Chapter 73 Trial by Combat
Victor was faster than young Sera expected.
He crossed the thirty feet between them in seconds, his body shifting partially as he moved. Claws extending. Muscles bulging. Eyes flashing gold with his wolf’s presence.
Young Sera barely had time to react. She threw herself sideways, feeling Victor’s claws whistle past her face close enough to feel the air displacement. If she had been a fraction slower, he would have taken her head off with that first strike.
The watching Alphas murmured. Impressed that she had dodged. But one dodge meant nothing. She needed to survive hundreds of strikes.
Open the bond, Kael’s voice came through their connection. Now. Before he adjusts to your speed.
Young Sera reached for the deep bond they had practised. Dove into that merged space where she and Kael became one consciousness. And suddenly the world shifted.
Her senses sharpened. Her reaction time increased. She could feel Kael’s combat instincts overlaying her own thoughts, guiding her movements before her conscious mind registered the need to move.
Victor struck again, aiming for her midsection. But Kael’s instincts screamed danger and young Sera was already spinning away, the silver knife in her hand lashing out as she moved. She felt the blade connect with Victor’s ribs, cutting shallow but drawing blood.
First blood to her. The watching Alphas reacted with shocked whispers.
Victor looked surprised. Then angry. He had expected this to be quick. Expected to overpower her in seconds and walk away free. Her surviving his first two strikes and landing a counter meant she was more dangerous than he anticipated.
“Clever,” Victor said, circling her slowly. “Using Kael’s bond to enhance your abilities. Borderline illegal but technically permissible as long as he does not physically interfere.”
He was fishing. Trying to determine if his suspicion about the bond was correct. Young Sera said nothing. Let him wonder.
Victor attacked again, this time with a combination. High strike to draw her guard up, then low sweep to take out her legs. It was a classic move. Something any trained fighter would recognise.
But Kael had seen it thousands of times. His instincts guided young Sera to jump the sweep while bringing her knife down toward Victor’s exposed back.
Victor rolled at the last second, her blade missing by inches. He came up fast, backhanding her across the face with enough force to send her sprawling.
Young Sera hit the ground hard, tasting blood. Pain exploded across her cheekbone where Victor’s knuckles had connected. If he had used his claws instead of his fist, she would be dead.
He was toying with her. Proving he could hit her whenever he wanted. Establishing dominance before the kill.
Get up, Kael’s voice commanded through the bond. Get up now or he will finish this.
Young Sera rolled to her feet, ignoring the pain. Her face throbbed but nothing was broken. She could still fight.
Victor came at her again, not giving her time to recover. A flurry of strikes, each one potentially lethal. Young Sera dodged and blocked, using Kael’s experience to read Victor’s attack patterns. But she was getting tired already. The bond merger was burning energy faster than her body could replenish it. She could feel herself slowing.
Victor noticed. His strikes became more aggressive. More confident. He was wearing her down deliberately, knowing she could not maintain this pace.
Young Sera’s foot slipped on blood from the cut she had given Victor. She went down on one knee, her guard dropping for just a moment.
Victor’s claws raked across her shoulder, tearing through fabric and flesh. Young Sera screamed as pain seared through her. Deep cuts. Bleeding heavily. Her left arm was suddenly weak and barely functional.
The watching Alphas leaned forward. This was it. The killing blow was coming.
Victor moved in for the finish, his claws aimed at young Sera’s exposed throat.
Anchor points, Kael’s voice was desperate in her mind. Grab your anchor points or you are going to die.
Young Sera reached for the first anchor. Her grandmother’s voice. The way it had sounded in dreams and visions. Warm and strong and certain that young Sera was worthy of love.
You are stronger than you know. You just have to remember it.
The memory steadied her. Reminded her who she was beneath the pain and fear.
She grabbed the second anchor. The feeling of stabbing her father. The moment she had chosen violence to protect Maya. That decision had been hers alone. No one else’s. It proved she could act when necessary. Could do terrible things for the right reasons.
Victor’s claws were inches from her throat.
Young Sera grabbed the third anchor. Kai. The boy who loved her without needing her to be anything except herself. Who saw her as a person, not a prophecy or a position. Who would mourn her genuinely if she died here?
The three anchors snapped into place and young Sera remembered who she was. Not just Kael’s mate. Not just a vessel for his combat experience. She was Sera. Granddaughter of a Luna Queen. Survivor of eighteen years of abuse. The girl who had refused the Void Lords.
And she was not done fighting.
Young Sera twisted at the last possible second, Victor’s claws missing her throat and tearing through empty air instead. She brought her knife up in a desperate strike, aiming for his inner thigh where Garrett had taught her the femoral artery ran close to the surface.
The silver blade sank deep into Victor’s leg.
