Fated to the Triplet Alphas-Chapter 19: Challenge Accepted
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Chapter 19
~Jade’s POV~
The room went quiet. Xander’s attention snapped to her, then to me. I met Silvie’s gaze and felt something electric sparking under my skin.
I knew she was baiting me, and there was nothing wrong in declining, but between Silvie and me... Guess it was long overdue.
She wanted my mates... I wasn’t giving them out.
"Alright," I said evenly. "Let’s do it."
The room felt charged when Xander announced the next match.
"Jade Snow," he called out but his eyes were already on me. "You’re up again. Silvie Crowe, you’re with her."
A ripple of murmurs moved through the hall.
I turned slowly, my gaze finding Silvie where she stood near the edge of the mat. Up close, she was even more striking.
Tall, lean, with long pale-blonde hair braided neatly down her back and eyes the color of frost. She carried herself with the confidence of someone who had never doubted her own superiority.
She smiled faintly when our eyes met.
So she thought this would be easy.
I stepped onto the mat, rolling my shoulders once to loosen the tension in my muscles. My body still buzzed from the match with Xander. My lungs had not fully recovered, my pulse still slightly too fast.
"I’m here, I’ve got you," Javelin stirred faintly inside my mind. "Careful," she murmured. "She’s trained, properly trained."
I exhaled slowly. "So was the last one."
Silvie stopped a few feet away from me and dipped her head politely. "Jade Snow, we finally get a chance."
Her eyes sparkled when she said that as though it as a match she’d be praying and hoping for. "Never knew I was this popular," I replied, lifting my guard.
Her lips curved as she leaned closer "Well, defeating the Lycan Princess would be an added medal." she mouthed my identity part, avoiding letting anyone know.
At least her senses still worked if not for anything.
"Too bad I won’t be your trophy," I muttered.
Xander’s voice cut in. "Rules are the same. Controlled sparring. First person whose back touches the mat loses. Begin on my mark."
The room went quiet.
My senses sharpened as Silvie shifted her stance. Her posture was both fluid and balanced. There was no wasted movement in her body. No hesitation. She looked like a blade that had already decided where it would strike.
"One," Xander called.
Silvie’s eyes flicked briefly to him, then back to me.
"Two."
I adjusted my footing.
"Three. Begin."
She moved first, fast in an unreckless manner. Precise and brutally efficient. She closed the distance between us in less than a second, her strike aimed cleanly for my ribs.
I barely managed to block it.
The impact jolted up my arm, my teeth clenching at the force behind it. She followed with a low sweep that I jumped over, twisting awkwardly as I landed.
The crowd murmured. In just one move, everyone could see the difference in our abilities.
Silvie didn’t let me reset.
She came at me again, forcing me backwards across the mat with a series of sharp, controlled blows. I blocked two, deflected a third, but the fourth clipped my shoulder hard enough to spin me half sideways.
Pain flared in my body, and my foot slipped. And suddenly, I was off-balance.
Silvie seized the opening instantly. She hooked my arm, twisted her body, and used my momentum against me, throwing me hard toward the mat.
A collective gasp rose from the class, and several of them even took a few steps closer to get a better view of my supposed humiliation.
I hit the floor on my side, the impact rattling my bones and knocking the breath from my lungs. My hair fell into my face as I rolled instinctively.
My back came dangerously close to the mat.
Focus, Jade. Now’s not the time to lose.
"Point—" someone started.
But I twisted at the last second, bracing my palm against the floor and arching my spine just enough to keep my back from touching down fully.
The bell did not ring.
Xander took a step forward without realizing it. I could see a flicker of worry in his eyes.
Silvie paused, her brows drawing together in mild surprise.
"Not done yet?"
"You’d have to do better than that."
My chest heaved as I forced myself upright, every muscle burning. My lungs screamed for air, but I raised my guard again anyway.
Ever since Gamma Kael’s training, I hadn’t had so much brutal personal training save for Lady Embers.
Aside from Etiquette classes, dance classes, and the like, she showed me some basic warrior training, ran obstacle courses, and encouraged me to run daily, both morning and evening, to build my stamina.
According to her, to make a great Luna or Queen someday, you must be able to lead your back both in warfare and otherwise. But this with Silvie was different.
A slow, impressed smile touched Silvie’s mouth.
"Still standing," she said quietly. "Good."
Just like before, she did not giveme a minute to breathe and attacked again. Harder this time.
She drove me backwards, her strikes coming faster, heavier, more relentless. I blocked what I could, took two hits I couldn’t avoid, and stumbled once more when she slammed her shoulder into my chest.
I skidded across the mat and barely stayed upright. The crowd had gone silent now. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.
Javelin’s voice cut sharply through my mind. "She’s stronger than you. Stop trying to match her strength. Outsmart her already."
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and lifted my chin.
Fine.
Silvie came at me again, clearly confident she had me on the edge. Her movements were slightly more aggressive now, her strikes wider, heavier.
Just like I had done with Ziva, I steadied my breathing, narrowed my eyes and followed her every attack while waiting for an opening.
Silvie thought I was breaking. Good. She tried attacking twice more, and I blocked, barely, due to her speed.
Well, that was what I let her think. I let my stance loosen just a fraction. Let my guard drop half an inch. Let my breathing sound ragged.
She took the bait.
Silvie lunged, committing her weight into a powerful forward strike meant to end it. At the last possible second, I stepped aside instead of back.
Her fist sliced through empty air.
I hooked my arm around her elbow, twisted my body low, and drove my shoulder into her centre of gravity exactly the way my old trainer had taught me.
Silvie’s eyes widened. I pivoted my hips and swept her leg out from under her. She went down hard.
The sound of her back hitting the mat echoed through the hall. For a heartbeat, nobody spoke. Everyone took in the scene, processing it in their mind.
I glanced around, my eyes catching Isadora’s surprised expression before darting over in search of Xander.
My gaze lifted instinctively to Xander. He wasn’t clapping. He was staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time.
His jaw was tight. His eyes were dark, and for the first time since I met him... he looked territorial.
Then the bell rang, and the room exploded. Applause broke out from every direction.
"What the hell—"
"Did you see that?"
"She actually beat her."
"Since when can Jade Snow fight like that?"
I stood there breathing hard, staring down at Silvie as she lay on the mat, stunned.
She blinked once. Then she laughed softly and took my offered hand as I helped her up.
"Well played," she said sincerely. "You’re not what I expected, Jade Snow."
"Neither are you," I admitted.
She studied me for a long moment, something thoughtful and calculating flickering behind her eyes.
"Interesting," she murmured. "You won this round," she murmured so only I could hear. Her lips curved faintly. "But I don’t lose wars, Jade Snow."
Smiling, I turned away before she could say anything else. My legs felt like jelly as I stepped off the mat.
That was when I noticed Xander was still standing exactly where he had been before, his arms folded tightly across his chest, his jaw locked.
I wondered if he heard my conversation with her, but hoped he didn’t. I went to the side where I had kept my phone and waist pouch.
I was still catching my breath when my phone vibrated in my hand. I unlocked the screen to open the message.
Unknown Contact: Report to Prof. Halden’s office immediately.
