His Shadow Luna

Chapter 8.

Forrest did his best to hold back the growl building up in his chest.

All they needed to do was keep Elene under the radar, yet his best warrior of all people decided to challenge her to a fight on her first day here.

Kill him, Hades growled. Cut his balls off and make him eat them before he dies.

The General struggled to suppress his wolf. If he had let him out, no force or skill would have been able to save Amir’s life.

Do you believe in our mate or not? Forrest tried to tease his beast. She is a Royal Northern lycan; they are the strongest among lycans. She can deal with Amir.

She can, but does she have to? Hades snarled but not as loudly as before.

In the meantime, Amir extended his arm, materialising a flame on his palm, which made Elene visibly tense.

New plan. Burn his balls first and then make him eat those! Hades suggested.

She has shadows, right? Forrest contemplated. Why does she look so…uneasy?

According to the reports he read, Amir and Issa both saw Elene using shadow powers. It was confirmed. This lucky coincidence saved her life.

I don’t know why and don’t want to find out! Hades warned him. Do something!

“I am surprised with you, Amir,” Forrest said, and every assassin on the training grounds turned to look at him. “Are you so threatened that you won’t even give her time to adjust to life here and heal from her wounds properly?”

Elene glared at him as if he offered for the other assassin to smack her harder.

Amir’s grin didn’t waver, but his eyes flickered with annoyance. “If Aconite can’t handle a simple spar,” he retorted with an exaggerated shrug, “then maybe she isn’t as formidable as we thought.”

“Or maybe you are just obsessed with me,” Elene let out a low chuckle. “First, you tried to feel me up in the woods. Then, you stalked me to my room last night and now this— what a coincidence that you challenged me hours after I rejected you.”

Balls. Cut. Now! Hades growled, and this time, Forrest wasn’t able to suppress it. He wanted that boy’s blood just as much as his wolf did.

“What is going on?” Ximena appeared out of nowhere by his side, and he realised he was almost giving himself away.

“My Firstborn are trying to find out who is the biggest and baddest of them all.” He rolled his eyes.

“How fun,” Ximena commented, her voice lacking excitement. “Well, let’s see it! Let the battle begin!”

She waved her hand, and assassins formed a circle around Elene and Amir. Forrest had to take his place on the observation dais, which had been created especially for this purpose.

Elene watched them despite having bigger problems at the moment and cursed at herself inwardly.

That witch has to go, Bia snarled. Look, she put her dirty hand on our mate’s thigh!

“Let’s see if your bark is as bad as your bite,” Amir taunted her, taking his stance for the fight. Elene decided not to wait and punched him straight in the face, causing the man to take a few wobbly steps back.

Anger was pulsating within her at the thought of Ximena and Forrest watching her gamble her life against a fire-wielder for their amusement. Amir was just… there.

He had already realised that he had to watch his every step and had gotten angrier than before. It didn’t surprise her. There was nothing more bitter than a wounded male ego. Especially if it was wounded in public.

Amir moved first, lunging towards Elene with an agility that belied his bulky frame. Elene sidestepped his attack effortlessly, a smirk playing on her lips as she did so. The scariest part about this guy was his fire, and her best bet was to deal with him before he used that.

Luckily, Amir was a show-off.

Elene moved swiftly, each step precise and measured, a delicate dance on a razor’s edge. Forrest could only watch as she navigated it with elegance, leaving him in awe while everyone else cheered or tried to provoke the two fighters. No one he knew was capable of gliding like that on a battlefield. Her poise, her posture, and each elegant blow she made screamed who she was, but he appeared to be the only one who noticed.

Amir feinted left and swung right, a move that might have caught a lesser opponent off guard, but Elene dipped low just in time, dodging his fist by a mere inch.

A strange guttural sound reminiscent of a shriek left the man’s chest, warning Elene that she wasn’t fighting against a wolf. Whatever Amir was, he was something else entirely.

Another blow, and she recoiled, her back against a few warriors who pushed her back without remorse. The crowd roared their approval as the two fighters circled each other.

“Time to finish this!” Amir hissed, clenching his fists and allowing fire to run over them.

Now, it was getting serious.

The next time she barely managed to avoid his punch, the flames brushed over her skin, leaving painful marks.

“What?” Amir smirked, watching her touch her cheek. “Just a few more scars to heal for later. What’s the big deal?”

“Is that why you were looking for a girl to warm you up at night?” Elene let out a low chuckle, “because you were overusing your hands for that purpose for so long?”

A wave of laughter rippled through the Firstborns watching the show, and that set Amir into a rage.

“Use your shadows!” he screamed at her. “What are you waiting for?”

This was worse than being licked by his fire. This was deadly territory.

“I am not going to use my gift on a pathetic man who can’t take no for an answer!” she replied, and a huge wave of fire knocked her off her feet.