He roared with pain and rage, stumbling backwards. Blood poured from the wound, far more than the shallow cut to his ribs. Young Sera had hit something vital.
Victor looked down at his leg, at the blood streaming down it, and his expression shifted from confident to concerned. The silver was preventing rapid healing. He was actually hurt. Actually bleeding out faster than his wolf could repair the damage.
“You little—” Victor snarled, coming at her again despite his injured leg. But his movements were slower now. Less coordinated. The blood loss was affecting him.
Young Sera scrambled away, buying time. Her shoulder screamed with every movement but she forced herself to keep moving. Keep creating distance. Let Victor’s wound weaken him further.
“Stand and fight,” Victor demanded. “Stop running like a coward.”
But running was smart. Running kept her alive. She circled the arena, watching Victor limp after her, his leg giving out slightly with each step.
The watching Alphas were fully engaged now. This was not going the way anyone expected. The weak omega was actually surviving. Actually hurting the experienced Alpha warrior. Some Alphas were cheering. Others looked disturbed.
Marcus Blackwood, who had been brought from medical care to witness this, watched with an expression young Sera could not read. Was he hoping she would die? Or had some part of him that remembered being a father awakened enough to want her survival?
Young Sera would never know. And in this moment, she did not care.
Victor charged again, trying to use his superior size and strength to overcome his injured leg. Young Sera met the charge this time instead of dodging. It was risky. Possibly suicidal. But Kael’s instincts told her that Victor expected her to run again. Expected her to stay defensive.
So she attacked.
She ducked under Victor’s strike and drove her shoulder into his wounded leg, using her entire body weight to destabilise him. Victor’s leg buckled and he went down hard, crashing to the ground.
Young Sera was on him immediately, her knife aimed at his throat.
But Victor was not finished. Even wounded and bleeding, he was still a dangerous Alpha. He caught her wrist before the blade could connect, his grip crushing. Young Sera felt bones grinding together, felt her hand starting to go numb.
She did what Lyra had taught her. Abandoned honour completely.
She bit Victor’s arm. Hard. Tearing into flesh with her teeth like a wild animal. Her omega wolf surges forward to help, lending strength to her jaw.
Victor screamed and released her wrist. Young Sera rolled away, her hand throbbing but still functional. She could still hold the knife.
They both struggled to their feet, circling each other again. Both are bleeding now. Both hurt. Both exhausted.
But Victor was hurt worse. His leg was still bleeding heavily. His face had gone pale from blood loss. He was weakening faster than young Sera was.
“Surrender,” young Sera said, her voice rough. “You cannot win this. Surrender and accept imprisonment instead of death.”
“Never,” Victor spat blood. “I will not surrender to a child. Will not give you the satisfaction.”
“Then you will die. Because I am not stopping. I am not giving up. I will keep fighting until one of us is dead.”
“So be it.”
Victor gathered himself for one final attack. Young Sera could see it in his eyes. He was going to throw everything he had left into this strike. All or nothing. Kill her or die trying.
Be ready, Kael warned through the bond. This is the moment. He makes his final play.
Victor roared and charged, his claws extended, his partially shifted form bulging with muscle and desperation. He was faster than he should have been given his injuries. Stronger than someone who had lost that much blood had any right to be.
He was magnificent and terrible and about to kill her if she made even one mistake.
Young Sera did not make a mistake.
She waited until the last possible second. Let Victor commit fully to his strike. Let him get close enough that he could not adjust or change direction.
Then she dropped to the ground and rolled forward, going under his attack instead of trying to block or dodge sideways.
Victor’s momentum carried him over her. He tried to stop, to turn, to recover his balance. But his injured leg failed him completely.
He went down hard, sprawling on the arena floor.
And young Sera was already moving. Already bringing her silver knife up. Already driving it toward the one target that would end this fight permanently.
The blade sank into Victor Kane’s back. Between his ribs. Straight into his heart.
Victor gasped. Coughed blood. Looked at young Sera with wide, shocked eyes. He had not believed she could actually do it. Had not believed an eighteen-year-old omega with two weeks of training could kill him.
But she had.
“The Northern Kingdom sends its regards,” young Sera whispered. “Isabelle is avenged.”
Victor tried to speak but only blood came out. His eyes dimmed. His body went still.
He was dead.
The arena was completely silent.
Young Sera stood over Victor’s body, blood covering her clothes, her shoulder torn open, her face bruised and swelling. She looked like she had been through a war.
She had.
And she had won.
Richard Stone stood slowly, his elderly face showing profound shock. “Victor Kane is dead. Luna Queen Sera is victorious. By the laws of trial by combat, justice is served.”
The watching Alphas erupted into noise. Some cheering. Some arguing. Some simply stared in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
Young Sera barely heard them. The bond with Kael was still open, still merged, and she could feel him trying to pull her back to herself. Trying to separate their consciousness before the merger became permanent.
