Page 41 of Chained By the Alpha (Claimed Duet #1)

A solution that smells like a trap, one laid out by Lydia. Now, standing here amid the circling Alphas and their calculating stares, I know the truth.

This isn’t settling a tiff between me and Lydia. It’s Samuel trying to prove my father’s pack is better off in his daughter’s hands and not mine.

The tension in the air crackles like a live wire, every wolf’s gaze locked on the unfolding drama. Alpha Samuel’s voice slices through the thick atmosphere, Alpha Dane’s suggestion hanging heavily between us all.

“Let’s have a duel,” he declares, the words resonating. “A fair fight to submission, not harm. We all stand as witnesses—no death blows, no permanent damage. Let the young Alphas demonstrate their skills through strength and control.”

His eyes bore into mine, challenging, daring me to back down. And then they slide to my father, who stands rigid, caught between fury and the unspoken rules of our society and his need to protect his daughter.

“Joseph,” Samuel taunts with a smirk that sets my teeth on edge, “if Cleo is truly destined to be your successor, let her show her skills. Let her prove her right to lead, not by birth – but by worth.”

My heart thunders in my chest, anger and fear mingling with a fierce desire to wipe that smug look off Samuel’s face.

I can feel the weight of my father’s stare, the silent plea for me to agree.

Yet something inside me refuses to cower or to show any hint of weakness when regarding Lydia.

If it’s a spectacle they want, it’s a spectacle they’ll get.

If my father is willing to toss me to them, he can deal with the aftermath and live with the guilt because I know Lydia won’t listen to any rules put out.

“Fine,” I spit out, my voice ringing clear in the sudden hush. “Let’s just get this over with,” I growl.

Whispers ripple through the gathered packs, the scent of excitement and anticipation rising like a storm. While Alpha Greyson from the Lakeview pack seems to edge closer restlessly, his interest is piqued by the promise of a showdown.

“Agreed,” my father finally says, his voice steely. “But we do this our way, monitored closely. It ends at submission, Samuel!”

Alpha Samuel nods, a predatory gleam in his eye as if already savoring victory.

“Prepare the ring,” Samuel commands, and the space before us clears as wolves step back, forming a crude circle in the dirt.

Lydia strides forward with an arrogance that makes my blood boil, her confidence bolstered by Samuel’s conniving. She stares at me with distaste, as if I’m merely an obstacle on her path to power.

“Ready to lose, Cleo?” she sneers, relishing the moment.

I pay her no attention, trying to will myself to step into that ring knowing she’ll shift and rip me to pieces.

The Alphas take their positions around the ring, their sharp eyes missing nothing as my father opens the mindlink.

“No shame in submitting, Cleo, just submit the moment she shifts. Samuel knows this is an unfair fight, and is just being a prick. I will deal with the fallout. I don’t want you hurt.”

I scoff.

“No, if you didn’t want that you wouldn’t have allowed it to get this far. I’m not submitting to this bitch. She’ll have to kill me first.” My father gives me a panic-stricken look and he hesitates at the edge of the makeshift ring created by bodies.

“Remember, non-lethal, first round is hand to hand, second round anything goes, just no lethal force,” Samuel reiterates, though his tone suggests he cares little for my well-being.

I step further into the circle, kicking my shoes off, the dirt cool beneath my feet as I face Lydia. She’s already shedding her jacket, her eyes locked onto mine with a sly smile on her face.

“Begin!” Samuel barks, and with that single word, Lydia lunges.

Our challenge is one of violence and cunning, a physical debate where each blow will land. Her moves are sharp and ruthless, however I counter with the precision of one who knows how to use my hands and I can see Lydia fears catching one of them.

“Submit, Lydia!” I pant, my knuckles connecting with her jaw with a satisfying crunch.

“Never!” she spits, wiping blood from her lip. “I’ll die before I bow to you!”

“Then you’re a bigger fool than I thought,” I reply, dodging her next swing.

“You submit!” she spits at me. I swing at her at the same time she kicks me in the flank, she falls to the side, and I cringe feeling my ribs bruise instantly. She is quick to get back up while I stagger.

My fists fly, connecting with Lydia’s guarded frame. She’s quick, a fact I had not expected, and her blocks and counters are sharp, buta little sloppy. However, it seems my stepsister has been preparing for this moment after all, making me wonder who she’s been training with.

“Didn’t think I’d come unprepared, did you?” she sneers, her foot sweeping toward my legs in an attempt to knock me off balance.

