Page 17 of Rising Luna
Teowulf clapped his hands, and his booming voice returned. "Good! I will call out some names and you will tell me who you choose to challenge today. If you break my rules, I will stop you. You don't want to make me do that." The tone of that threat sent a shiver down my spine. I knew Teowulf was lethal, but so far I never saw that side of him. Not one where I feared he would kill me if I stepped out of line.
Was that Lupe's influence there?
No. He's just that lethal.
Teowulf pointed at some burly man by the last name of Folan who I only noticed in passing during my time here. He was shorter than Teowulf, but looked just as scary. Sandy blonde hair, gray eyes, and wore clothes that clung to his body to show off his muscle. Folan stepped out to the mats and turned to face us. The guy smiled, showing all his teeth before he called out McNally as his opponent. This guy was thinner, but still had thebulk of a wolf. Black hair cut too short but had a firm jaw and dark as hell eyes. The dude growled as he stomped out onto the mats to meet Folan and Teowulf. I don't know what drama these two had with each other, but the looks on their faces said they planned to beat the shit out of each other.
Teowulf stepped back and called out for them to start. As I expected, the dudes started bashing into each other with their fists. As I could tell, both were skilled at hand to hand. If anything, I expected both of them to be high on the hierarchy within a pack. I could feel their power from where I stood a few yards away, and that could also tie into my gauge on where they were in the pack. One would get a few good jabs in before the other knocked them down to the mat. It would turn into a fight on the ground, then one would get to their feet and it would start over again. The fight went on for at least ten minutes before Folan knocked out McNally with an uppercut.
"Folan, you are the victor. Now. Put your shit to the side and focus on your schooling and not whatever caused this match. Understood?"
He gave him a curt nod and then went back to the crowd. Teowulf called another and the challenges continued. It looked like Teowulf had a plan in mind when he called out the names. He knew more than I thought he did about what happened around the school. Most teachers seemed like they ended their day and went to their rooms after classes, maybe went to Mystwood for a drink or something, but none of them looked like they paid attention to the things we were doing. Teowulf proved me wrong with his method of choosing the people to do challenges. As soon as someone was called, they walked onto the mat and called someone else out to join them. Both of them looked pissed off at each other, too, from the looks they gave. It wasn't even just guys. There were a few females ready to fight the other.
Then he called Jackson.
I didn't even know the teachers knew about the quarrel between Jackson, Hunter, and Silas. No one was around when we had that argument after the stupid assembly. I looked at Teowulf when he called on my mate, and he gave me a wink. He knew about Jackson wanting to fight Silas. I didn't even know how. Did Lupe have cameras around the school? Maybe a spell that can tell her things happening within the school. Little ears or something.
"Silas Lynch." My mate called out once he stood in the middle of the mats.
The scoff that came out of Silas was to be expected. He knew Jackson would call him out, given what happened yesterday. For a moment I thought Silas would tell him to fuck off with the glare he shot Jackson's way, but he just shook his head and walked out onto the mat. Jackson rolled his neck and shoulders as Silas took his time to get to him and Teowulf. Silas's body language looked relaxed, and his expression looked bored. His thumbs hooked into the top of his pants as he stood in front of Jackson and rolled back and forth on his feet.
"Remember," Teowulf said in a low growl, as if he could feel the tension from Jackson, "Knock out or tap out."
"I know," Jackson growled back.
Seeing Jackson like this felt so off. He was my easy going mate who made jokes to make me laugh. I know he was like this around Hunter at first because he was an unmated male sniffing around me, which is how a lot of males act around their mate. This was different. Jackson knew Silas because they were from the same pack. Maybe there was more going under the surface than I realized, and I needed to talk about it with Jackson.
Teowulf called for them to start and both men circled each other on the mat. Silas still looked way too relaxed for someone being challenged to fight. Hands still by his sides and circlingaround, just sizing Jackson up. Then Jackson looked poised to start the fight, but continued to circle. I shifted from foot to foot as they did this. I didn't want Jackson to get hurt. Silas's upbringing trained him to be an Alpha. All Alphas had to learn how to fight and not lose a match during training like I was. Jackson may have been Silas's upcoming Beta, but he could lose this match.
"Is it just me, or is there history between these two that we don't know about?" Hunter pointed out to me.
"I see it, too. I don't know what happened, if that's what you are asking. I just know Jackson was to be Silas's Beta."
"Well, that's just great. If we don't know, that means Jackson hates this asshole, and we just allowed him to get into the ring with him," Hunter growled.
I felt the same way. If I would have known Jackson held more resentment toward Silas, I wouldn't have let this happen. If anything, I would have told Teowulf before coming here not to let Jackson challenge Silas.
Then Jackson made the first move. He charged at Silas and dropped to the ground to swing his leg at Silas’s. Silas wasn't ready for it and fell back onto the mat. Jackson leapt toward Silas to get on top of him, but Silas rolled away in time. They both got to their feet and Silas swung at Jackson. When Jackson moved, Silas followed up with a jab where Jackson moved to, but Jackson turned away before it connected.
They danced across the mat, and both of them were skilled enough not to allow the other to get the upper hand. There were a few punches that landed, but not good enough to make either man get knocked to the ground. I noticed Jackson tried to get Silas onto the ground, but Silas would get back on his feet before Jackson could get on top of him. One punch from Silas made Jackson's head snap to the side, though, and I winced. Jackson's lip was split open, and blood ran down his chin. I grabbed ontoHunter's arm when Silas punched Jackson in the gut, and he fell onto his knee.
"Fuck, do you think Jackson will lose this?" I looked up at Hunter.
Hunter's eyes were studying the fight, so he didn't look down at me before he responded. I heard movement on the mat, telling me Jackson was back on his feet and moving around again.
"Maybe. Silas has excellent form and knows his way around a fist fight. He's not letting emotion get the better of him like Jackson is, which is not good for Jackson. He could very well lose this fight."
I rolled my eyes. "Great. That's going to be a shot to his ego if he loses this. He wanted to make Silas pay for rejecting me."
There were sounds of fists connecting with a body, and I was nervous to look to see who had the upper hand. Hunter chuckling spiked my interest, and I turned my head just in time to see Jackson slugging Silas in the cheek. Silas wobbled a few feet back, blood trailing down his face. I smiled, knowing my mate at least landed a good one on Silas.
"That's for my mate."
It made my heart swell hearing Jackson say that. I felt the smile that spread across my face, and Silas looked right at me when I did. He shook his head before putting his hands down at his side.
"You're still upset I slept with Lacey? That was before she even found her mates, dude."
Jackson growled. "She left me because of you! Then you used her for what you wanted and went to the next bed of your choosing."
