Chasing His Betrayed Luna novel Chapter 19

AURELIA

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My eyes locked on my opponent, a female from Crescent Glow Pack. She was clearly one of their strongest and It was obvious that If I let her, she would break me within a minute and end the opening duel.

My legs were used to the hard floor of the arena as Jessica and I had trained here in preparation for the games. Alpha Tristan made sure I trained regularly because the pairing of warriors wasn’t something he could predict.

“You might be called upon at any time and paired with the deadliest of them all so I need you to be ready unless you want to sit this year’s game out.” Alpha Tristan explained this to me last week.

Although I knew about the Pack Games even before I became a warrior, I didn’t know enough to participate in a duel. I blamed that on my previous pack.

“You can defeat her as long as you maintain your speed, stamina, and smartness.” Jessica stated the three S before I stepped into the arena to face my opponent and when I stood before her, I heard my sassy little girl screaming at the top of her voice, “You’ve got this, Warrior Lia!”

I sent a silent plea to Hazel, asking her to shield Kyle from the fight as my eyes found Katie in the highest section of the stands. Katie would be fine with Alpha Tristan who sent a curt nod my way and I completely avoided looking at Alpha Raiden who was sitting close to him.

“This must be a joke.” My opponent smirked. “I know Black Fur warriors are supposed to be the best but a Puny like you are not up to standard. I’ll break you…”

I rolled my eyes even though my heartbeat became erratic. “To break me, you’ll have to make use of something other than your mouth.” I retorted.

The rules state that the opening duel is to entertain the audience and also motivate them and the duel has to end with one of us giving up or in the worst case, death. From the way my opponent snarled in response to my words, I sensed she wouldn’t hesitate to snap my neck just to prove her point.

Way to poke the bear, Aurelia…

“Time to focus on surviving, Relia.” Inara cautioned me, pumping her strength into my veins. I felt my senses becoming sharper and my breathing became steady just as the bell rang, announcing the commencement of the duel.

Like a bull, my opponent lunged at me, going for the offense. She was eager to have me on my back as fast as possible but I swayed out of her reach using her size against her. I initiated the first S- speed, making sure that I was faster than my opponent as I played defense.

I soon realized that even though my opponent was stronger, she wasn’t faster. I was able to dodge the first few attacks until she caught me off guard with a triple attack. One to my shoulder, the second to my legs, and the last to my ribs. I dodged the first two but winced when her tight fist connected with my ribs, sending me a few feet back.

Pain broke free from my ribs as I lost balance. Keeping my guard up became difficult as my ribs cried for attention but I dared not drop my hands. That would go against everything I have been taught.

“Stamina, Relia. Keep your balance no matter what and focus. The pain will cease soon.” Inara encouraged me and as she promised, the pain in my ribs faded fast. She has a way of taking my pain away within seconds and I was grateful for that.