Quan's POV

I and Sarah walked in the townhall with Jess the redhead she-wolf opened the huge doors as she usually would for everyone.

"Hello,Sarah...Quan." Ron greeted weirdly ...

"He has a crush on me,don't you think?" Sarah telepathically asked me and I chuckled walking to my seat.

Me and Sarah did a lot of those over the years since she'd fully mastered her telepathy.

Once everyone was seated,a servant walked in and placed a glass of red liquid in front of Valerie and she in return gave the servant a tiny wrapped object. I guessed the servant traded her blood for vampire blood to heal the bloody bandaged wound on her arm.

Valerie felt everyone's eyes on her and she chuckled,"Trust me,it was a fair trade..."She lifted her glass before indulging in her drink. "Humans provide us with their blood and we give them ours to heal their scars or they can just use it as insurance... You know?" Zach by her side chuckled as he took a glance at the glass Valerie had in her hand.

"Insurance for what?" I asked suddenly and Valerie's cold eyes came up to my face. The room was dead silent and everyone was just listening in on me and Valerie talk.

"In case they die. They'll get to be revived as a vampire... at least then they will belong to a faction." She said with a smile and I nodded.

"Well...That was an awkward moment."Alpha Jackson sighed as he ran his big hand through his hair ,"We are holding a martial arts program at the arena in the West . Just a challenge for the younger generation and you're all invited. Might be a bit violent for you, ladies."

Valerie laughed it off ," Trust that I'll be there."

"We are going ,right?" Sarah asked me telepathically.

"Why not?"

"We'll be there." Sarah simply said with a polite smile and Jackson returned it. His eyes fell on mine that were already looking at him and his smile slowly faded before I looked elsewhere.

"Blood moon's coming up in a few weeks..."

"Come on,Onyx ...can we enjoy the werewolves arena before we worry about that?" Marcus... Jackson's beta spoke up with a sigh.

I was a little worried because it was my first blood moon since my father died and apparently that moon brought out the worst side out of everyone. I had never fully experienced a blood moon because it happened after a number of years. But I was sure I could get over whatever was so scary about the night.

Onyx rolled his eyes and got up to leave ...

"Demon business is calling..."Ron said getting up then followed behind Onyx.

Valerie and Zach also left without a word.

"I need the bathroom...I'll be right back." Sarah said and I waited for her outside the huge doors.

"I'll send my carriage tomorrow morning." I turned around and found Jackson standing behind me. His blue eyes looked down at my brown ones and I looked away.

"You don't have..."

He cut me off ,"...I insist." He tucked one of my braids behind my ear."You smell like roses."

I remembered that werewolves had an excellent sense of smell and I pursed my lips. It was awkward for a moment until Sarah came back.

"Alpha..." Sarah's eyes jumped from me to the Alpha before she hid a smile.

"We should get going." I said as I held on to Sarah's arm and we left.

In the carriage I took a heavy sigh. I avoided the Alpha since that kiss years ago, telling him that I needed to focus on my magic. And I guessed he wanted us to talk again.

'Ya!' The driver yelled from outside and the horses began to pull the carriage.

"What did you two talk about?" Sarah asked me telepathically.

"We can talk openly, you know...?"I said out loud. "Well,he said he'll send for a carriage tomorrow morning."

Sarah widely smiled at me and cringed,"That's sweet."

I sighed ,"I guess."

"C'mon, Quan... You've been shutting him out for 3 years already. You don't have to do anything with him...just try to stop ignoring him,can you?"

I pursed my lips and after a while my face moved on it's own, putting a smile on my face, "Fine,Sarah!" I sighed as I fixed my cloak over my shoulder which was exposed.

**

Morning came faster than expected and I wasn't ready... I'd never been in another faction's territory...on purpose, that is.I just imagined how intimidating would it be to be in a crowd of werewolves. Nerves were certainly getting the best of me.

After I bathed, I saw the dress Lilly, my handmaid had picked out for me ...it was black with white lacing lining at the top of the chest area. It was beautiful and I loved dark colors. Lilly, tightened the corset around my body and my breath hitched once it was too tight then she made a little space for me to be able to breathe. Once I was in the dress and heels, I walked to Sarah's room to find her already done. She walked up to me and ran her fingers through my braids.

Mary stood by the door with her hands behind her,"The carriage has arrived."

The ride took a while but we eventually arrived after riding in the woods for a while. As we passed through the houses there,many of them were made of wood and had a lot of people living together.

So,that's what's called a pack?

It looked peaceful and had a lot of kids and adults just playing around. The East was a little different from here. Most households in the East had a small number of family...And most things were operated using magic, but here everything was done by hand it was really fascinating to watch.

The ride suddenly came to a hault outside a huge building... the driver opened the door for us and I got out after Sarah. We followed Marcus inside and everything was beautifully put together. A big painting of Jackson and Marcus hung above the fireplace,most of the furnishing were made of wood and some furred. The house was comfy to say the least. We walked until we reached what looked like the garden, right at the back.

"It seems the Alpha went out for his daily run. But he shan't be any longer." Marcus said reassuringly and I nodded.

