Bound By The Alpha’s Curse

Chapter9

MIRA

I stumbled backward from the force of the strike, and I could hear the crowd around the pit starting to cheer for Lucian. They were shouting his name and praising his strength, but I didn't care because I was just getting started. Lucian didn't give me any room to breathe, he kept attacking with heavy, bone-breaking swings, and I just kept dodging. I moved to the left and then to the right, letting his blade whistle past my ears, and I focused on my breathing. I wasn't trying to overpower him yet, I just wanted him to exhaust himself. I wanted to wait until his muscles started to burn and his movements slowed down just a fraction before I made my real move.

He caught me again, this time across my shoulder, and then he landed a kick to my ribs that sent me sprawling into the sand. I rolled and scrambled back to my feet, but I was a mess. I had multiple cuts on my arms and legs, and the blood was starting to drip onto the ground, making the sand clump together in dark red spots. I was bleeding all over and my vision was starting to tunnel from the pain, but I gripped my sword hilt until my knuckles turned white and forced myself to stand upright.

Lucian stopped for a second, looking at me with a mixture of anger and something that looked like pity. He lowered his sword just an inch, shaking his head at me.

"Just stay down, Mira," he said, and his voice was loud enough for the whole room to hear. "I knew you were always weak. You were never meant to be a warrior, and you're certainly no match for me. Stop before I actually kill you."

I felt the blood trickling down my face from a cut on my forehead, but I didn't wipe it away. Instead, I let a smirk crawl across my lips. I saw the way his eyes narrowed in confusion, and I knew I had him right where I wanted him.

"Is that all you've got?" I asked, and the smirk grew wider. "Bring it on, Lucian. Or are you the one who’s getting tired?"

Lucian’s face went red, and he let out a low growl that vibrated in my chest. He assumed I was already finished, he thought my body was too weak to move and that I was just talking big to save face. He raised his sword high, clearly wanting to deliver a final, crushing blow that would end the match and send me back to the kitchens. He lunged forward with everything he had, putting all his weight into a massive overhead strike.

That was his mistake. He was overconfident, and he had left his guard completely open.

The second he moved, I shifted. I didn't dodge backward this time, I stepped inside his reach. I was so close I could feel the heat of his breath, and before he could bring his blade down, I swept my leg out and caught him behind his ankles. At the same time, I slammed the hilt of my sword into his chest. He was off balance, and with a loud grunt, he went crashing down into the sand.

The next second, I was over him. I dropped to one knee and pressed the edge of my sword right against the skin of his neck.

The training room went dead silent. You could have heard a pin drop on the stone floor. Lucian’s eyes were wide, his pupils blown out with shock as he stared up at me. He was pinned, his back in the dirt, and he realized in that moment that he had actually looked down on me. He had underestimated me, and now I had my blade at his throat. I leaned in, pressing the steel just a little bit harder so the tip was only inches from the soft spot under his jaw.

"Don't you ever underestimate me again," I warned him, my voice low and dangerous. "I might not have my wolf, but I’ve spent the last ten years learning how to survive people exactly like you."

I held the position for a few more seconds just to make sure he felt the weight of his defeat, and then I pulled the sword back. I stood up, my body aching in a dozen different places, and I reached down to offer him a hand to help him up.

Lucian didn't take it. He looked at my hand like it was covered in poison and slapped it away with a sharp crack. He wanted to get up on his own, he wanted to regain some shred of his dignity, but I wasn't finished proving my point yet. As he tried to push himself up, I slammed my boot right into the center of his chest. It wasn't a light tap, it was a heavy, grounded shove that sent him barking a cough and pinned him right back down into the sand.

"Stay down until I'm done talking," I said.

Lucian remained on the ground, staring up at me in pure surprise. He didn't even look angry anymore, he just looked like he was seeing me for the first time in a decade. The crowd was still frozen, no one dared to move or speak while their Alpha was lying in the dirt at the feet of a servant.

"I won," I said, looking down at him while the blood continued to soak into my clothes. "You set the rules and I followed them. You're on the ground, and I'm standing. So, are you going to keep your word?"

Lucian stayed silent for a long moment, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He looked around at his pack, at the warriors who had just watched him lose to a girl they all thought was a traitor and a weakling. He knew he had no choice. He had made the deal in front of everyone, and as Alpha, he couldn't go back on his word without looking like a coward.

"Fine," he gritted out, his voice sounding like he was swallowing glass. "I’ll be your personal trainer."