had a

daughter, mine would have taken her place first,” Allison says, beaming at her mate.

“And let’s not forget that my sister is already an Alpha,” | say, shaking my head at them as we split up, making

sure everyone knows where and when they will fight and the day begins again.

Today, the battles are harder, but our jobs are easier. There are fewer pack members competing after each battle

and our biggest issue was how to handle an odd number of contestants. We decided to offer points to the person

who agreed to fight twice. They couldn't be eliminated in the sround if they fought twice, but if they won

their second fight, they would be given extra points so that if they made it to the final round and the fight was

determined to be a tie, they would automatically win because they'd fought one additional tand won.

By lunch time, we were down to our final six. Three hours later, we were down to our final three. In this event,

the final three, who were no surprise to anyone, drew numbers. Since Lucas and Dutton’s Beta, Miles, both

decided to skip this competition and go for Alaric’s old pack, the final three consisted of Ezra’s, Robin's, and

Kayce’s Betas.

“I'm so torn,” Nikki says, coming up beside me. “I want our Beta to win, but | also want Jake to win so Letti can

beca Luna.”

“These are good problems to have,” | tell her.

“They really are,” she says.

It's later than any of us expected when the final competition ends. After a three-hour battle to the final two, we

had to give Beta Jake a break before battling Robin’s Beta. Robin had to cover and wrap his arms around

Nikki to keep her calm. | noticed his hand going to her belly several times over the weekend and realized that

her bump finally cout.

In the end, it was Beta Jake, now Alpha Jake who won the pack, Letti at his side. She made it to the final twelve.

We made sure to never put her against Jake in the competition, knowing it wouldn't be a fair fight. But together,

they will make a powerful Alpha and Luna of their pack.

We throw a party, well into the night, celebrating the new Alpha and Luna. Robin and Hunter spend ttalking

to the two of them about coming to our packs to meet with the previous pack members who want to rejoin the

pack. Sof them are here, having competed to becAlpha of their previous pack and Jake and Letti spend

a lot of ttalking to them.

The festivities are still going on when Hunter leadsto our room. We're both exhausted after two long days

and a long night of worry last night, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t take tto show me, as he always

does, how much he lovesbefore we fall into a deep, deep sleep.