The Moon Goddess' Chosen

488 Contagious Excitement

Honour woke up the next day still trapped in the clutches of her best friend.

The only difference between this and every other night—well, besides having a princess clinging to you—was that she hadn’t had a dream or memory throughout the night.

Her divine energy also seemed in check for the first time and what was more, they didn’t have any games that day. Today was a day to relax and have some fun in the hopes that Lina, Crysta and Bree would be well-rested and rejuvenated enough for the next stage of the royal games.

Wriggling her way out of her friend’s arms, she took a bath and got dressed for their free day, oozing with excitement. Nothing was going to ruin this precious day.

Considering what state her friend had appeared in the night before crashing into the bed, Honour thought it better to let her rest longer to recover her strength.

In the common room, she found Crysta and Bree still passed out on the couches. Madeline was silently going through something on the tablet by the table, fiddling with whatever it was that had caught her attention.

“Good morning, Honour. I just realised we can order food through this instead of looking for a restaurant. And I’m also starting to think we could have done that the last time too.”

“Seems there is a ton of things you miss when you’re new to a place. The adventure was fun though… So I won’t complain,” Honour sighed, approaching the Seeker.

“How long do you think they’ll remain asleep? They seemed pretty tired yesterday,” Madeline asked, regarding the sleeping wolves with a hint of concern.

.....

“So you noticed. Lina managed to get herself in bed at least but I don’t think they’ll be waking up any time soon,” the goddess replied, reevaluating the situation.

With that assumption in place, they ordered food and had breakfast while waiting for their friends to wake up.

Honour covered her friends with warm blankets and brought pillows from their rooms, making sure to make them as comfortable as could be—whilst swatting the string of bacon Madeline kept waving under Bree’s nose.

.........…..

‘NOON!!!’ Honour nearly screamed out loud.

Lina was the last to wake up with the sun nearing its zenith, three hours after Crysta and Bree. She didn’t complain no matter how badly she wanted to.

The five girls had a hearty meal before setting out to explore the Great Arena. The large facility had a lot to offer and they were eager to see it all in the name of having ‘fun’.

They visited a few malls, dragging Lina through a variety of cloth stores and dressing up in silly and stylish outfits. Fortunately for the store owners, Lina actually ended up paying for some of them… before ordering the lot to be taken to their rooms.

They visited a few arcades and were quickly bored by the games before finally landing in a sports centre.

This place has an indoor basketball court, volleyball court, badminton and swimming pool… all well-spaced and with enough room for spectators.

Speaking of spectators, there was a crowd gathered around the one kind of sport that caught their eyes the most.

They could have walked away from this facility but the sight had them glued to the spot. Madeline noticed a glint of excitement in Lina’s eye and facepalmed. There was no way they were getting out of this place.

Standing at one side of the basketball court was a group of alphas and high-ranking werewolves facing off against each other. It didn’t take much to notice the hulking figure playing defence against the King of Lycaon.

“Why does it have to be Kyle marking me every time?” Cole screamed out in exasperation.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kyle grinned mischievously, locking eyes with the King in challenge.

To Cole’s right was a female with green eyes and impressively athletic build darting about the court with Jason on her heels, their footwork nearly flawless—whether from training or their supernatural abilities, no one could tell.

After watching for a few seconds, it was clear the beautiful delta was on Cole’s side and she was trying to get herself clear of Jason in order to aid her King.

Jason, however, wouldn’t let that happen.

“Of course, it is, Kyle... Jason’s a big coward,” Cole snickered before attempting to dribble past the hulking form of the beta alpha blocking his path to the hoop.

Kyle, despite his size, easily closed any gap the king attempted to open up in his defence. After three attempts, however, Cole managed to slip past him and make a swift dash for the hoop.

He nearly blurred across the court as he dashed past Kyle. Kyle didn’t give up though and jaw-dropping as it was to watch, the king’s headstart was only for a moment.

The beta alpha had covered the gap in long quick steps, destroying Cole’s hard-earned advantage like it was nothing. Kyle was once again between the alpha and the hoop, albeit in a dangerous position. The hoop was much closer now… and Cole was less than willing to stop his drive-in.

Cole gritted his teeth and grinned in amusement at the beta alpha’s tenacity. There was no getting around Kyle that easily.

Thankfully for the king, he was not alone and hadn’t planned to take on Kyle alone from the beginning.

Cole leapt into the air, aiming for the basket and as expected, Kyle quickly rose into the air, blocking his path completely and making a statement on who had greater jumping power.

When everything looked hopeless, however, the sound of nimble footsteps announced the presence of someone else.

Cole pulled the ball down from the air at the last second and passed it to the side. The female delta, as though appearing out of nowhere, grabbed the ball as she’d expected it and jammed it into the hoop with so much force that it shook the board.

A loud applause from the pack members around rattled through the walls of the Sports Centre at the spectacular display of teamwork.

For the four girls standing with Lina, something else rattled through their minds and bodies, gripping them with a conviction greater than anything the crowd could muster… And that was Lina’s excitement.

“Crysta, Bree…”

“Yeah, we hear you loud and clear,” the girls replied in unison stretching out their arms and cracking their necks… much to the ‘inaudible’ cracking sounds their bodies would make from the gesture.

The sight made Madeline giggle.

Kyle turned immediately as though the soft giggle struck his senses like lightning. Cole followed his eyes and his face lit up, “Ah, fair competition. Would you guys like to join?”

