Chapter 18

Mila hadn’t realized how good it felt to use her body. Hitting Jed was like hitting a brick wall. It broke the skin of her knuckles on impact, but it didn’t matter. She had managed to strike.

They looked at each other for a moment, both mildly stunned she’d managed. Her entire life on the surface had been about control. Controlling herself so entirely, she’d forgotten that she’d started to look at herself at a nearly human standard.

She gave a little laugh. Adrenaline coursed through her and she ducked again when Jed came at her, much faster than before. The air whistled at the motion of his arm.

Mila caught his hand and shoved back against him. He was strong. Strong and agile. She hadn’t ever fought this hard with another being without help. She had to brace her bare feet in the dirt, her entire body shoving back against him.

The experience was very different from anything she’d felt before. He was smaller than the crushing weight of the ocean, but he channeled his strength well. He moved with the speed and force of a bullet.

Mila had actually been shot before. It hadn’t been nice.

She’d lived on the surface for so long, it was really only a matter of time before she had experienced human conflict. She had participated in battles before the invention of the gun and done quite well. Sword and spear had been her favorite, preferring direct melee to ranged weaponry.

When the first guns joined the fights, they hadn’t been very powerful or accurate. They’d hurt pretty good though. The little balls of metal cut easily through her outer human flesh, but had stopped at her inner mermaid hide.

By the time the guns were being made more powerful, it had made more sense to stay out of the battles. Battles were messy and the first-born didn’t enjoy these long-range fights the way they’d liked watching sword-fights.

Travelling out of areas where there was conflict had been much more sensible. Still, there were no guarantees and Mila had been shot more recently by a higher caliber weapon. It had stung terribly when it cut through the human skin and had managed to scratch deeper, drawing out some of her real blood.

She was sure now that Jed was quite capable of breaking down to her mermaid skin, but she wasn’t sure if that meant he could kill her. Even if he wasn’t, it could still hurt. Despite her willingness to shed blood, she didn’t actually enjoy pain. Particularly not when it was inflicted by someone else.

Her competitive nature rising, she took the sparring a little more seriously than necessary.

Sounds of their fight were almost deafening, making it harder for her to hear when he was about to strike. Each time she hit him, the impact sounded like a canon. She had to wrestle him just to keep him from throwing punches she wouldn’t be able to catch.

Their legs tangled like pretzels, she managed to get him down onto the ground, laying on his stomach. When he reached for her, she extended and twisted his arm at an unnatural angle till he grunted in annoyance. Her elbow pressed into the center of his back.

“Alright, alright, cher. I give. Uncle,” he grumbled against the dirt.

She almost pouted when she let him up. She opened her eyes, looking at his face. He didn’t sweat or look flushed, but there was a certain weariness in his eyes.

“Shoot,” he said, stretching like he’d just gotten out of bed. “I thought we was just play-fighting.”

She laughed breathlessly. She was simultaneously exhausted and energized. Loose curls stuck to her sweaty face and her shoulders sagged a little as the adrenaline left her. “You weren’t having fun?”

He looked at her seriously for a moment before giving a gentle chuckle. “Guess it was a little fun. Nice right hook.”

She bowed.

She had been paying attention only to Jed for the duration of the fight, but now she was realizing how many eyes were on her. Winnie had covered her eyes at some point and she sniffled while Dillon tried to reassure her. Several children had taken cover with their startled looking parents.

Some lower tiered wolves were looking excited, their eyes gleaming. They knew they didn’t have a prayer of winning one-on-one, but she could tell that were already coordinating strategies on how to take either her or Jed.

The alphas were a little harder to understand. The eldest she-wolf's eyes were unfocused, gazing sightlessly over the gathering. Her thin lips were held in a straight line, not showing a hint of emotion.

Some of the others were murmuring to each other. The one closest was the male that had brought her into the pack. He was holding the bo staff she must have passed off to him. His eyes were guarded, but he held it out to her.

“Thank you,” she said politely.

Several paces behind him, Kiera scowled. Her face red with fury. Clearly, a head-on attack would not be enough to ensure her station above Mila now.

It felt pointless for Mila to tell her that there really was no competition. She had exactly zero interest in the overgrown alpha in front of her. But as she looked up at his face, she noticed how he was watching her.

Though his eyes were guarded, they watched every move she made. There was a mild tenderness to the way he handed her the staff. And, if she wasn’t mistaken, his ears were a little red when he looked down at her full form, her chest heaving slightly as she breathed deeply after exercise.

“You’re welcome,” he said a bit late, his voice tight.

She blinked uncertainly. Was it her imagination or was he burning a little hotter than the other wolves?

She shifted uncomfortably. He was looking at her a little too closely and she wasn’t even sure what his name was. She found herself nibbling her bottom lip. “This is embarrassing, but what’s your name?”

His eyes widened a fraction. In nearly six days, he’d entirely failed to properly introduce himself. “Kody. My name is Kody.”

“Kody,” she nodded, letting him know that she would remember next time.

She turned away, moving to check on Winnie. The fighting seemed to have stressed her out.