26- They are all cheaters

After the men had run out the door, it was apparent that the men would continue it outside. This gave the women and children time to regroup and they discussed with their current Alpha what the solution to this situation should be.

Linus assured her that the men would figure it out like they always had done, but never in the history of the pack had a fight broken out like this during a duel.

The fact that Sirius' race had provoked them didn't surprise her. She was the first to find him after the others had lost him and watched quietly to see what he would do.

However, when the pack began ganging up on the bird and yelling insults at him, one insult in particular made Saoirse decide to stop the fight: one accusation had been made that would mean no respect would be granted to Sirius even if he won: he had been accused by several men of cheating. Cheating because he could shape shift, or because he had different abilities than them, when the purpose of this fight was to establish a just leader. Anyone who accused him of that was considered unworthy for the position in her mind. Rage began to build up inside of her as the temperature around her lowered.

"You are all cheating!" She yelled as she got their full attention, telling them that enough was enough. Their feet unable to move because of her newfound ability. "Shame on all of you, this is not an honorable fight!" 

Saoirse let that sink in for a minute before continuing, "Is this what you think makes a great Alpha? Chasing after a bird like a bunch of cowards who couldn't wait their turn? Bringing shame on yourselves? All you are doing is making it impossible to decide who really is the winner.

In a free for all, how can you tell if the winner just got lucky? You are undermining the validity of the outcome and underestimating the power of my husband!" 

Sirius landed on her shoulder, he still hadn't shown anyone that he could be dangerous like she and Linus had said. Everyone narrowed their eyes at him but didn't dare interrupt Saoirse.

"The women of the pack and I have decided," Saoirse announced, her tone leaving space for no argument, "that this nonsense will stop. Next month, during the annual harvest festival to celebrate the fall, we will hold contests to determine who among you is the strongest.

"When the blood moon rises, the winner of those contests will face my husband in a proper fight. A true Alpha is chosen through honor and strength—not through underhanded tricks and squabbles. This will give you all a fair chance to prove yourselves and for my husband to prove his worth as your Alpha. If he wins, you will respect the position my brother has bestowed upon him."

A few murmurs grew into a low rumble as the excitement amongst the men reignited, only now, instead of a battle where perhaps the winner would win too easily, perhaps because beating Sirius seemed anti-climactic to them due to him being an outsider. 

Also because if he was a formidable opponent, someone else may have tired him out already by the time they got their turn, or worse, not all of them would get their turn before he had been defeated. 

Now the thrill of competition lit up their eyes. Forget beating up that fox-bird vampire-they would have the opportunity to fight to see who was actually the strongest. This kind of event had never happened in the history of their pack. 

The men began smiling at each other in excitement, the idea growing that any one of them could possibly become the Alpha at the end of this made them burst with testosterone, but Saoirse wasn't finished.

"You may think this will be an easy win," she said, her gaze seeing their excitement at Sirius' expense making her anger rise a bit. "But let me remind you: he defeated my brother—a man stronger than any of you—and I had to save my brother from him. Underestimate him, and it will be your downfall."

People looked at the bird on Saoirse's shoulder and couldn't believe what she was saying. Still, no one dared call her a liar when she stood there like the moon goddess herself. 

"What should we do if we still don't think he is worthy?" The man from the banquet asked. He wanted to make sure that he personally had a go with Sirius. "He's not even a wolf!"

(Now, you have to give this guy some credit because he really just didn't know when to quit.)

Saoirse looked at him with disdain, "Whoever proves he is the best in those contests will challenge my husband. Whoever wins, the Alpha title is yours." 

With that, she turned around and walked away, her ghostly form reverting to her human form before fading from the view of most of them. For the ones who had inherited the ability from Linus to see ghosts, they watched in silence as Sirius followed her. 

Being filled with awe at the powerful white wolf who had changed the game entirely. No one had a problem with her being their Luna. 

"So cool." A few of them dared to say.

"So beautiful." Others of the younger wolves said. 

"Impressive." A brown wolf said, his tone filled with admiration as his lips curled into a smile. He was too young to be a challenger. He hadn't participated in the squabble. He hadn't even been invited to the banquet. Yet, he had been casually walking that night and overheard the conversation. Then he watched a bit longer as they walked away. "I'll have to see who the winner is."