Betrayed from Birth – Alpha’s Unvalued Daughter
Betrayed from Birth – Alpha’s Unvalued Daughter Chapter 23

Joshua's

POV

When exactly did my baby sister turn into a freaking ninja? This was supposed to be an easy fight for me. She is my younger sister, there is no way that she should be as good against me as she is. I train much harder than her, twice a day, every day. I take the Beta rank, and the job I am about to take over, very seriously. So, how in the hell has she been able to take not just the first round, but the second one, too? My wolf, Hawk, is pissed off that she is making us look bad in front of everyone, but even madder at me for telling Courtney to spread the word about this fight in the first place. This crowd is all my fault. I thought I could get her out quickly, like two minutes into the first round, but I was wrong. She is not even out of breath yet. She seems like she could do this all day, and I am not doing well at all. Carter is even embarrassed for me, and he knows that I am a strong fighter.

I love my sister, I was not trying to hurt her badly when this started. I know what I needed to do, as we don't need to start the third round. I just wanted to show her that I was going to be an effective and strong Beta when I took over from dad. I wanted her to give me the respect that I deserved. I thought her suggesting this fight was going to teach her a lesson about respect, yet it seems I am the one that is learning the lesson. I still felt bad for the two good punches I ended up landing on her in the first round. I am watching her across the ring, as she gets some water from Raven before we start the final round. She is clearly favoring her ribs, it is hurting her to lift the water bottle. It would only take another few good blows to take Stella down, that is if I can connect with her, and land them.

She has done an excellent job of blocking me from getting another shot at connecting with her. I would have to focus on her ribs to win this fight, but I just can't do it. I hit her hard only because I was ashamed of being outdone in front of so many people. I had not intended to hurt her at all when we started the fight, I was just going to mess with her for a minute or two and then shut her down. I reacted in my anger at the kicks she was hitting me with, but what had originally been intended to break a few of her ribs, resulted in her just being bruised. She managed to step back and turn with my punch, so it turned into a glancing blow, instead of one that would have ended the fight. She knew what I was doing, and angled to where it took the bulk of the force I was using away. I have to say that I am really impressed with her technique today. She is making me look like an i***t out here, and I get what she has been saying. I picked on Raven, did not give her the smallest bit of care and support, and caused her to fear me. I go around the pack, arrogant like I am the best around, and had no idea at all, that my little sister could wipe the floor with me. I really thought that since at 6'4" and about 240 lbs. with my reach, she would not have a chance against me. I didn't do any extra training or worry about the fight because I knew I had her. She was going to be beaten and embarrassed, at least that was my plan for the fight. Since she was so much smaller at 5'11", and a girl, it would not be so bad for her to lose to me, my reach was much better than hers. I figured she wouldn't be able to land the first punch on me. My intent was to teach her that she couldn't beat me and to know not to challenge me ever again. I thought with our great size difference, that this would be over quickly. I would apologize to her and Raven and that would be the end of it. Boy, was I wrong.

Stella knows how to land her kicks, she knows that she has to keep doing that just to come in contact with me. If she tried to punch me, my fists would be merciless on her, as my reach is much longer than hers. She knew to keep her distance and keep me from being able to land some serious blows. It is wearing me out, as I am punching to connect, and that takes strength. I am just not managing to connect a hit on her. She is light on her feet and seems to know exactly what I am going to do before I start to do it. She knows the training from our pack and has a good command of it. It seems like she knows everything that I know, as well as some other, much more efficient ways of fighting.

If she weren't kicking my a*s right now, I would have to tell her how proud I am of her. Her easily countering my moves, and then landing another punishing blow with her foot is the most embarrassing part of it. She has learned well wherever she went to learn this, I know that she must have been their star pupil. She clearly excelled there. I wish I had had any inkling that she was a machine because we wouldn't be here now. Imagine my surprise at finding out all this in front of my peers, trainees, and former schoolmates. Let me assure tell you, it was really not a good surprise. The blows she gave me reminded me of what my dad and Alpha Cole told me on my first day of training. Never underestimate your opponent, I did, and it was my downfall.

Carter and I thought since we were grown now, that rule didn't really apply to us anymore. We knew what we were doing, we didn't need any more improvement in how we were training. We were wrong. We forgot the basics of what we had been taught and didn't strive to make improvements. Carter and I just stayed where we were, thinking that we were at the top of the food chain here at Blood Walker, only to find out now that I was lunch. Since we were the top two fighters in the pack, other than dad, and Alpha Cole, we thought that we were unbeatable. We stopped trying and got complacent. Another reminder from our early lessons that we forgot.

