Fake Bond of the Lycan Lords

Chapter 10

Betty POV

"Your mother is a liar, Betty."

Adriel didn't yell. He didn't have to. The sheer weight of his voice cut through the heavy heat of the training arena, freezing the blood in my veins.

My mother flinched beside him, her fingers curling into the fabric of her faded tunic. "Adriel, please. There isn't time. The bloodlines - "

"The bloodlines are dead because your people slaughtered them," Adriel snapped, his gold eyes locking onto mine with terrifying intensity. "Don’t wrap ancient g******e in the pretty paper of a fairy tale."

I looked between them, my pulse hammering against my ribs. "The royal warrior lycan. What is that?"

"It’s a myth designed to keep you compliant," Adriel muttered, stepping closer until his shadow completely swallowed mine. "The five kingdoms didn't just vanish because of a curse. The Blaze kingdom and the Knight kingdom tore each other apart from the inside. Your grandfather didn't fall in love, Betty. He was a prisoner of war."

My dad stepped forward, his jaw tight, a vein pulsing violently in his neck. "That is enough, Prince Adriel. She is our daughter. We will tell her the truth of her blood."

"Then tell her the whole truth," Adriel growled, his hand snapping down onto the stone railing of the viewing deck. The marble cracked under his palm. "Tell her about the twins."

My mother swallowed hard, her eyes darting toward the arena floor below where the dust was still settling from the last fight. "It’s unusual for lycans to have twins, Betty. Especially one of each. The stronger twin always absorbs the power of the weaker one. My brother did it to me in the womb. He left me human in every way that mattered. No beast. No power."

"So you fled," I whispered, the words tasting like ash.

"I had to," she said, her voice cracking. "But the traits skip a generation. The gathered strength of the Blaze and Knight kingdoms didn't die with me. It waited. For you."

"And what exactly am I supposed to do with it?" I demanded, my hands curling into fists at my sides.

"You can command their beasts," she whispered, leaning in so close I could smell the sharp, metallic tang of her fear. "You can see their moves before they make them. You did it to Madeline’s wolf. You released it from its prison. You are the last female lycan, Betty. A true queen. You are the one who breaks the curse."

A sudden, sharp headache slammed into my temples like a physical blow. I stumbled back half a step, my boot heel catching on the uneven stone. Down in the dirt of the arena, Micah was trading brutal, bone-cracking blows with Delta Shimon. Every twist, every swing, every shift in Shimon’s weight flashed in my mind a millisecond before it happened.

It wasn't a guess. It was a roadmap.

"Miss Betty and Leonardo from the lycan kingdom," Beta Kennedy’s voice boomed across the dirt, shattering the tension on the deck. "Come down here and take your places."

I didn't wait for Adriel to say another word. I turned on my heel and bolted down the stone steps, eager to drown the voices in my head with the clean, simple reality of violence.

"Good luck, Princess," Adriel called out after me, his voice dropping into a low, predatory register that made the hairs on my arms stand up. "Remember, a lycan's weak point isn't the same as a werewolf's."

I didn't look back. I hit the tarmac of the arena floor, my training shoes skidding on the dust. Leonardo was already waiting, his shoulders broad, a smirk plastering his face.

"Shake hands and begin," Beta Kennedy ordered, stepping between us.

We gripped hands briefly. His palm was calloused and hot.

"I won't hold back, Betty," Leonardo warned, his eyes narrowing as he dropped into a low fighting stance.

"I would be disappointed if you did," I retorted.

Leonardo immediately began to circle me, his eyes tracking my feet, searching for a single stumble. My mother’s words echoed in my skull - don't always rely on the power, trust your instinct.

The vision in my head showed Leonardo lunging left. But the air shifted to my right.

My instinct won.

I ducked beneath a massive, sweeping hook, dropped my weight, and drove my heel directly into the back of Leonardo's knee. The joint buckled. He hit the dirt hard on his backside, huffing as the breath knocked out of him.

"You're good," Leonardo growled, scrambling back to his feet, the playful smirk gone from his lips. "But you won't beat me."

"Let's see it then," I said, beckoning him forward with a flick of my wrist. "Don't you dare hold back."

He lunged again, a blur of raw speed. I moved to counter, but my boots slipped on the loose gravel. I was half a second too slow. His knuckle caught the bridge of my nose with a sickening crunch.

"s**t, sorry!" Leonardo gasped, instantly dropping his guard.