She grabbed her anchor points again. Grandmother’s voice. Stabbing her father. Kai’s love. The three things that made her uniquely herself.
The bond began to separate. Kael’s combat instincts are retreating. His wolf is withdrawing. The boundaries between them are reforming.
Young Sera was herself again. Completely herself. Exhausted and hurt and traumatized but herself.
She stumbled toward where her pack sat. Kael was already moving, catching her before she fell. Kai appeared on her other side, supporting her weight.
“You did it,” Kael said, his voice rough with emotion. “You actually did it. You survived.”
“Is he dead?” young Sera asked, even though she knew the answer. “Is it really over?”
“He is dead. You killed him. It is over.”
Young Sera looked back at Victor’s body. The man who had murdered Isabelle. Who had tried to destroy the Northern Kingdom. Who had nearly killed young Sera in this arena.
She should feel triumphant. Should feel vindicated. Should feel something other than hollow exhaustion.
But all she felt was tired.
So impossibly tired.
Mora appeared with her medical kit, immediately examining young Sera’s shoulder. “Deep lacerations. Muscle damage. Possible nerve damage. We need to get her to proper medical facilities immediately.”
“Can you stabilise her here?” Kael asked.
“For now. But she needs surgery within hours or she will lose function in that arm permanently.”
Mora began working, cleaning and bandaging the worst of young Sera’s injuries. Maya appeared with water and something for the pain. Lyra and Garrett formed a protective barrier around them, keeping the other Alphas at a distance.
Richard Stone approached carefully. “Luna Queen Sera, what you just accomplished was extraordinary. You have my deepest respect. And my apologies for doubting your legitimacy earlier. You have proven beyond any question that you are worthy of your position.”
Young Sera nodded, too tired to form words.
“The summit is concluded,” Richard continued. “Victor Kane’s crimes are answered. Marcus Blackwood awaits trial for his own offences. The Northern Kingdom’s leadership is secure. You are free to return home.”
Home. The word sounded beautiful. Young Sera wanted nothing more than to leave this place. To return to the Northern Kingdom. To sleep for a week and forget that any of this happened.
But one thing remained unfinished.
“My father,” young Sera said, her voice hoarse. “I want to see him before we leave.”
“Sera, you do not have to—” Kael started.
“I need to. Need to say something to him. Need to finish this.”
They brought Marcus to her, still in restraints, still pale from his own injuries. He looked at young Sera with an expression that was impossible to read.
Young Sera stood despite the pain, facing her father one final time.
“You told me I was worthless,” she said quietly. “Told me I would never amount to anything. Told me I only had value if I could be sold or used by someone more important than me.”
Marcus said nothing. Just stared at her with those cold eyes.
“You were wrong. I am Luna Queen. I just killed one of the most dangerous Alphas in werewolf society. I have a pack that loves me. Friends who would die for me. A mate who sees me as an equal. I have everything you said I would never have. Everything you tried to take from me.”
She stepped closer, ignoring the warnings from her pack.
“And you have nothing. No pack. No family. No respect. Just a cell where you will spend whatever time you have left before execution. You destroyed yourself by trying to destroy me. And I want you to know that. Want you to understand that I won. Completely and permanently won.”
Marcus’s face twisted with rage. He lunged forward despite his restraints, trying one final time to hurt her.
But young Sera did not flinch. Did not step back. Just stood there, unmoved, while guards pulled Marcus away.
“Goodbye, father,” she said. “I hope whatever comes next for you is exactly what you deserve.”
Marcus was dragged away, shouting threats and curses that young Sera did not bother listening to. He was nothing. Less than nothing. A man who had destroyed his own daughter and paid the price for it.
He could not hurt her anymore.
Would never hurt anyone again.
Young Sera turned back to her pack. To the people who actually mattered. “Take me home. Please. I just want to go home.”
They left the neutral territory within the hour. Young Sera sat in the vehicle between Kael and Kai, her shoulder bandaged, her body aching, her mind replaying the fight over and over.
She had killed Victor Kane. Had stabbed him through the heart. Had watched him die.
She was a Luna Queen who had defended her position through trial by combat.
She was a survivor who had finally escaped her father’s shadow completely.
She was young Sera, eighteen years old, exhausted and traumatized and somehow still breathing.
And she was going home.
To heal. To rest. To figure out who she was now that all the immediate threats were handled.
The Northern Kingdom waited. Her grandmother’s legacy waited. A future young Sera had never imagined waiting.
But for now, she just closed her eyes and let herself be carried home.
She had fought enough for one day.
Tomorrow she would begin the real work of being Luna Queen.
Tonight, she just needed to survive.
And she had.
Against all odds, she had survived.