Alexa

I stood face-to-face with a girl named Jo on top of the square ring. A black iron fence surrounded us like a tight cage. It was clear they wouldn't let either of us leave freely. The choices were to leave on a stretcher or walk out with the mark of victory.

My heart pounded in rapid beats, and my breathing grew heavier. After a few minutes of warm-up in the locker room earlier, I might still have a chance to win. Jo couldn’t possibly be any stronger after her fight against the big guy earlier, right?

Both of my fists rose in the air. They trembled after last week's training session, which didn’t end up well for me. Bruises on my body healed in just a day, but that didn’t make me a better fighter. Always the same weak Alexa.

“Fight!”

Our eyes locked with unwavering determination. I moved my feet with small jumps. The ring turned out to be soft, allowing me to move easily.

Jo threw some punches at me, but I dodged. Her punch aimed at my right cheek, so I evaded to the left. The same went for other punches she directed at me, most of which I successfully avoided. My feet remained agile, jumping and moving my body to dodge her attacks.

“You can’t keep running, kitten,” Jo said with a crooked grin.

Right after that, she lunged at me and threw relentless blow. I was cornered against the fence. When my body could no longer dodge, she landed a punch on my face.

The first punch landed on my cheek, leaving a swell. My ears rang, and I tried to retaliate, but I failed. She only became more ferocious, delivering punch after punch.

My head spun, but my feet were quick to step away from the fence. With my unsteady body, I retreated back to the center of the ring. However, the pain from her previous punches threw off my balance, and I collapsed in the middle of the ring.

“Yeah! Jo!” The crowd cheered her name. The referee approached me and started the countdown.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!”

I forced my body to rise to my knees. It felt like fireflies were buzzing in my vision. My eyes blinked many times, and I shook my head to clear the dizziness.

“Four! Three!”

With a force, I stood back up. The referee stopped counting and returned to the edge of the ring.

Jo raised her fists in front of her face again. I did the same, ready to fight even though I didn’t know how to beat her. Apparently, she was still standing high after her previous fight.

My breathing grew heavier. In my head, Mythril kept begging me to call for her help, but I had come here to train and control Mythril. There was no point in always relying on her and letting my wolf take over.

So when Jo started throwing punches at me again, I swung my fists toward her face as well. Our feet made small jumps, dodging each other while our hands continued to throw punches.

We exchanged blows several times. Unfortunately, my punches were too weak compared to hers.

I ducked to punch her stomach. But I was too slow, and she read my move. The next moment, she kicked me right on the side of my neck.

The impact caused my ears to buzz. I groaned and once again collapsed onto the ring. My hands trembled to lift my body up.

Before I could get up, Jo had me in a headlock. She landed punches on my face four times, two on my right cheek and two on my left.

Blood began to flow from my nose and mouth. The pain in my neck and face grew worse. The referee separated us, and I slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

Suddenly, Lorraine’s voice echoed in my mind. The morning training sessions brought back an image of my stepsister’s face, red like an open wound. Her arms crossed in front of her chest, and a mocking smile spread across her face.

‘If this were a real fight, you’d already be dead,’ she had said back then.

“Ten! Nine!”

Damn! Am I really this weak? I struggled to breathe, searching for air to heal myself. I refused to give up, even though the blood and bruises made my consciousness fade further.

‘Call me, Alexa. I’m here.’

‘No! Stay out of this! I have to prove my worth!’ Determination filled me as I focused on controlling Mythril. It was clear my fading consciousness might be easier for her to take over, but I push back.

The last time I let Mythril take over me, Lorraine got hurt. Her back clawed, bled, and she screamed in fear. I couldn’t forget the look in Alpha Gabriel’s eyes as he stared at me with horror on that last training. Maybe that’s the reason why Alpha Gabriel didn’t bother to save me. I was too weak for him, too out of hand.

“Four! Three!”

With trembling hands, I lifted myself back to my feet just in time. My hand wiped the sweat and blood from the corner of my mouth. I swallowed hard to wet my dry throat.

Jo turned away from her celebration near the fence and chuckled. “Not bad. You’re persistent, aren’t you? It's a shame that you’re going to lose after this.”

‘No, I’m the one who will win. Come on, Alexa. Let me help!’

Jo got into position again. So did I, facing her even though my vision blurred and pain spread from my head to my entire body. She feinted with her fists in the air, and I did the same.

The next second, I ducked low, tackling Jo’s legs with all my strength, making her fall. Both my hands gripped her knees, forcing them to bend to her chest. Then, using my entire body, I pinned her down so she couldn’t move.

Success! I could still fight! I landed three raging punches to her face. She groaned and rolled to the side with all her might, trying to escape from me. Both my hands struggled to hold her down, trying to trap her with my body.

‘I’m so close! I can’t lose now! Mythril!’

Mythril began taking over as my consciousness faded. Not wanting to lose my prey, I bit Jo’s shoulder hard. The girl shrieked as my teeth grew bigger and sharper under Mythril’s influence. My fangs pierced her shoulder, drawing fresh blood.

Jo screamed and grew more frantic, kicking my stomach. For a brief moment, I lost focus, and she got up.

Before her body could fully stand upright, I grabbed her neck and shoulder with hands that began to grow sharp claws. Jo screamed again as my claws dug deeper into her bitten shoulder.

‘Yes, that’s it. I can feel my body trembling,’ Mythril hissed enthusiastically.

Suddenly, there was a strong urge in my knee. Before I realized it, one of my legs transformed into a long, large, furry lycan leg, starting from the knee downward. The rest of my body remained human. With my thickened knee, I struck her face three times and gave a hard kick to her stomach.

“Look at that!”

“Why does her leg look like that? Is she a werewolf?”

“That’s a monster! Normal werewolf legs don’t look like that!”

The shouts snapped me back to reality, leaving me frozen in place. I released my grip, letting her collapse onto the ring. In front of me, Jo lay covered in blood from her nose, mouth, neck, and shoulder.

The referee crouched down and started counting beside Jo. I staggered backward from her body, limping on trembling legs. Pain radiated from my partially transformed left leg. My hand gripped my thigh, biting my lip to suppress a groan.

‘Come on, back off, Mythril. Back to normal, back to normal.’ I focused my thoughts on transforming back into my human body.

“She’s a monster!”

The referee completed his count. “One!” He stood up and stretched his arms toward me. “The winner, Brianna Smith!”

Instead of cheers, I heard angry jeers. The audience booed me and hurled curses.

“Cheater!”

“Give us back our money!”

Breathing heavily, I looked at the chaos around me, judging me. Among the dozens of pairs of eyes, only Harlow looked at me with sympathy. His mouth moved, his head nodded, and his thumbs-up gave me a newfound calm. In time, my leg, fangs, and claws returned to normal.

“Cheater! How could an ordinary human like Jo win against a monster?!”

Ordinary human? Hearing that, my heart sank. All I could do was stand frozen, drenched in sweat. Jo was only human?