"May I use your bathroom? "Sarah requested and Marcus led her inside. I stood a while then I heard some movements behind the trees that were beyond the garden and I noticed that the end of the garden was actually the beginning of the forest.

Crunch...

I heard the sound of dead leaves getting stepped on and I did a fire spell, making sure that if it were a threat...I'd be sure to protect myself. With a flame in my hand,I slightly stepped back as I saw a black creature merging out of the forest. It was overly hairy,tall,with a big body ,it's eyes were the brightest shade of blue that I had ever seen, it seemed calm until it saw the fire I held in my right hand and it growled lowly with it's full attention on me. It's teeth were sharp but it didn't look liked it was going to attack and I dropped the fire spell seeing that it didn't seem to like it.

I was fascinated to see a fully shifted wolf for the first time ever. I remained calm though I was scared a little because I heard once that werewolves can be unpredictable creatures. It took more steps towards me before starting a circular walk around my body. Without a second thought, I held my hand out and it came closer until my fingers could feel it's fur... it felt fluffy and I dug my fingers into it's fur gently on it's back. It was almost my height...just a little above my chest.

"Oh my!"Sarah exclaimed from behind me but the creature didn't mind. "Is that a werewolf?"

I held it's face in my hands and ruffled it's fur gently. I loved how tame it was."This is amazing. "I chuckled before Marcus walked up to me carrying a pair of trousers."The Alpha's still not back?"I asked without looking away from the creature.

"That is the Alpha." Marcus simply said pursing his lips as he stood next to me.

My eyes widened at his statement and I watched as the creature decreased in size,pointy ears disappeared, it got taller,it's bones made the most uncomfortable noise as they returned to normal,fangs disappeared and the fur disappeared until it was just Jackson standing naked in front of me and he took the trousers from Marcus before I quickly looked away .

"Morning, Quan...Sarah."He said and I looked up to his face to see his blue eyes on me. The glow in his blue orb was dimmer than when he was the majestic creature.

"Uhhm..."I stuttered before feeling Sarah's arm around my arms.

"Morning."She chuckled awkwardly. "It's just that it's our first time ever seeing..."

He cut her off,"...seeing a fully shifted werewolf? I could tell by how shocked your sister was to see my wolf." He chuckled before he showed us inside the house. Sarah let go of me before I felt another set of hands on the small of my back.

"His name is Bloodfang." Jackson whispered into my ear before walking ahead of us."Please do get comfortable the arena fights begin in an hour. I'll be right down." He said before running up the stairs.

Bloodfang must be the name of his wolf.

Sounds violent.

He could have just named the creature, 'Sunset'... it just looked so gentle and calm. I turned to Marcus who was getting us two glasses of wine.

"Does the Alpha normally let people pet his wolf? " Sarah asked Marcus and I sighed.

He shook his head, "No one has... as far as I know. "

Sarah gave me a smile before ...

"He likes you...wouldn't you say?"

I sighed as I responded telepathically, "Shut up,Sarah."

"I mean...you heard Marcus."

"Marcus just answered your question, that's all..."I looked around the house so Marcus wouldn't notice that I was actually talking to Sarah because she kept sighing out loud.

"We can head over to the arena now."Jackson said and I hadn't even noticed that he was back.

He was in black pants and a white shirt with his hair untied as it touched his broad shoulders. We went through some door at the back of the room ,walking through a dark hallway with a few small windows to let the light in. I made a ball of light with my magic to light up the way ahead and Jackson chuckled.

Marcus opened the door for us and the light I had made instantly vanished due to the amount of light coming from outside. We were greeted by a huge dome with rows upon rows of seats. We made it to the front row where we found Onyx and Valerie already seated beside the big chair which I suspected was the Alpha's. Me and Sarah also got seated and over the metal railing,I saw the platform where the fight will happen right at the bottom.

I noticed Onyx had the black veil over the lower half of his face while his peircing silver eyes shone ahead as he looked around the arena. His eyebrows scrunched once he noticed I was looking at him and I looked away meeting Valerie's brown eyes. Her red shaded lips turned up into a smile before she tucked her blonde long hair behind her ear. She looked beautiful actually, very beautiful.

Awhoo!

All the wolves present at the arena were howling and Jackson stepped up holding on to the metal railing.

"Hault! " all the howling silenced as soon as he said."Wolves!"

It was so amazing to watch how cooperative werewolves were and they seemed to be really fond of Jackson . He moved aside so the crowd could see us.

"We have guests today...leaders of each faction with their plus ones. We have Queen Valerie of the South along with Zach the first of her sire line." He said and the crowd remained quiet. "Quan of the East and her older sister Sarah." Once again the silence was maintained. "King Onyx of the N..."He was interrupted by the crowd that started growling furiously.

I turned to look at Onyx who was unbothered by the wolves attitude towards him...if anything, it seemed to amuse him.

"Silence! " Jackson snapped and the crowd obeyed."As I was saying. King of the North,Onyx is here with his army commander Ron."

"Now...let the fights begin!" Jackson shouted and the wolves howled once again.

"Bryson,second son of the Waterfell pack and Terrel of the Lockville pack."Marcus said and the gates at the bottom of the arena opened and two muscular guys came out to the platform.

>>next chapter...
The arena.