Chapter 35
Ariel didn’t see the open fist coming; if she had, she would have done everything to avoid it. But it was too late.
The woman’s hand connected to her face with the force of a lightning bolt striking her cheeks without warning, and Ariel’s head jerked back from the impact, her ears ringing from the force.
A gasp echoed throughout the crowd; their mouths hung open and their eyes wide open as they watched the event unfold. No one had expected it, not even Ariel.
If Ariel had thought that her hands hurt from slapping a werewolf, it was nothing compared to the sting of the slap from a fully grown wolf.
“Fuck! She cried out from the pain.
The pain was a burning sensation, like a fire igniting on her skin and sending a red signal through all her nerve cells. Ariel pressed her palm to her cheeks, trying to provide a cooling sensation to wash over the pain, but it was almost fruitless.
She felt a surge of shock and disbelief coursing through her blood, but the slap had awakened a deep well of emotions within her, with one very prominent.
Revenge.
A tiny part of her brain already knew that this was what was going to happen if she continued taunting the lady, and now that it had, she wasn’t going to let it slide.
It was time to teach them who they were actually messing with. Werewolf or not, no one was going to disrespect her in this pack again.
The lady, whose name Ariel didn’t know or even cared to know, could sense the change in the atmosphere, and she snarled, her teeth bloody from the slaps, but she wore them proudly.
“Are you sure you want to do that, human?” The woman scoffed, spitting out the human like a sour word, but Ariel wasn’t fazed.
She had encountered bullies before, and the first thing they would always do was demean you and bring you down with their words.
It was all a waste of time, no matter what she said, Ariel wasn’t going to back down.
“Bertha!” The lady in charge of the training walked towards them, trying to disperse the tension. “Don’t try what I think you want to do. She is the Alpha’s girl, and you don’t want to incur the wrath of the Alpha.”
Ariel would have laughed if her cheeks weren’t so hurt. Of course, it was only someone with such a nasty character that would be called Bertha.
“I don’t give a fuck!” Bertha refuted, shaking off the hands that were trying to lead her away. “The alpha hasn’t announced her as his mate, and until he does, she means nothing. Nothing but a filthy human.”
“Bertha!” The women echoed their shock, although more than a few of them nodded their heads in agreement with what she was saying, but they weren’t brave enough to talk.
“It is fine.” Ariel said to the woman who was trying to diffuse the fight.
“But..” She looked at Ariel and briefly glanced at the door, and Ariel nodded, getting her message. It wasn’t like they wanted to help her; they were just afraid of what Kane would do.
“It is fine; I will speak to Kane about it and ensure that no one here is punished for whatever happens in this room.”
A loud hiss interrupted her before she could continue her statement. “There she goes, getting all cocky because she is the alpha’s whore.”
Ariel had no words, because there was a little truth in it, but that was the one thing she wanted to stop. She knew that they were always going to associate her with Kane, and while that was good, she wanted to earn their respect in her own way.
That was why she had to do this.
“Fine, come at me. I will teach you why you never mess with Bertha!” Bertha sneered, spittle flying from her mouth, and Ariel shifted a few distances before they landed on her face.
Ariel brought her left foot forward, getting into the stance that she had been practicing. They circled each other like threatened animals, each one observing their opponent. The air was charged from the tension, but amidst all this, Ariel was surprisingly clearheaded.
She shut her eyes close, shutting behind everything in the room, but she could feel the electricity already charging in her.
She could feel Kane behind her, whispering words of inspiration. and she let that fuel her.
“Focus Ariel; there is no way you can beat her; she is stronger and faster than you, but you can throw in a good fight and injure her.” Ariel nodded her head, understanding his words as a simple sentence.
Fight dirty.
Fighting dirty was the only advantage she had over Bertha. Ariel looked at the lady, her shoulders were puffed up in an air of arrogance that she was dying to knock off.
Without warning, Ariel charged towards Bertha, hitting her legs with the soles of her feet, and she smiled, satisfied, as it sent Bertha tumbling over.
Ariel had noticed the limp immediately when she saw her, although she had tried to cover it. But she noticed how Bertha was leaning toward her right side.
Ariel didn’t give her any breathing space, and she was over her, stomping on the injured foot repeatedly, her screams of protest urging her on.
For a brief second, Claudia flashed her mind, and she wondered what her friend would think if she saw her like this.
“Bitch!” Bertha screamed, landing a deadly blow on her leg that had Ariel weak on the knees. “You bitch, I will kill you.”
Ariel was no match for her as Bertha clawed her legs, dragging her down until her head met the floor hard in a sickening crunch.
“Ahhhh.” Ariel screamed out of her lungs as the pain exploded in her head. She was sure she was going to have a concussion later, but she ignored it and focused on putting the woman in her place.
Ariel tightened her fingers into a fist and raised it up, bringing it down with great force to her stomach. Even she flinched as she heard the sound it made on impact, and she gagged, her breakfast traveling up her throat.
She brought her fist back up, bringing it down to hit her stomach again, but Bertha already saw it coming this time and dodged it, rolling to the other side.
All that happened so fast that she couldn’t stop her momentum, and she watched with horror as her fist made contact with the marble.
“Shhhh.” Ariel hissed in pain, afraid that if she shouted, she was going to end up crying.
She had no time to process it because Bertha had wrapped her hands around her hair, and she dragged it with all her strength, and Ariel was sure she was pulling some out of their roots.
“You bitch!” Bertha dragged her hair hard, bending her neck so she could look at her. “I have been taking it easy on you because you are a human, but I can see you don’t care. Prepare to meet your maker.”
“Fuck you!.” Ariel yelled, clawing her hands out of her hair, but Bertha’s grip was unmoving.
Ariel should have realized that the bitch had been toying with her from the onset, but she had gotten Bertha angry, and she was sure she was actually going to meet her maker today.
Ariel intensified her effort, clawing her hands and even biting the sweaty flesh with her teeth. She didn’t care if it was going to cost her hair; she needed to be free from this crazy maniac.
She couldn’t explain the fear that came over her as she saw the crazed look on her face, and she knew Bertha wasn’t going to rest until her blood was all over the floor.
But who was she kidding?Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.
Bertha was a werewolf, a wolf on a mission to kill, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Ariel could only close her eyes, saying a short prayer under her breath as she accepted her fate.
Maybe she could finally meet her parents this time.
She didn’t feel any pain as Bertha struck her head on the marble, bringing her chapter to a close.