Tempest

32. Bringing IT

When the man attacked, Tempest moved out of his way gracefully as though she were at a ballet recital. She kicked his leg from behind and grabbed him around his broad shoulders, swinging around his chest and then flipping him onto his back before she punched him in the face, stunning him. There was a moment of shock as the men watched with their mouths open.

"Really, Ceres, these are your best?" Tempest asked, standing up.

At her words the men ran to her all at once. Later, Ceres swore she didn't even see her move. She just saw the bodies of her men pile up on top of the first man, all barely conscious. She heard punches and groans, saw blood spurting, heard bones breaking until there was a bouquet of burly men laying near Ceres's feet like some weird offering. Within eight minutes she was done.

"Your men are cocky and arrogant and although they are strong, they are focussing on the wrong things. None of us can underestimate what is coming. They all saw me in my little gym clothes and thought I would be easy. They need to get that right out of their frigging heads or they are dead and the whole village with them."

A roar sounded behind Tempest as one of the warriors came for her in his Lycan form. She heard Ceres yell, "Micah, no!" before his body barreled into hers.

She rolled backwards with him and threw him off her with her legs, quickly rolling onto her feet. The Lycan circled her and she shook her head at Ceres, telling her not to intervene. She needed a challenge.

The Lycan attacked and Tempest blocked every single one of his blows. This went on for about thirty seconds as she assessed the weakness in his technique. When she was done, she changed from defence to attack. She blocked his next blow and punched him in the sides a couple of times before she went for his throat. The blows had him staggering backwards and she moved with him. He lashed out and she grabbed his arm, deciding that breaking it to make a point was necessary, she kicked it with her knee and the bone snapped.

The Lycan howled in pain but she was not done yet. She punched him beneath his armpit, breaking a couple of ribs before she kicked him in the back and sent him facedown in the dirt. He got up cradling his broken arm and attacked again. Again Tempest sidestepped each of his blows and blocked the third with an elbow, breaking his other arm with the force exerted in the strike. She kicked him to the ground and straddled him, bringing her arm to his throat and effectively incapacitating him.

She glared at him in irritation, a humming power radiating from her body. "If you are going to cheat, then make sure you are going to win. Cheating and still losing is stupid."

She got up off him and stared down at him for a moment. Then, she held out a hand to help him up. For a moment it seemed like he was going to refuse but then he held his injured arm out. She pulled him to his feet before she turned to the other warriors who had been watching the whole thing in awe. She glared at them and they took a step back, away from her, the power still humming off of her.

"I will work with them, Ceres," Tempest said as she went to stand in front of her. "But you and I have unfinished business."

With that she walked back to the castle, leaving wide open mouths and eleven men who needed to get to the infirmary. She threw one shot back at them without turning around.

"I will be back in an hour and you had better be more organised than what you are now."

*

Galan watched all of this from where he stood. He had taken a break from work and had decided to go see what Tempest was up to. What he had not expected was that Ceres would have gotten Tempest into a fight with his warriors. A deep growl burst from him as he saw the men surround her. He knew what she was capable of but that didn't mean that he would be alright with the men laying their hands on her. He took a step forward as they attacked but Dean stopped him with a hand on his arm. He started, not having heard him come and stand next to him.

"I doubt she would be happy if you interfered," Dean told him. Still, he could barely stand still as he watched her throw her hands up in exasperation.

Galan ground his teeth together because he knew Dean was right. He watched what was going on keenly, knowing that he would bust someone's balls if they so much as hurt her.

"Are we in a fight or on the catwalk? Stop strutting and hit me," he heard her say and he heard Dean chuckle beside him. His lips twitched at her words and he relaxed a little.

"We haven't had time to get to know each other," Dean said from beside him. He turned his head to look at him quickly before he turned back to watch the one-sided fight that was going on not too far from them. Dean eyed him with an intensity that might have made any other man uncomfortable.

"There's a war coming, it's understandable," he said, his eyes on the fast moving woman in front of him. He felt his heart swell and he took a deep breath..

"You will protect her with your life." It was not a question and Galan turned to look at Dean again, the men lying broken on the ground around Ceres' feet momentarily forgotten. If he had learnt anything about Dean over the last few days was that he was a man of few words. He didn't think he had heard him say this many words at a go since he had met him.

"In a heartbeat," he said softly, meaning every word of it.

Dean nodded, his face neutral.

Ahead of them, Tempest had her arm jammed into Micah's throat. "If you are going to cheat, then make sure you are going to win. Cheating and still losing is stupid," he heard her say.

"She's amazing," Galan said and wasn't aware he had said it out loud until Dean responded.

"She is. Which is why I will break every bone in your body and feed you to the vultures if you ever hurt her."

The two men turned fully and faced each other. Galan saw that Dean meant every word he said and his respect for the younger man grew. Instead of admitting that, however, he raised an eyebrow and kept an otherwise straight face. The two men watched each other intently for a moment before Galan tilted his head and nodded slowly.

"I wouldn't expect anything else," he said, before he turned back to watch as Tempest helped the broken man up. "You're a royal," he said, not taking his eyes off his woman.

"My father is an Alpha. I am his second born son," Dean said softly after a moment.

Dean nodded. The power that radiated off of Dean was strong, even when he wasn't aware of it. It was similar to Tempest's in a way. He had never seen Dean fight but he assumed he would be as formidable as Tempest was.

Out on the training field he saw Tempest face Ceres.

"I will work with them, Ceres, but you and I have unfinished business."

Dean laughed out loud from beside him and he turned again to look at the man that had been there for Tempest for so many years. "I can't wait for that," he said as he glanced at Galan out of the corner of his eye.

Galan couldn't help it. The look in Dean's eye had him a little worried.

Dean smiled serenely and turned to head away, but not before he looked back and said, "You don't spend close to two decades with brothers and not learn a thing or two about payback."

With a big toothy grin, Dean turned and headed back towards the residential area.

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27 November 2020

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It's my son's birthday today so I am super excited to go hang with him. Can't wait to see him!