Chapter 9

LYRA

One of the female warriors, the one who does bicep curls before bed, steps closer, and I take a good look at her. 

Tabitha Ramsey is gorgeous. Tall and statuesque with a curtain of thick blonde hair pulled into a sleek ponytail that swings like a weapon behind her. Her brown eyes are sharp, intelligent, and absolutely unimpressed by my existence.

Creamy golden skin stretches over muscles stacked with the kind of power that would put most men to shame.

Okay. Credit where it’s due.

If the men picked her to spar with me, maybe they are giving me a little credit. Or maybe they’re hoping I’ll fail, crack under pressure, get my ass handed to me by, and be sent home in a body bag made of shredded pride.

Either way, I can work with this.

We step into the sparring circle, and the training hall goes quiet except for the faint tick of the wall clock. Some of the warriors step closer, ready to jump in. It seems they have been informed why I’m here… or what I’m capable of. Why the hell would Zane do that?

I push my thoughts aside as we circle each other slowly with our eyes locked, both our bodies loose and ready.

She strikes first, straight at my face, and I hear a crack. 

Fuck.

The tears sting behind my eyes, and the blood drips down my face. Surprisingly, my beast is still relaxed in the back of my mind, even as I grab my nose and lock it back into place. 

It hurts like hell. 

Before I can even clear all the tears behind my eyes, Tabitha strikes again, this time aiming for my stomach. I twist out of the way just in time, but I'm not prepared for her other fist to hit my jaw, though. Shit. 

My hand flies to my jaw. Luckily, it’s still in place.

I hear a few chuckles behind me, and I'm getting slightly pissed now. She aims a kick at my legs, and I hit the floor… hard. More chuckles surround us, and I wait for the beast to answer me, but she’s… watching, not fighting. 

Why?!

I’m still wondering about it while I'm getting back to my feet, but immediately a fist hits me in my stomach, and I bend over. 

Yeah, she put all her power in that strike, and fuck, she's strong. 

Internal bleeding caused? Probably.

Is the beast reacting? Still no. 

I cough up some blood, and apparently, the other warriors are getting bored with seeing my ass get pummeled, because they start getting into their own pairs to spar. 

The pain in my stomach subsides after a minute or two. During this time, the warrior I'm ‘sparring’ with has started chatting to one of the others. She hasn't even broken a sweat. The only blood on her is from my nose. 

When I finally stand up straight again, she turns to me and smiles sweetly.

“Perhaps it's better if you spar with Sandra?” She bats her eyelashes at me, and her smile turns condescending. “She also hasn't had a lot of training.”

I look at the girl near the back, her cheeks flaming, but then plaster on a fake smile of my own, and shake my head. 

“Let's go one more time.”

Tabitha sighs loudly and rolls her eyes before getting back into her stance. As I get myself ready as well, I finally realise my mistake. 

I've been waiting for my beast to take over, so accustomed to her doing the fighting for me, instead of fighting in my human form.  

Stupid, Ly. I nearly face-palm myself. 

Tabitha aims a hit at my face again, but I move out of the way just in time. She starts throwing quick jabs, all strong and well-placed. I dodge every single one, but I don’t strike back. Not yet. I scan for an opening… Since my beast doesn’t seem to want to come out and play, I need to work according to my human strength. Which means I am greatly outmatched. 

Tabitha is good, keeping her hands high to protect her organs and her face, essentially taking a boxer’s stance. I have no opening, and she's constantly on the offensive. 

Every now and then, I can feel the eyes on me. More murmurs are rising, and from the corner of my eye, I see a few warriors exchange glances.

Great.

I look like a show pony that wandered into a battlefield.

The she-wolf in front of me grits her teeth, clearly getting frustrated. Her strikes grow harder, faster, but I still can't find an opportunity to fight back. 

I glance at the clock again.

Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.

Goddess, the time is dragging, and I am humiliating myself. 

At the twenty-minute mark, the scowl on Tabitha’s face is ridiculous. Her pride’s clearly starting to sting. And mine is on the floor. At this point, I'm not even angry anymore, just frustrated. 

Some of the warriors are now laughing. Somewhere between the overlapping voices, I hear the words ‘entitled’ and ‘pathetic’.

Fuckers.

Then someone laughs too close, too loud. That single, smug bark of sound snaps a wire inside me.

The sound fractures something in my skull, a buzzing rings in my ears, throwing me off focus.

And she’s there. Obviously, the bitch is nothing if not dramatic. 

My vision improves tenfold, and I know my eyes are glowing. Tabitha raises her brows, looking slightly panicked, but she doesn’t back down. Instead, her attacks become quicker, more frantic, and I'm not moving out of the way anymore. I don't need to. I don't feel any damage being done by her hits. 

All I feel is my canines lengthening, and my claws extending. My beast's anger is bubbling over, and my body is reacting against my will.

In a final attack, Tabitha lifts her leg in a clean arc aimed straight for my ribs, but I grab her foot midair.

My claws dig into her ankle, sinking into her flesh so deep they meet the bone. With a twist of my wrist, I hook her ankle and turn her body, intending to send her face-first into the mat.

Except, a horrible, wet pop hits my ears,

Then another.

The sickening sounds of bones breaking, and a blood-curdling scream, so loud it feels like it’s penetrating my skull. 

It takes everything in my power not to drag her closer and rip out her fucking larynx just to get her to shut up. 

I feel Talia’s tentative hand on my shoulder. Her calming lavender scent hits me like a tether to the sane world.

“Let her go, Ly.” Talia’s voice is hesitant. Of course it is, she had no idea what she was signing up for when she agreed to ‘babysit’ me. 

Fuck Ly, you can’t have another person you love be afraid of you.

Talia’s hand on my shoulder tugs me back a little. 

Let her go, Ly. 

Just let her go. 

My claws tear from Tabitha’s flesh, covered in her blood as she crumples to the floor, writhing in pain. Blood pours from the gashes on her ankle, pooling over her foot and the mat beneath her. Her leg is now bent at an angle that’s definitely not natural. 

Fuck.