Page 122 of Game of Destiny
‘Looking good,’ I told him.
‘Thank you,’ he said.’
My next couple of fights were tough. My opponents knew what they were doing and as I barely managed to win my fourth fight, I had more scrapes and bruises than I wanted to admit. The last opponent had landed a full out kick to my ribs and I felt it with each breath. Finlay stood waiting with Matilda when I stepped down from the platform.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked as Matilda handed me water.
‘Yeah. I’ll survive,’ I told him.
‘Jake lost his latest fight and it’s starting to show that Ramses’ shoulder isn’t fully healed yet,’ he told me. I nodded.
‘How about you?’ I asked. He had a bruise on his cheek and claw marks on his shoulder. And that was only what I could see.
‘No issues,’ he said. We walked over to the boards to have a look at our next opponents.
‘Alpha Logan,’ Finlay remarked as he read the name next to his.
‘I don’t think I have met him,’ I said.
‘He’s a good Alpha. We usually get along. He’s strong, but I think he will fight fair. It will be an interesting match,’ Finlay told me. I was about to tell him again how much I hated this game when his face grew dark. I looked at what he was reading. I was to face one of the warriors of his old pack. I felt myself going pale. I had been insisting the brutes from the Ocean shore pack wouldn’t be as dominant as everyone thought, but now I admitted to being royally screwed.
‘You will step out of the ring the second the signal goes off,’ Finlay told me.
‘I might win,’ I insisted. Mostly because I hated the thought of surrendering, not so much because I believed it.
‘Red, nothing is worth you taking that risk. We know they are not going to play fair,’ he told me.
‘They won’t win anything if they go after me. It’s not like they will take me out of commission for the rest of the games, this is the last one,’ I said. Finlay sighed and rubbed his eyes.
‘At this point, I’m guessing they are pissed enough not to care anymore. They just want to cause harm to us. You will give up the fight. This is not about you being strong or not. This is about you not getting hurt and me not losing my mind.’
‘I will give up as soon as I see it going south,’ I agreed.
‘Red.’
‘It’s the best I can do.’
‘Fine. I’m never letting you go to one of these things ever again. Just so you know,’ he told me. I raised an eyebrow.
‘As if you could stop me,’ I told him. He looked like a dark storm cloud until he suddenly smirked.
‘I’ll just make sure you will be pregnant with my pup. Pregnant wolves are not allowed,’ he told me. I could hear the smugness, as he had found a perfect solution in his mind. I blushed. We had never talked about pups and this was the moment he brought it up.
‘Idiot,’ I told him and pushed past him to head to my next match. I couldn’t help but to smile.
‘Are you sure about this?’ Matilda asked as she walked with me. She sounded worried, which was not like her.
‘No. I’m thinking this will be a short fight,’ I told her.
‘Don’t be stubborn. You know I love that side of you, but all in moderation.’ I nodded as we reached the stage where I would be fighting. As I made my way onto the platform, I looked at my opponent. He looked even bigger up close. I felt like an ant. Maybe I should listen to Finlay for once and just give up as soon as the match started. My ribs still hurt from my last fight, and even if I knew they would heal and I would be as good as new after a night’s sleep. I also knew that right now, my injury was limiting me. The way he looked at me gave me a bad feeling inmy gut. He looked mad and the match hadn’t even started. We took our starting poses and the starting signal sounded. I moved backwards, away from my opponent. I had about ten steps to the edge. This should be over soon. I had taken two steps when he charged at me. I tried to move to the side, avoiding him. Too late I understood he wasn’t charging in order to attack me. He was trying to keep me from reaching the edge of the circle. He grabbed my wrist and swung me closer to the middle.
“You won’t get away, bitch. You will stay and let me play with you. My Alpha told me I needed to mess you up good. It will get his brother unhinged and ensure he doesn't move up in the game,” he whispered to me. My insides turned to ice. I finally decided to give up and he wouldn’t let me? I yanked my wrist out of the warrior's grip and moved away from him. He circled around me in a way which had me in the middle of the fighting area. As soon as I tried to move closer to the edge, he attacked me. I managed to dodge most of his attacks, but even the ones that barely skimmed me had a real kick to them. This was becoming a real issue.
“He is intentionally keeping her in the middle,” I heard Matilda telling the official watching over the match.
“There is nothing in the rules saying he needs to let her step out of the match,” he answered her. The match seemed to go on forever. I had managed to get a hit or two on him. I took some pride from the fact he was limping slightly from me getting a good hit on his left knee. At the same time I had to be honest with myself, I was losing and it would only get worse. My energy was still high enough for me to block or avoid most of his attacks, but I was starting to fade. As I moved around in the ring, I saw Finlay had joined Matilda and he looked like he was going to kill my opponent. I needed to end this before I got so tired I made an easy target. I knew he wouldn’t end the fight quickly. At some point Finlay would step in, I knew it in my soul, he wouldn’t beable to stand to the side and watch the warrior pummel me into pulp. I had a plan, it was risky and I hated it, but it was the only one I had. I charged the giant warrior and as I leaped at him, I shifted into my wolf. My wolf knew her assignment and bared her teeth. The warrior acted out of instinct to protect himself from what he perceived to be a full out attack on his life. He aimed a skilful kick at me and I did nothing to avoid or block it. I braced for the hit and felt his heel connect to my already bruised side. I could hear the ribs breaking and feel the pain radiating through my body. The hit halted my forward motion and instead sent me flying backwards. My wolf curled into a tight ball for the impact and when I hit the mat, I continued rolling. With a last thump, I rolled off the mat and down on the ground. I heard the warrior cry out in frustration at letting me escape and Finlay and Matilda were calling my name. Finlay was kneeling beside me.
‘I’m okay,’ I mindlinked both of them. I remained on the ground, needing a moment for the pain to ease back and for me to catch my breath.
