Early the next morning, Kyle went over to Kai’s house to prepare him for the trials that he would be facing today. Walking up to the door, he knocked but did not receive a response. After a few moments, he knocked again but still did not get a response. Testing the door, the Beta found that it had been left unlocked, something that immediately worried him considering the state of the pack at the moment. Opening the door quickly, he called out to Kai.

“Kai, are you here?”

Again, he received no response and decided to walk farther into the cabin only to notice Kai’s seemingly lifeless body on the ground. Panic immediately set in for Kyle as he rushed over to his cousin’s body, and upon noticing the Omega breathing, he let out a sigh of relief. Picking Kai up, he transferred him from the floor to the couch, afterwards kneeling down and lightly shaking the smaller man.

“Kai… Kai, wake up! Kai, please wake up!” 

After a few moments, the Omega finally came to, “Kyle? Where am I?” Kai said in a hushed tone, barely making out the words.

“You are in the living room, Kai. It seems like you fainted. Do you remember what happened?”

Kai thought for a moment, before jumping up in a seated position, his eyes wide in confusion and fear.

“I don’t know what happened, but I had a dream about my father. It was so real Kyle and when I woke up I went to the bathroom and my eyes were blue. I heard him, Kyle. I heard him.” Kai said frantically, his voice laced with fear. 

“You heard your father?”

“No Kyle, I heard Zifa. He was howling. I thought he was gone.” Kai put his face in his hands, his whole body was shaking. “How…”

But before Kai could finish his sentence, there was a knock on the open front door, before a female voice called out, “Kyle, Alexander and the others are waiting. We have to go.”

Both Kai and Kyle looked up to notice that Tasha, the warrior that had escorted Kai to Alexander’s office, stood at the front door. She gave them a look of judgement, her face slightly scrunched up in a manner of distrust and disdain. Tasha was not a fan of the assassin being on the pack’s territory, especially since the Omega was seemingly given free reign to do whatever he pleased during the night.

“Okay, Tasha, just give us a moment please.” Kyle said authoritatively.

Tasha folded her arms and at first looked as if she was about to argue before sighing and nodding her head dismissively. 

“Fine,” she finally said, turning around and leaving the cabin. 

Kyle turned back to Kai, “Do you think you will be able to do the trials today?” Kai only nodded in response. “Okay, we have to go. We can talk about this some more afterwards. How long is it going to take to get ready?”

“Just give me a few minutes. It won't take me too long.”

“Okay, I will go wait for you outside.”

***

Kyle waited outside with Tasha for a few minutes before Kai’s front door opened and the Omega stepped out. He was wearing basically the same outfit that he wore when he arrived at the pack except his mask was missing and his hair was done up in a right bun that sat nearly on top of his head secured with a golden hair pin that was in the shape of a bow and arrow. As Kai walked towards the pair, Kyle looked down and noticed that the Omega was even wearing the heeled boots that he wore the other day.

“You know you are fighting today right? Why are you wearing heels?”

“I am an Omega Kyle, and a short one at that. These trials are all about impressing the Elders and I do not want them to count me out before I even start.”

They started walking down the path towards the pack house before Kyle responded, “You know as much as I do that you don’t need all of that. You used to be able to kick my ass when we were younger and I was almost twice your size.”

Kai laughed and shook his head, “I think that says something more about your skills rather than mine.”

“You are a brat, you know.” Kyle responded with his own laughter, before lightly pushing the Omega playfully. Kai dramatically pretended to almost fall before catching his balance and playfully pushing the Beta back. This continued back and forth before they both heard a sigh, which made them look over towards Tasha.

“Will you two please just shut up and act like adults! This is serious business and you two are acting like children.” Tasha said in a disapproving tone, “also I don’t know why you tried to cover up your eyes, the entire pack knows you are just some rogue scum trying to play hero.”

Tasha was referring to the contacts that Kai was wearing which turned his ruby eyes into something similar to what his eyes used to be. He wore them only to try to make the pack more comfortable. The rogue war was brutal on the pack and many members, including Alexander’s parents, had died during that time. Kai just bowed his head in response, not wanting to cause issues and continued to walk forward in silence.

After a few more minutes, they reached the pack house and took a path that went left and circled around the house and into the woods. The path finally took them to a large clearing that was surrounded by tall trees. On one side of the clearing were wooden bleachers where the entire pack now sat. The pack was made of hundreds of members, and as soon as Kai entered the clearing, almost all eyes were on him. They made him feel small and he could tell that they were all laced with judgement.

The only welcome that he got was from a pair of young children who screamed out “Uncle Kai, Uncle Kai” excitedly over and over again before being hushed by their mother. Kai smiled deeply. He loved his cousin’s kids so much and hearing them sent a moment of joy throughout his body.

