Chapter 23 Provoking her
"Hello Amara?" A male's greeting snatched my attention away.
"And you are?" I questioned. I did not expect any male here to know my name, except for the Alpha and Lyra. I was beginning to wish they did not know my name either.
"He is our assistant trainer." Lyra's shoulder pressed against mine.
"Oh I'm so sorry, hello trainer." As a daughter from a ruthless father, I lowered my head, showing my utmost respect to him. Seems to be the only one who was not a fool with power. He wasn't like the stupid Alpha and he didn't discriminate me just because I'm the daughter of their enemy.
"It's nice for you to finally join us."
"Thank you. It's nice to be here and to meet you."
He smiled at Lyra and me before he excused himself from us. He walked toward the house and disappeared into the sliding back doors.
"That's our assistant trainer? Hmm nicer than the head prick." I laughed a little with her even though it wasn’t funny at all.
"Look Amara, I know the Alpha has been an asshole to you but... ." She started but she was cut off in mid sentence immediately.
Her sentence trailed off into the morning air, swallowed by a sound that made everyone's necks snap toward the center of the field.
"Everyone listen up!" A male's dominating voice boomed across the field to catch the immediate attention of his spectators.
Speak of the devil.
I felt the phrase like a chill running down the spine; there was a taste of inevitable confrontation on the back of my tongue.A quick glance over my shoulder, I caught the eye of the Alpha. Walking onto the field, he stood towering and strong. He stood out from the other males that looked to him with high esteem and admiration. Despite that overlarge head he acquired from the title.
But he wasn’t alone. A stunning woman walked beside him, her every movement precise, graceful, commanding attention without effort. Behind them, another male followed, his presence calm and imposing the beta of the pack. The lady was no one else but Rinna.
Lyra leaned closer, her voice a low whisper against my ear. "I knew it that she had to come, this is in fact her first time to come and train with us"
I froze, the words settling like ice in my chest. She was totally different from the last time I saw her. Her skin now glowed with warmth, lips curved in that perfect, knowing smile, every step measured and alluring.
She radiated power and confidence, like a well trained shewolf.
A stab of hurt cut through me more when I thought about everything. Kael. My mate. He decided to bring her here. To flaunt her. To wound me. My wolf snarled beneath my skin, hot and feral, restless and aching with my heat. She wanted him. She needed him. She knew. And so did I, even as my chest constricted with betrayal and desire.
It was all his fault.
Lyra’s hand pressed against my arm, grounding me. “I don’t want Renee here personally, Mara. I don’t… I get it. But don’t let her get under your skin. She isn’t your concern.”
Before I could even reply to her, Leander’s voice cut through the field, commanding and impossible to ignore.
"We have a new trainee with us." He pointed out, which caused all eyes to shift my way. "So go easy on the weakling."
A noticeable scowl appeared on my once friendly face. Even after the punishments, he decided to pick up on me and how dare he call me weak. Rinna’s eyes flicked toward me briefly, that faint, knowing smile playing on her lips. A stab of pain and fire shot through me, but I straightened my back, letting my wolf take the lead. I would not break. Not here. Not in front of them.
As usual my inner wolf wanted to prove him wrong and challenge him.
I really didn't know what the hell was wrong with me. I was punished severely but still I didn’t fear him. Yet I was putting my life at risk.
"Step out here." He demanded of me. His demand carried no invitation; it came loaded with expectation.
I walked out and stood in front of him. Does he want me to fight him? Even though I may not win, I will not have a problem beating on him a little. Such an amazing idea such as that one only made me smile. Once he noticed my fearless look, he began to frown.
The smile tugged at my lips like a dare. Around us, murmurs threaded through the crowd, curiosity, amusement, the soft click of bets being placed in invisible ledgers.
"Jackie, step out here." Right on cue, a female stepped forward. Wavy blond hair tied into a ponytail with a face dressed up with the right consistency of makeup. For training? Really? "This is Jackie."
Her ponytail flicked as she moved, and the sun kissed the highlights in her hair. There was a practiced sheen to her appearance that said she took value in looking the part, even for a fight.
"Hi." I greeted.
"Humph." She rolled her eyes before they switched back to her Alpha.
Oh. I looked toward the Alpha as well. I could only wonder about the unsettling grin he had plastered on his face. Oh I get it. He picked a nasty one. A bitch.
"She is one of our good fighters so you will fight her. I want to see what you got." He spoke and I glared at him.
He wanted to play this game again.
To watch me suffer.
"Ok, start." He ordered.
The moment, Kael said so, Jackie immediately charged at me, swinging her right arm in attempts to hit me in the face. But just in time, I dodged it.
The crowd immediately roared like an animal, a rising tide of hunger and laughter that chewed at the edges of my composure.
"Hit her! Break her quickly!" someone yelled.
"Make her cry!" another voice chimed in, cruel and eager.
Jackie's confidence fed on the noise. She danced around me with the ease of someone used to winning, her boots whispering across the grass as she landed a hard elbow to my side that folded me in half.
Pain flared hot across my ribs and I stumbled, clutching at my jumper. But she didn’t stop. Her boots collided with me furiously as teeth of laughter bit into the morning air. For a moment the world narrowed to the sting on my skin and the smear of light in my vision.
I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth and spat, fury rising like bile.
The blood should have crushed me but instead something deeper, older, began to hum under my skin:
I was not giving up. Trust me, I was far from it. I was so stubborn. Those hits. Those simple hits that she used against me, they were actually my advantages. They were my tools. They were totally nothing, they didn't scare me.
She landed a knee to my stomach that doubled me sideways then she laughed, a cruel, ringing sound, and the crowd laughed with her. "That's it, bitch. Beg," someone jeered.
My irritation flared into something hotter and clearer. My palms stopped trembling. The noise around me became distant, like being underwater, every shout muffled into a slow thud.
Jackie advanced, overconfident, and reached to strike my jaw but I moved like wind. My elbow found the soft spot beneath her ribs with a sick, satisfying crack. Her face crumpled with surprise; she staggered back, breath knocked out of her. I drove forward before she could recover, my movements economical and ruthless. A shoulder into her sternum drove the air from her lungs. A planted foot, a pivot, and I spun under her guard to land a precise palm to her collarbone that snapped her head sideways.
The crowd's jeers stuttered, a hiccup of disbelief. Eyes widened. Bets died mid-hum. Someone swore. The field that had been a chorus of taunts fell into an uneven, breathless silence.
Jackie, who had been preening in her victory, now fought to stay upright. Her cheeks flushed with sudden fear that tasted very much like shame.
"Again." By the tone of voice coming from Alpha Kael, I'm guessing he did not expect it either.
And he surely wanted to watch her beat me.