Blood spatters the dirt. Caspian's lip is split and swelling. Fabian has a cut above his eye that's dripping into his face. Neither of them slows down.
They exchange blows that would hospitalize a human. Caspian's knuckles split open on Fabian's face. Fabian lands a hit to Caspian's ribs that makes him wheeze. The crowd is screaming but I can barely hear them over the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
Fabian gets Caspian down. His weight pins the younger male to the ground and his forearm presses across Caspian's throat, cutting off air. Victory is so close I can see it in Fabian's eyes.
I nearly scream because I can't watch him lose and can't look away. My hands are clenched so tight my nails cut into my palms.
Then Caspian does something I don't expect.
He goes completely limp, makes Fabian think he's won and when the older Alpha relaxes for just a fraction of a second Caspian explodes into motion. The reversal happens so fast the crowd gasps. Caspian uses Fabian's confidence against him, gets under his center of gravity and flips their positions with brutal efficiency that speaks to years of training.
Now Caspian is on top with his forearm across Fabian's throat, pressing down with all his weight. Cutting off air. Ending the fight.
"Yield," Caspian growls, voice barely human.
Fabian struggles but can't breathe. His face goes red and then purple as he claws at Caspian's arm but can't break the hold. His eyes go wide with panic.
"Yield," Caspian says again with more pressure, harder.
Fabian's hand slaps the dirt twice. The submission signal. "I yield."
Caspian releases him immediately and stands. Blood drips from cuts on his face and his ribs. Bruises are already forming across his torso where Fabian's fists connected. But he's standing. Fabian is gasping on the ground.
The crowd erupts into chaos with cheering and shouting, some cursing because they bet wrong. Students surge forward and faculty try to restore order.
Caspian looks across the circle through all the bodies and noise and finds me.
Our eyes lock.
"Mine," he says, not loud but every shifter within fifty feet hears it anyway. The word carries on alpha command, undeniable and absolute.
Something flares white hot in my chest where the incomplete bond lives, surges and demands completion. I can feel the pull of it, the need, the certainty that we're meant for this.
He fought for me. Bled for me. Proved his worth through combat as wolves have done for thousands of years.
And I want him to claim me.
The knowledge hits like lightning with no fear or reluctance, just pure want.
He's mine and I'm his and everyone here knows it.
The quad clears slowly as classes resume. Fabian left with his tail between his legs, defeated but alive, while students disperse to spread the news and dissect every moment of the fight. Faculty return to their duties.
I wait near the medical building. Caspian went inside to get his cuts cleaned and bandaged, nothing life threatening but enough damage that the healers insisted. I pace the pathway outside, restless energy making it impossible to stand still.
Knox appears from wherever he was lurking without announcing himself, just materializes beside me like a shadow given form.
"That was stupid," he says flatly.
"Which part?"
"All of it. Fabian was sent. You know that, right?" His pale eyes are serious. "Same people who sent the wolf I fought off. They're testing defenses, looking for weaknesses."
"I know." The pieces fit too well to be coincidence.
"Caspian won this time. Next time they'll send someone better." He looks at me and something in his expression makes my breath catch. "You're going to him tonight."
It's not a question. He can see it written all over me.
