A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 11

Lexi's Point of View

I just finished my first fight, and it was quick and easy. I could smell my mate was close by when I was walking up to fight, but I didn't want to look and see him. I didn't want to know if he was watching. When I was done, I saw him. Our eyes locked, and then he turned away from me. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Part of me wants to just get out of here, but the women's fights are getting serious, and I need to see these ladies fight, so I have an idea of what I'll be up against. Soon enough, Jos and Cora replace me and sit with me. I'm glad to have the company. We're pointing out different things about different fighters to remember, in case we fight against them. Suddenly, Alpha Maximus is standing in front of me and asking to talk with him in private.

I follow him, until we're away from everyone. "I noticed I'm not fighting with Sophie today," I say.

He looks upset. "No, everything is called off. After everything you did to help, why did you do it?" He asks, looking disgusted. My face must have confusion written all over it because I have no idea what he's talking about.

"Alpha, what do you mean?" And he raises one eyebrow at me.

"Sophie told me you were kissing Jack last night. You knew he was intended for Sophie."

My jaw drops open. "W-what? Wait? I just knew his name was Jack, I didn't know his last name or rank," I explain.

"You didn't know you were kissing Alpha Jack Lavard?"

Holy s**t. Alpha of The black Moon is my mate? "I assure you, Alpha, I had no idea who he was or what his title was. He's my mate. All I knew was his name was Jack. I didn't even know what pack he was from. It all happened so quickly and then he found out about Molly, and ... and... he's not interested anymore. I'm sorry if I ruined your plans. I had no idea that he was the man we had been training for the last 7 months. I swear."

His face softens a little, "I'm sorry, I'm sure it's not easy to lose your mate," he states.

"It's not, but you warned me this could happen. Molly was destined to be mine, so I don't regret her," I assure him.

"It doesn't make it easy to lose him, does it?" He asks and I shake my head.

"I really am sorry, but he doesn't want me. Maybe there's still an opportunity for Sophie to woo him," I add, even though it hurts me to even say.

He shakes his head, "No, his parents sat down with me at breakfast and told me that a match wouldn't be made. Maybe she's better off waiting for her mate. I'll let you get back to watching the fights. Make us proud," he concludes.

"I'll do my best." When I'm walking back to the bleachers, I see that Jack is watching me. It sorta looks like his face contorts in disgust, before he looks away. Just what I needed.

"What did Maximus want?" Jos asks.

"Just wrapping up old Alpha business," I add. I told Jos earlier about everything that happened last night and she was curious about him. "My mate... I found out his name. Jack Lavard. Alpha of Black moon. He's 2 bleachers over, jeans and a black t-shirt. Don't look at the same time," I whisper.

Of course, they both do.

"He saw us," Jos giggles.

"I said not at the same time!"

"Oh s**t, he's really hot! I was too distracted to notice last night," Cora states.

"He is, but he's not mine, so it doesn't matter!" I say to change the subject. Next up, I see Shelley, a girl that I have taken under my wing the last few months. She's calling me and motioning me over. She's right in front of Jack's bleacher. I don't want to go over there, but I can't refuse her. I rush over. "Can you coach me for this fight, she's way bigger than me," she begs.

"Sure." I agree.

"Size doesn't mean s**t. You got this. Okay?" I say and we smile at each other. The fight starts and Shelley's opponent is probably a better fighter, but I'll do what I can to coach her. I'm yelling technical tips to her, like "raise that elbow, drive it harder, bend your knee." All my tips are helping, she's made it 4 minutes into the round. They get a 1-minute break now.

I grab Shelley, putting her back to her opponent, and I'm standing in front of her, so she can't see what we're doing. I mind-link Shelley,

-She keeps trying to get you in a position to knee you in the face, but her form sucks. [I mimic the position with her.] When I say 'NOW" I want you to grab under that knee and pull as hard as you can while lifting your upper body up. Hard. As hard as you can. - I show her where to move her foot, and where to grab.

