Chapter 17 But Do I Want To?

Chapter 17 But Do I Want To?
I slowly stepped into the ring, my chest heaving as the instructor helped Knox up. Apart from a deep cut on the side of his lower lip, he looked perfectly fine.

His eyes met mine as he stopd, and for a second, he blocked my view of Alpha Eros, his lips parting. 

"Don't do it," he whispered, his voice low. "He will kill you."

I nodded. "I know. Just be safe, Knox."

"Kian."

"Please leave the ring, Knox River," the instructor said, his voice steely. "Now."

Knox let out an exasperated sigh, then stepped out of the ring, but like he couldn't bring himself to fully leave, he stuck by the edge of the ring, his eyes set on the scene before him.

Through all of this Alpha Eros was quiet, his fingers wrapped delicately around a bottle of water, his eyes set on the gloves he was wearing.

I picked up the gloves that Knox had been wearing, then gently wrapped them around my hand.

"Set?" The instructor asked, and I slowly nodded.

It was Alpha Eros' cue, and he immediately straightened, his free hand pushing his hair back as he tossed the water away.

"We are going to start again. Use your best attack technique, new student."

"My name is Kian," I retorted, and the instructor simply rolled his eyes.

"Let's start. Attack, new student."

I immediately tightened my fists, then tried to adjust my stance.

"Students, this is the perfecr example of a very bad posture," the instructor suddenly said, and I turned, my chest heaving. "The boy looks like a child about to fight a giant, and he still left all of his vital weak points unprotected. Isn't that foolish?"

I blinked, a wave of disappointment and fury filling me up. The entire hall that had been quiet with grim silence suddenly filled with laughter, and I stood there, my hands now on both my sides, my eyes trained to the floor.

It felt like I was staring at my brother's grave all over again, and everyone around me laughed at it. At us. It broke something inside of me.

"Shut the fuck up," Eros's voice suddenly came, filling the entire hall.

The reaction was instant, and his lips had barely touched back by the time pin drop silence fell on the hall again.

I slowly looked up, and he was looking at me, his eyes unreadable, his expression still so neutral that I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Without another word, he removed his gloves, then took a step towards me.

"Don't you dare pity me," I said, fixing my posture, my hands tightening into fists as I brought them in front of me.

"Who says I am fucking pitying you?" He said, covering the distance. "Your posture is all wrong."

This time, no one laughed, and I swallowed, my hands still in front of me.

He grabbed my hands, then put them up on either side of my face, close to my eyes. His eyes held mine for a second, before he looked down, then pushed my left leg backwards, and forced me to bend my knees a little.

"This would avail you to my stomach, chin, and my legs. You can choose the one you believe would make me the weakest."

His voice was low, and I knew for sure no one else could hear what he was saying to me. I looked up, my teeth clenched hard together.

"We know it's none of them. You could kill me of you want to."

"You are correct," he said, leaning to me. 

I felt my breath hitch in my throat as he bent to my height, his hands going on his knees to keep him stable. His breath filtered with mine, his lips a mere inch away, his eyes holding mine.

I struggled to breathe, to think, to even form a logical statement, but nothing worked.

He scented like a mix of heaven and hell, like a fallen angel that was only half doomed.

He turned slowly to me, till the distance between us was so tiny that if I wanted, I could recreate last night by just turning a little.

And maybe it was the desperation to not recreate it that forced me to keep my face straightforward, like he was still trying to attack me.

"But do I want to?" He asked, his voice so low that it caressed my skin more than I heard it.

I turned to him, and his eyes lowered to my lips, before he broke into a smile.

His smile was a cross between danger and beauty, and I could see why people pick roses knowing very well that they had thorns.

He brought a hand and gently tapped my face twice, before moving away. I watched as he turned and walked out of the ring, murmuring something about being too tired to continue today to the instructor. 

I stood there, breath held, my face turned towards where he had been, my chest heaving lightly. My wolf was going crazy, but my nails were weak, and I could not bring myself to move.

"We shall continue the duelling lessons next Thursday! This evening, we will have the sports, so do not miss the announcement."

I heard the students start to troop out of the hall, but I was still stuck there, my eyes replaying his smile over and over again, my body refusing to corporate with me.

"Kian?" Knox said, jumping into the ring.

I managed to turn to look at him, my lips parting slowly. "He..." I managed to say, before the sound of footsteps turned to white noise, the lights above me blurred, and all of a sudden, everything went pitch black.