I have ignored Stella for the last few years. I left her, choosing to spend time with Carter, Austin, and Charlie, and to do what I want. I only see her occasionally, and we were not as tight as we used to be. I did that, I messed up our relationship, and it was my own fault. We were always together growing up, and she was with us, tagging along behind us until Carter and I closed ranks on her. We kicked her out of our group. After that, she didn't have anyone on her side as a friend anymore. She only had mom and dad, and the Alpha couple, here at the pack. She had to have been so lonely. I left her behind and that clearly showed her that she didn't matter to me anymore.

I allowed the girls that bullied her to hang around me and Carter. I guess that showed her who I supported in between her and Courtney in their fight by doing so. Carter had even told Stella when the fight happened last year, that she shouldn't have beaten Courtney up. He believed that since Stella was a Beta wolf, and stronger than the girls were, she should have just walked away, and not fought them. Clearly, she could have put all three of them down, and hard, if she had wanted to. I see from Courtney's expression that she will never do it again. She and her crew of mean girls have seen the light now. I know that she is off limits to their bullying now, as they are fully aware that they won't be able to stand a chance against her if they were to fight again. Courtney and her crew are no longer cheering me on anymore, just standing there looking at Stella, in shock at how well she can defend herself now. I can tell that they didn't think that she would have a chance of winning against me. They were just here to mock her and see her get beaten up.

I absolutely regret asking Courtney to tell everyone about the fight now, and it isn't just because the whole pack will find out about it. It probably hurt Stella that I had them come. She knows what a big-mouth Courtney is and will already know that I invited them here. My sister knows me well, she knew when she arrived who had got the group up. I saw her face as soon as she saw Courtney. I felt bad right then for doing it, but I had wanted people to be here to witness my win in this fight. I was the jerk as my actions brought us here, and I will have to fess up to it, in front of the pack. I will make this right, as I know if Stella and I continued to fight, one or both of us will end up being seriously hurt.

I have to just admit defeat and call the match. There is not going to be a good way for this to end for either of us if I don't do the right thing for both of us. We are both hurt, clearly me more than her, and I know what the lesson was that she wanted to teach me now. The doctor set my nose, so Hawk could go ahead and fix it, and I do not want her to break it again continuing to prove her point. Alpha Cole is about to start the last round now, and Goddess only knows what Stella has left in her bag of tricks. I know that my sister is a badass now, and I have a great deal more respect for her than before the match started. I see Stella watching me, as I limped back toward the ring. She is going to have to sweep my leg or kick my knee again. She will have to end this fight one way or another, and I could potentially end up really hurt. It could end my career as the Beta before it even begins if she does that.

Mom and dad are worried, and I can't do it to them. They love us both, and Stella wants to end this, once and for all. I need to let her know that I get it, and have received her message loud and clear. I was in the wrong, so I will be the one to do it. Stella called me on my bullshit, and I am going to make changes going forward. I hope that she will hear what I am about to say to her and that it ends up helping to heal our relationship.

"Wait! Alpha Cole, you do not have to call the start of the third round. I concede defeat, Stella. I got the message, I got too cocky with my attitude. I disrespected you as my sister, and Raven as well, and I wanted to tell you both that I was wrong for doing it. I will not let us continue to fight with each other. I am sorry I got mad and tried to hurt you earlier Stella. I let my anger get the better of me and I wanted to lash out as you were much more skilled than I thought you were. I don't want to finish the fight, as one or both of us could really get hurt. I submit you won the fight in two rounds. I want to tell you how proud I am of you. You surprised the hell out of me, and I am quite sure, the whole crowd as well. I am impressed with your level of skill, and after I heal, I want you to train me to fight like that too" I told my baby sister, and surprise covered her face. I could tell that she didn't want to continue the fight either but didn't want to call it just yet. She wanted me to admit defeat, to know that she was going to hang with me just as far as I was willing to go.

"You are a strong fighter Joshua, but you need to remember that just because I am a female, it doesn't make me or anyone else weak. I don't have to go around fighting to show my strength. You gave me a run for my money though, and it was a good match" my sister said and grinned at me. I limped up to her to give her a hug, and I can see the relief on our parent's faces.