-You'll dislocate her hip.-

She grabs a drink and then the whistle blows. She gets back in the ring, and after a minute she is in that familiar position. The girl wants to knee her in the face. I wait for the perfect moment to give the signal, and finally, I see it. "NOW!" I yell. Shelley does just as I instruct her to, and this girl is on the ground, and hip dislocated. After 10 seconds, the whistle blows and Shelley has won. She is jumping up and down, she's so excited and she jumps in my arms. "You were right!! Thank you! Thank you!" she yells.

"You're welcome!" I chuckle. I make my way back to the girls while avoiding looking in the direction of my mate, even though I can smell his heavenly scent, and I can feel his eyes on me. I can't bear to see him look away or look at me like I disgust him. Cora's walking past me to fight next. Cora wins her fight quite easily. Soon Jos is up. She whoops a*s like it's nothing. Us 3 girls are doing our pack proud so far. I hear on the loudspeaker they are doing finals for races. "Race starts in 10 minutes for Human run and 30 minutes for wolf form. Top 5 for Women in Human form: First place, Lexi Smith, Second place, Joscelyn Bonnet, 3rd Place, Laurel Benton, 4th Place, Jenn Yuki, 5th Place, June Grey.

"For Women's Wolf form, first place Lexi Smith, Second place Laurel Benton, 3rd place, Star Flint, 4th Place, Joscelyn Bonnet, 5th place, Jenn Yuki"

Then they went on to name the guys, but I was so excited that I didn't pay attention. Any fight we have will now be pushed back, so the three of us head to the races.

I see Jett and Grace on the way, and they're very excited for us. They walk with us to watch us. We have two minutes before the race and I grab my phone and earphones. I put on 'Blow, by Ed Sheeran and Chris Stapleton." It's my pump-up song. I'm doing a little jog on the spot. Getting pumped up, and then I see him. It's so hard to concentrate when I see him. Channel it into rage, I tell myself. I turn my back to him and get in the zone.

When Jos nudges me, I pull the headphones and my hoodie off. Everyone's on the line, and when that whistle goes, I'm gone. I run as fast as I can. Pushing myself, as hard as I can. I'm the first one to cross the line. I head back to the leaderboard, but they're waiting for the guys to go before they post. We all know what place we got, so it seems pointless to me. The guys go next, The guy I beat earlier, James, is up in the lineup. He smiles at me, and I smile back. The whistle goes, and they're off. He got 2nd. After a few minutes, they posted the times:

Women's:

Lexie Smith - Cold Moon- 11.00

Joscelyn Bonnet - Cold Moon - 11.57

Laurel Benton - Black Moon- 11.62

June Grey Black Moon - 11.69 Jenn Yuki Hare Moon - 11.81 Men's:

John Tour - Black Moon - 10.91

James Flank Blood Moon - 11.01 Marcus Proulx - Cold Moon - 11.02 Liam Brown - Blood Moon- 11.08

Damien Heath - Harvest Moon - 11.11

Holy s**t, 2nd place if I include the guys. I'm super happy. "I'm always just a little slower than you," James says with a flirty smile, and I smile back.

"You were close," I tease. I hear a small growl. I turn around and bump into what feels like a brick wall. A delicious smelling brick wall, that just happens to be my mate. He looks at me with wide eyes and a clenched jaw.

"Sorry," I squeak, before moving out of his way. I grab my sweater and bag and head to the wolf race with Cora and Jos.

"That was awkward," Jos points out. When we get to the 'Wolf form' race location, the guys are up first this time. They head to the tents and come back as wolves.

