Submission: Leo POV

I watched Cyrus' face and eyes, trying to see what he was getting at. All I saw was his usual stoic expression. Even his voice was emotionless. Jayce looked at him suspiciously,

"Why would I trust a rogue to fight fair?"

Cyrus' eyes flashing pale blue was the only sign that he was irritated at the implications of the statement,

"If my memory serves me right, official fights between warriors within a pack needs two observers. Also, just to keep it interesting, if either observer sees me cheating in any way, I will leave this territory and never set foot in the borders again. If I do, I'll let you kill me on sight with no resistance."

I tried to keep my emotions in check. Not that I thought for a second that Cyrus would cheat, but rather the situation as a whole pissed me off. The fact that he had to prove himself to this asshole was ridiculous. I was clenching and unclenching my fists, trying to keep my wolf from throwing him into the wall, when my dad's voice spoke from the doorway,

"Sounds fair to me. Aerin and I will gladly be your observers."

Jayce bowed his head immediately,

"Of course Alpha."

My dad was smiling mischievously, though his eyes were amber, showing he wasn't happy with the situation,

"Great. I'll see you on the sparring grounds in five minutes."

As Jayce hurriedly passed him, dad's canines flashed before his eyes went back to their regular steely gray. He turned to Cyrus, who was watching him with a blank expression, and held his hand out,

"I apologize that we have to meet this way. My name is Mical Black-Sun. I'm Leonitus' father and the current Alpha of this pack. It's nice to meet you, Cyrus. Leo can't stop telling me about you."

Cyrus' eyes flickered to me at the sound of my full name before going back to my dad's,

"It's nice to meet you, you probably already know, but my name is Cyrus Black-Moon. Also, you don't have to apologize. I don't expect everyone to jump for joy at the thought of a rogue becoming their Luna in the future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some respect to earn."

With that, I watched my usually expressionless mate break his blank mask and give my dad a confident and reassuring smirk before he went up the steps, most likely to shift in the privacy of our room. My dad's chuckle caused me to look at him with a raised brow,

"You have a very interesting mate, son. Tell me, how well trained is he."

I headed towards the door as the click-clack of claws sounded from the stairs,

"Well, enough to win a sparring match with a lion without breaking a sweat."

He hummed as I passed by him. Sitting at the bottom of the stairs was Cyrus' large blue-black wolf. It was easy to see that he was an Alpha by his large frame. His pale-blue eyes watched me with calm, affectionate interest. He walked over to me, bending down slightly, and bumped his head into my stomach. I ran my fingers through his fur before lifting his scarred muzzle gently and kissing it. He blinked at me and rubbed his head against me before turning towards the door with a huff. I hummed in agreement and placed my hand on his back as I lead him towards the sparring grounds.

We reached the field after about a minute. I looked around the huge field that held six large dirt circles that served as sparring arenas. Jayce was in the first one in the second row, pacing in anticipation. Cyrus spotted him immediately and walked over. As he did, Jayce's dark grey wolf looked up before its light green eyes widened as he looked across Cyrus' scarred body. As my mate reached the circle, he stretched and yawned before shaking out his fur and laying down.

I held back at a laugh at how unconcerned he was with the situation, which was causing Jayce to growl lowly. Apparently, my dad agreed with my observation as his laugh rang out across the field. I turned and saw him and Aerin, his Beta, making their way towards us. Aerin wasn't laughing, but his jade green eyes held amusement as he smirked at the scene. Running my fingers through my baby's fur once more, I stepped about five feet away and interlaced my fingers behind my head. My dad, and Aerin, stopped next to me and he cleared his throat, after he stopped chuckling,

"The rules were previously agreed upon by both parties. We, Aerin and I, are also in agreement with the rules and are ready and willing to carry them out without prejudice. Cyrus and Jayce, you may take your positions and begin on Aerin's signal."

Jayce gave a short growl before getting down low. Cyrus merely stood, watching him closely. Aerin gave a sharp whistle and Jayce charged at full speed. He never made contact as Cyrus stepped out of the way before shoving him off balance as he passed. My dad hummed in approval. Jayce rolled away and started to reposition himself. Cyrus whipped around quickly and jumped onto Jayce's back, gripping the scruff of his neck between his teeth firmly. Jayce started to shake violently in an attempt to knock him off, but Cyrus stayed put, careful not to draw blood as he held on. Jayce threw himself to the ground, trying to crush my baby's blue-black wolf under his weight.

Mid-roll though, he flew across the dirt as my baby kicked him off with his hind legs. Jayce quickly got up as Cyrus started to roll onto his feet, slightly winded. I watched as the gray creature quickly closed the distance and bit into Cyrus' right hind leg. Hard. I saw his pale blue eyes widen in pain before he kicked Jayce in the face with his left hind leg, causing him to release his right and stumble back, shaking his head. The familiar metallic scent of blood drifted into the air as Cyrus whipped around. Head-butting Jayce, he ducked his head slightly and clamped onto his throat, still being careful not to break the skin after the warrior's blatant disregard. My mate didn't give him a moment to react as he reared back on his hind legs, causing him to lift Jayce off his feet and into the air before throwing him down to the ground, his throat still bloodlessly between his teeth. Jayce laid there, unmoving for a moment before whimpering.

Cyrus held him for a few more minutes before releasing him and looking him directly in the eye with the full force of his rank. He shook his fur out before looking to me. I pointed to the woods that surrounded the field, letting him know that he could shift in private and find clothes as well. As he turned, I saw blood running from the bite Jayce had left. It didn't slow him as he ran into the woods, though. Jayce continued to lay there, probably dazed from hitting the ground with the force of two wolves, his own weight was used against him. I glanced at my dad and saw surprise in his eyes.

To be honest, I didn't expect him to do that either. In fact, I'd never seen anyone lift a full-grown warrior wolf off the ground by their scruff. That's not even taking into account the fact that he did it on two legs. Cyrus' scent on the wind caused me to look towards him. He was now wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with short sleeves. I knew he was uncomfortable, though his face showed no evidence of it, his arms were crossed against his chest. The only sign that he'd been fighting was the thin trail of blood coming from his outer thigh. He walked over to Jayce, who was still shifted and laying on his side. His eyes flashed pale blue,

"Shift."

He didn't yell, but the tone of his voice was enough to get results. Jayce was soon laying on his side naked. Cyrus clicked his tongue, drawing his attention to him,

"You're right in the idea that I don't have much to offer, but what I can offer belongs to our pack. Namely strength, skill, and my personal determination to continue and strengthen the legacy of this pack. Heed my words, I am no weak link, but I can easily become one of your greatest assets."

He then held out his hand. Jayce stared for a while before taking it. Cyrus pulled him up easily,

"You should make sure you don't have a concussion."

With that, he walked back to me and leaned into my chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed his head,

"Is your leg okay, baby?"

"It's fine. Sorry for messing with our plans."

"It's alright, beautiful, we have a lot of time left."

"Um...what were we doing today?"