Her Unexpected Luna

Chapter 16

Tasia

Tasia would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous for her first match. She would never admit it out loud, but she would definitely be lying. Alpha Axel was known for being the tallest Alpha ever known standing at a whopping 6ft 11, he was ruthless and brutal on the battlefield. He could take down many wolves before shifting into his own. If she was hesitant about going up against any wolf, it was him. She looked back at the wolves in the tent who were snickering at each other, she narrowed her eyes and brought her attention forward as she studied the current match that was still going on, The pair had finally shifted into their wolves. Her mind was going a mile a minute, thinking about what she was going to do to overcome this curve ball. A warm sensation crept through her body, slowing down her mind to force her to pay attention to the she wolf that stepped in front of Tasia, wrapping her arms around her waist to bring her in close as Thalia stared up at her with her big green eyes.

"You're bigger than him," Thalia said. Tasia tried to stop herself from chuckling at her false statement. Thalia frowned and playfully pinched her side. "I'm serious," She said trying not to let a smile slip through. "I feel it, your determination is what got you here right? Basic Alpha genes and privilege got him to where he is. You are bigger. So hit him, where he can't hit you" She said. Tasia thought about what she said, maybe she was on to something. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Letting Thalia's scent calm her down and focus on an actual plan.

"Alpha Axel is pure brute strength, The angrier his wolf gets, the harder it gets for Axel to control him," Marcus said. "And sometimes when you can't control a wolf.." He trailed off

"They get sloppy" Tasia finished as she brought her finger up to her lip, thinking things through.

The match finally ended with Alpha Alonzo being able to see through Sebastian's Tricky Tactics and pinning him down by his neck. If this were a real fight, Alonzo would have ripped through his neck within a blink of an eye. It was the quickest way to incapacitate a wolf indefinitely. Everyone cheered and Alonzo helped up Sebastian, clapping him on the back and ruffling his hair.

"Anyone that thinks size doesn't matter in a wolf, they are mistaken," Alonzo said with a side glance towards Tasia.

She wanted to let out a snarl but chose to maintain a cool composure. She wouldn't let anyone know she was phased. Tasia refused to let them get to her, she would make it a point to prove everyone wrong. Thalia gave her one last squeeze before letting her go and stepping back so she could make her way to the ring. Before getting in, the ref went over the rules of the match which were pretty standard. The biggest rule of them all was not to kill each other. The wolf that can restrain the other would be the victor. Tasia stuck out her hand, Axel stared down at her with a blank face before letting out an annoyed huff and firmly shook her hand before they climbed into the ring and got in their respective positions.

Thalia

Thalia was now beginning to feel nervous. It wasn't her mate's feelings, it was her own. Has Tasia ever been up against a wolf of this caliber? surely not if Tasia doubted herself even for a second. She began chewing on her fingernails as she watched them both climb into the ring. Alpha Axel towered over Tasia, staring down at her almost as if he felt like this match would be over before it started and that it wasn't even worth his time. Thalia felt a delicate hand on her shoulder and was pulled into a soft side hug. Lauren. Her presence calmed Thalia enough to stop her from chewing on her fingernails.

"She's a tough Alpha, you'll see" Lauren cooed in her ear. Thalia looked over at her with a soft smile and nodded her head. She looked around and noticed there was more of a crowd than there was the last match. The whispers and comments were obviously in favor of Alpha Axel. Some were even placing bets amongst each other. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a wolf that made her stomach clench. It was Trevor. Fear slowly crept its way into Thalia's body, his intense gaze made her uncomfortable. She couldn't understand why no one else could see who he was. All she saw in his eyes was an unstable lunatic who has an obsession with control. Thalia's head snapped back toward the ring when she heard a loud smack and the sound of a body slamming to the floor of the ring. Blood spilled out of Tasia's mouth as she looked at Thalia with worried eyes. She must have felt Thalia's fear and got distracted.

"It's okay, he can't hurt you here. Don't let him get to you. Let Ryan and I worry about Trevor and the others. You just support your Mate. She needs you" Lauren said squeezing her. Thalia nodded and gave Tasia a look that let her know she was fine.

"You got this" Thalia mouthed to her. Tasia nodded her head and looked up just in time to see axel reach down to grab Tasia's neck. She quickly grabbed his arm and yanked as hard as she could to throw off his balance while at the same time using him to pull herself up swiftly to switch their positions, placing one hand on his back to push him down onto the floor hard as she folded the arm she had behind his back to hold him down. That barely lasted a second before he used his other arm to push himself off the ground, standing straight up, lifting Tasia with him causing her to tighten her legs against his side so she wouldn't fall. She used her free arm to wrap around his neck while she still held his other down before Axel let himself fall backward slamming Tasia back down to the ground, his full weight adding extra momentum as they fell. Her head bounced off the floor, blood now pouring from her ear as she was disoriented causing her to let go of him. She let out a groan as she coughed up some more blood. She needed to get up.