The whistle goes off, and the wolves take off. I'm not sure which wolf is which, aside from Noah and Marcus. So I'll have to wait for the scores to be posted. The girls head to the tent to undress and shift. We all get on the line, and when the whistle blows, we take off. I give everything I have, pushing as hard as I can. I cross the line first again and it feels great. I make my way back, and head inside the tent to get dressed. The scores are posted. As I'm walking to the board. I see Jack at the board shaking his head. When he sees me he storms off. I take a look at the leaderboard and see:

Men's

John Tour Black Moon - 13.96

James Flank Blood Moon - 14.03

Marcus Proulx - Cold Moon - 14.06

Liam Brown - Blood Moon- 14.08 Noah Fir Cold Moon 14.11 Women's

Lexi Smith Cold Moon 14.02 Laurel Benton -Black Moon- 14.07

Joscelyn Bonney - Cold Moon - 14.11

Star Flint Blood Moon - 14.22

Jen Yuki Hare Moon- 14.35

"Again, so close," I say to James, standing beside me. He gives me a shoulder nudge and chuckles. He's a very attractive guy, not as handsome as my mate, but my mate doesn't want me. It feels wrong to even think about flirting or being with someone else, but I know I'll have to force myself eventually, otherwise I'll be alone forever.

From now on, I'm not starting anything unless they know I'm a mother, and they are okay with that.

"Hey can you tell me when I'm close to fighting, I want to go see Molly?" I ask the girls, and they agree. I feel so anxious and uneasy, I just need a Molly Dolly cuddle. I go over to the kid's zone and I see she's having lots of fun with all the other kids. She is playing with little girls a few years older than her. I think they view her as a baby doll.

"Miss Molly!" I say, and she looks up and starts running to me. She missed me. I hold her close and sway with her in my arms as I sing, "You are my sunshine" to her.

By the time I'm done, I feel so much better. I needed that. She feels heavy in my arms, and I think she's asleep. This has been a long day outside for her without a nap. I ask a little girl if she's sleeping, and she confirms my suspicions. I'll hold her and let her nap on me while I watch the fights. I make my way to the bleachers. Now Grace, Jett, Maximus, Camilla, Jos, Cora, Lev, Eli and Mila and a few other warriors are all sitting together.

"I was just about to mind-link you. You're up, after this one that's about to start," Cora tells me.

"Great timing," I groan.

"I'll hold her while you fight," Grace offers.

"Thank you!"

"Oh, it's my pleasure!" She gushes.

"I missed the races, first in both, Lex... very impressive," Lev smirks.

"Why, thank you. It's too bad you guys can't do the races. Do the Beta and Gamma fights start after the women's and men's are done?" I ask.

"Yeah, me too. And yes, we start when the warriors are done. Have you seen him or figured out who he is yet?" Lev asks.

I nod and mind-link him. -Jack Lavard, Alpha of Black moon. He's close by, I smell him.- I confess.

-REALLY? That's insane. Not what I was expecting you to say. You'll replace someone better for you and Molly-

I hand off Molly to Grace and get my music going. Competition is going to be stiffer, I want to pump myself up. The fight ends, and I grab my stuff, and as I get up, everyone is slapping me on the back. "Thanks, guys," I say as I make my way up. I recognize the girl as someone who placed in the top 5 for one of the races. Her name is June.

I take out my earphones and start putting my shoes, hoodie and bag in a pile. I can smell my mate, and I wish he wouldn't watch me. I make my way to the ring. The whistle blows, and our fight begins. She doesn't attack me right away. I throw a jab, and she blocks it. I haven't seen her fight, so I don't know what to expect from her.

I act as if I'm going to jab and when she moves, I give her a good right hook. It rang her bell a little bit too. I take this opportunity to charge her, and throw her to the ground. She moves to get up, and I let her. She's still winded and dizzy. I move quickly in and out, using different combinations. She's not doing a good job of blocking because she still hasn't recovered from the previous blows. I kick her in her stomach hard, and she falls back really hard.

I wait to see if she'll stay down for 10 seconds, but at 8 seconds, she gets back up and I let her. I wait for her to come to me. She takes her time, gaining her balance, and when she does, I jump and hammer kick her in the face.

"OOHH," I hear from the crowd. She lay on the ground, knocked out. I wait for 10 seconds, and when the fight is called, I can hear my gang cheering loudly, and some applause from other pack members. I would have tried to help June up, but she was quickly surrounded by her pack members. I put my shoes on and my hoodie, and head back to my group, and they're congratulating me. It was an easy win.