Chapter 76: The Combat Test 2
Andria’s POV
That was when I heard his voice, Tristan’s. Was he trying to use the mate’s telepathy? Well, well, that was a first.
"It is just a class session, don’t be too upset, mate," he teased
I looked up at the combat ring, and our eyes met; he smirked at me.
He sure can’t read my mind, but he probably read my expression and decided to try the mate telepathy.
Tricia noticed that Tristan wasn’t paying attention to their team fight again, but was staring at a particular spot in the audience, and decided to follow his gaze until it landed on mine.
Her smile turned to a big frown, and she sized me up with her eyes, then turned to Tristan, trying to call his attention back to the ring.
When she wasn’t getting his attention, she started to take on Aven and Liara alone until Aven noticed what was happening.
"Tristan, you have to focus on the practice; you may lose," Athena called out to him.
"You are paired with Zade, how sweet," his wolf retorted in a jealous tone.
"Well, I’m not Kaelric, nor am I a duel master. I didn’t make these things, so you have to concentrate or risk failing," I fired back.
Nice comeback, he said before he turned to Tricia, and they both started fighting side by side again.
This time, he let her touch him anywhere she wanted, hoping it would make me jealous, and the funny thing is that it did make me jealous.
Tricia turned to look at me and shot me a triggering smirk, and I felt like storming off the hall, but I will sit till the end of this class, as I have promised myself.
They were soon done with their turn, and then a few others, before I heard my name.
"Aria and Zade, versus Becca and Arlo," Kaelric called out, taking me off my thoughts.
What an unfair advantage, but maybe they might win, given that they are a good team with a firm mate bond. I mean, they were friends before becoming mates, and they had great chemistry.
I stepped out towards the combat ring, and soon the quiet hall became noisy, with jeers, whispers, and gestures all pointed towards me.
I suddenly recalled that dream, but I brushed it off; they can’t make me nervous. Tracy’s spell effect is just blinding them.
Becca came into the ring with Arlo. She wore a very confident look, even though she knew that she was likely to fail if she was just paired with me.
"Remember the theme isn’t just to win, but to work as a team," Zade whispered to me as if my stance betrayed my thoughts.
"Quite unfortunate that I had to be paired up with you," I retorted. "But for the sake of good grades, let’s do this."
"Well, the tension in your eyes and on your body tells me otherwise, but let’s do this," he said, cracking his knuckles.
I felt Kaelric’s gaze on me, studying my every move, and that was very distracting.
The combat ring swallowed us whole. The crowd’s noise gradually subsided into a heavy silence, as their attention was locked on the combat ring, though I could still hear whispers piercing through the tension.
My palms grew damp, and the air felt tight against my skin. Beside me, Zade stood tall and looked relaxed, like he had all the time in the world. "What’s so relaxing about this situation?" I murmured to myself.
"I didn’t quite get what you just said, but I hope you let down your guard a little so that we can win this as a team, just like the theme says," he teased, walking towards me and taking some strands of hair from my face.
Becca and Arlo’s confidence in their teamwork was unnerving, not that they outwardly tried to rub it on me, but by their stance, you can see they are a team. Besides, they were even friends before they were mates.
Their movements weren’t sharp or fast, but they had chemistry, and with the way they stood together, it looked as if they were ready to conquer the world together.
The mate bond between them was a thread I could almost see, an invisible tether that let them move as though they were reading each other’s thoughts.
Was I envious? No, after all, she is my friend. I’m just unlucky to be in a complicated situation with my mates.
Kaelric’s voice sliced through the heavy air. "Begin."
At once, Becca lunged forward. Arlo didn’t even need to call her name; he moved in sync with her, covering her weak spots.
Their strikes weren’t powerful, but together they flowed like water, steady, persistent and unrelenting. Arlo struck, and I dodged, and as I was about to stand, Becca immediately advanced to deliver another blow, while Arlo switched with her to face Zade.
I read their movements; they wanted to take at least one opponent down, and they carried it out perfectly, although with weak punches that I could easily dodge.
Whenever I thought I could predict their next move, Becca would glance at Arlo, and suddenly they’d shift rhythm, catching me off guard.
"Watch them," Zade muttered under his breath, circling beside me. "This is what it means to fight as a team"
I gritted my teeth. "I know what it means. I just don’t trust you."
"You don’t have to trust me with your life. Just with this fight," he replied, his smirk never leaving his lips. "Drop the pride, Aria. You’re holding yourself back, and we can’t work as a team like this."
I hated how calm he sounded, how certain he seemed. Meanwhile, my mind was split in a thousand directions, Zade’s words digging at me, Becca’s flawless teamwork with Arlo irritating me, Kaelric’s eyes boring into my every move.
Arlo struck low, Becca struck high, and though I deflected Becca’s attack, Arlo’s swipe nearly caught me off balance. Zade stepped in swiftly, blocking the strike before it landed. His wolf’s voice brushed against my consciousness, deep and commanding.
"Bring down your walls, just this once."I flinched. Not because of the words, but because I felt them inside me, sliding through my barriers like smoke. I shoved the voice down, but Athena ignored me.
"You traitor," I shunned Athena.
Kaelric’s footsteps echoed closer. Before I knew it, he was standing near the ring. He studied our movement for a while, his gaze fixed on me. Then he stepped into the ring.
I thought he was about to stop the fight, just as he had the first time, but instead, he stepped closer to me and said in a low tone.
"You’re forgetting the major theme. Work with your partner, or you fail this test."
A test? My head snapped up in disbelief. My breath caught. This wasn’t just practice. This wasn’t just a random class assignment. It was a test. And I was about to fail.
I can’t afford to fail a test, let alone a combat practice test.
Heat flared through me, not from embarrassment this time, but from urgency. Failing wasn’t an option. Not here. Not in front of him. Not in front of everyone, waiting for me to crumble.
"Fine," I muttered under my breath, straightening my stance. "Just this one time. For the grades."
I turned to Zade, locking eyes with him for the first time since we entered the ring. His smirk widened, like he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
"Yeah, that’s more like it," he teased, his voice dripping with satisfaction.
"Scumbag," I rolled my eyes, though my pulse betrayed me. "Don’t get excited. This is strictly for the grades."
"Whatever you need to tell yourself, sweetheart," he said, his aura rising, pressing against mine until it nearly fused with it.
This time, when Becca lunged, I didn’t move alone. Zade shifted with me, covering the angle I couldn’t. We struck together, forcing Arlo back a few paces.
Becca recovered quickly, but I was already reading her rhythm, syncing with Zade’s movements in a way I hadn’t thought possible. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.
It reminded me of old times when we fought together, and it hurt. I swear, it hurts too much. This was more than I could handle. I felt like I was going to explode from the intense emotion, heightened by my hormones.
Every time my instincts screamed to block, Zade was already there. Every time his hand swung wide, I filled the gap without even thinking. It wasn’t trust, it was necessity, I told myself. But necessity had a strange way of feeling natural.
Minutes blurred into motion, claws, strikes, dodges. The crowd’s noise faded, and all that mattered was matching Zade step for step. For the first time, I wasn’t fighting against him, but with him.
And then, just like that, it was over. Kaelric’s voice cut across the hall. "Enough,"
The sound of his voice alone was enough to draw me back to the unpleasant reality and memory of his betrayal, and the fact that he could do it again if he found out I was Andria, because someday he will if I give him the chance to be a part of my life.