I didn't hesitate. I drove my fist straight forward, smashing my knuckles into his face. His nose shattered under the impact. A fountain of dark red blood gushed over his lip.

"Don't hold back, I said," I growled, my vision tinting crimson.

Deep inside my mind, my lycan woke up, letting out a wild, booming laugh that rattled my ribs. She was enjoying this.

Leonardo wiped the blood from his mouth and came at me with full force. We locked up, chest to chest, exchanging a rapid-fire barrage of brutal short-range blows. I took a hit to the ribs, gave one back to his jaw, and finally grabbed his elbow, using his own forward momentum to flip him over my hip.

He hit the ground with a massive thud, rolling onto his back, gasping for air before he broke into a bloody, breathless laugh.

"Miss Betty wins," Beta Kennedy announced, stepping forward to check his pulse. "You have five minutes to rest. Then you face Ian."

I sat cross-legged on the grass, my chest heaving as I watched Ian dismantle an alpha from a neighboring pack in the secondary ring. Leonardo dragged himself up and limped over to where Adriel and my parents were watching.

"Ian is the winner," Kennedy called out a moment later.

Ian walked toward me, wiping sweat from his forehead, a sharp grin on his face. "I saw what you did to Leonardo. Hurt his pride more than his nose."

"To hell with pride," I said, standing up and shaking out my arms. "It’s useless in a real fight."

"Don't hold back now," Ian said.

I launched a roundhouse kick straight for his neck. Ian caught my ankle in a vice-like grip and twisted. Instead of resisting and snapping my bone, I went with the spin, flipping in mid-air and landing hard on my opposite foot. Before he could recover, I swept my leg low, catching his knee. He grunted, stumbling back.

I jumped, driving both feet into his shoulder blades. Ian went flying forward, face-planting into the dirt. I let out a sharp, breathless laugh, but the sound died in my throat as a low, rumbling growl echoed from the edge of the ring.

Luka was standing there, his eyes completely black, his claws extended.

"It's okay," Ian muttered, pushing himself up from the ground. "He's the gamma. His beast hates seeing us fight each other. It confuses him."

I turned my head to look at Luka, dropping my guard for a fraction of a second.

It was a fatal mistake.

Ian's hands locked around my waist. He hoisted me high into the air and slammed me into the hard-packed earth. Every ounce of oxygen left my lungs in a violent gasp. The world spun.

Beta Kennedy stepped into my blurry line of sight, counting down. "Miss Betty is out in five... four... three..."

Ian stood over me, his arms raised in premature victory.

I snapped my leg up, driving my heel directly between his thighs with everything I had left.

Ian froze. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed into a heap on the dirt, curling into a tight ball.

"I give up," he whispered into the grass.

"Miss Betty wins," Kennedy laughed. "In five minutes, you meet Luka."

Luka strode into the ring, pulling Ian up by his collar and slapping him on the back. Ian shot me a murderous glare, but I just waved him off with a smirk.

"You fight unfairly, Princess," Luka said, stopping two feet away from me.

"I would have lost," I shrugged, my heart rate finally steadying. "And I don't lose."

My lycan hummed with approval, and I could feel Luka's beast responding to her presence, a strange, electric current vibrating between us. He sat down opposite me on the grass while we waited for the clock.

"We need to talk," we both said at the exact same time.

A small laugh broke out between us, but I cut it short, studying his face. He was strikingly handsome, but the pull I felt toward him wasn't the volatile, possessive heat I shared with Adriel. This was different. Calmer. Deeper.

"Don't hold back, please," I told him as Kennedy walked back into the centre of the ring.

"The winner of this match goes against Alpha Aldo from the Titan-Shell pack," Kennedy warned us, lowering her voice. "He has already beaten two of our best lycans. And he has his sights set on you, Betty."

I glanced past her shoulder. Aldo was standing by the weapon racks, a smug, arrogant smirk plastered across his face. He was large, built like a brick wall, but compared to Adriel, he looked clumsy.

"Begin!" Kennedy shouted.

Luka and I lunged at the exact same moment. We threw the exact same left hook, blocking each other seamlessly. We moved in perfect, terrifying synchronization. Every strike I threw, he countered; every sweep he attempted, I evaded. It was a flawless dance that quickly turned from exhilarating to deeply frustrating.

We threw simultaneous kicks, our shins colliding with a brutal crack. I staggered back, my teeth grinding, but I refused to fall. Luka stumbled, his balance wavering, and I seized the split second to drive a high kick directly into the side of his head.

