27 Fist Fight
Sera
Taya didn’t wait for me to catch my breath. She lunged, her face a mask of pure rage. I tried to brace myself, but my body was still heavy and sluggish from the springs. She slammed into me, and we both went down hard. My back hit the stone floor, and the furs we’d been bundled in scattered like leaves.
Taya was on top of me in a second. Her fingers were curved like talons, clawing at my face. “I’ll kill you you hear me! I’ll kill you!! “she screamed, her voice cracking with hysteria. “I’ll rip your Southern throat out!”
I got my left arm up just in time to block her hands. Instead of my eyes, her nails raked across my forearm. It burned like a line of fire. I reached up, grabbed a thick fistful of her hair, and yanked with everything I had.
Taya shrieked. Her grip loosened for a split second, and I shoved her sideways with my shoulder.
We rolled across the stone. I tried to get on top, but Taya was stronger and far more energized than I was. She hadn’t spent the afternoon fighting for air in a mineral pool. She pinned me down, her knees digging into the floor on either side of my hips. She pulled her fist back, her eyes wild.
Mina tackled her from the side.
All three of us went down in a messy tangle of limbs and snarls. Mina was small, but she fought like a cornered animal. She sank her teeth into Taya’s arm, actually biting down. Taya let out a guttural scream and drove her elbow back into Mina’s face. I heard the sickening thud of the impact. Mina’s head snapped back, and blood immediately bubbled from her lip.
I scrambled up, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My legs were shaking so hard I could barely stand. I grabbed Taya’s hair again, dragging her off Mina. Taya spun around, her face twisted, and backhanded me across the jaw.
The hit was hard. My vision flashed white for a second, and I hit the floor again. I tasted the sharp, metallic tang of blood in my mouth. My cheek felt like it was being pressed against a hot iron.
Taya stood over me, her chest heaving. Blood was still streaming from her broken nose, coating her lips and chin. “You’re dead, “she hissed. “When my father hears about this, you’re finished.”
The door slammed open.
Two guards burst in, their hands on their sword hilt. They stopped dead, taking in the scene-me on the floor with a split lip, Mina clutching her bloody mouth, and Taya standing there looking like she’d crawled out of a bar fight.
“What happened here?” one guard asked.
Taya started talking immediately, her voice high and frantic. “She attacked me! The Southern bitch attacked me unprovoked! Mina helped her! They’re both savages. Arrest them! Throw them in the cells!”.
I pushed myself up onto my elbows, my arms trembling. “She came into my room uninvited,” I said, my voice low and rough. She refused to leave. She called me a broodmare.”
The guards exchanged a wary look. They clearly didn’t want to be the ones to settle a fight between the Alpha’s sister and his
mate.
“Arrest her!” Taya demanded, stepping toward the guards. “My father will hear about this. The council will hear about this. The Alpha will-”
“The Alpha will what?”
A voice came from the doorway. It was low, flat, and carried the weight of a mountain.
Everyone froze.
Fenris was standing there. He was dressed in simple dark clothes now, his hair still damp from the springs. His grey eyes moved
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slowly across the room, taking in every detail. When his gaze landed on my bleeding lip, I felt a sharp, sudden burn on my collarbone scar. His eyes twitched.
“What happened?” he asked.
Taya started her frantic explanation again. “Fenris, she attacked me! I was just paying a friendly visit to check on her, and she-
Fenris held up a single hand. Taya stopped mid-sentence.
He looked at me. “Did you throw the first punch?”
I met his eyes, refusing to look away. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“She called me a broodmare.”
The room went silent. Fenris’s expression didn’t change, but the air in the room felt heavier. He turned his head slowly to look at Taya. “Is that true?”
Taya’s mouth opened, then closed. She shifted her weight, her eyes darting to the guards. “She misunderstood. I was just—”
“Did you,” Fenris asked, his voice slower and more dangerous, “call my mate a broodmare?”
Taya didn’t answer. Her silence was loud enough.
Fenris turned to the guards. “Escort Taya to her quarters. She is not to leave them until I decide what is to be done with her.”
“Fenris, no!” Taya started to protest, her voice rising. “My father is a council chief! You can’t just-“.
“Your father can take it up with me directly if he has a problem,” Fenris cut her off. “Move her.”
The guards took Taya by the arms. She was still sputtering threats about the council as they dragged her out and closed the heavy oak door.
Fenris looked at Mina. “Are you alright?”
Mina nodded, wiping a fresh smear of blood from her lip. “I’m fine.”
“Go get cleaned up,” he told her. Mina hesitated, glancing at me with a look of worry, then slipped out of the room.
Now it was just us.
Fenris walked toward me. I was still sitting on the floor, too drained to try standing again. He crouched down in front of me, his massive frame blocking out the light from the fire. He studied my face-the split lip and the bruise forming on my cheek.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
“That isn’t what I asked, Sera.”
I looked down at my arms. “My arms. Where she scratched me.”
He reached out and took my wrist, his hand nearly circling it twice. He turned my arm over to inspect the shallow, bloody scratches. He looked at them for a long moment, his thumb brushing across my skin just below the wounds. I shivered, but it wasn’t from the cold.
“Do you regret hitting her?” he asked.
I thought about the word broodmare. I thought about the way she’d looked at me at the spring. “No,” I said.
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Fenris nodded. His eyes flickered with something that might have been a ghost of a smile. “Good.”
He stood up. “Someone will come to clean those scratches. You should rest. Tomorrow, we will deal with the political mess this is going to cause.”
“Am I in trouble?” I asked.
He looked down at me. “Taya’s father is a council chief. He is powerful here. This will not be a quiet matter.”
“I asked if I’m in trouble.”
“You are my mate,” he said, his voice firm. “You are under my protection. But protection does not mean there will be no consequences.”
Then he turned and left the room.
I sat there on the floor, surrounded by the mess of furs, bleeding from my lip and arms. I realized I’d just made my first real enemy in Ironmaw.
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