Chapter 19

I have been trying to avoid Britta since the incident. Only the Moon Goddess knows what she is plotting now.

"Kate, are you avoiding me?"

Oh, Moon Goddess, I hope that's not Britta. Since my senses have dulled, I can't tell who is who by scent. I slowly turn around.

"Oh, Lillian, what are you doing here?" I asked, letting go of the breath I had been holding.

Did I also mention I have been avoiding everyone? Yep, my new mission is to make sure no one sees me like this.

What a stupid question. This is her home; that's what she's doing here. I can't believe I am so scared of Britta.

"Sorry, I meant to say how are you doing?" I say, laughing nervously.

"Are you okay ?" she asked, staring at me suspiciously.

"Yes, why would you think I am not okay? I look fine, right? You must be seeing wrong because I am actually fine. Look at me. I am perfectly fine. Don't worry about me. You are hilarious. Why would you think that—" I say in one breath.

"Kate!" she yells, getting my attention.

"What?" I say, breathing heavily.

"You kept ranting. I was just asking because you look sick and kind of scared. If I didn't know you better, I would think you are hiding something life-threatening," she says, giving me a look.

Dammit, I really need to get my act together.

"Sorry, I am just tired after training this morning," I lied, thinking of ways to escape this situation.

"No worries. I was looking for you because we are going to Becca's home. She says she needs our help on something," she says, walking past me.

"Where are you girls going?" comes the annoying voice of no one other than Lawrence.

"As you can see, your highness, we are on our way to see Becca, " I say mockingly, trying to act strong and unfazed.

"Okay, you can go, but be back later in the afternoon for the training today," he says, walking away maybe to his office. I don't care.

"What a rude asshole," I say, glaring at his back while Lillian chuckles.

We arrived at Becca's home, or more like Ethan and Becca's home, because he lives here more than he lives at the mansion.

I knock on the door until we hear footsteps coming towards the door.

Ethan opens the door, standing in all his handsome glory with only his sweatpants his waist hugging loosely.

"Look at those abs. I could run my hand on them all day," Lillian says, licking her lips to make Becca jealous, and it worked because we heard a loud growl coming from inside.

"Get your eyes off my mate, Lillian," she snarls.

"Chill, girl. I was only joking. You don't have to be jealous. I have Anderson, remember?" Lillian says, laughing.

"I love when you get all possessive," Ethan says, kissing Becca on the lips and making me look anywhere but them.

"So, Ethan, no training today ?" I ask, sitting on the couch with Lillian.

The house has a welcoming feeling thanks to the bright colors in beautiful designs. Becca was known for her creativity.

"No, because there is a fighting defense later this afternoon," he says, bringing Becca to sit on his lap.

"Fighting defense?" I'd never heard of that.

"It's an event where you are allowed to fight against any werewolf, except the Alpha King, Luna Queen, Royal Beta, and Royal Gamma," Becca says casually.

I reply with a nod.

"Why did you ask us to come here ?" I ask suspiciously.

The last time Becca called us like this was to ask us to pick a dress for her date with Ethan, so I am guessing this involves Ethan.

"Let's go to my room, and I'll tell you the reason why," she says nervously.

We get to her room, which is as colorfully decorated as the living room.

"So, what is it, Becca? You look nervous," Lillian says, sitting on her bed.

"You see, girls, tomorrow is my first heat. But, because we have yet to complete the mate bond, I don't know what to do," she says, fiddling with the hem of her dress.

"Are you ready to complete it or not?" I ask.

"I don't know. I'm confused. You know, I think I love him, but I don't know if he is ready yet," she says, looking scared and confused.

"He loves you. I can see it in his eyes. You are his mate, his other half. Don't be scared. Just tell him if you are ready; that's all," Lillian says, trying to calm her down.

"Can I ask you this question, Lillian?" Becca says, taking a breath.

"Yeah, sure," says Lillian.

"How does the heat feel? Does it hurt?" she asks.

"Yes, it hurts badly. It's like you are dying," she explains. "During my first heat, Anderson went out for a pack meeting."

"How did you cope?" Becca asks.

"My mum helped me by locking me in my room, and it also my fault Anderson was not there because I refused to tell him, thinking I could survive it, but he later came, and we had our first time," Lillian says, blushing.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Becca says, glaring playfully at Lillian.

"It slipped my mind. So, Kate, have you experienced your heat yet?" Lillian asks, shifting the attention towards me.

"N-not yet," I say awkwardly. "But, let's go. It's almost time for the fighting defense," I say, leaving Becca's room.

"Kate, you can't avoid this forever," Becca says, following me down the stairs.

"I hope I can," I mumble to myself.

We get down to see Ethan already dressed to leave with a white T-shirt and black jeans and his hair wet from his shower.

" Are you girls ready to go?" he asks, walking towards us.

"Yes," Becca says, hugging him from the side.

