To Be Protected

Chapter 5: Duel

Mathis's POV

A large circle of clan members surrounded us as they quieted down to watch the fight, but I wasn't focused on that, I was only focused on my opponent. He was well built and his only weapon that I could see was a short sword and he had no armor that I could see and he also didn't have any paint so I didn't know what his rank or position was. That girl, Evelyn had called him a Vobal, was that like being a Ral? In my clan the leader is called the Ral so is this the same thing? From the cockiness of this Alpha and the amount of viewers that were gathering to watch the fight I could only assume that I was right.

As Keller sized me up I unsheathed my twin daggers and held them in front of myself as I widened my stance and got ready to fight. He too took up a sloppy stance and I raised my eyebrow at him, there is no way that this is going to be their future leader. The crowd's talking simmered to a murmur then stopped all together as they waited for the fight to start.

Keller was the first to move as he ran at me with his blade raised. He swung down and I easily sidestepped, but he jumped away from my dagger when I took a swing, but only barely. He lunged at me again and I knocked the blow away with the dagger in my left hand and stabbed him in the shoulder with the other. I was aiming for his heart but he moved, making the blade bite into his shoulder. He hissed in pain as his blood started to flow and I kicked off of him as he tried to take another swing at me. I would have loved to draw out this fight and made the wretched Alpha suffer but out of the corner of my eye I could see Jackson shaking in pain as he struggled to merely remain conscious.

As I was distracted he took the opportunity to strike and he was able to just glance off of my thigh and he smiled with triumph, thinking that he at least slowed me down. Glaring at the Alpha I lunged at him again and with a feint one way his defense was wide open and with a firm kick to his hand his blade was sent through the air and another kick has him falling on to his face. The second that he hit the ground I placed my foot on the back of his neck and pressed down as he squirmed, but the more that he moved the harder I pressed and he only got the hint when I was suffocating him. Once he stopped moving that was the sign that I had won, but I was smart enough to know that this wasn't over yet.

Glancing around the crowd I looked for that Evelyn girl and I smirked when I saw her amongst the crowd, "Evelyn, could you step forward for me please?" I called.

She looked a bit hesitant before she put on a brave face and pushed through the people in front of her, earning a few growls from the Alphas, but I silenced them with a warning growl of my own. She stood before me with her arms crossed and a look of determination. "What can I do for you?"

"I need some advice," I drawled as I put one dagger away and tossed the other between my hands with ease, "What is something that I can do that will both shame him and keep him from becoming the leader? He does not disserve to be your next leader," I snapped as I pressed harder on the back of his neck. His squirming had started back up when I said that I was going to remove him from power, but he wasn't begging. Yet.

Evelyn looked surprised at first then she got a sinister look on her face as she looked down at the quivering Alpha under my food, "You see those necklaces?" she asked, and I did. He was wearing at least seven of them I don't know how I could miss them, "Well, each of them symbolize something. Everything from rank, to status, to jobs and birthrights and a few of them are very hard to make and obtain. So, if they were to be broken then that would strip him of everything that he has earned and everything that he stands for."

She smirked as he thrashed around and he started spitting cruel words at the unfazed girl. He was promising her death but she just looked at him with blank eyes. Having enough of him I leaned down harder on his neck, "If I were you I wouldn't worry about her and start worrying about me."