Chapter 3

EMILIA POV

“Emilia.”

The loud boom of Alpha James’s voice made me flinch before I stepped forward until I got to the middle of the court, waiting for my challenger.

“Is there anyone from another pack who would like to take on our very own Emilia here as an opponent?” Alpha James questioned, looking at the crowd of people, some of who looked down at me with mock pity or eager eyes.

“I will.”

The familiar voice of my mate travelled into my blood and froze everything over, making me want to run out of the court and never look back. Why would he want to fight me?

“Alpha Lucas,” Alpha James cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It almost felt as if he was nervous for me. “Why would you want to use up your strength? Your soldiers are still available—”

“You know how I am, Alpha James,” Alpha Lucas interrupted, standing up. “I don’t find fun in simply sitting and drinking. I would like some action.”

“Perhaps, I could find you another volunteer who could match up to your strength. I mean, she’s not—”

“I am quite alright with this arrangement,” Alpha Lucas argued, walking forward until he stepped in front od me. “Unless, of course, you want to back down.”

I didn’t know why, but my eyes instantly travelled towards my uncle, and his gesture told me that if I backed out of this fight, he would do worse things to me than this Alpha in front of me intends to do.

Out of fear for my uncle, I looked back at my mate and simply nodded. “I’ll fight.”

“Perfect.” Alpha Lucas clapped once, taking his jacket off and looking towards Alpha James for his approval.

After much hesitation, Alpha James sighed and announced into the microphone.

“This is a match between Alpha Lucas and Emilia. This match can only be won by tap out or submission. No biting, no touching of sensitive body parts. When one opponent is knocked out or rendered immobile, the other opponent is considered the winner by default.”

The words played in my head on loop, over and over. The last thing I heard was Alpha James yelling out the word “FIGHT” before I was kicked in the abdomen.

I grunted, doubling over and holding my stomach in pain. The mate bond went haywire in my chest, and I started to wonder if I was the only person feeling it until I looked up at him and found his brows scrunched.

“Fight back,” he ordered, using his right foot to push me back as if trying to get me angry so I could fight back. “Let me see what you’re made of.”

I instinctively looked at Carlos, and he was on the edge of his seat, waiting for me to do something to turn the tables around.

I raised my hand in an attempt to land a right hook, but Alpha Lucas caught it before it could reach him.

“Too slow,” he commented, twisting my arm so that I would turn around and face the crowd as he pulled at the arm, putting me in pain.

Left with no other choice, I put my leg up and kicked him in the shin, causing the crowd to gasp.

In pain, he let me go and stretched out the leg I had kicked.

I turned around swiftly and slapped him right across the cheek, but I yelped as the mate bond tugged hard at my chest and caused a sharp pain to stab me right in the heart.

Alpha Lucas chuckled and grabbed the hand that had slapped him on the face.

“Is that all you’ve got?” he challenged, grabbing me by the neck and throwing me so far and powerfully that I found myself landing on top of a table with dishes on it. The table shattered into two, causing me to fall down against the hard wood.

I saw almost everyone standing up to get a better view of me, but my vision of them was blocked by Alpha Lucas’s legs as he stood in front of me and pulled me by my hair.

He dragged me back to the middle of the court and said, “Now, you will surrender to me in front of your people. Are you ready?”

I took a deep breath, almost laughing at how comical he sounded without the knowledge that I had been trained by a general not to surrender, no matter how much pain I was in.

I felt him lift my hand up into the air in an awkward pose. Then, without warning, he pulled my hand back as far as he could.

A scream, louder than I had ever let out, ripped out of my throat as the pain felt like a thousand hammers being used to hit the same spots in my arm without end.

Coupled with that, the mate bond started to stretch and snap as violently as possible, almost breaking inside my chest. It felt as though someone was reaching into my chest with a knife and stabbing my heart, repairing it as carelessly as possibly, and stabbing it again.

The first and the last words I spewed in the fight had the bell ringing loudly in my ears.

“I SURRENDER!”

In no time, Alpha Lucas let go of my arms, and I collapsed against the floor as tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t feel my arms, and I watched disappointment and anger flood Carlos’s face.

He was going to kill me.

“Shouldn’t I get a prize for winning, just like everybody else?” Alpha Lucas questioned Alpha James as he stood beside my limp body, the total opposite of me; strong, confident.

“What would you like? I could give you my finest wine. It is well-known that I have an exquisite collection,” Alpha James suggested.

Alpha Lucas only bent low and picked me up, supporting my weight as he announced what he wanted to the crowd.

“I’ll take her as a prize.”