A Kiss For The Alpha

Battle of Mates

My fists were shuddering with a quiver of fear, and yet I launched myself at Casie with the bravado of a panther leaping to an assault. I had full confidence in my ability to land a hit and knock some sense into her. How little did I know how foolish I was to underestimate the power of a seasoned witch.

I sprinted my way to her, closing the distance between us, when Casie raised her wand and chanted, "O spirit of the eternal phoenix, I summon your elegant flames!"

From her wand burst a molten bird, brilliant and terrifying, its wings aflame with fire from some ancient phoenix. The heat was intense, scorching the air around me as it swooped down, forcing me to dive to the ground to avoid being incinerated. My heart was racing in my chest, the surge of adrenaline making my skin pickle with both fear and determination.

And I had been right, that fire-child had barely grazed me, and I would have crumbled into ashes. But I wasn't about to back down. I stumbled to my feet, determination solidifying, and resumed my run toward Casie much more carefully this time.

Casie wasn't done. In one quick motion, with the jerk of her arm, the most astonishing number of elemental magic hurtled at me-flames roared, water lashed out, and gusts of wind whipped across my skin, designed to keep me away. She could do all these things with all of the elements: that was how good she was. But then again, a brilliant mind really brought out the true level of Casie's messed-up personality.

"Why can't I hit this vermin? It's time." she spat, her words dripping with venom. I was gaining, my breathing ragged from the constant dodging, when she suddenly snapped her fingers. In an instant, a huge, armored werewolf materialized in front of me and closed on me with such swiftness that I had barely any reaction time.

With a shoulder-charge, the beast - fully clad in iron armor - sent me flying across the arena. Smashing into the magical barrier with bone-jarring force, I felt the impact rattle my spine while a searing pain shot down my back; the blood was trickling down, so warm and terrifyingly.

"Ah. No way." I gasped, trying to lever myself upwards, but the agony was too much. My sight blurred and the pain threatened to carry me into unconsciousness. It was hard to breathe- every breath a knife in my lungs.

This was supposed to be a clean fight between witches. What in the world was a werewolf doing here? The code of honor required a single combatant on each side, but here was Casie, enlisting this monstrously strong werewolf as insurance against defeat. It was an affront to everything the duel was supposed to represent, even if I wasn't entirely clear on the finer points of witch honor.

"Hey. Isn't that Sirius?" One of my classmates muttered from behind the barrier.

"You're right, that scar on his face. That's Sirius, the Alpha of the Molach Tribe! One of the most feared werewolves in the capital."

Sirius was enormous, towering over me with an aura of terror. The gleam in his armor glinted in a ridiculous contrast to the crosswork of scars across his body. His fangs were bared, but his eyes. there was something in them-a flicker of sorrow, of regret-that I couldn't understand.

"Hey. Did you bring your dog to our fight? Have some decency!" I snarled wordlessly, my voice full of defiance, though my body was in struggles as I tried to stand.

Casie's lips arced into a cruel smile. "Well, well, a witch's mate is a retainer, so when a witch enters a duel, the mates can, too! I have exactly ten mates, and you can't even handle my Sirius here? How do you hope to win when you're nothing but talk!"

With that, she launched herself at me and kicked me in the face with her foot. My head snapped back; it slammed into the barrier with a sickly thud. My glasses shattered; shards scattered across the floor. Now my vision was a blur, and panic welled up inside me. I couldn't see clearly anymore, couldn't fight properly. Casie had me just where she wanted me, and I was at a loss for how to get away.

"No! Don't hurt Fey! It's my fault, I swear! Please, no more of this!" Lilian shook as she screamed trying to bargain for my life. The vampire under Casie's control still had her hands in his vise-like grip; cold, unyielding strength prevented her from coming to my aid.

Sirious the werewolf was looming over me, the weight of his body pinning me to the ground. I could feel raw power in his muscles, yet he was holding back-he clearly didn't want to squash me. Casie wasn't nearly so restrained. She put her foot on my back, her wand pressed against my spine, its tip glowing malevolently.

