Alpha Gideon's POV
From the moment the fight began, I stayed still.
I should’ve been nervous. I should’ve been on edge. But instead, I sat there, eyes fixed on Vera, heart heavy with something I couldn’t quite explain.
Maybe it was trust.
Maybe it was fear.
I didn’t know.
What I did know was that Lisa was dangerous. She was fast, smart, and knew how to fight. Her swordplay had been praised for years. But as I watched Vera move across the arena — unsure at first, trembling, uncertain — something inside me shifted.
She didn’t break.
She kept going.
Every strike she blocked, every step she held, every time she stood back up — I felt a strange kind of pride growing in my chest. The same girl who barely held a sword two days ago was now standing her ground before a crowd that never wan