Elene landed in the sand, feeling some of her clothes burned. Luckily, her skin was barely touched, and Bia worked quickly to reduce her pain.

The smoke dissipated, and she tried to get up when a boot hit her in her chest, causing her to fall again. Someone grabbed one of her hands in the commotion and twisted it painfully.

“b***h!” Amir seethed.

Knowing it was her only chance, Elene grew her claws and pierced his leg as deep as she could, enjoying his scream.

However, the next moment, he twisted her hand more, and she let out a scream of agony herself, feeling the bones in her wrist fracture from the pressure.

Amir let her go, trying to distance himself and get her claws out of his thigh.

Elene stifled her agony, trying to get up. Her right hand was going to be useless for the remainder of the battle, markedly diminishing her options of getting out of there alive.

She turned just in time to see another huge wave of fire flying straight at her, and she was barely able to fall to the ground to avoid it.

Realising she’d lost all her advantages, Elene struggled to get back on her feet. The pain slowed her movements, and only one good hand was left to fight.

Amir had no such problem. In comparison to her wounds, his were mere scratches. So, when sparks started crackling at his fingertips, she knew she had to run and run fast.

Fireball after fireball flew after her, and she barely managed to dodge them. The assassins around them had to step back so as not to be harmed in the process.

Elene sped up, frantically making up a new plan.

Desperate, she reached for one of Aconite’s daggers attached to her belt and launched it at Amir through fire. Fortunately, he was too busy forming new fireballs to dodge the blade, and it sliced his arm, eliciting a snarl from him.

Furious, he drew even more fire out of thin air, his eyes lit with flames from hell itself.

Elene knew she wouldn’t be able to hide from that.

Seconds later — and the blaze was about to devour her.

“No!” she yelled, throwing her healthy hand forward as if to shield herself from her doom. Drops of Amir’s blood still trickling down her fingers.

“Enough!” Forrest roared, and the fire dissipated into nothing moments before reaching her.

Elene fell to the sand, her chest rising and falling. She glanced at the General, noticing that his calm exterior shattered.

Amir paused mid-swing, turning to look at his commander. “I have a right to—”

“The only right you have is to follow my orders!” Forrest gritted his teeth, stepping down the dais and leaving a stunned Ximena alone.

The flames in Amir’s eyes did not die down, though. It seemed like he only got angrier. Turning on his heel, he launched another fiery punch towards Elene. But before it could reach her, Forrest stood between them, throwing his hand forward. A void of absolute darkness opened up like a portal into chaos and swallowed Amir’s attack whole. The flames flickered out as if doused by water, leaving only an echo of their heat behind.

For a second there, Elene thought she had imagined it all.

The crowd fell silent, their cheers dying in their throats as they watched the spectacle. Amir seemed taken aback by Forrest’s intervention as was everyone else, his expression shifting from smug satisfaction to confusion.

“Are you okay?” Forrest turned to Elene, as she tended to her fractured wrist.

“Splendid,” she snapped. “Had enough fun watching me fight for my life?”

Her words stung, making Forrest’s jaw clench.

“Fun?” he seethed. “You think this was fun for me?”

“You are the leader here. It wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t want it to happen.” The Princess arched her brow, lacing her words with disdain, and then walked towards the exit without waiting for a reply.

You’d better figure out a way to fix things, mutt! Hades growled. Or—

Or what? Forrest snapped. She won’t reject us? Dream on!

“General,” Amir walked towards him with his head down. Now that he was properly cooled off, he knew what kind of a mistake he’d committed.

“You fought well,” Forrest praised him and placed his hand on his shoulder. A few chuckles erupted among the witnesses.

Amir looked at him in shock. He did not expect praise after defying an order, but his commander wasn’t done with him.

“In fact, you fought so well that I want to test you myself.” Forrest smiled at him as he took off his navy coat and threw it at the closest assassin. The smile never reached his eyes.

“General—” Amir’s voice became lifeless.

“What’s wrong? Too tired for another little training fight?” Romero grinned, rolling up the sleeves of his blue shirt and throwing a quick glance at Elene, who froze at the exit to the arena, watching him intently.

“No,” Amir shook his head, worry etching his face.

“That’s great!” Forrest said and punched him straight in the nose.

“How’s your hand?” Issa smirked, leaning against the stone wall right next to where Elene stood.

“I think it’s fine. Look!” The Princess sneered and showed her the middle finger with the hand in question.

“Rude!” Issa chuckled. “Oh, come on! Surely you didn’t expect to be welcomed with open arms.”

True. Elene did not expect that.

“I don’t care,” she replied. “I am here just to do my job. Pretty sure they will find me another assignment soon and send me away as usual.”

