It was a risk, following Wyatt’s advice to just be honest that I had overheard her but it paid off. I couldn’t hold back the grin as she placed her hand in mine, to which she rolled her eyes. Although, I must admit I was slightly concerned about the sparring match about to take place. I placed her with me because I was worried one of the others would take it too far considering her past and I didn’t want her anymore skittish then she already was. Gazing behind me, she gave an odd mixture of a soft smile and mischievous smirk.
“You’re just in time Dad.” The impish look in her eyes didn’t bode well and sure enough I heard a sigh behind me.
“I’m sure I don’t want to know.”
“I’m just about to spar with the Leo and a group of his shifters.” Her face shifted into a look of innocence that was clearly faked as if she was fully aware she was tormenting her father.
He finally reached my side and gave me a look of pity.
“Good luck.” He patted my shoulder condescendingly, turning to face Flint he continued, “You ready?”
“You act like I’ve not done this a thousand times before Dad, I’m hurt.” He smirked.
“Don’t act like you boys don’t know what you’ve done here.”
“To be precise, they picked the groups. We merely didn’t object.”
“And you’re telling me you didn’t deliberately structure it so they would pick the groups they did?”
Hawk merely shrugged in return. I glanced at Wyatt who stood next to Damien and George, my Head Warrior and Tracker, with a look of confusion. How did they structure it so we would fight them the way they wanted? I’d have to ask later. He turned back to Autumn and I and opened his mouth as if to say something before shaking his head. Walking off to sit next to his sons, he muttered under his breath something about an apology to Michael. Turning to my group of shifters, I tilted my head towards the sparring area before facing Autumn.
“Ready?”
Laughing in return, she strode past me, the edge of one wing gently brushing my arm. I inhaled sharply at the unexpected feeling, before smiling to myself, happy that she was at ease enough to attempt physical contact. I followed behind her, lost in thought. She wasn’t what I was expecting as my mate, but I’m glad she was. She was a beauty for sure, her red hair was stunning and her eyes were so expressive, but it was her impish nature that hid a core of strength despite what happened to her that drew me to her. Shaking my head at my internal ramblings, realising I sounded like a smitten teenager, I readied myself for the sparring match.
I realised quickly that her father wasn’t exaggerating when he wished us luck. I knew from her brothers matches that these angels were not to be taken lightly, however, I wasn’t expecting what did happen. She lunged forward artfully dodging every punch thrown her way, using her wings to aid her quick movements without us being able to target them. Grabbing the first shifter, she quickly dislocated both of his arms before vaulting over him, hands on his shoulders as she used her feet to kick him into another shifter barrelling for her. From there, she ducked underneath an attack from behind, spinning around so that she could grab their leg and break it before quickly breaking the second whilst dodging a third shifter.
The rest of the fight proceeded the same way, none of us could land any hits whilst she artfully took out the shifters surrounding me. It was like she was dancing to some unknown song that only she could hear, throwing in spins, handstands and flips in amongst her attacks. That, with the wide smile on her face indicating how much she was enjoying herself, unnerved the warriors I was fighting with. She was a lot more brutal in her attacks then her brothers. They aimed for knocking their opponents unconscious as quickly as possible whilst Autumn aimed for making sure they couldn’t fight even if they regained consciousness, breaking their arms and legs without remorse. I’ll admit, the way she was smiling while being so brutal wasn’t sitting right with me as I had always been taught to be honourable whilst fighting. I’d noticed that whenever I got close, rather than retaliating, she spun away but I knew that it wasn’t because she was afraid to fight me.
I’m not sure how long we had been fighting, but quickly enough, it was just Autumn and I left standing. Breathing a bit quicker, she looked like she had gone for a pleasant jog instead of taken out 13 shifters singlehandedly. By now, nearly everyone else in the compound was awake and most of them had come to watch their Leo spar. It was then that she surprised me. She sat down. In the middle of a sparring match. Sat down. Before I could ask her what she was doing, she pre-empted me.
“Thought I’d let you catch your breath.” She smirked.
Her eyes took a slight dazed look before returning to normal. I’d been told mine did the same when I mindlinked, so I assumed she had just done the same. And as expected, her brothers and father came onto the field and grabbed a warrior each. Before long, every warrior was off the pitch and she was still sat there, head tilted as she looked at me.
“I’ve heard Alpha’s can partially shift.” She arched an eyebrow at me.
“Technically, any shifter could, but we possess the most power and control over it.”
Standing up, she dusted off her clothes, before returning her full attention to me with the most serious look I had seen on her face since I first saw her.
“I want a proper fight. No holds barred, anything goes. Agreed?”
I was about to refuse, I didn’t want to hurt her when my lion chimed in.
See what mate can do.
We’ll hurt her. She’s not fought an Alpha before.
See what mate can do. My lion remained adamant.
“Fine.” I was going to regret this.
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