V Y X E N

13.

The hot afternoon sun blazed continuously in the sky, Arisa could see the waves of heat emitting from the ground and she was glad for the shade the roof above her head afforded her, even the tremendously fierce afternoon sun didn't stop countless men from fighting shirtless on the clear patch of red earth in the center of a full circle of log cabins, watching the men fight was an awful sight and it made her stomach turn uncomfortably. Another man fell to the ground coughing up blood and Arisa had to stop herself from running to him. The men above him laughed as he shook himself off and stood shakily, the young men she had seen throughout her stay stood on the sidelines watching the men fight, She didn't understand what was going on, she didn't understand why she was there.

Her Brother had taken her with him and now he stood on the steps beside her, watching the men, not even flinching when one of them got injured terribly.

Arisa turned back to the men, but they were no longer fighting, they were all focusing at the mountain of a man in front of them with his arms folded, he frowned at them in disapproval.

"You all fight like a litter of kittens" his voice rumbled across the land, causing Arisa to take a step back at just how terrifying he sounded. He sneered at the men.

"maybe I should show you what a real fight is like mhmm?" he quirked an eyebrow

"Volunteer?"

The crowd was deadly silently, all the testosterone felt earlier seemed to have vanished upon his arrival and Arisa could see the fear evident on their faces.

Her Brother cleared his throat, raising a hand.

"ah, nice. Beta Jeremy, it's been a while " he laughed.

The porch was too dark for Arisa to see his facial expression but when he stepped into the clearing she could see the amused smile playing on his lip, "Clear the grounds men" he called as both men readied themselves to fight.

The massive man released a monstrous growl as his face contorted into that of a beast in semi transformation, Arisa felt bile rise in her throat.

Jeremy merely quirked an eyebrow, taunting the beast with a slow calculating smirk, Arisa's heart lodged in her throat when the beast lunged at her Brother.

Arisa gasped, when Jeremy caught the man, that was about 3 inches taller than him by the throat, sending him flying into a tree at the edge of the clearing, the tree creaked under his weight and the man brushed himself off eyes flashing gold.

Arisa stepped back, realizing just why she was there.

He was trying to scare her. She balled her fist.

He charged at Jeremy, throwing powerful punches, each meeting its target she heard the impact of his massive fists connecting with Jeremy's mid-section and one final blow sent blood spewing from his mouth, Arisa's stomach clenched as she took a step forward, a horrid cry leaving her lips, hands gripped her shoulder dragging her back.

She looked up to see Olivia staring at her wide-eyed, she shook her head franctically “Never interrupt a fight” she whispered.

After a few more gruesome punches, Jeremy pushed back and threw in some of his own, a powerful blow to the jaw sent the man reeling backward pissing the Mammoth of a man off further, he tried to throw in a sloppy but furious punch which Jeremy dodged with ease, The man's face transformed in one of utter fury.

"Rule number one" a chilled deep voice that seemed to quieten the crowd called, the figure descended the stairs "Never be consumed totally by fear or anger in the middle of battle" Arisa couldn't tear her eyes from Vyxen as he stood on the last step, his eyes calculating and sharp as he watched the two men battle.

She hadn’t seen him approach, it made her heart beat even faster.

The man raced towards Jeremy, letting out a cry of war "It makes you sloppy and uncoordinated, like Oliver here" Jeremy dodged him and swept him off his feet in one solid motion.

The crowd chuckled, and Vyxen circled the two men, his presence making Arisa lose focus of the fight for a few minutes, the next few seconds consisted of Jeremy smoothly dodging punches with an almost bored expression plastered on his handsome face.

Oliver changed tactics and used brute force to lift Jeremy up by his midsection and deposit him on the ground with a painful thud, Arisa cringed.

"Rule number two, never get too cocky in a fight, your opponent just might surprise you" Vyxen commented dryly

Jeremy got up, dusting himself off and fixing Vyxen with a glare, his grey eyes looking almost green in the sunlight

Jeremy shook his head chuckling, "Okay, so now that we have demonstrated a few does and don't how about we begin some real training!" The crowd cheered and Vyxen, along with a dozen men, who seemed slightly older than the rest, including Fedrick, left the grounds, leaving the younger ones to Jeremy and Oliver.

She watched them leave, Fedrick glancing at her for only a moment before also following his alpha.

Arisa released a breath "That was all a setup?" she whispered looking up at Olivia.

She nodded "You didn’t tell them you’d reject the symbol did you?"