A massive, unnatural growl tore out of his throat. His lycan took over.

In a flash of gray fur and tearing fabric, Luka shifted completely into a massive, towering wolf.

A mistake, my inner beast whispered. For him.

I smiled. I didn't back away as the massive wolf snapped its jaws at me. Instead, I walked right into his guard. Luka froze, his ears pinning back as I reached out and pressed my bare palm against his thick shoulder fur. He tracked my hand, his chest heaving with heavy breaths.

I leaned up on my toes, bringing my face inches from his massive snout as if I were about to kiss him.

"Roll," I whispered.

Luka’s lycan immediately dropped to the dirt, flipping onto his back and kicking his legs in the air. A collective roar of laughter erupted from the sidelines. Adriel was leaning against the barrier, laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach.

Luka struggled to regain control of his own body, his paws twitching, but I knelt down in the dirt and began scratching his stomach aggressively.

Beta Kennedy walked into the ring, looking like she had just witnessed a murder. "Uhm... can I take this as a win for you, Betty?"

"Yep," I chuckled, scratching behind his right ear. "This puppy won't be doing anything for a while."

"Miss Betty wins!" Kennedy yelled.

A sharp hum vibrated in my skull. What did you say to him? Adriel’s voice demanded through the mindlink.

Roll, I snapped back, instantly cutting the link before he could reply.

Luka shifted back into his human form, scrambling away from me. My face burned hot as I realized he was completely naked. I looked away immediately, staring hard at the dirt.

"Betty," Luka said, his voice breathless as he grabbed a discarded pair of shorts from the grass. "Have you ever heard of twin souls?"

I shook my head, keeping my eyes locked on my boots.

"Ask Adriel to explain it," Luka muttered, pulling the shorts on. "Then we need to talk." He turned and stalked off toward the tree line without another word.

Twin souls? Was that why his beast felt so familiar?

"You have a very impressive fighting stance, Miss Betty," a smooth voice purred from behind me.

I turned around. Alpha Aldo was standing there, his arms crossed over his massive chest, a dark glint in his eyes.

"Thanks," I said coldly. "So do you."

"Sure, but I think you will beat me quite quickly," he laughed, though the sound didn't reach his eyes.

"We will never know until the fight is finished," I replied.

"True. I asked Beta Kennedy for a ten-minute break before we begin," Aldo said, his eyes scanning my dirt-caked clothes. "I noticed you looked uncomfortable in those heavy garments. I thought you might want to change and get a drink."

I blinked, genuinely surprised by the gesture. "Yes. You're right. Thank you, Alpha... I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"Aldo. See you in ten minutes, Princess."

I turned and jogged toward my parents. My mother had already anticipated the move, holding out a bundle of fresh clothes - black athletic shorts and a tight training bra. I ducked into the stone tunnel beneath the viewing deck and changed rapidly, stripping out of the heavy, sweat-soaked tunic.

The new clothes fit tight, framing my wide hips and muscular legs. I wasn't thin, and I certainly wasn't a bodybuilder, but I carried enough muscle to look dangerous.

When I walked back out onto the tarmac, Adriel was standing near the entrance. His eyes locked onto my exposed midriff, a sudden, dark hunger flashing in his gold irises. I shot him a sharp smile and kept walking.

"The scar," Ian muttered as I walked past him, pointing toward my collarbone.

I tilted my head. "It's not a scar, Beta Ian. It's a birthmark."

Ian frowned, utterly confused, but Luka let out a heavy sigh from the shadows, and Adriel's posture went completely rigid. Something had just clicked in his mind.

"Miss Betty and Alpha Aldo, you're up!" Kennedy called out.

I sprinted down into the centre ring, the dust swirling around my ankles.

"And begin!"

I wasted no time, launching a low, blinding kick toward Aldo's knee. But Aldo didn't dodge. He took the hit, his leg solid as iron, and his hand snapped out like a viper, grabbing my forearm. With a brutal twist of his wrist, he slammed me into the tarmac.

The breath exploded out of my lungs. A sharp, white-hot pain shot up my spine.

Before I could roll, Aldo drove his heavy boot directly into my stomach, pinning me to the floor. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his teeth bared in a feral snarl.

"You dared to hurt her," he spat, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "You broke her beast out of its cage. I am going to make you pay for what you did to my mate."

I gasped for air, my fingers clawing at the leather of his boot. "I don't even know who your mate is. Who is she?"

Aldo leaned more weight onto my chest, his eyes burning with pure malice.

"Madeline."