I jump back, dodging her attack, and feel the rush of adrenaline fueling my movements. My breath comes out in short bursts, my heart thundering in my chest.

“Training with the enforcers, huh?” I grunt, wiping a bead of sweat from my brow as I circle her. “Guess you’re not as helpless as you pretend to be.”

Lydia’s only response is a vicious grin before launching herself at me again.

Our bodies collide in a flurry of movement, each of us trying to gain the upper hand.

However she heals quickly, I’m not healing at all and I’m growing tired.

I manage to land a solid punch to her midsection, and for a brief moment, I see something akin to pain flash in her eyes before I feel her ribs break.

Then, everything changes. She starts to shift.

With no warning, Lydia’s form begins to shift, her body contorting as fur sprouts across her skin.

The crowd gasps, murmurs rising like a storm around us.

The rules were clear—no shifting allowed until the second round—and yet here she stands, a fully transformed wolf with gleaming teeth bared at me.

I suck in a breath and take a step back, waiting for her father to call her out, or for us to break for round two.

Surely they don’t expect me to just continue from the moment she shifts.

“What the hell is going on?” Alpha Greyson’s voice booms over the commotion. “Joseph, you’re putting your daughter at risk!” he bellows, stepping forward. His stature commands attention, his concern for me evident despite the chaos as he shoves through the crowd.

“Stay out of this, Greyson,” one of the Alphas retorts, their loyalty to tradition over safety clear in their stern voices.

“Rules are rules! She can’t fight a wolf in her human form,” Greyson argues, his hand slipping into his pocket, retrieving his phone with an air of authority.

Dad pulls me aside, his grip firm on my shoulder. “Keep your distance, watch her movement, you know how to handle a wolf,” he says hurriedly, his eyes flickering with a father’s worry.

Before I can respond, the sound of another commotion draws our attention. Alpha Zayn’s brother, Beta Vance, strides toward us, his expression a mixture of confusion and anger.

“What’s happening here?” he demands, his voice cutting through the noise.

“An unsanctioned shift during a title fight,” Greyson replies, his eyes never leaving mine, silently communicating his disapproval.

Alpha Dane and Alpha Samuel move toward Alpha Greyson and Beta Vance who must be training with the Lakeview pack while my father says nothing, allowing Samuel to deal with Greyson; Dad and Greyson have always had a strange relationship.

“Damn it, what the hell is going on here?” Vance’s voice booms over the commotion of Greyson and Samuel arguing, his brow furrowed in confusion and irritation.

“Back off, Vance,” Alpha Dane snaps. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Greyson intervenes once again, a sly grin spreading across his face. “Oh, but it does,” he says, almost too casually. “We’ve got ourselves an Alpha fight. Cleo and Lydia are going at it.”

Vance scoffs, disbelief etched into every line of his face. “You’re kidding, right?” Yet there’s no humor in Greyson’s eyes as he shakes his head.

“Don’t worry, I already called Zayn,” Greyson adds, just as my father’s growl ripples through the air, thick with his disapproval.

“Zayn has no place here,” my father barks out, his glare searing. “He’s nothing more than a mutt trying to interfere in matters that don’t concern him.”

“Actually,” Greyson corrects, his tone shifting to match the deadly lilt of my father’s, “any Alpha sworn in or not is subject to oversight by all the city’s Alphas. You know that, Joseph. And last I checked, Zayn’s head of the council, so he has every right to oversee this bullshit.”

As if summoned by the very mention of his name, Alpha Zayn enters the fray, his strides purposeful, his gray eyes stormy.

“You wouldn’t be breaking the law you helped write, would you, Joseph? The one you penned when you accused me of murdering my own father?” Zayn calls as everyone moves to get out of his way.

My father’s face contorts with anger, and he turns on Greyson, who stands his ground with a smirk that makes my skin crawl. “You all need to stop sticking your noses where they don’t belong!”

“I’m sure Clara wouldn’t have agreed with you,” Greyson sneers, “if she were here. But no, that harlot you call a mate made sure she’d never get a say about anything concerning her pack, didn’t she?”

Confusion crashes over me like a tidal wave. My mother, she was spoken of so little, and now this? What did Linda have to do with—

Before another thought can form, my father erupts, his fury unleashed, when Alpha Samuel steps in, a wall of calm in the chaos.

“Linda had nothing to do with Clara’s death,” he asserts, though I’m not convinced anyone believes him.

“Are we doing this or what?” Lydia interrupts, strutting forward in just a shirt she has stolen from somewhere with a smug tilt to her lips.