JEOPARDY: The Cursed Soldier.

19. Earned it - Part 2

The thirty minutes after the challenge was issued and accepted were used to announce the duel throughout the pack; to prepare the field and the fighting ring, and to give Jinny and Kayla time to prep themselves for the duel.

Duels were a treasured and celebrated part of the Lunarheart pack. It was how most grievances and misunderstandings were solved. Plus in such a monotonous pack, duels were a rare source of entertainment. 

This explained why the field was now packed with excited spectators who were placing their bets on the winner.

By the time Jinny and Kayla were marching to the ring, the bets were on Jinny's favor since most of the crowd knew how fierce Jinny was.

Alex didn't have the energy to bet. So much was at stake in that duel. And both he and Gale didn't know enough about Kayla's skill to feel placated. Especially since he knew intimately just how good Ji-won was.

Jinny had been trained by her father, the strictest and most devious Delta in The Lunarheart pack, and Gamma Andrei Ruskov, the fiercest and strongest warrior in the pack. Coupled with her stubborn streak, Jinny wasn't an easy opponent.

But Kayla had defeated Viktor.

Alex shook his head. Yes, she had. But what if she had just been lucky?

His gaze focused on the two women in the duel ring, his heart thumping hard on his chest. Kayla's height dwarfed Jinny's petite form. But The Han wolf power was vibrating from her, evidently showing Kayla's disadvantage in the fight. 

Kayla's form was tense and sharp. With no tangible power detected from her. She was literally human at that moment.

What did she do to her wolf?

"You know the terms of the duel. The first one to yield or faint loses. The fight will be timed for the epsilon book of records." Markos acted as a referee between them. Lifting a stopwatch, he made a show of pressing his finger on the start button before he declared, "START."

The two women circled one another. Kayla with that calculating expression while Jinny spotted a wolfish grin as she scanned Kayla's body for weaknesses.

"Is this how you beat Viktor? By waiting until he attacked to strike?" Jinny's tone was taunting. Her eyes were on Kayla's while every sense in her was honed to Kayla's every breath.

Kayla said nothing as she surveyed Jinny's form. Suddenly, and faster than any of them could have anticipated, Kayla threw a punch straight at Jinny's face. Jinny caught the movement at the same time they did and dodged it, but barely, as the punch landed on her cheek and they all heard a cracking sound.

Faster than Jinny could recover, Kayla had already grabbed Jinny by the hair as she shoved her head straight onto her awaiting knee.

Jinny screamed. Multiple spectators gasped. Alex edged closer to the fight.

Kayla tightened her hold on Jinny's hair, her expression still blank, before she tried to push Jinny's head onto her knee again. But this time Jinny wasn't Jinny anymore. She was the future Delta of the Han clan, with a reputation to protect and a streak to maintain.

With a field-shaking roar, she let Kayla direct her head to her knee while she inserted her claws into Kayla's stomach and dug into her. A grimace that contorted Kayla's face was the only proof that Kayla was in any kind of pain. Otherwise, she just pulled at Jinny and threw her onto the floor. Hard.

Blood oozed from the deep cuts on Kayla's bare stomach, but she paid it no heed as she stalked towards Jinny. Jinny scrambled from the floor, despite her bleeding nose and probably a broken jaw, and positioned herself for a fight. Her eyes were already steel-blue, and her canines sharply elongated.