"Greetings, my dear Velarians!" Gillen got to his feet, his hands reaching up to request silence, and he spoke from a place of tremendous pride. Within seconds, the entire arena was deafeningly quiet. "Tonight, I present to you two of my finest champions in a showdown for your entertainment and enjoyment. Our revered champion, Makani, will take on Alexander from the Other World."
The crowd erupted in unrivaled and barbarous glee.
"Let the game begin!" Gillen beamed at the reaction. With Kara by his side, the arena held its breath as the gate on the left opened and Makani stepped out.
"*Makani*!" The spectators chanted, and as they drew closer to getting what they craved, the roaring increased in volume to dizzying heights.
The seasoned champion was the first one to leave his gate and enter the arena. He was a huge man, standing at 6'4 and covered in scars, with large muscles and gleaming golden armor on his wrists and shoulders. He donned a red loincloth and no boots, and the crowd adored him.
Then, everyone in the arena broke into a roar when the massive door on the far left slowly rose dramatically. A mixture of boos and cheers could be heard when Alex made his way inside the arena in a brown loincloth and nothing else. He wasn't as tall as Makani, at 6'2, but he was equally muscular. And in spite of the jeers hurled at him by spectators, he made his way to the center of the arena and ignored them.
People began to pound their feet on the ground as soon as the two warriors were positioned on either side of the arena.
"Good luck to both fighters. May the best champion triumph." The Master Presenter declared, and Alex and Makani instantly transformed into their wolf forms.
The stadium erupted into gasps and whispers when they saw Alex in his wolf form, which was strikingly similar to Lucas'.
"Are they related?" Kara asked Gillen, who merely smiled.
From the ground, both Makani and Alex launched themselves at each other. The crowd cheered when Makani swung his claws at Alex's head, but the latter ducked under his huge arm and slashed its sharp claws into his arm, which was covered in brown thick fur. I significant amount of blood spewed across the arena's dirt.
Alex smoothly rose to his feet and turned to see that the hit to Makani's arm had drawn a lot of blood. But he was slightly taken aback by the fact that his strike had almost no effect. The larger brown wolf had not even flinched in pain as blood dripped from his fingertips and onto the ground.
Makani roared, flashing his sharp, ragged teeth, before charging at Alex once more. Fortunately for Makani this time, he managed to strike a punch to Alex's jaw.
Alex flew across the arena and landed hard enough on the dirt to send him tumbling. He grunted and got up again, wiping the blood from his mouth.
Without wasting time, Makani made quick work of Alex, leaping over him and landing in a roll on the other side of him before getting up. He slid to a halt and then pivoted to try charging once more. But as he continued to charge forward, Alex was able to whirl around and thrust his claws into his stomach, puncturing it completely. Ignoring the gash and pain, he continued to charge forward until Alex was wedged between him and the arena's dividing wall.
The larger wolf curled his clawed hands around Alex's neck. While lifting Alex off his feet and holding him up against the wall by the throat, he began to crush him forcefully.
Gillen and Kara were standing on the edge of their viewing box to get a better view of the battle as the audience went wild, believing Makani would win.
Makani growled wickedly at Alex, but he didn't realize that pushing Alex against the wall provided the other champion with the perfect opportunity to kick him in the face and knock him backward, so he let go of him.
The crowd gasped as Makani lurched backward, grabbing his face and groaning, while Alex fell to the ground, gasping for air.
Though he was knocked down, Makani didn't stay down for long. He was bleeding profusely from a huge and deep gash in his face. Digging his feet into the ground, Alex sought desperately for an opportunity to knock down the beast in front of him. A moment after Makani lumbered forward in an attempt to catch him, he skidded in the dirt and spun around to charge at Makani.
Just as the crowd was beginning to comprehend what was happening, Alex sprang into the air and swung his claws. Makani's chest spewed with blood, and droplets splattered across the floor.
Upon landing, Alex stood and turned to face Makani, who was writhing in agony, struggling to keep his balance. He trod over to Makani and roared before striking the defeated wolf hard across its face. The crowd stared in horrified stillness. Wounded and defeated, the Makani sank to its knees and then onto its stomach.
Screaming and applause flared up from the audience.
The stadium fell silent once more when the Master Present made a gesture with his hand. "Velarians, our champion, Alexander!"
'Alexander! Alexander! Alexander!' The audience was chanting in celebration as the sun slipped behind the stadium.
Returning to The Casa, Gillen paraded Alex and was greeted with applause and flooded with congratulations from the other fighters and servants. Afterward, when it was dark and the moon and stars shone brightly, Alex was summoned. In contrast to Makani, who would require at least a week to heal, he only had bruises and minor cuts to deal with.
