Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 14 - Hit Me

Chapter 14 - Hit Me

Days later, I walk into the gym only to find myself alone with Mateus.

"Sterling still licking his wounds?" I joke. The day before he had barely managed to hit me. By now, I was familiar with Sterling's fighting tactics and had begun to predict his moves.

"No, I told him not to come today," Mateus states.

I raise an eyebrow. The fluttery feeling I get when I'm alone with Mateus starts in my stomach.

"Your opponents in the tournament will be new to you. You're too smart; you've figured Sterling out. It's not practice if you know what Sterling is going to do before he does it."

Where is he going with this?

Mateus steps into the middle of the practice space. "So, I want you to fight me."

"What?" I ask, dumfounded.

"Come on, hit me. I'm the only person here that's more skilled than Sterling."

Unfortunately, I can tell he's not joking. My eyes wander around the dark gray space as I try to come up with an excuse. Yes, I know how to fight, but he's an alpha for a reason. He's stronger and more powerful. I take in his form, one that's much taller than me, more built than me, more solid than me, and I know that his large stature won't hinder him. This alpha is also much faster than me. My mind flashes back to weeks ago when I found him in the warriors' gym. Even if I manage to hit him, it'd probably hurt me more than him. Most importantly, however, it'd put us in a fairly... close... position that, having been surprised by this session, I was not prepared for.

"No," I declare, staring straight into his blue eyes.

"Ariadne," he says my name thickly, and I have to look away in order to hide how his voice affected me. "You're going to be competing in a tournament with a bunch of would-be alphas. They're all going to be strong, and they're going to play dirty to get what they want."

"They'll know I'm not competing for the title."

"That doesn't matter. They won't take well to a girl winning in a match against them." He walks forward, stopping to stand a few feet from me.

"But..."

"Ariadne. You know I'm right."

As much as I hate to admit it, I know he is. Those men won't care that I'm just as capable as them. They won't want to lose to me, so they're going to fight as hard as they can.

Weakly, I punch his chest with my fist, not putting any effort into trying to hurt the rock hard surface.

"You punch like a girl," he states. "A fragile little girl. Hit me again."

I grit my teeth, holding back an insult. This time, I don't hold back, putting as much effort as I can into a hook aimed at his jaw.

Mateus doesn't budge, and then clucks his tongue. "Well, that was disappointing. I thought you were actually going to use some force that time."

When I go for the same spot on his jaw again, he blocks my fist with his forearm, using it to knock my hand away.

"So predictable," he taunts.

"Fuck you!" I shout, punching his upper chest repeatedly with both fists, planning to do this until he showed some sign of pain.

While both my arms are away from my body, he grabs me at the waist with one hand, slightly turns and bends his knees, uses the other hand to pull my arm forward, and then flips me over his hip.

My back hits the ground, although padded, uncomfortably, and I stare up at the harsh halogen lights. Mateus looms over my form, casting a shadow onto my face.

"And so sloppy," he adds.

Anger resurges in me, and I scramble to my feet. Again, I try for a straight punch to his chest, but he dodges behind it, grabbing my forearm in the process.

"You're not throwing your whole body into the punch."

He rotates my wrist back so it's immobile, knees me in the stomach, and drags my arm behind me, bringing me to the ground again.

"And you shouldn't let your opponent grab your arm like that."

I don't make a move to get up.

"See? Women like you are pathetic. They can't handle a fight."

I pull myself up as he stares. When he steps forward, I quickly kick up towards his head with my right leg. He goes to grab my foot, so I quickly retract it, taking him by surprise. Then, before he notices, I jump up with the left leg and kick out with the right leg on the way down, kicking him in the chest. He stumbles back, his arms flailing out to help regain his balance, and I move into the open space, making an uppercut at his solar plexus. It doesn't seem to affect him, and he reacts, kneeing me in the gut, but I resist doubling over. I step back for a second before doing a quick spin on my left foot, jumping down onto my right, thrusting my left knee into the air, and kicking out at his chest. This time, he stumbles back onto his knees and uses his left arm to keep him from falling onto the ground. I aim a low kick out at his chest, and he falls back. Now, panting heavily, it's my turn to tower over his fallen form.

"That was good," Mateus comments, still prone on the floor.

Wait, what?

He sits up on his elbows, notices my confused look, and smirks, proud of himself. "I knew that would rile you up."

He said that stuff on purpose? "You're an asshole," I state, sitting next to him.

"Well, it worked didn't it?"

"Yes," I admit. "Hey, you flipped me twice!"

"I didn't put too much force into it, and you did learn something right?"

"Yes, but you're a butthead."

"A butthead?" he questions, smiling.

"A smelly, hairy butthead."

His smile grows even larger, showing off his dimple, for a few seconds before it fades. He sits up fully.

"So, just making sure, you don't think women are pathetic, right?" I clarify.

"No." He winks, leaning in and then whispering, "I was channeling Alpha Thomas."

I laugh at the reference to the misogynistic member of the Northwest board. "Thank god, I hated that guy."

"I could tell."

I smile, and he smiles back. Boy, could I stare at that smile for days and never get tired. Now that I'm not trying to kill him, the butterflies are back.

"Ariadne," he says, and I switch my gaze from his perfect smile to his beautiful eyes.

"Hmm?" I murmur, completely entranced.

His blue eyes stare intently into mine. "The tournament should be a piece of cake for you."

"Good," I respond, snapping out of my daze. Then, noticing the time, I get up, not wanting to be late to my pack's combat practice. I turn around and wink. "I like cake." 

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I love this chapter! I finally reached 1K reads with that last update, and boy does that make me pretty darn happy. Also, I need a new cover; the one I made isn't cutting it anymore. Anyone have any cover ideas? Ya'll are still super silent readers; your thoughts mean more to me than you think. Pretty please with a super large scrumptious cherry on top comment :)

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