That lie was supposed to dovetail nicely with her plans to escape—if Forrest still intended to help her, of course.

Elene found herself tracking her mate’s every move. He wasn’t even wearing clothes suitable for combat, but apparently, he didn’t need to because his confidence on the battlefield was undeniable. Amir was trying to attack him with fire, but Forrest evaded each blow as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“What’s his power?” Elene asked, and Issa shook her head.

“You don’t want to know.” She peered at the arena where her friend received his second punch in his face. “Or maybe you’ll be lucky enough to see it in action. If lucky is the right word for it, of course.”

“Interesting,” Elene muttered.

“You know what’s interesting,” Issa murmured so that only the two of them could hear us. “How did you heal your hand and burn so fast, yet the scars on your face are still the same as yesterday?”

Elene halted, trying not to show how worried this question made her feel.

“The Northerner I fought yesterday, while you all were doing gods know what, had her claws poisoned. These scars will take time to heal.”

“Oh,” Issa’s grin widened. “Wait, weren’t you trained by Joran himself from early childhood by drinking poisons to build up a tolerance to them all? This is why they call you Aconite, right?”

Elene gave her a cold stare. “Obviously, the Northerner used something we hadn’t encountered before. Any other person would have probably died, but all I have are these scars.”

“Lucky you,” Issa commented, shifting her attention to the arena, where Forrest had just thrown Amir against a stone column.

It was eerily quiet in there now.

“I yield!” Amir coughed blood, and even Elene felt bad for him.

“Of course you do,” Forrest lifted him by his hair and arranged him on his knees for everyone to see. “But what you really need to do is learn your lesson. Luckily, I have great teaching methods.”

The General twisted one of the Firsborn’s wrists until his bones cracked.

“Lesson one,” Forrest growled in an icy tone. “Always obey my orders.”

Amir nodded, unable to reply in any other way. To his credit, he did not cry or scream, accepting his fate with as much dignity as he could.

“Lesson two,” Forrest locked eyes with Elene as if he wanted her to see it. “Never go against me!”

The second wrist was broken in the same way, and only then did he let the assassin drop to the ground.

“Some might say it was the same lesson,” Forrest said, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his hands, “but I say repetition is the key to learning. Class dismissed.”

No one dared move, and each Firstborn bowed their head, showing their respect to the General, while Elene felt a strange pang in her heart.

“This is the first time he has ever punished Amir like that,” Issa noted in her unreadable tone. “Most of us thought he was Romero’s favourite. I guess we were wrong, and he favours someone else.”

Elene didn’t know how to reply to that, but luckily, the woman left her alone and walked towards her friend who was having a hard time getting up with both his wrists broken.

Forrest stormed towards Elene and the little water feature right next to her.

“Did you have to do that?” she asked him with a hiss.

“No one touches my mate!” the man grumbled, splashing his face with cool water and Elene’s knees buckled.

“We are going to reject each other, remember?” she barely whispered the words, but he’d heard her, his green eyes scanning her face.

He took a step closer and leaned forward so that only she could hear him whisper, “But until that day, if anyone touches you, they are going to pay for it.”

Elene gulped, watching how the corners of Forrest’s lips tilted upward. Her own lips parted, and his gaze lingered on them as he watched her face.

However, the next second, he walked away, leaving her alone with all the thoughts and feelings he’d managed to evoke.

***

They devoted most of the day to rigorous practice before having lunch at the dining hall, where Elene found herself in solitude. Fortunately, years of isolation during her royal childhood had prepared her for this and she didn’t mind.

Another excruciating training followed in the afternoon, and she made her way back to the hall for the evening meal, enduring silence once more as she queued for the food at the buffet line.

The group, including Issa and Amir, laughed out loud right behind her back, and she was sure that she was the object of their mockery.

“Here,” the guy who served food placed a steaming cup on her tray. “You look like you need this.”

The scent of coffee reached her, and Elene almost howled in delight. Coffee was her life. She’d started drinking it young because it smelled like Gideon and hadn’t stopped since then. Inhaling the rich scent, she realised she hadn’t had caffeine in days.

“Thanks,” she muttered, and the server winked at her.

“Enjoy!” he said and turned his attention to the next warrior.

Elene picked an empty table close to the exit and sat down to enjoy her meal. Lycan or not, she was still recovering after what happened the other day.

She was done quickly, leaving the coffee for last as her treat of the day. She could tell from the scent that it was very strong and took a few careful sips, tasting it and finding it slightly different from what they had back in the North.

Stop! Bia ordered, and Elene dropped the cup immediately, shattering it into a myriad of pieces on the floor.

The laughter at Amir’s table became louder, and the Princess realised they all were watching her.

“Don’t worry,” Issa giggled loudly. “It’s your favourite — aconite.”