Free Rise of the Female Alpha by Jasmine White Page A

and anticipated the move, and she was ready for him when he came at her with fangs bared. Pushing off as hard as she could, Sienna snapped her jaws shut as soon as she was in range, feeling the satisfying resistance of something crunching and ripping between her teeth.
    With a howling yelp, Kane shoved her hard and broke away, skittering back to the edge of the circle to try to recover. Sienna saw that she’d scored a hit over his eye, and possibly crushed the ridge of bone over his right eye. The eye itself was swollen shut, and blood streamed down that side of his face. She’d effectively blinded him one side, giving her the opening she needed to finish the job.
    Unfortunately, Kane knew that he was compromised, and he decided to press her with everything he had in the hopes that he could overpower her before the fight lasted long enough for her to use her speed and agility to strike a killing blow. He was on her like a landslide, his sharp claws raking her skin and his snarling jaws tearing at whatever bits of her hide they could close down on. She wouldn’t last long under this assault, and she knew she needed to get out from under him.
    Thinking of Arric and the way he’d taught her to use a larger opponent’s weight against himself, she twisted her body in a fashion that was entirely unusual for a wolf, and she kicked hard against the ground, sending herself flying upwards in a move that allowed her to pivot over Kane’s body while taking him down on his back.
    Within seconds she had him pinned and had her jaws open over his throat. Kane stopped his struggles and whimpered in defeat, knowing there was nothing he could do to reverse the situation. If he even twitched the wrong way, she could rip out his throat before he moved more than an inch.
    Sienna growled in the simple language of her wolf kind and saw the elder approach from the side.
    “The rules of the challenge are clear,” he said. “You must take his life in order to take his role as alpha.”
    She growled again, conveying the simple message for him to relay to the pack.
    “Sienna proposes that a vote be put to you, the pack,” he shouted. “She wishes to grant Kane a life in exile if you would have it that way. If you vote for death, she will end his life without hesitation.”
    An agitated murmur went up through the crowd. This was unheard of, but then again, so was a female wolf winning a challenge against a male alpha. Sienna risked shifting to human form, and she stood and addressed her pack mates.
    “Wolves of the Blackstone pack!” she shouted. “You have seen my clear victory over our former alpha, but I ask you for the right to show him mercy. The right to pack master is mine, and in my first act as alpha, I wish to show the compassion that I intend to make a priority when leading my people. Is it your will that I let Kane live, or that I finish him by the law of death that he willingly invoked?”
    A few loud cries of “finish him!” and “kill the bastard!” echoed over the rest, but the overwhelming and undeniable response was for mercy.
    “Very well then,” she said, standing over Kane who still lay stunned in his submissive position. “Kane Blackstone, I strip you of your name and rank, and henceforth banish you from our pack under penalty of death. Leave now, and never return.”
    Kane rolled onto his feet and looked around at his former back with his one good eye. He lowered his head to the ground and scurried off into the forest, knowing that he had no other option but to stay and die.
    “You did it!” cried Esther, running up with a cloak to drape over Sienna’s shoulders. “I had faith that you would fight like a true warrior, but you amazed even the biggest of skeptics. We all stand behind you as our new alpha and pack master.”
    “ Gather the warriors and hunters,” she said quietly. “There is a coming threat that we must deal with before all of this is for nothing.”
     

EPILOGUE
     
     
    One by one, the