We arrived at the open field to find a place filled with women, men, and children running around, shouting and playing.

"Kate!" comes the high-pitched voice of Britta.

After trying to avoid her all day, here she is, standing in front of me.

"What do you need, Britta?" I ask, trying to sound as calm as possible.

She walks toward me until her mouth is close enough to my ear.

"Watch your back, Kate. You won't know what hits you," she says softly in my ear.

She walks away, smiling evilly at me.

"What was that?" Becca asks suspiciously.

"Nothing. Just one of her dry jokes, I hope," I mumble the last part to myself.

She looks at me for a few seconds before walking away to join Lillian and Anderson.

"Everyone, the fight is about to start, so all fighters come down here to write your names and your opponent's names, and we can start," says Lawrence in his Alpha King voice.

People walk down to write their names. I love to fight, but I am too weak to fight right now. I would just make a fool of myself.

"How are you doing, Kate ?" Ma asks, looking for any injuries on me.

"I'm okay, Ma. You don't have to worry," I say.

"Just be careful of that Britta girl," she says.

"Ye—" I was cut off by a sharp pain in my midsection, making me hiss.

Ma notices and looks at me warily.

"You okay, dear?"

"Yes, I a—" I hiss again as the pain gets worse.

"You can go rest. I give you permission to leave," she says, reasoning with me.

I look around, seeing the fighters have started getting ready.

"No, I prefer sitting on that bench over there," I say, pointing towards a bench at the end on the field where people were sitting to watch the fight unfold.

I walk there slowly with Ma's help.

I keep turning, trying to reduce the immense pain I feel, but it keeps getting worse.

"I will be back, okay? Mathias asked me to get something for him. You have to stay here," she says, pleading while looking at her phone. She's always with Mathias, which is a good thing. She needs love in her life. They aren't mates, but I wish they were.

I just nod my head at her.

I can not concentrate on anything, only on the pain that refuses to go away.

I don't know how long I stayed like this, but I hear my name announced by Jack.

"The next fight is between Britta and Kate, so can the fighters come up here?"

I was beyond shocked. How can she do this? She knows I am too weak to defend myself. This is so like her.

"Kate, your fight is starting now!" Jack yells at me with confusion in his eyes.

I try my best to walk into the fighting circle. An evil smile appears on Britta's face, enjoying my predicament.

"I will make you submit to me and show everybody here how I am better than you," she says, smirking.

"I will never submit to you," I say with determination, meaning every word of it because I will never let her put me down, not even at my weakest.

"Trust me, you will," she says, smiling.

"Okay, let the fight begin," Jack announces.

I glance towards Lawrence, seeing him already staring at me. I look into his eyes, begging him to end this fight and see I am too weak to do this, but he just gives me a blank stare and looks away.

The pain returns but more painfully.

Before I could steady myself, Britta attacked me, knocking the air out of me and making me stumble backward.

She jumps on me, punching me all over my face. I know this will leave a lot of bruises because I am too weak to heal faster.

She kept punching and kicking, almost taking the hair off my head.

"Submit, you slut" she yells in my face.

I laugh, spitting blood from my mouth.

"You are the slut here, Britta. Don't worry, I am not trying to take your position," I say, pushing her off me.

She growls, slapping me across my cheek. It stings so bad I feel like crying.

The fight continues with her continuing to tell me to submit. Doesn't she get it? I will never submit to her.

"King Lawrence, stop this fight, please," my grandma cries.

What is she doing?

"I can't, Alex, until one of them submits," he says coldly.

"Can't you see she too weak to defend herself? She is not even healing as she should. You can ask Lillian," she says, holding Lillian's hand for her to say something.

"She's right, Lawrence. She has been sick for three days now. Me and Becca have tried to get her to go see the pack doctor, but she refuses, and this is the reason Britta took that opportunity to set a fight between them," she says, glaring at Britta with disdain.

"Don't listen to her. She just trying to save Kate from losing," she growls, letting me get air into my lungs.

He stares silently at the scene in front of him with a thoughtful look.

"Okay, this fight is postponed until Kate is in a position to fight," he says while Britta walks away angrily but not after kicking me in the stomach.

I was so relieved. Lawrence dismisses everyone to their various homes, leaving the Royals.

We need to get you to the pack doctor immediately. You are losing a lot of blood," Lillian says, rushing towards me with tears in her eyes.

I push myself up, bearing the pain in doing so.

"Okay, let's—" I was cut off by the pain in my midsection.

I fell, screaming.

"It hurts so bad!" I screamed again. "Please, make it stop!" I plead, fighting the tears.

"What's wrong?" Lawrence asks, looking at me with concern.

I screamed, trying to get up but could not because of the pain.

I've never experienced pain like this before. Ma always says every full moon, my wolf goes to meet with the Moon Goddess. This is a sign she left, but it has never hurt this way.