But it is the final fight of the evening. I didn’t expect Tiril to be my opponent.
We circle each other, hands lifted, and fingers spread. We are both breathing hard from the previous fights. And I am exhausted, but I refuse to lose.
I’m jamming his signal as quick as he changes it, and he is doing the same to me. Each of us is trying to be the first to make a spark. Because this is just training, we will not send a charge to harm the other. But the first to make a charge will be the first to make a strike. And then we will fight until one of us is pinned on the ground. There are smears of dirt on his skin, and on mine, from the previous fights.
Bruises are throbbing hotspots on my ribs, my thigh, my shin and my cheek.
There are humans watching, no doubt drawn by the spectacle. We pay them no heed. They are no threat.
There.I jam his signal. My fingers tingle and the charge arcs between my hands. It barely exists before he jams it.
Edilk calls my name in case anybody missed my victory.
Tiril mutters a curse. “I will best you, eventually.”
“You did well tonight.”
I don’t let him respond, launching into my tackle. We grapple upright, each of us trying to grip the other and put him on the ground. Knuckles skate over ribs and hands press against chins. His shin collides with mine with a crack that draws gasps from the onlookers. My knee finds his inner thigh, and I take him to the ground.
He puts up a good fight before I pin him.
Edilk calls an end to the fights. “Yva…you have proven yourself to be a champion once again.”
I help Tiril up. “A good fight, brother.”
It’s clear he did some training to improve his skills without us.
“You too. I missed these moments. It was a long wait for my brothers to arrive.”
I placed my hand over my heart, which is beating rather fast, and incline my head at Edilk. “It is a pleasure to be my tribe’s champion.”
It is only then I realize the size of the crowd our fight drew. It is a mix of soldiers who probably thought they needed to be there to control the situation, and women with a hungry look in their eyes. It’s not jerky they crave.
They will all want you to be their champion now.Tiril says.
I grunt, not wanting to answer him. I don’t look at the crowd either. I can sense their excitement.
A soldier steps forward. “Why do you take so long to do anything?”
It is Sunif who responds, his fingers crackling with blue sparks. “When we train. We train to jam the other signal so they can’t make a charge. If it were a real fight, we would release the charge to stun the other warrior. Since we are friends. The first to make the spark gets to make the first attack.”
I look at the guard. “We also use the charge to hunt, sensing creatures’ heartbeats to locate them, before stunning them.”
“It’s amazing what you can do,” a woman says, moving closer. “I’d love to learn more about you.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Harper told me it’s called a shower, not a waterfall. As if thinking about her summoned her when I turn, she is there. I did not expect her to watch, given how upset she was with me. I gave her a small smile and a nod to acknowledge that I saw her. She is the only one I acknowledge. I am not cross with her; I am frustrated with everything.
I am trying to fit in and understand the humans, and yet every time I think I am getting close, I realize I am failing. I do not understand how my brothers successfully mated.
Perhaps it was easy for them because they were only a few women, so they did not need to worry about accepting the wrong offer. Though to be fair, Edilk had no choice. None of us expected human women to cause the rut and start the bond. By the time we noticed, it was too late for him. Fortunately, Sabineloves him and he’s more than happy being her accidental choice of mate.
I don’t know how Aldit wooed Ruby, but by the time they returned to our village, they were mated. She is brutally sharp with everyone but him. Did he feel as though he had no choice but to accept?
I want to mate, but I’m afraid of making the wrong choice.
I’ve never been afraid of anything in my entire life, and I can’t admit my fears to my brothers. They have faith in the bond. I have no faith in humans. There is nothing stopping the human women from changing their minds and walking away, leaving my brothers to die a painful death.