"What does Gillen want right now? I won the fight. I think I deserve a good night's sleep," he said to Libby, who was walking ahead of him.
Libby came to a halt and waited for him to take a step forward. She turned to face him, her eyes darting about to see if anyone was looking. When she was certain that they were alone, she said, "It's not Gillen."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember Kara? She's come to collect on the services she's paid for."
Alex took a couple steps back. "No. Tell Gillen to go fuck himself. It's not going to happen. I'm not going to be with that woman. I can't do that to Harper. Gillen will have to kill me."
Libby rushed at him, seizing his hand. "Gillen will not kill you. He's a lot smarter than that. But he will not hesitate to do terrible things to Harper. Listen..." she said as she drew closer to Alex.
"What are you doing?"
She reached inside her cleavage and pulled something out. "Here." She hands a vial to Alex.
Alex stared at the liquid in the vial, which resembled an egg white. "What is that?"
"Pour that into Kara's wine."
"But what exactly is this? What－"
"You'll thank me later. Go! She's in the first private guest room, waiting for you." Libby hurried out.
Alex made his way over to the room, the vial in his hand covertly gripped in his. When he arrived, the room was crammed with pillows on a carpeted floor. A table in the corner was laden with fruits and wine.
"There you are," Kara said, lounging on a sofa with a cup of wine in her hand. "Come here. Don't be shy now."
Alex walked over to the table. He took a cup and slowly poured wine into it. He looked over at Kara, who was now in the middle of the bed, staring at him. "Um... could you perhaps pick up a couple of pillows for me? Put them on the bed."
Kara furrowed her brows, perplexed by the unexpected request, as well as offended by being told to do something. "Excuse me?" Am I your servant? I paid for you to fuck me, not to boss me around."
"Disobedient won't give you multiple orgasms. And if you want to get fucked senseless, do as I say," Alex replied firmly.
Kara gasped in disbelief.
"What are you waiting for? You have to earn a mind-blowing fucking, my dear Kara."
"Oh, wow! Hmm… Okay, then." Kara got out of bed and picked up a couple of pillows from the floor.
Alex quickly turned to the table, uncapped the vial in front of him, and poured its contents into the cup.
"I've never been asked to pick up anything for anyone. But here you are... your cock better be worth it," he overheard Kara say.
Alex swirled the cup before approaching the unsuspecting Velarian woman. He stopped just a breath away from her. "And for your first reward, a glass of wine." He offered.
Kara's lips formed a sexy smile as she grabbed the cup from him. She leaned in close to him, delicately brushing her lips across his cheek. "Are you going to make me work for every pleasurable thing this evening?"
Alex drew back slightly, then cupped his hand around the left side of her face. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and he could feel it.
Kara sighed, closing her eyes at the lovely sensation he had instilled in her. As he leaned down and spoke into her ear, Alex's hand moved down her arm. "Drink up, Kara."
She blushed as she realized he was staring at her, having sensed her excitement. She lifted the cup to her lips and began to sip the wine. When she paused to say something, Alex rubbed his fingertip against her cheekbone and muttered, "I said, drink up."
And she did exactly that.
"I'm empty." She showed Alex the empty bottom of the cup. "Now it's your turn." She went over to the table and poured wine into the cup. "Here's-" she said abruptly, looking at the cup and then at Alex. "I－I…"
"Kara? What is it?"
"I'm not... sure. What... are we spinning…?"
"What? Are you all right?"
"I'm feeling..." Her vision quickly grew hazy. The world around her began to swirl, and she felt it spinning even faster. She tried to walk toward Alex, but her legs were wobbly, and her feet were unsteady with each step. "I feel -- " She stumbled and fell.
She didn't, however, fall hard. Alex moved quickly and caught her under her arms in mid-air.
"Kara?" He tried to shake her. Then he heard a faint knock on the door. "Who is it?"
"It's Libby." Is it done?" Libby asked quietly from the other side of the door.
"What do you mean?"
"Kara? Is she asleep?"
He looked down at the woman in his arms. "Well, she's not moving in my arms.
Libby burst through the door and hurried in. "Bring her to the bed."
"What's going on, Libby?"
"Put her to bed. She won't be awake until the sun comes up."
"What? What about Gillen? What if he discovers we've drugged his favorite client?"
"As long as Kara remains in this room, he will not intrude. If people just barged in here every now and then, this wouldn't be called a private room. Just make sure to return before daylight. She needs to wake up next to you so she will think you were together all night. Now get out of here and go see her!"
" See who?"
"*Harper*."