Chapter 4: Giving In

Ellie

"All right, Dad. Tell me about this tournament," Ellie said, walking into the office she shared with her father. He was sitting at his desk, a large piece of paper in front of him that had drawings all over it. She knew her father preferred to draw out his thoughts, rather than writing them, so she figured this must be his masterplan for the tournament.

Michael's face lit up at her statement. "Really?" he asked. "You really want to hear about it?"

"Don't make me second guess myself, Dad," Ellie said, giving him a hardened look he always said reminded him of her mother, Lilly.

"No, no, of course not," he stammered as Ellie came over and stood next to him, leaning forward so she could see what he had finished. "It's really pretty simple. There will be three contests over a week. We'll have some nice dinners, maybe a dance or two--"

"Dad, I already said no ball," Ellie reminded him.

"Not a ball. Just a friendly get together. No Moon Goddess celebration or anything. You know, just some live music, a few drinks, some dancing, that sort of thing." He looked up at her, his dark eyes wide with innocence. Ellie cocked her head to the side. "To help you get to know the gentlemen better," he explained.

"What difference does it make how well I know them?" Ellie countered. "If I'm meant to marry the winner, it doesn't really matter if I know his interests and hobbies, does it?"

"While I see your point, it can't hurt for you to know them all a bit, you know? Especially since our secondary goal is to form strong alliances with all of the packs who participate, not just the winner."

Ellie wasn't sure what she thought about that. It wasn't as if most men took losing well. In her experience, and as a former trainer, she had a lot of it, most males didn't like to lose. She thought of her three younger friends, the boys who were like brothers to her, and how none of them ever liked to lose at anything. Seth, Hans, and Cane would give each other a hard time any chance they got if there was a way to dispute who the actual victor of a contest was.

Still, her father had a point. If she could find a way to befriend the other Alphas, maybe it would make it easier on the ones who didn't win. She could be charming--couldn't she? "All right, Dad. What are the three contests?" She had a few guesses based on his sketches, but for someone who would rather draw than write, he wasn't as good an artist as one might hope.

"The first one is a good ol' fashioned log tossing contest," Michael explains with a huge grin on his face. "It's pretty simple. They'll each have three tries to pick up a log and toss it across a clearing. Whoever throws the farthest wins."

Ellie had to let that sink in for a moment. Images of lumberjacks came to mind. "Okay," she said slowly. "And… do they get points for the other places, or how does the scoring work?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet, but yes, I think so. First place will get a set amount of points, say ten, second eight, etc. so that whoever has the most points at the end of the entire tournament will win your hand."

Ellie realized those sorts of details could be worked out later so long as all of the participants knew what to expect. "All right. It looks like the second contest is a race, is that right?"

"Yes!" Michael exclaimed. "We'll set a route through the woods, and easily enough, whoever crosses the finish line first gets the most points."

Finding herself nodding, Ellie pointed to the third picture. "And what's this?"

"The third contest is a simple fight. But I think all of the contestants should fight one another. I'll have to figure out how that part will work."

"In their human forms?" Ellie clarified.

"Absolutely. I don't think that wolves should be involved in any of the contests. The winner will be the one who shows he is best in an average of all three areas in his human form."

Ellie nodded. "I wish you could throw in a trivia component or a skills contest of some sort," she said, noticing that her father was picking her husband based on brute strength, speed, and fighting ability. All of those things were important when it came to being an Alpha, but in Ellie's eyes, there were other important components as well--like how he thought on his feet, intelligence, and how he cared for his pack.

"Hey, if you want to let the Moon Goddess decide for you, we can do it the old fashioned way and have a ball," Michael said, holding up his hands as if he was surrendering.

"No, no, this is fine." Ellie would do anything to avoid the Moon Goddess ball scenario. "All right, Dad. Make it happen," she said, hoping she didn't sound too defeated.

"Yes!" Michael said, pumping his fist. He jumped up and kissed her on the head. "My little girl is getting married!"

"Don't start making flower arrangements just yet, Dad. There's a lot that has to happen before all that." She patted him on the shoulder and then turned to head outside in search of some fresh air and her best friend. Shelby needed to hear about this ASAP. If anyone would confirm for her that she wasn't crazy for doing this, it was her BFF.

As she walked out the door, her father started humming the bridal march, and Ellie found herself shaking her head yet again.

Shelby was exactly where Ellie expected her to be, sitting outside on the back deck of the house she shared with her parents, sipping lemonade and admiring the view of the forest. Shelby liked to relax this way in the afternoon, especially after a particularly brutal day in the gym. Ellie took a seat next to her, staring out at the large trees with vibrant green leaves, and explained the entire scenario to her petite best pal. Shelby listened intently, only interrupting to make exclamations every once in a while, until Ellie got to the end and said, "What do you think? Am I nuts for agreeing to this?"

"No way!" Shelby said, her brunette ponytail swinging back and forth as she shook her head. "This is amazing! I'm so happy for you!" She reached over and clamped her hand down on Ellie's where it rested on the arm of the Adirondack chair she was sitting in. "You're finally going to have your Alpha!"

"I guess," Ellie said, not convinced. "I just… I don't know. What if he's a total arrogant jerk? You know how some of these Alphas are."

"What if he's a dreamy guy with large muscles and an a*s that doesn't quit?" Shelby countered, getting a giggle out of both of them. "I just hope he makes you half as happy as Carl makes me."

Ellie tried not to let her smile fade away as Shelby went off on a tangent about her beloved Carl. As much as she was happy for Shelby and Carl, Ellie didn't think she would ever find her "fated mate" as Shelby referred to the Omega who had swept her off of her feet. "Who knows, Ellie? This might be the Moon Goddess's way of making sure you find the one you're meant to be with!" Shelby exclaimed after ten minutes of talking about how amazing Carl was.

"I don't know," Ellie said with a shrug. "I'm really happy for you guys. I am. But… I don't think I have a fated mate, Shelby. I think I'm fated to lead this pack, and that's what fate has in store for me. Not love. Not… any of that mushy stuff."

Shelby groaned and shook her head. "You're wrong, Ellie! You just wait and see. You can have it all. You can be our leader and have love in your life. I just know it."

Ellie took her friend's hand and gave it a squeeze, smiling at her, but she didn't feel it in her heart. It was nice to dream, but in Ellie's experience, dreams like that didn't really come true. She'd always been okay with that, putting her pack first in her life. But now that she saw what Carl and Shelby had, she had to wonder--was there something more?