The Rogue & The Alpha

Chapter 13 - Challenge for Alpha

Natsu's POV

'Where are you Lucy?' I wondered as I ran around the whole territory looking for her. I waited for her in her den but she didn't come back last night. Everyone I asked during my search hasn't seen her since yesterday either which I found worrying. Possibilities of what happened to her ran through my mind. Did she run away? Did she go out for a hunt and lost track of time? Was she sleeping over with another wolf? Was she attacked or kidnapped by a Rogue or another pack? As these thoughts ran through my head, my worry rose and I ran faster.

Since my search for her wasn't working, I ran to the centre of the pack to call everyone to me. I took a deep breath in and howled for the pack to assemble. As everyone ran to the centre of the pack, I kept my eye out for Lucy. Hoping she would show up somewhere in the crowd. After a few minutes, everyone had assembled except for Lucy.

"Why did you call everyone here Natsu?" Erza asked, noticing my distress. "Where's Lucy?!" I shouted while looking around frantically, hoping Lucy would push through the crowd upon hearing her name, showing me that she was okay. Everyone looked around but she was nowhere to be found. "Where could Lu be?" Levy said with worry.

"I know where she is" Laxus spoke up and walked into the centre of the pack with Freed and Evergreen close behind him. "Where? Where is she?" I asked, deserate to know. A sinister smirk grew on his face and I suddenly had a bad feeling. "She's hidden as my hostage" he said and I snarled at him. Erza and Gray growled at him and walked over to stand behind me. "What are you planning Laxus?" Erza demanded. "It's simple really" he replied and then turned to look at me. "I, Laxus, challenge Natsu for the position of Alpha" Laxus formally stated.

I didn't give a damn about his challenge, I was more worried about Lucy. "What did you do to Lucy?" I growled. "She's safe if that's what you're asking but she is a bit beaten up. She refused to come quietly so we had to force her to submit. If you refuse my challenge, she's dead. So, do you accept my challenge?" he replied with a sly smirk. He gave me no choice but to fight him. This wasn't the first time Laxus has challenged me. An Alpha can refuse a challenge if they have fought that wolf before. So, if I don't fight him he will kill Lucy but if I do fight him then he might become Alpha of Fairy Tail. Either way would be terrible but out of the two options Lucy's life was a priority. "I, Natsu, accept Laxus' challenge" I growled, lowering my body into a fighting stance.

Everyone made a wide circle around me and Laxus, giving us space to fight. The rules of the challenge were simple, the Alpha and the challenger must fight until the other one yields or is defeated. Whoever wins the fight becomes/stays Alpha and can either demote the loser to Omega or banish them from the pack. I will not lose for the sake of the pack and I will save Lucy.

Laxus is one of my best fighter wolves so I had to keep my guard up. "You can do this Natsu!" "We believe in you!" "Don't let Laxus win!" some of the pack member cheered for me. As one of the Betas, Erza was responsible for initiating the challenge. She gave me a hesitant side glance but when she saw my determination, she became sure. "Let the challenge begin!" she initiated the challenge.

Without hesitation, Laxus charged at me and I lunged at him. We clashed in a fury of teeth, claws and bites. It was clear that both of us were aiming to bite each other's neck. Since Laxus was a tad bigger than me, he pushed me down onto my back and stood on top of me. I used one of my back legs to kick his head and made him stumbled off of me. Immediately I rolled back onto my paws and tackled him to the ground. I managed to land a bite on the side of his neck before he kicked me off.

We began to circle on the edge of the pack circle, snarling while as we caught our breaths and plan our next move. Being the impatient wolf that I am, I launched at him and managed to sink my teeth into his back. He cried out in pain and then whipped around fast to throw me off. As I landed on my paws, he tackled me and we rolled across the ground trying to pin the other down. He rolled me onto my side then stood up and bite down on my neck. As soon as I felt his bite, I slapped his head away with my front paw and pushed his body away from me.

I rolled back onto my paws as he wiped the blood off his snout that my claws scratched. He looked down at the blood on his fur and then snarled before lunging at me. This time I dodged his attack by jumping to the side and then tackled him from the side. As I was about bite Laxus, another wolf tackled me off of him. I looked up at the person who interfered and saw it was Evergreen. Erza jumped in and tackled Evergreen off of me. Freed tried to step in but Gray blocked him. This one-on-one challenge turned into a three-on-three.

I jumped back onto my paws as Laxus ran at me. We clashed and took turns biting each other's neck while standing on our hind legs. With a big push from my hind legs, I knocked Laxus' centre of gravity off and made him fall backwards. He used the momentum of the fall to roll us over one more so I ended on my back. I used the strength of my back legs to kick him off me and the rolled back onto my paws while gaining a bit of distance.

This fight was taking too long and I needed to end it quick. I decided to try Lucy's move and turned my back to him as he charged at me. "Natsu Kick!" I shouted as I kicked Laxus' head with my back legs. He flew back and landed on his side. I was surprised at how effective Lucy's kick was but didn't have a moment to lose. I instantly pinned Laxus down with my body before he had a chance to get up and then latched my teeth against his throat. He struggled but was unable to move much with my teeth dangerously close to ripping his throat out. "Yield" I demanded and he glared up at me without saying a word. "Yield!" I growled as my teeth tightened around his throat. He could see how serious I was and relaxed his tense body. "I yield" he said loud and clear for the whole pack to hear, and I got off him.

As soon as Laxus yielded, everyone howled at my victory. "Now that I have won, show me where Lucy is" I said as Laxus stood up. "No need" I heard Gajeel say and when I turned around, Gajeel and Levy walked through the crowd towards me. Laying on Gajeel's back was Lucy who was unconscious and almost as beaten up as the day I met her. "Lucy" I muttered and then ran to her. Wendy rushed over to us and quickly checked Lucy over. "Bring her to the Healer den. I'll run ahead to get everything ready" she said before running towards the Healer den.

"Go ahead Gajeel and Levy, I'll meet you there when I'm finished here" I said. Gajeel and Levy nodded before running off to take Lucy to Wendy while I faced Laxus. "As Alpha, I demote Laxus, Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow to Omegas. For harming a fellow pack member and challenging me, Laxus will be an Omega for six months. For aiding Laxus and interfering with the challenge, the Thunder Legion will be Omegas for two months. Also, as punishment, Laxus and the Thunder Legion will be taken off Hunting and Patrol unless I give an exception. That's all" I order and then ran in a hurry towards the Healer den. 'Please be ok Lucy' I hoped as I ran.