"Your next training will begin momentarily," Draken said, his voice twisting the air of the arena. Students stopped mid-movement. Syla stiffened beside me. Nevan's jaw tightened.
I swallowed.
Being selected suddenly felt less like an honor… and more like exposure.
Being first meant that every mistake would be remembered. And now, with the reputation for having survived the Golden Gates, people would say we passed by luck if we failed.
Well… maybe we did.
Draken continued, stepping forward with hands still locked behind him.
"Tradition requires that the Golden Gate victors begin the next stage."
His eyes swept through, observing our unease.
"You will serve as the standard the others must follow."
My stomach twisted violently.
"Your next training," Draken said, pausing long enough to build dread, "will be against the senior students from the House of Claw."
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
My heart froze.
House of Claw meant one thing…werewolves.
Older. Stronger. Experienced. Brutally fast.
And we were supposed to fight them one by one?
He added that the match would be a physical combat.
"Your goal is simple: force your opponent to submit…or get their back on the ground."
His blood red eyes darkened.
"Victory depends on your ability, not luck." My mouth went dry. They've trained for years. Their bodies were built for this. Fight one of them? Alone? I needed to get out of here. How am I supposed to survive through anything like that?.
Just as I scanned my surroundings for the best undetectable way to get out of here, he showed up. Urgh Great.
"Why do you look so pale?" he still wore that disgusting overconfident smile.
"I do believe how I look shouldn't concern you" I shot back, looking past him to spot an opening.
"Are you…. trying to run?" His smile increased till it turned into a laugh. For someone I detest, I wouldn't mind listening to …. No! Eww!
What am I saying?.
"Aren't you supposed to be doing senior work or something? How do you have time to be annoying?"
"Well, aviary if you must know I helped you, so now I've been burdened with the responsibility of being your proxy"
"Proxy? Is that your excuse to be close to me?" I instantly regretted those words, especially when he looked at me like I was being delusional.
"Whoa there… why would I want to be with someone who's a liability?"
"A WHAT?" How dare he? "Say that again I dare you"
"Why?" He smirked "You like my voice?"
I felt the disgust reach my face before I even processed it.
"You're doing that thing with your face again, the one that makes you look like a pissed off kitten" he said, pinching my chin. God his hands are so soft….I…shouldn't be thinking things like these.
"Get your hands off her" Syla cut in, hitting his hand off.
"Easy there, fairy godmother"
Syla froze. "What did you just call me?"
Zevian shrugged "You swooped in like you were about to bibbidi-bobbidi-kill me"
"If I were you, I'd shut up" I saw Syla's knuckles fold in a way that'd be lethal to anything it touched.
"Careful" Zevian straightened, his gaze growing dangerously thin. "I am Alpha and your superior. I could easily make life dangerous for you" Zevian's eyes bled from brown to red in a flash. They both stood there, staring.
It felt like any moment one of them would finally give in and drop the first hit and something in me knew it was going to be Syla. She twitched and I immediately knew she was going to swing.
"Will you two quit it already" I said, shoving myself in between them, unfortunately putting myself too close to Zevian.
Zevian's eyes shifted from predator to curious in an instant, he kept staring into my eyes and then took a step back. His face filled with surprise and confusion.
".... what are you?" he muttered.
"Averin Wren. Step forward". Draken's voice caught our attention.
Me?.
Why me?
"Defend. Do not attack. Guard your eyes so you can see every attack coming and defend against it." Syla whispered behind me.
I swear I felt my legs turn to jelly, I walked towards the middle of the arena, my legs shaking. Like I'd forgotten how to walk.
I turned around looking for a savior, someone who'd take my place but I knew no one could save me from this. Syla couldn't fight for me now.
Toughen up Avy. It's just a werewolf.
I'm sure you'll have enough body parts to be buried. Even motivating myself was going terribly wrong.
"Who wishes to be her opponent?" Draken said, turning to the senior students from the house of claws, only then did I realize I was in the middle of the arena.
At first, no one stepped out or said a word, maybe they didn't want to be held responsible for my death.
"I'll take her," a sharp feminine voice spoke. Somehow those words felt like I'd been put up for auction…auctioned to death. As she stepped forward I felt every single bit of logic telling me to RUN but the fear had seeped into my limbs sealing me to the ground. Then, when she was so close to me Zevian held her arm whispering something into her ear, I wouldn't have cared what he told her if she hadn't looked at me like the bounty on my head just doubled. Then her eyes went normal, almost like she pitied me.
"Both opponents step forward" Draken; the mastermind of my demise spoke. If I don't survive this, I'd make sure to haunt him. …Although with that pale skin, who's to say I wouldn't be the one to be haunted?
As I stepped forward I noticed her lips curve. She bowed and from the way everyone stared at me, I had to do the same.
"The Alpha might have said not to hurt you" she said as she straightened, "but he never said I couldn't enjoy playing with you" From the way her words curled around the word playing made me certain she wasn't talking about jumping squares.
Her smile widened.
"And trust me… little dove…I'm going to enjoy it".
Shit.
"Ready or not, here I come… little dove," she smiled again but this time it was different. Her fangs seemed more lethal than Zevian's or was it my fear taunting me?
Bang.
That was the only sound I heard before my face met the ground and I caught a mouthful of dirt.
I pulled my head out of the ground to see faces of mockery, pity, and some itching for me to get back on my feet. So I got up, cleaned off as much dirt as I could. She was behind me, as I turned to face her, I saw her hand lunging towards me. I shut my eyes awaiting the hit but it didn't come. opening my eyes to see what it was that could have saved me from a guy that close, I saw it was my own hand…I…I caught her hand mid-air.
Students murmured, Zevian's eyes showed that strong pressure of confusion, Syla's face carried that confusion. Her eyes sparked with surprise, then disgust and anger. Before I knew it I'd blocked another launch at my head. The anger on her face increased and she kept launching, increasing her pace and force with each attack. As long as I could block her advances I didn't care.
Bring it on bitch.
As if she read my thoughts, her eyes went full blue and she launched again. This time her claws were out and dangerous, there's
no way I'd be able to block that without getting injured.
She was getting closer and I had no idea how to stop her.