When Arisa frowned Olivia continued “The symbol is the vow you made to protect them Arisa”

“I only thought of that for like a split second how did y..“

she trailed off watching as Vyxen strolled towards her, his five 0' clock shadow highlighting his God-like beauty, she swallowed taking note of his intense stare that was fixed on her and only her.

"Arisa" she could've only been imagining her name passing his lips, with how perfect and dark and absolutely breathtaking it sounded to her, or maybe it just sounded so wonderful because he said it, because he was perfect.

She stood there staring at him as he stopped about four small steps from her, the other men continued on their journey.

"How is training, Olivia?" he asked, his eyes leaving Arisa for a second to acknowledge Olivia.

Olivia lowered her head "I just finished speaking with our coach Alpha . . but" Olivia hesitated and Arisa could feel the power he was emitting from his broad masculine chest and she quivered feeling it seep into her bones "very few of the females turned up" Olivia finished, Vyxen huffed, she felt his hot breath on her forehead slowly descending unto her cheeks and then the hollow of her neck . . oh god.

Arisa stepped back, holding on to Olivia's arm for support " I’ll accompany you to your training" He informed them sharply.

Arisa blinked, looking from the both of them “You can join Olivia, Arisa. Unless you’d rather watch the men brawl?” She shook her head fiercely.

Vyxen strolled towards the indoor gym, the girls following behind him, Arisa didn't miss the way he walked with such confidence and authority, in a way that anyone could be mesmerized.

He opened the door and both girls scurried past, Arisa trying not to inhale his musky scent, she breathed a sigh of relief when she was at safe distance enjoying the air conditioning in the gym.

Arisa turned only to see Stan sitting obediently beside his Alpha, wagging his tail when he saw Arisa, Arisa glared at him folding her arms, realizing just who he had been around for so long.

The dog, tilted his head in confusion before getting up and running towards her, she rolled her eyes when he licked her leg and let out an adorable whine, she smiled, slowly stooping so she could rub behind his ear "okay, maybe I can forgive you this once" she muttered.

Someone cleared their throat and Arisa realized she was the center of attention, she blushed scarlett and stood in line with the other girls, surprised to see Crystal and . . Katnis

She didn't know why her chest burned so painfully with hatred when her eyes landed on the brunette beauty with glossy perfect hair, she sighed watching the Alpha as he walked in front of them, hands behind his back, poised and unearthly handsome, his thick pink lips pressed in a thin line, her hands balled in a fist when Katnis stepped out of line to whisper something in his ear, she had to will herself to calm down.

A dark skin woman began the lesson and Crystal groaned “I can’t believe Olivia dragged me here” she muttered during the warm-up, Arisa snorted, “This is just the beginning” she said incredulously.

“and I’m exhausted already, I really don’t want to be in pain when my boyfriend gets here,” she said bitterly, before grinning widely “atleast not because of this exercise”, Arisa turned sharply, feeling her cheeks flame, she tried her best to look away from Katnis and Vyxen at the far end of the room conversing.

what was there deal anyways?

“Speaking of which, Livvy, you should come meet my Mihyun”

She heard Olivia gag “No thanks” she muttered and Crystal kicked her “Don’t be a pu ying lew (b***h), Arisa would love it”

“Wouldn’t she?” Crystal pressed looking pointedly at her, Arisa smiled shyly “mhm” she hummed.

Just then the woman stood, clapping “warm up lap ladies”

As Arisa began running her mind wandered to her Brother . . wondering if he was okay and as soon as her thoughts became consumed by him one question stood out above the rest,

'why did he have to stay behind?' she stopped running, feeling her throat tighten. He didn’t want her here, which must mean there was something wrong with this place "Olivia!" she called, softly, somehow her friend heard her and turned , a frown making its way on her face "Are you okay?" she asked, Arisa shook her head "Why did Jeremy stay?, why doesn’t he want me here?"

Olivia stopped her on spot jogging and stared at Arisa, Arisa saw something flash through Olivia's eyes and before she processed fully what she was doing she had grabbed Olivia's upper arm in a vice like grip "You know, tell me" she snarled darkly, feeling something inside her boil with irritation, she didn't understand where it came from but it made her feel powerful and she enjoyed it, enjoyed the way it made her body burn with energy.

it felt familiar. Terrifying. Destructive.

Olivia began shaking uncontrollably and Arisa kept eye contact, feeling something inside her - dark and powerful reach out to Olivia, she felt a sharp pang tear through her chest and just as she released Olivia a shocked gasp escaping her lip, a piercing shriek tore through Olivia's throat and the haze Arisa was in snapped like a thin thread and she watched in horror as Olivia fell to her knees shrieking and withering in pain "Olivia!" Arisa screamed.