I narrowed my eyes in his direction. He was trying to goad me.
“Here in Valgertha, yes, they certainly do,” I answered carefully.
“In my city too,” he growled.
My inner alpha boldly reared her head. Every ounce of his being was challenging her, and I was having difficulty backing down now. It was me against him, alpha against alpha. My omega was quiet, or at least I thought so at first.
As the seconds passed, I realized that fiery fury was stronger than ever though, and I came to understand that my omega hadn’t settled down. She’d just merged together with my alpha to make me a formidable and entirely unique force to be reckoned with.
“What is your point, Thranar?” I asked. I made no effort to conceal the disdain in my voice now and he noticed.
His face tightened with fury and extremely tenuous restraint. He wanted to put me in my place. Instead, I was going to put him in his. I cleared my throat and smirked back at him.
“Does your army sing about my conquests on the battlefield, King Thranar of Ravenrath? Do your people sing of the alpha queen of Valgertha instead of you?” I pressed, not caring if I insulted him now. He’d started this and I fully intended to end it.
His upper lip curled with anger, and he slapped his palm on the table.
“Don’t test me, Freya. You’ve never faced an alpha like me,” he threatened.
“I killed the last alpha that tried to claim me for himself, Thranar. I put a knife through the side of his skull when he put his hands on me. You’ve never met an alpha like me, and you would do well to remember that,” I snarled. I downed the last of my wine and slammed the goblet on the table. I pushed my own hands against the wooden surface and stood up. My chair slid back as I strode away, but just when I moved to grip the handle of the door, Thranar’s hand grasped the back of my neck firmly. His chair clattered to the floor in the ensuing silence, an indication of just how quickly he’d come after me.
I growled viciously in return. I would give him one last chance.
“You will take your hands off me at once,” I demanded.
He didn’t listen. His fingers tightened against my flesh, his thumb just pressing against the place where Aric had marked me as his. My fury exploded inside me and I roared with it. I spun around, lifting my elbow and slamming my arm into his. I broke his hold on my neck and he growled, grasping at me again.
In a swift pivoting motion, I turned and grabbed his shoulders. I brought my knee up between his legs incredibly hard. I wasn’t afraid to fight dirty in battle. It’s what made me unstoppable all my life. He groaned in pain and I did it again, only this time, he swung his hips to the side and avoided the blow. Quickly, I backed off and bent down while he stared at me, his face red and scrunched with anger.
I returned his ire tenfold.
I slid my pant leg up and grasped the handle of my dagger. Carefully, I slid it out of the holster and straightened up, staring at him as I did so. He glanced down at the blade in my fingers and I growled at him. The reaction of his own alpha was just as vicious as I expected.
He tore back at me, unable to contain himself now. His punches were tight and expertly executed, and it took all of my concentration to avoid them, all while trying to gain ground myself. I slashed at him, keeping my movements contained and calculated. Occasionally, the edge of my knife would just catch him, and he’d roar as he went at me, again and again until I knew that this would only be over once one of us fell or ended up dead.
I lost myself in the dance of war. I twisted and turned, swaying back and forth to escape his blows while moving in. I jumped and pivoted forward, slowly working myself closer and closer as I planned my next attack. I was well known for my skill in battle, and as I fought him, that was quickly becoming more apparent by the expression on his face.
But he was also really strong. He hadn’t become King of Ravenrath for no reason.
When I pressed forward, he pushed me back. Chairs were knocked out of the way as we tore into each other. My muscles burned and I panted as I drew in each breath, but it didn’t matter because I needed to push him back and show him that I was a force to be reckoned with too.
I fought hard, knocking off his hands again and again. For a while, I felt in control and then his leg kicked out unexpectedly and knocked me off my feet. The hand not holding my dagger slammed against the table in an effort to protect my face knocking against the hard wooden surface. In that same moment, he pinned me down before I had a chance to get myself back up by gripping the back of my neck once again. My breasts pressed against the wood, still contained by my vest. I seethed, trying to use my hands to push up against the table, but he grabbed my wrists and pinned them behind my back.
I tried to kick backwards, hoping to catch him in the balls with my heel. I didn’t.
He snarled in victory, but I never stopped fighting.
I wouldn’t ever.
He gripped the collar of my vest and tore it clean through, baring my back in one quick maneuver. The support of the cloth against my chest gave way and I swallowed anxiously, but I didn’t let it get to me. After that, he grasped at the hem of my pants and tried to pull them down, but I put everything into fighting back now. I wasn’t about to let him strip me and have his way with me. Fuck that.
I pushed backwards hard and used my own body weight to knock him off balance. He staggered backwards and I swung around, ignoring as the remnants of my vest fell away and exposed the pink flesh of my breasts. His eyes dropped to them with a ravenous leer and I raced toward him, raising my arm with my dagger still in hand.
He was ready for me, though. He ducked and grabbed at my wrist, forcing my arm backwards hard enough to make my shoulder pop out of place. The blade fell from my hand and he caught it, only to slash it across my chest deep enough to make me see stars.
I screeched and fought like a wild animal, but my arm would no longer work. It hung there at my side, unfeeling and unmoving no matter how hard I tried to control it. Blood from my wound poured down the front of me. My vision darkened just slightly around the edges, but I didn’t give up.
He punched my shoulder once and then twice before I staggered to the side and he used that to kick the back of my knee roughly. I folded to the floor and tried to get back up. My fingers slipped in the blood underneath me and I fell back down, knocking my chin on the floor.