Chapter 15
Elara's POV
Sophia bounced up from the mat like she'd been electrocuted.
"That doesn't count!" Her voice cracked through the gym, high and sharp. "She used an illegal move!"
She whirled toward me, one perfectly manicured finger stabbing the air between us. "She deliberately tripped me. That's against combat rules!"
My breathing was still controlled. Steady. I kept my shoulders hunched, maintained that wide-eyed expression of someone who couldn't quite believe what had just happened.
Coach Warren's heavy footsteps approached our mat. "Leg sweeps are permitted technique, Reign. I supervised the entire match. There was no foul."
Sophia's face flushed deeper. Not the pink of exertion—the mottled red of someone whose carefully constructed image had just shattered in front of everyone.
"I just—I wasn't stable yet." Her voice trembled. Not from fear. From rage so pure it was shaking her vocal cords. "That wasn't a real takedown. I want a rematch. Right now."
Around us, the whispers started.
"Is she seriously not accepting this?"
"Sophia's actually throwing a tantrum because she lost to an Omega."
"This is embarrassing."
I watched Sophia's jaw clench. Watched her hands curl into fists at her sides. She was hearing every word, and each one was like salt in an open wound.
Her social standing was crumbling. Right here. Right now. In front of phones that were still recording.
"Reign." Coach Warren's tone shifted, gaining an edge of warning. "The result stands. Accept it and move on."
Sophia's eyes locked onto mine. The rational light in them—the careful calculation I'd seen before—was gone. Burned away by humiliation.
She lunged.
No technique. No form. Just raw aggression, her hands reaching for my face with fingers curved like claws, nails aimed at my eyes.
A blatant violation of the rules Coach Warren had just finished explaining.
My muscles tensed, ready to drop and sweep again—
A hand shot out from my left, catching Sophia's wrist mid-strike.
I jerked my head up.
Forest. Alpha. The scent of cedar and cold mountain wind.
Kael Harrington stood there, his fingers wrapped around Sophia's wrist like an iron shackle. His face was completely blank, but his voice cut through the gym with absolute authority.
"That's enough."
Sophia twisted in his grip, trying to yank free. "Let go of me! Kael, this isn't your business—"
His fingers tightened. Just slightly. Enough to make her gasp and stop struggling.
"Rules are rules, Sophia." His tone was flat. Matter-of-fact. Like he was commenting on the weather. "The coach made his judgment. You're done."
Coach Warren moved up beside him, face hard. "Harrington's right. Reign, one more outburst and you're looking at disciplinary action. Do you understand?"
The crowd had gone silent again. But this time it wasn't shock at my win—it was shock at Kael's intervention.
"Wait, that's Harrington—"
"Why the hell would he—"
"Doesn't he usually just... ignore everything?"
Someone closer to our mat hissed to their partner, voice low but audible: "I've never seen him step in like that. Not unless someone really crosses a line."
"What line? It's just Sophia being Sophia."
"Maybe he hates rule-breakers..."
I caught sight of Blythe across the gym. His jaw was tight, eyes fixed on Kael with something that looked like wariness. Maybe fear.
Sophia seemed to realize everyone was staring. Watching her lose control. Watching her need to be physically restrained.
She stopped fighting Kael's grip. Straightened. Smoothed her expression back into something resembling composure, though her chest was still heaving.
Kael released her and stepped back, retreating to the edge of the crowd. His face returned to that cold, distant mask I'd seen in the forest—the one that said he didn't give a damn about anyone or anything.
Sophia tugged her gym shirt straight with jerky movements. Tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear. When she looked at me again, her smile was back in place.
Perfect. Gracious. Utterly fake.
But her eyes were dead cold.
She leaned in close enough that only I could hear her whisper.
"I was just off today. Had a headache." Her breath was warm against my ear. "This isn't over, Grey."
Then she turned and walked off the mat with her head high, her little group of followers scrambling after her like ducklings.
Coach Warren blew his whistle. "All right, everyone back to your stations! Training's not finished!"
The crowd dispersed slowly, reluctantly, phones still out and recording as they drifted back to their own mats.
I stayed where I was for a moment, watching Kael's broad back as he moved toward the gym exit.
Why did he help me?
The question sat in my chest like a stone.
In the forest, he'd said he remembered me. But that was just a brief encounter. A few exchanged words. Nothing that would justify stepping into someone else's fight—especially not for a no-name Omega against someone from Sophia's social circle.
Unless...
I thought back to what the crowd had said. He hates rule-breakers.
Was that it? Was this purely about principle? About maintaining order?
Or was there something else?
My heart was still beating too fast. The fight with Sophia had pushed my already aching muscles to their limit, but the racing pulse right now wasn't for that reason. It was for the moment Kael's hand had appeared. From the way his voice had cut through the chaos with absolute certainty.
From the way my body had reacted when I'd looked up and seen his face.
I forced the thought down. Shoved it into the same mental box where I'd locked away the memory of his fingers on my chin in the forest. The electric jolt when our skin had touched.
Not now. Not important.
What mattered was that Sophia had just declared war. And Kael Harrington, for reasons I didn't understand, had positioned himself as an obstacle in her path.
That made things complicated.
I glanced toward the exit where he'd disappeared. The gym felt colder without his presence, even though he'd barely been near me.
"Elara!"
Chloe's voice snapped me back. She was rushing across the gym, dodging between other students still grappling on their mats.
When she reached me, her face was pale. "Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you just did?"
I blinked at her, trying to shift mental gears. "I... won?"
"You humiliated Sophia Reign in front of the entire class!" Chloe grabbed my arm, her grip surprisingly strong. "She's going to destroy you. And now Kael Harrington is involved, which means—"
"Which means what?"
Chloe's mouth opened. Closed. She looked around nervously, then lowered her voice. "I don't know. Nobody knows why he cares. But if he's paying attention to you now, that's... that's dangerous, Elara."
Dangerous.
I almost laughed.
If she only knew how many kinds of dangerous were already circling my life. Sophia Reign was the least of my problems.
But I couldn't tell her that.
So I just nodded, letting my shoulders slump like I was finally processing the magnitude of what had happened. "I know. I just... I couldn't let her keep pushing me around."
Chloe's expression softened. She squeezed my arm gently. "I get it. I do. But please, please be careful. Sophia doesn't forget. And she definitely doesn't forgive."
"I'll be careful," I lied.
Because careful meant hiding. Meant letting people like Sophia think they could do whatever they wanted.
And I was done hiding.
Coach Warren's whistle shrieked again. "Reign! Mitchell! Stop chatting and hit the showers!"
Chloe shot me one last worried look before heading toward the locker room.
I followed more slowly, my mind already moving ahead.
Sophia would retaliate. That was certain. The question was when and how.
And Kael...
I didn't know what to do about Kael.
He'd helped me today. But I'd seen the coldness in his eyes, the way he'd looked at me in the forest like I was a puzzle he couldn't quite solve.
People like him didn't help people like me out of kindness.
There was always a reason.
I just needed to figure out what it was.
Before whatever game he was playing caught me in the crossfire.