"Get up!" Thalia bellowed. Her voice was urgent, loud, and commanding. A few heads turned to look at Thalia as she kept her gaze on Tasia, hoping she could feel how much Thalia believed in her right now.

Tasia

At that moment Tasia felt a surge of energy and uncontrollable strength. Her wolf was begging to come forward but she wasn't ready for that yet. It was too soon, if they had any chance at all they needed to stay in their human form as long as possible. The sound of Thalia's voice brought her out of her haze just in time to roll away from Axel before he grabbed her again. He growled in frustration as they circled each other. She could see the irritation in his eyes, but he wasn't angry. Not yet. A sly smile appeared on Tasia's face as she realized what she needed to do. She wiped the blood from her mouth and stopped to stand in position as Axel did the same.

Tasia lunged forward glancing low to his right, baiting him in to dodge to the left as she stopped mid-charge to redirect herself and leap up to strike him directly across the face finally drawing blood on him. She refused to let up and watched which way he was going to lean off balance and swiftly pushed herself to his other side to leap up once again striking him on the other side of his face throwing him off balance. She took the opportunity to throw her body over to place one hand flat against the matt to swing a leg directly up to kick him square in the jaw. Three major blows to the face had him spewing more blood than her. The anger was now evident in his eyes as he spits the blood out of his mouth to the side. She lunged in again but was interrupted by a sickening blow to the stomach with his foot, knocking the wind out of her. That was not something she saw coming.

Axel reached in and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground and holding her out, his grip cutting off her air supply as she choked for air. The ref was getting ready to blow his whistle before Thalia brought both of her legs up to wrap around his neck and squeeze until he was forced to let go of her causing her to fall back. She let go of him with her legs and used her hands to catch herself before she hit the ground, her feet falling in front of her allowing her to shove herself between his open legs. Her wolf was trying to force her to shift as her claws grew out, using that as an opportunity to s***h at Axel's legs. Once she was on the other side she leaped up onto his back wrapping her arms around his throat to cut off his supply. He was now beginning to have a hard time controlling his wolf too. His face was contorting back and forth from his own to his wolfs. He was growling and baring his fangs as he tried to get her off his back. His bones began cracking and reshaping into his wolf form. Tasia let go as his clothes began to rip and fur sprout over his skin.

Axel stood before her on all fours with dark brown fur and a nasty roar, his wolf stood taller than Tasia. They probably should have gotten a bigger ring for this wolf. He was limited on space which meant there wasn't much room for Tasia to move around neither. Axel immediately charged for Tasia fully expecting her to shift into her wolf. Tasia dropped to the ground to slide underneath the wolf, reaching up to gouge at his belly with her shifted claws. She could only imagine what this fight looked like on the outside. Axel's wolf might as well be the size of a black bear on two feet compared to her. He was getting angrier by the moment, frantically trying to turn around and attack Tasia. She found it a lot easier to dodge him in his wolf form, clawing at him every chance she got. His coat was soaked in his blood and he was exhausted with rage. Tasia was getting ready to let her wolf fully take over until she realized Axel laid down to submit his defeat. What? The crowd was quiet for a moment before it erupted into cheers. Tasia looked over to see Thalia jumping up and down in joy, Marcus and Vincent were clapping and whooping as they cheered her on.

Tasia turned her head back to Axel who had already shifted back and was being handed clothes by the ref who announced Tasia as the victor. Tasia studied Axel with her eyebrows raised. Why did he submit? She was still underpowered even with him in the state he was in. Even though she managed to hold her own she was beginning to accept the fact that she wasn't going to win, but she refused to go out without making her mark.

"Why did you submit?" She demanded unable to keep it to herself anymore. Axel ignored her and turned to exit the ring once he was clothed. Tasia followed him, refusing to let him leave without an answer. Once they were out of the ring Tasia reached up to grab his forearm to pull him back so he would turn to face her. She was met with black eyes and a snarl, which she returned without hesitation "Answer me!" she demanded "Why did you submit!"

"Being a good Alpha means getting out when something doesn't feel right. Even my wolf knows that! Someone like you shouldn't have lasted that long in the ring with me. I have enough sense to step back before it's too late." He spat. He jerked his arm away from Tasia's grasp and disappeared into the crowd.

Tasia was pulled into a soft embrace, Thalia's hands carefully touching around the wounds that were mostly healed already. She still couldn't quite understand what it was that he sensed was bad enough that caused him to accept defeat. Axel's wolf was known to lose complete control during fights. He caused some serious damage that cost more than the intended life. She knew that was a long time ago and no one seemed to hold that against him anymore. She was honestly surprised he was allowed to compete in something like this.

"I can not believe.. you just forced the three-year champion out of his winning streak by submission," Vincent said.

"In his first match too!" Marcus added. Tasia stared at them with a blank clueless look.

"You mean to tell me, Axel has won the tournament the last three years..." Tasia repeated, holding up three fingers as they slowly nodded their heads.

"Ever since he became Alpha," Vincent said.