The crowd went silent when they noticed the new arrivals.

“Fair competition? You were having trouble with him and you know it,” Lina chuckled.

“Well…” Cole trailed off, “I’m still stronger… but I can tell it won’t be for much longer.”

“Wow, Cole Lycaon admitted weakness. You could always claim to be stronger with a single bolt of lightning,” Lina joked, reminding the king of his earlier stunt.

“I apologize for that. But if I’m being honest, you caught me by surprise with that gifted wild card of yours,” Cole responded, “So, fancy a game?”

“Yes. You are four though… How’s that going to work?”

“Bella?”

“Oh no… I want a piece of this action too.”

“Fine then. Ja—”

“Don’t even think about it,” Jason snarled.

“I’ll sit this one out,” Kyle volunteered, shocking everyone. The big guy was covered in a thin film of sweat, showing he was only getting started, which was cause for even more suspicion.

“You’re sure about that.”

“I want to watch them play first. Also, Bella can swap out with me the moment she gets tired or if things start to look tough,” Kyle shrugged, walking off the court.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? I can handle myself just fine against these weaklings,” Bella screamed at Kyle’s retreating back.

“I highly doubt that, Bella. Do your best,” Kyle chuckled, not turning back to see the fuming delta.

........

Lina was standing to one half of the court, in the centre ring with Bree and Crysta standing behind her, facing off against Cole with Bella and Jason who mirrored their positions, albeit with more relaxed demeanours.

Jason almost looked bored while Bella looked hungry to leave this team of ‘weaklings’ in the dust.

Standing in between them was a member of the staff that worked at the sports centre, holding a ball in between them.

For some reason, the tension coming from both sides was so vicious that he felt he would be squashed by the tension coming from them. Bree was matched up against Bella and Crysta was matched up against Jason.

While they were aware of Bree’s capabilities, Crysta was still a delta and one that hadn’t got the chance to show them her capabilities during the first stage of the games, so they had put her against Jason.

…that and the fact that Jason’s ego was still a little sore from losing to Bree during the blind search.

By this time, a bigger crowd had gathered around to watch the royals go against each other. “Oh my! If it isn’t the contestants of the Royal Games going at it in a friendly match.”

It only took seconds for the cameras to start rolling and for the sports centre to fill with spectators.

For some reason, the sports centre didn’t get completely full.

Madeline confirmed the reason for this when she noticed a man at the door collected a hefty sum for anyone that wished to watch this match in person… only to have the doors close and the match get broadcast across the Great Arena as a ‘bonus game.’

“I would normally say, ‘I want a clean game but I guess you guys know the rules. Since you’re going to have the second stage tomorrow, this will be a short game. First to 11 points wins.” the referee said to the two royals standing in the centre ring.

“Which means you won’t have to hold back,” Cole pointed out.

“Is that a challenge?”

“Pardon my curiosity, ‘princess,'” the king laughed nervously. Cole had heard of the princess’s insane powers but he was yet to witness her in action.

And with that out of the way, the referee threw the ball high into the air—and yes, he threw it really high, practically three metres… which wasn’t hard for a werewolf. However, the royals had to commend the man for keeping the trajectory perfectly vertical after straining so much.

The two contestants waited patiently for the ball to reach its peak before leaping high into the air.

The referee breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t complain about how high he’d thrown the ball. Even with the three-metre height he’d thrown the ball, the two royals didn’t seem to complain.

Considering these two were strong, the referee had just assumed they would want the ball higher for a clear aerial battle…

But nothing had prepared him for what came next.

For the two royals soared through the air, each aiming for the ball and chasing it into the air with no restraints or complaints.

They easily covered the whole three-meter distance, meeting the ball at its zenith before it even had the chance to descend… Lina had got to it first, clutching the ball in her palm, she locked eyes with Cole and smirked.

Time seemed to slow as she tossed it to the side—toss was an understatement.

Cole scrunched his brows in confusion. That wasn’t where her teammates were and yet the ball was zipping fast on its way out of the court.

.....

Just as it was about to get off and be ruled out of bounds, a hand stopped it at the right moment, sending a loud echo from the collision. Cole’s team froze, seemingly caught in a daze by the sudden aggression.

Crysta had caught the ball mid-dash and from the looks of it, she’d expected it to go exactly where she received it, intercepting it at top speed.

With how fast she was already going, she easily closed the gap in the other court, getting past a dazed Jason—who hadn’t yet caught up with what was happening— and making it to the hoop. By the time the delta was making the basket, Cole’s feet were just hitting the ground.

The buzzer went off, adding two points to the Sirius team. Crysta let out a joyous cheer and rushed back to her side of the court. Her shout seemed to get the crowd out of their daze before... and let out a roar of applause.

“THE SIRIUS TEAM HAS DONE IT AGAIN. THEY ARE JUST STUFFED FULL OF SURPRISES THIS YEAR FOLKS,” the commentator screamed into the microphone.

‘Damn… they got a point off our team… while I was stuck in mid-air.’

Losing the aerial battle hadn’t necessarily meant losing possession of the ball. It had meant losing the chance to make the first basket and Cole hadn’t even seen it coming. The nearly two-meter distance between his feet and the ground had proved too great of a distance for him to make a recovery.

“The Sirius team this year is simply full of surprises,” the king laughed out loud.

Jason jogged to their side of the court and picked up the ball, “Let’s get the next one.”

He said as he threw the ball towards Cole.