Tatiana's Right Ch. 02

Tatiana's reputation was spread all over the country by the end of the week. By the end of three weeks the entire world of hidden species was buzzing with the news of her. Alpha Ramirez had been known to be merciful to his challengers, but Tatiana didn't appear to be anything like her father. If she succeeded in her challenges, she would not only be known as one of the first and only lone female alphas but also as the most ferocious and merciless. Many wolves had been so angry about their defeat went as far as to attack her after they were beaten. Those dishonorable attacks stopped immediately after a horrific incident. Rumor said that one wolf had tried to attack and rape her when she went for a walk in the forest. His body was found in front of the door to his alpha's rooms completely mangled.

After Tatiana completed her challenges on one day she went to her rooms for a well deserved shower and nap. The wolves she had fought that day had outweighed her exponentially and she had almost lost to one brute near the end. When she got to her room, she went to the bathroom and stripped. What she saw in the mirror was a young woman covered in head to toe in dirt and raven hair a tangled mess on her head. She had a split lip that had just started to heal and a black eye. The rest of her body was covered in cuts and bruises under a layer of grime and sweat. Bits of rock were imbedded in her hands and feet from where she had caught herself falling or landed on her feet after being thrown. Her lean muscles were screaming from the seemingly endless challenges, but she was proud of herself. No one had expected her to get so far and the last few challenges would be finished the next day. Unfortunately, these would be the hardest.

Now she would be fighting the alpha heirs of the fiercest packs existing. They would have the same training as her as well as have the advantage of size and strength. Tatiana would be forced to rely on her agility and use her cunning in these upcoming fights.

With a tired sigh Tatiana turned on her shower and stepped into the hot water. A growl rumbled in her chest when the cuts on her body came in contact with the steaming liquid. She quickly washed her body and hair, then stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. When dry she climbed into bed wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and drifted to sleep immediately.

Her dreams were strange, full of blurry images and the feeling of running in the forest. And a voice. A deep, masculine voice haunted her, followed her throughout her dreams. A blurry face there, a laugh here, a howl echoing in the distance. Finally a pair of brilliant eyes so dark that they were almost black, and so intelligent that they pierced her soul. Tatiana jerked awake and was immediately aware of the wetness between her legs and her wolf howling with need. Instead of giving in to the need to howl for the male in her dreams, Tatiana snarled and jumped out of bed to get dressed. Beating down some of the cocky males who thought they could claim her sounded like a wonderful idea. She dressed in a black sports bra, black yoga pants and running shoes, then pulled her hair back into a tight pony tail. She ran out into the clearing and howled to the rising morning sun. Within minutes almost the entire collection of wolves staying at the pack's den were surrounding the clearing and her opponent faced her. He was an ugly brute, with matted blonde hair and large freckles. He was overly muscled and was missing one of his front teeth. She noticed that his nose was crooked where it hadn't healed right after being broken.

Rather than waiting for the barreling attack like she usually did, Tatiana surprised everyone by leaping at the huge Were with a battle cry that was echoed by her supporters. The man immediately shifted into his hybrid form of half wolf, half man and leapt forward to meet her. Tatiana kicked him in the jaw before spinning in the air and landing lightly on her feet. With a below of anger the male charged at her again on two feet. Tatiana shifted into her hybrid form as well and dodged him, raking her claws down his back as he passed her. At the same time, they both shifted into their full wolf forms. A lithe grey-black wolf facing off with a huge muddy brown wolf. They clashed in a knot of snarls, claws and gnashing teeth. When they separated the lithe wolf had a deep gouge in her side and the brute bore several bite marks on his face and some fur hung in shreds on his shoulder.

When they met for the final time, in a matter of seconds Tatiana had tripped up the giant and gotten her jaws around his neck. The cheering and howls was deafening and the defeated wolf limped out of the ring to treat his wounds. Three wolves backed down from their challenges after that fight. Tatiana won five more fights before the entire clearing went silent. Confused, Tatiana shifted into her human form and faced the crowd. The mass of bodies had opened to reveal a man standing with three large Betas behind him. Immediately Tatiana's wolf whined and instinct told her to submit to this creature. Alarmed at the new feeling of vulnerability, she bared her teeth at the newcomer.

"Speak. Let us all know who has blessed us with their presence," she ground out while barely managing not to drop to her knees and expose her neck to the man. He stood at about 6'5 and had dark, wavy hair that fell just below his ears. His skin was a dark caramel color and he had an arabic look to him. His five o'clock shadow covered his strong jaw and Tatiana noticed how full his lips were. Dark brows slashed over his familiar dark eyes that unsettled Tatiana even further. He was dressed in an obviously tailored black suit that practically smelled like money and the shirt he wore underneath was crisp and clean.

"I am Amir Dubois, son of Alpha Alexandre Dubois of France and Madame Alpha Aziza Dubois of Saudi Arabia," his baritone voice said. There were gasps from the surrounding wolves. Amir Dubois was the nightmare of the eastern hemisphere. No wolf dared to challenge his position in the pack for fear of their lives. Legendary stories were told to pups about the great wars that the Dubois pack led and their seemingly endless victories. Amir himself had led several battles to victory and his pack's territory now spanned from the Middle East into Northern Africa. The wolves of conquered packs who refused to join his pack were immediately killed. However one flaw to his pack was that it had very few females. Few females meant few pups.

Tatiana kept her poker face although her wolf was howling inside of her. Never had the fierce woman felt so at odds with her inner self. She took a deep breath and looked the powerful wolf in the eye.

"Have you come to challenge me for my pack?" she growled. A snarl escaped her lips when he nodded and she lunged forward to attack. The crowds screamed and cheered as the battle began with Amir's first block.

"You certainly don't give a guy a lot of time to get ready," he said calmly as he eyed the unpredictable she-wolf circling him. With a sly smile that nearly took Tatiana's breath away he slipped out of his coat and unbuttoned his shirt. "Perhaps we should do this the traditional way? As wolves?" He didn't even flinch when Tatiana shifted into an extremely pissed off wolf. Instead Amir only nodded and shifted into a giant sand-colored wolf, easily dwarfing her. He wasn't overly muscular, rather more of a lithe build with plenty of power and and endurance. Most likely he would be very good at running long distances at high speeds.

It was Amir who struck first, narrowly missing Tatiana's snout with his vicious claws. Tatiana struck and retreated to test him. He had no weaknesses. This was a battle of will and strength, and it would be the hardest that Tatiana would face. It dragged on for hours, neither of the two wolves willing to back down. For Amir this was a matter of pride. If this female beat him he would lose everything. For Tatiana it was a fight for everything she wanted. Everything she deserved. When they clashed in a final snarling knot of fury and blood, Tatiana saw her opening. She lunged for Amir's open neck with victory just before her eyes. Joy leapt to her heart as she felt her dreams falling into place, only to be stopped short when her teeth gnashed together empty. A hard blow struck the back of her head and she tumbled to the ground in a daze. When she opened her eyes, her heart broke. Above her was Amir's midnight black wolf with his jaws firmly gripping her neck. It startled her to feel that her wolf was quite. The spirit was humbled and respected this beast that had beaten them at their own game. He had proved his worth.

The two opponents shifted at the same time, naked as the day they were born with Amir's large, calloused hand around Tatiana's throat. Though the look on her face conveyed hate, her eyes showed awe at the male panting for a breath above her. His muscles were taught in wariness, sweat and dirt covered his caramel skin, and his eyes bored into hers with enough intensity to pierce her very soul. The clearing was completely silent before every wolf dropped down and bared their necks in submission to the new alpha of the former Ramirez pack.