On the other side of the clearing was a large wooden stage, the base of which was made out of the stump from an old tree that had been cut down. On the stage were thirteen wooden thrones that were carved from the tree itself. Sitting on each throne was a member of the Elders, members of the pack that were seen in high regards for their knowledge, power, and foresight. On the centermost throne sat Alexander himself. Kyle and Tasha led Kai towards this side and stopped so that they stood in front of the stage.

Alexander stood, looking straight at Kai before speaking in a booming voice that echoed across the entire clearing. “Kai Wen, do you wish to take the trials? To prove yourself worthy of working for the Crescent Moon Pack.”

“Um… it’s actually Polenov…”

“What?”

“My last name, it’s Polenov. Technically I am married.”

Alexander’s heart sank. He knew he shouldn’t feel heartbroken over the news since he had married as well, but he couldn’t help the feelings that were bubbling up inside.

“Fine, Kai Polenov, do you wish to take the trials? To prove yourself worthy of working for the Crescent Moon Pack?”

“Yes Alpha, I do.” 

“Good, the first trial is to test your abilities with long range weapons. You will be competing in an archery match with the pack archers. Your main objective will be to hit the targets.” Alexander paused and motioned towards three small targets in the distance, placed on the far end of the clearing opposite of the path that they had taken to get here. “You will be going against our best archers in the pack. A bow will be provided for you to use. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Alpha.” 

***

Kai was now lined up with two other members of the pack. They had not introduced themselves to Kai, being standoffish when they had walked towards the lineup. He knew that he was an outsider and they were going to treat him as such, but Kai felt a little sad being treated like this from a pack that he once considered his home. He shook the feelings off. This was no time to get distracted. He had to concentrate.

The first archer stepped forward. He was tall and skinny, with bright red hair. Kai couldn’t help but think that the man somewhat resembled the trees around them. He took aim and in a flash, subsequently shot three arrows, each one landing their mark in the targets. He was a good shooter, but his aim faltered slightly each time. The last target did not even hit the center. He was rushing, Kai thought to himself. The archer bowed towards the Elder’s and stepped back into the lineup.

The second archer stepped forward, she was a short female with long brown hair. Possibly an omega like Kai. She took her time, aiming the bow meticulously at the first target, before sending the arrow flying. It hit, dead in the center. She then aimed for the second target and again hit it dead in the center. At the last target, which was the farthest away, she didn’t take her time like she had done the first two times and quickly let the arrow fly. It hit, but like the first archer, did not make contact with the center. She bowed and stepped back.

Kai thought to himself. Why were the archers not presenting their best? Realization quickly hit him. They were underestimating him. They only put in enough effort to hit the first two targets because they didn’t think Kai would be able to hit the last target. 

He chuckled to himself before stepping forward. He quickly aimed his bow towards the first target and released, hitting it square in the center. He then nocked the second arrow and drew back but hesitated. He had to do something to show that he had more skill than the other two archers. He had to show off. He aimed the bow at the target but before releasing, he pulled up shooting the arrow straight into the air. As the arrow came down, Kai took a few steps back, jumping up and kicking the arrow forward. It hit the target right where Kai had intended.

He knew that he had impressed people by the gasps that could be heard throughout the pack. He even heard a little gasp from one of the archers behind him. This made him want to show off even further. He looked around before his gaze fell on the Alpha sitting on stage. He quickly walked towards Alexander and pointed towards the cloth belt that was around his decorative robes. The belt was about an inch thick and was perfect for the trick that Kai wanted to show off. 

“Can I borrow your belt for a minute, Alpha?” Kai was met with a confused look before the Alpha looked down at his belt and then back up at him.

“I guess?” Alexander said questioningly, before getting up and undoing it, extending it over to the Omega. Kai refused to take it.

“Tie it around my eyes like a blindfold.” Kai said. Alexander slightly blushed at the words, dirty thoughts crossing his mind, as lend down and tied the belt as the Omega instructed. He had done this a few times with his wife, only in a different setting. He shook his head, this was no time to think about that kind of stuff.

Now blindfolded, Kai made his way back towards the center of the clearing, quickly aiming his bow towards where he remembered the target to be. He took a deep breath in, focusing on where he knew it was. Releasing his breath, he quickly aimed the bow up and released the arrow into the sky like he had done for the second target. This time when the arrow made its way down, Kai took a few steps back and swiftly pulled one of his hands back then drove it forward palming the arrow to change directions. 

He knew he had hit his target by the gasps that he could hear around him. He quickly took off the blindfold and found that the arrow had hit the target directly in the center.