Chasing His Betrayed Luna by KiKi Jones

19. In A Real Duel

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 breakwithin a minute and end the opening duel.

My legs were used to the hard floor of the arena as Jessica and | had trained here in preparation for the games.

Alpha Tristan made sure | trained regularly because the pairing of warriors wasn't something he could predict.

"You might be called upon at any tand paired with the deadliest of them all so | need you to be ready unless

you want to sit this year's gout." Alpha Tristan explained this tolast week.

Although | knew about the Pack Games even before | beca warrior, | didn't know enough to participate in a

duel. | 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 | stepped into the arena to face my opponent and when | stood before her, | 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 | 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..."

| rolled my eyes even though my heartbeat becerratic. "To break me, you'll have to make use of something

other than your mouth." | 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, | sensed she wouldn't hesitate to snap my neck just to prove her point.

Way to poke the bear, Aurelia...

"Tto focus on surviving, Relia." Inara cautioned me, pumping her strength into my veins. | felt my senses

becoming sharper and my breathing becsteady 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 haveon my back as fast as

possible but | swayed out of her reach using her size against her. | initiated the first S- speed, making sure that |

was faster than my opponent as | played defense.

| soon realized that even though my opponent was stronger, she wasn't faster. | was able to dodge the first few

attacks until she caughtoff guard with a triple attack. One to my shoulder, the second to my legs, and the

last to my ribs. | dodged the first two but winced when her tight fist connected with my ribs, sendinga few

feet back.

Pain broke free from my ribs as | lost balance. Keeping my guard up becdifficult as my ribs cried for

attention but | dared not drop my hands. That would go against everything | 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 |

was grateful for that.

My opponent smirked, closing the distance between us fast and expecting that | wouldn't gain my balance before

she got tobut it was my turn to stun her. | steadied my legs and dashed for her, meeting her halfway and

propelling my small body upward, delivering a blow to her face while | remained mid-air.

"Fuck!" She cursed.

But I quickly twisted my body to the right angle, using my leg to smack her cheeks before landing on my feet

effortlessly. One thing | have learned about being small is that | could easily jump and twist in the air, unlike my

opponent who grunted and lost her balance. "She has a weaker knee. Find it, knock her off her feet, and make it

known that you are no puny." Inara said to me.

Although she could have pointed out the weaker knee, Inara trustedto find it and | did, making use of the

last S, smartness. | noticed that my opponent was putting less weight on her left knee and | went for it, kicking

that leg as hard as my smaller legs could with popping.

"Yes!" Jessica yelled with pride.

But | wasn't done, not until my opponent tapped out.

| kicked that sknee again before attacking the stronger leg so she could lose her advantage. My opponent

retaliated by grabbing my hair. My scalp stung in protest while her other hand moved to strike me.

Twisting, | yanked myself out of her hold, losing a few strands of my short hair and also avoiding her other hand.

Her frustration rolled off her after | broke loose but that couldn't save her from crashing to the floor after |

knocked her off her feet with one swift move of my leg. The crowd erupted when she fell on her back.

Within a twinkle of an eye, | had her pinned and short of breath. To save herself, my opponent tapped out,

makingthe winner.

The crowd erupted again, cheering as | was proclaimed the winner.

"Your first win in a real duel." Inara chimed in my mind.

| smiled, thankful that none of my babies were screaming "That's my mom" as they celebrated my win. |

wouldn't want Alpha Raiden to find out about them. Perhaps | shouldn't have brought them to the arena just to

be safe. "Our first win in a real duel." | corrected Inara and even though he was the last person on my mind as |

fought for the win, | looked into Alpha Raiden's eyes in tto see his shocked face.

| smirked, pride zapping through my body as | walked back to the warriors' section and into Jessica's open arms.

"You did great." She murmured into my ears.

However, that was just the beginning for me. Before the games for the day ended, | was called to the dueling

ground three times more. | won one more but lost the other two, sustaining injuries and inflicting son

others. Throughout my fights, | could sense four different pairs of eyes more than others, one being his.