The air was thick with tension as I stepped into the center of the training field. My heart beat steadily, not with fear, but with a kind of coiled energy that made my fingers itch and my magic hum beneath my skin. Excitent.
Around , the crowd murmured, hundreds of eyes pinned to , waiting, expecting, so even hoping I would falter. I didn’t give them the satisfaction of looking nervous. My steps were asured, my chin lifted.
Across from stood Claire.
Her eyes glittered with the smugness of soone who believed the outco had already been decided. She had been waiting for this mont—I could see it in the cruel curl of her lips, the sharpness in her posture. She wanted to humiliate in front of everyone, to grind into the dirt and remind of my place.
She would learn today that I had no place beneath her feet.
Adam’s presence lood like a shadow from his seat at the edge of the field. His gaze was heavy, unsettling, but I refused to cower; refused to worry.
Diana stood just beyond the circle, her face bright with excitent and nerves, her fists clenched tight as though she were ready to leap into the fight herself. My sister knew who would win this fight, and it wasn’t Claire.
The whistle blew.
I barely had ti to adjust my stance before Claire lunged. Her fist cracked against my jaw with the force of a stone. My head snapped to the side, pain flaring white-hot, but I refused to stumble. I tasted iron on my tongue, and when I turned back to face her, I smiled like I saw her doing, surprising her.
"That’s it?" I taunted, wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. "I thought you wanted to put in my place."
Gasps rippled through the crowd at my boldness. Claire’s face darkened, her teeth bared. She snarled and charged again.
This ti, I was ready.
I ducked low, sweeping my leg across hers. She toppled forward, her arms flailing, but she rolled and sprang back to her feet with surprising speed.
She threw another punch, and I caught her wrist, twisting until she hissed in pain. My knee ca up sharply, catching her in the stomach. She staggered back, wheezing, fury painting her cheeks red.
"Co on, Claire," I said, circling her slowly. My voice carried over the field, and I knew the crowd heard . "Show them what you’ve got. Or are you all bark?"
The murmurs grew louder. So laughed, so jeered, so cheered. And above it all, I heard Diana’s voice ringing clear:
"That’s my sister! Show her, Dora! Don’t let her breathe!"
Claire scread, more beast than woman, and hurled herself at . Her fists flew wild, a storm of rage with no precision. I dodged left, right, then stepped into her space, slamming my palm into her chest with a burst of raw strength. She flew backward, skidding across the dirt.
The crowd erupted—so shouting in delight, others in outrage.
I walked toward her slowly, deliberately, savoring each step as she scrambled back to her feet. Her hair was tangled, her lip split, but she refused to surrender. Pride burned too strong in her veins.
"You’re pathetic," I whispered as I closed the distance. "All that ti you spent laughing at , mocking , and this is all you can do?"
Her eyes flickered with sothing desperate, sothing reckless.
And then...
She shifted.
It happened so fast no one could have seen it coming. One heartbeat she was human, the next she was a massive brown wolf, snarling, fangs bared. The crowd shrieked in shock at the trickery, so stumbling back as the beast lunged for .
But I was faster.
Magic surged from like a storm, invisible but undeniable. I thrust my hand forward, and Claire’s wolf froze mid-leap, suspended in the air as though caught in a web no one else could see.
Her jaws snapped inches from my neck, her claws swiping at empty space, but she could not reach .
And I laughed.
The sound burst out of , sharp and cold, echoing across the silent field. I laughed because I rembered every cruel word, every shove, every mocking glance Claire had thrown my way when I was weak, when I had no defense. I laughed because the tables had turned, and now she dangled helpless before like a caught rabbit.
Maybe I should tell her who I really was? I couldn’t of course, but I could imagine the effect that would have on her. Perfecto!
Gasps filled the air anwhile. Whispers turned uneasy as magic whipped the air. What had begun as entertainnt now carried the scent of danger.
I tightened my grip on my magic, and with a twist of my wrist, her wolf’s bones contorted. A sickening crack rang out, and Claire scread—a guttural, agonized sound that tore through her throat. Her body writhed, her legs bending at impossible angles, and I threw her to the ground.
Fool.
Then my magic picked her up again, breezing against her neck, taunting the nerves there.
The crowd fell silent.
They were afraid.
I saw it in their eyes—the shift from laughter to concern, from enjoynt to horror. They thought I would kill her.
And maybe I would have.
Diana’s hand touched my arm lightly. "Dora," she whispered urgently. "Enough."
But her voice barely reached . The rage was too sweet, the power too intoxicating.
Claire writhed in the dirt, her wolf form trembling, her whimpers pained.
Then the Lycan King’s voice cut through everything.
"Do it."
The word bood across the field, commanding, thunderous. "Finish her. No rcy for stupid enemies."
For a heartbeat, I almost obeyed. His voice was temptation itself, daring to surrender to the hunger that clawed at my chest.
But then the weight of his gaze struck like cold water, and I realized what I was doing.
I released my magic.
Claire’s wolf collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, her body shaking. She shifted back to human form, sobbing, her legs twisted at odd angles, her face contorted in pain. Her parents rushed from the King’s side, stumbling into the field.
"You monster!" her father, the Beta, roared at , his face red with fury. "You—"
But before he could finish, Diana raised her hand, and his voice cut off mid-sentence as if his mouth had been sealed shut by invisible force. Her eyes blazed as she stepped forward.
"She broke the rules of the ga first," Diana declared, her voice ringing with power. "My sister defended herself. That is the truth."
Claire’s mother wept as several of the young n lifted her broken daughter carefully from the dirt. They carried her away, her screams piercing the air with every jolt of movent.
I stood unmoved. My jaw ached where her first punch had landed, my hands trembled slightly from the release of magic, but my gaze never wavered.
The Lycan King approached. His towering fra cast a shadow over , and I braced myself for condemnation. Instead, he placed a heavy hand on my shoulder.
"You are a good warrior," he said, his voice low but carrying to every corner of the field. "Great fight. No rcy for the enemies."
And then he turned, striding away with his small group.
The crowd erupted into a storm of whispers. Shock, fear, awe—it swirled together like a storm cloud.
I blinked, surprised at his words, but I didn’t let it show.
Diana flung her arms around my waist, her voice high and breathless. "Dora, that was amazing! Did you see her face? And her shift—it was so fast, but she was so stupid, so reckless. And you—oh, I thought you were really going to kill her, I swear!" She chattered wildly, laughing, as though the tension had never existed.
Adam stepped forward then, his expression unreadable. He extended his hand. "Congratulations," he said simply.
I took it, my grip firm, my smile tight. I didn’t miss the murmurs around us, the eyes that followed like I was so dangerous beast they weren’t sure should be caged or unleashed.
"Thank you," I said, my tone cool, and released his hand.
Before the mont could stretch, I spoke again, my voice cutting through the murmurs. "Since you are our guide, Adam, perhaps you can take us to the next place now."
He blinked, as though surprised I was ready to move on so quickly, then nodded. His brothers, who had been watching from the sidelines, looked forlorn as Diana and I began walking away. I hoped they wouldn’t follow us. I wasn’t ready for any more drama.
The tension of the fight still clung to , but I forced myself to breathe steadily as we left the field behind. The noise of the crowd faded, replaced by the crunch of our steps and Adam’s quiet explanations.
We walked for so ti, the path winding upward until the landscape changed. Jagged rocks rose on either side, weathered by ti and wind, and in the distance, I saw the mouth of the caves.
Even from afar, the place radiated power.
"Is it ti for this? Is it 4pm?"
Adam shook his head. "I just thought you would like to see so things before the main ceremony."
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