I gave Stella another hug and said, "I guess I haven't been paying very much attention to you the last 2 years, I never realized that my hanging out with the guys resulted in me just leaving you by yourself. I will do better by you, Stella, I promise you. I didn't mean to do it, I just got busy, and then wanted to hang out with the guys. I am actually sorry for getting the crowd here too. I came here thinking that I was going to teach you a lesson and ended up getting taught one myself. You were right, I won't make that mistake again. I promise I am a changed man, I swear" I told her, and I saw her eyes shining like she was going to cry. Thankfully, my parents grabbed us to hug me, and Stella, and then trade us off to hug the other and she managed to fight off the tears at hearing my words. "I can see that I was right to have Stella help train Raven, I just didn't know how right I was to have made that decision. Stella, I was not aware you were that good of a fighter. I am so glad that she will learn to defend herself with your help. I already knew that it will help Raven to grow in confidence, but I had no idea that you had gotten to this level. Turns out I was worried for nothing. I knew that you both had received injuries, and that was why I got the doctor out here. That way, he could set Joshua's nose for Hawk to be able to heal him. I know he would be mad if his face was permanently re-arranged by his little sister. I can't wait for lunch after you both get checked out. I want to find out exactly how you came to be such a force to be reckoned with when no one else knew about it" Alpha Cole told us.

The doctor checked us both out and said that we were going to be sore for about a day, and our wolves would heal us as we didn't have serious injuries. We walked back to the packhouse, with Stella talking excitedly to Raven the whole way. We grabbed our food and ate quickly, as we all wanted to find out how Stella became such a good fighter. It was like she was suddenly a whole different she-wolf to me, even though she was now back to her talking, and animated, self again. Like she flipped a switch. If I hadn't been on the receiving end of it, I would have thought someone telling me my sister could take me down, would have been a hilarious joke. My parents are proud of her, hell I am proud of her, and I can see the newfound respect for her that Carter has too. I remember he gave her a hard time of it because Courtney complained so much about it, but I know now that Stella had to have pulled her punches.

She could have really seriously hurt all three of them, and they need to call themselves lucky for her going easy on them. Courtney also needs to make sure to leave my sister alone, from now on. I will make sure she gets that message tomorrow during the training session. I will let her, and her crew, all know that if they want another run-in with my sister, she won't be alone against them ever again. That should do it, and I should have done it when it argument had originally happened. I know my sister, and she is a nice person. Clearly, Courtney and her minions crossed the line, which resulted in the fight. I ended up failing Stella, I had graduated, and I didn't think it would look good for me to be involved with high school problems anymore. It won't happen again. Carter was in his senior year with them, and he had told me he dealt with it. He had believed what the girls said, as it was 3 against 1. He made a mistake too. For his sake, I hope he apologizes to Stella on his own, or else I will have to have a talk with him about it. It is hard to own up to your mistakes, and that seems to be all that I am doing these days, but I am doing it. I think that the fight helped to point out that we were not as smart, or prepared to lead this pack, as we both thought that we were. We both have learned to not take someone's word for something but actually look into it. Neither of us will let it happen again. They were right, we aren't ready, but if we stay focused on learning what we need to, we soon will be.

Stella told us that since she was alone most of the time, she decided to go to the nearby human city and take classes. It was either that or spending most of her nights alone. She make sure to tell me, and our parents that it wasn't our fault, but we knew that it was to a certain extent. Some of the fault lay with Courtney and her friends, they had given her a hard time at school. Then Carter had kind of tied her hands with her not being able to defend herself. I saw Raven shoot a look toward Carter, and I can see his ears were red. He will apologize, but I think he will do it when it is just him and Stella. He better not drag his feet, or we will have a talk. I saw his parents give him the same look and I saw his expression, he will do it. I don't have to encourage him to do it. His eyes were full of guilt, and it was another lesson we both needed. Not to fall for pretty girls, and what they say to us. We need to watch actions, to see who people really were.

I was impressed with the number of classes that she had taken, she must have been completely fed up to need that kind of an outlet, and guilt overcomes me again. None of us had known. She had just started taking off after she got her car at 16 years old. She would disappear and come back a few hours later. She must have worked through her anger and frustration by doing that. Dad was busy a lot of the time, mom is busy too with her own work needing to be done, as well as, assisting Luna Olivia. Neither one of them noticed, and I didn't either. But I will make it right for her. I will make plans so we can go and do things like we used to. If I had to be beaten by anyone, I am proud that my sister was the one to do it. I lean back and watch her as she talks to Raven I have to wonder if she held back on me or gave me the beating I deserved. I suddenly have a suspicion that she held back on me, not wanting to hurt me, and that makes me smile. Maybe after she trains me, we can do this fight again, so she won't have to hold back anymore.