"Surrender now, Fey," she sneered, "you're mateless and can't even cast the simplest of spells, despite all the claims of being a witch. Here in this academy, power is above your so-called fixation with justice. Now, apologize for opposing me, say you are nothing but a vermin, or I'll break your bones one by one."

The cruelty laced her words as she readied her wand to prepare a spell that could end me in a single instant. What was I doing? How did I get into this? All I wanted was to protect Lilian from Casie's torment, yet here I was, just as helpless, crushed beneath a power far greater than my own.

It was then that it painfully dawned on me that the values and culture of this world were very different from what I had known. My classmates cheered Casie on, gloating in my misery. To prove oneself as a witch in this academy, it seemed, required not just the gift of mana but an arsenal of powerful mates ready to fight by your side.

Currently, my mana was pathetic-just barely enough to cast even the most basic spell. And though I had bonded with my first mate, Siegfried, only yesterday, I somehow doubted he would rush to my aid. We barely knew each other; how could I expect him to be loyal to me in a fight like this?

Yet, even in the wave of despair, instinctively deep down, something smelled rotten at the core of this academy-values twisted in a way that clashes violently with everything I believed was right. I could not let this corruption fester and breed any longer. I had to follow my heart, even against such a petty yet dangerous fight.

"I'm not going to yield to you!" I shouted, and a pulse of the Ethereal energy erupted from the mark on my chest, sending Sirius and Casie flying a few meters backward as they'd been caught unaware.

I pointed my wand at them, and for the first time, it responded to my will. The tip of the wand flared with majestic blue flames, which grew larger as I fed with my mana.

"Blue flames?! Impossible." Ms Maria's voice was filled with incredulity.

My other classmates looked as if they had seen a ghost; their eyes were wide with wonder, staring at the dancing flames upon the tip of my wand. At that moment, I couldn't care less about what they were thinking anymore. What I cared about then was how to end this fight and take care of Lilian.

"Apologize now, Casie! Swear that you'll never harm Lilian again, or you'll face my wrath!" I shouted, my voice shaking in both fear and determination.

"W-Wait! Ms. Maria Azaroth, there should be rules for this! I didn't know that—"

"Shut up! Here I come!" I cut her off and swung my wand forward, ready to release the full force of the blue flames. I screwed up my eyes and waited for the blast of energy. However, when I opened my eyes again, I saw the flames clinging stubbornly on the tip of my wand.

"Wha?" I grumbled, feeling so befuddled. The fire refused to budge. No matter how hard I shook the wand or flailed my arms madly about, the fire refused to let go.

The realization dawning on me was that I was slowly losing control of the magic. Instead of shrinking, the flames grew bigger, pulling all the more mana away from me. I was right on the edge of disaster, with this fire nearly engulfing me.

"H-Help me, please! What's going on?!" I shrilled in terror. Of course, I couldn't just chuck the wand away because it would explode and bring even more devastation. I clung to it, bracing for the worst.

"This is terrible! An ether jinx! I must cast a spell of cancellation, but it may already be too late," exclaimed Ms. Maria in a tone of urgency. Scarcely had she moved to help when a blinding flash of lightning shattered the arena barrier, tearing through the air with a deafening roar.

Meanwhile, amidst the chaos, there appeared Siegfried, my first officer, and without the least of moments, he bellowed to my side. He grasped the wand from my trembling hands, firm with his grip but not too hard enough to press it and crush it with the extreme power of his strength.

"Siegried, nein! You'll get yourself hurt!" I protested, but my body betrayed me, my knees buckling with the force of the out-of-control magic. My heart raced, the beat erratic and terrifying.

"It's all right. I should have come sooner, without your call. Let me deal with this now, lady Fey." Siegfried's voice was smooth, imbued with a kindness I didn't expect. What had I done to deserve a mate like him?

The last thing I had heard, as my consciousness started to fade away, was the sound of a colossal explosion and the soft thud my body made as it hit the cold, stone-cold floor. My cheek pressed against the unyielding surface, and then all went black.