Win or Lose

Gilbert stands there unbothered. I study him. He is bulky and taller than me. Everyone here is a giant compared to me. But I have an advantage which nobody here has. My body. I can do more fluid and swift movements than most of them.

I look for any weak spots as he coils his body for the attack but makes no move to start. Did he really mean when he said he doesn't fight women?

*He insulted us right after that.*

Lilly growls in my head ready to pounce on him.

“Wait”

Greyson yells immediately standing in front of me. “Don’t coax them to fight '' Angelo seethes at his roommate.

“If you want a show, how about we fight? You and me” Greyson fires at Luciano.

“Stop it guys. Why are you cornering him? I want to do it” But my statements fall on deaf ears.

“Luciano, this is sick. Even for you.” Casper joins them, shoving Luciano.

“STOP IT” I yell. The guys flinch but I do not miss the smirk Luciano directs at the men.

“This is not about him or you. I do not stand the disrespect Gilbert showed me recently and continue to show.” I glance at everyone “I might not know how to fight like you but I was chosen to be your evaluator for a reason. And unless you fight me, I will not be able to know the full extent of your strengths. So I suggest you back down and stop trying to protect me.” Greyson, Casper, Angelo and Nicolas look at me with defeated eyes.

They know I am telling the truth. At some point, I have to fight them too.

“She is right '' Julian steps forward. “It's an evaluation, she is doing her job”. Yes, I am doing my job and I also have some personal vendetta on Gilbert. His eyes that see me as I am of no good use, I intend to change that.

Valerino nods at me. “This is about the contest. I do not see a reason to stop her.”

“Same,” Zico says, looking at all of us.

“I agree too” Ren gives me a smile.

Finally, “Four of you disagree and five of you agree. The majority wins” I shrug positioning myself. With a defeated sign, Greyson, Casper, Angelo and Nicolas nod. All of them form a circle around us.

I run, fisting my hand. This is such a simple move. Punch him in the face.

Gilbert is not bothered by my pace and stands there. When my fist is about to collide with his face, he moves to the side and that is just what I need. I shift the weight to my other foot and knee him in the chin. He stumbles back a bit.

I hear howls and claps from the men as I look at Gilbert. “Slow” I mock him. His eyes change and he comes for me fast. I block his hits but I am not strong enough. I take a few to my ribs and face just barely blocking them.

“Weak” he mouths. Panting heavily, I duck and jab him right at the ribs. He blocks my hit and locks me in place with his arms. I punch him in the stomach and when he groans with the pain I take his hand and twist it to the back. He is stronger than me but not fast. So with him, I need to be fast.

But as soon as I have his hands in place, he jerks and frees the hand. I go back, my sides feel like they are on fire. He smirks and grabs my fists squeezing them hard. I try to remove my hands but he holds me in place, trapping me with one hand. He punches me in the face, making me fall back. The impact made me hit my head on the rocky side of the ground, pretty hard.

I touch my forehead feeling the blood. The men have gone from howling to growling. Especially Nicolas, who is in the middle of us in an instant.

"Submit?" Gilbert mocks me.

I stand up. "No".

I ran to him only to be stopped by Greyson.

“That's enough, love. You are bleeding”

To prove his point, he pointed at my head. I feel dizzy but I don't want to back down now. Backing down means proving Gilbert right. Proving Roman right.

“It’s over” Casper conforms and takes me in his arms to a nearby tree. Julian gives me a water bottle and I take a few gulps feeling the pain when the water goes down.

“She is bleeding. We don’t know if her ribs are broken or not. How’s that for evaluation.” Casper eyes Julian. “I know man, she will be one of ours at the end, but this is what she is chosen for.”

Be one of theirs? I smile at that thought. I quickly stop. Due to my recent relationship with Roman, I am starting to think getting claimed is enough for me.

As I look up to see them, black dots cover my vision. I wince from the sunlight which falls directly into my eyes. “Are you okay?” Both of them are inches away from my face.

“I will live” I joke. I regret all the days I was in my room crying for a mate. I should have gone to the training like I always do and I should have listened to my father.

"How is she?" Nicolas says coming with an ice pack. I vaguely see Gilbert, who crouches down in front of me taking my face in his hands. He looks fine. Not like me who is covered in bruises. “How come you look okay?” I manage to choke out.

“My chin, hand and ribs feel like they are on fire. I seriously underestimated you but you did, I can’t say good, not even average but yeah below average” Gilbert says pressing my wound with a gauge. I see a first aid box beside Gilbert and I say, “Do you know what you doing?”

“I served as a field doctor and soldier in The Great War,” he says but my head feels dizzy.

“I absolutely hate doctors,” I say, wincing from the pain as Gilbert works on me.

“My princess”, Angelo’s annoying shriek fills my head and he takes my hand in his.

“Squeeze my hand”. He adds.

“Guys. I can bear the pain.” I try to get up but Greyson stops me. “You are hurt. So be a good girl and sit here while we train''. Everybody's orders are making me angry and I snap.

“I am going to fight you next and I am going to kick your ass to the moon goddess”. I grit my teeth as I pain shoots again to my head.

“I will pin you in 10 seconds, love” he jokes.

“Then I will kick your ass in 5” I fire back.

“Done. No major damage so rest for a while”, is all Gilbert says before going back. I earned this sudden change of behaviour from Gilbert.

Did I win or lose? Sure I lost the fight but I also won a good relationship with Gilbert. I like our new relationship because I earned it, and I also did my first job as an evaluator.

*Other than ogling the men.* Lilly smarts and howls. I chuckle and close my eyes.

“Are you sure you took a good look at her head?” I hear Luciano say.

“Why is she smiling like that?” Greyson’s voice feels so far away.

“Did anyone notice her ass while she fought?” Angelo adds and seconds later growls fill the area and I pass out.