Chapter 36: *"...changes to the rules..."*
The roar of the crowd surprised Alora for a moment, she had forgotten they were there while she was fighting Sarah. It took the loud voice of the announcer making her win official to rouse Alora from her stunned state. Alora took a deep breath and centered herself.
Alora turned her back on Sarah and left the fighter’s platform. As she reached the wall, she paused to look back at her parents over her shoulder. By the expressions on the faces of her parents, she could tell that they were not only shocked at what Alora had done to Sarah, they were furious.
Alora did not care that they were angry and planning to make her pay for today’s humiliation. In fact, Alora was hoping they would give her an excuse to teach them a lesson as well. Alora would never return to being the obedient torture doll anymore.
Alora gave them a taunting smirk before she dismissed them by turning her back on them. Bending slightly at the knees, Alora only used a little of her strength to launch herself up and over the railing to the first row of seats. Walking casually, Alora made her way up the steps and back to her own seat.
Although Alora now had her Alpha’s aura mostly tucked away again, the students still displayed the same submission as before when she passed them going up. Alora chose to ignore their reactions, as well as the open-mouthed wide-eyed looks of her fellow Alpha Class fighters.
They were all silent for the moment as they all watched the school medics, who were on standby, go into the arena for Sarah. Darien was staring at Alora with a complicated expression.
Alora looked at him, finally annoyed with all the staring, and asked. “What?” The word came out sharper than she had intended it to.
Darien swallowed, raised his gaze to look up at nothing, then nodded his head several times. Darien then opened his mouth like he was going to make a comment, then he frowned and stopped himself.
Darien did this several more times before Alora became impatient and said, “Just spit it out.”
Darien cleared his throat. “When you said… you would teach Sarah a lesson…I never imagined it would be that…. that….” Darien’s brows were furrowed as he thought of the word he wanted to use. “That…unrelenting.”
Alora studied Darien’s expression with narrow eyes for a moment, wondering at what was now going through Darien’s mind.
“Do you think I was too harsh?” Alora asked Darien in a cautious sounding tone.
Darien shook his head. “No…no I was…I was just thinking about what you said earlier.” At Alora’s questioning look, he elaborated. “About not holding back anymore.”
Alora looked at Darien curiously, nodding her head. “I remember saying that this morning, what about it?”
Darien let out a nervous sounding laugh. “Well, I was just thinking that I now have a full understanding of what you meant.”
Alora looked at him mutely, not knowing how to respond to that. She noticed the various expressions on the faces of her fellow classmates. Jaxon’s expression was particularly complicated.
Alora decided she needed a moment to herself right then. “I’m going to go to the lady's room really quick.” Then she was up and heading swiftly down the stairs.
Jaxon waited till Alora made it to the stairway leading to the underground before he spoke. “You all remember how Alora mentioned putting a chair under her doorknob earlier.” They all turned to look at Jaxon, their bodies tensing up at his question.
“Alora said it was because she did not have a lock in her bedroom door. Then text messages asking for our fight music came in and we did not follow up on it. The way she said it though, was like it was no big deal.” Mason said, quietly, his expression dour.
“She did, but her eyes said something different.” Jaxon said, “So I was just texting one of my cousins, she’s a counselor, and asked her why a female would block her bedroom door with a chair under the doorknob.”
Darien, like Jaxon, had also seen that Alora’s eyes had a different tale to tell than what her lips were saying. “What did she say?” Darien asked, a faint growl in his tone.
Jaxon’s expression became even darker. “My cousin told me it depended on the situation. One scenario is if the female lives in a place or area where they feel door locks are not enough of a security measure. They then would use this trick to give themselves time to grab a weapon just in case there was an intruder.” Jaxon paused, clenching his hands into tight fists.
“What else?” Darien asked, knowing there was more just by Jaxon’s expressions.
“The other scenario…is if a female was a victim of sexual assault at one point or another.” Jaxon rasped out, his mind rejecting the idea. “I have been trying to tell myself for the last few moments that it's not the second choice.”
“Sexual assault by who?” Mason asked.
Jaxon turned to look at Darien. “Why is it you question Alora, about whether or not Allister is her biological father?”
Darien looked down at the ground, his clenched fists set on his knees. “The way he looks at Alora sometimes when he thinks no one is looking. It makes my fur stand on end.”
The other males looked at Darien with varied expressions of horror. None of them wanted to even contemplate what all the clues were hinting at.
“Alora wouldn’t want us talking about this would she?” Mason asked, his voice low and a little raspy.
Darien’s expression looked strained as he shook his head. “No…no she would not.” Darien looked down, unclenching one fist to grip the back of his neck. “Alora has always been a very private person. Damn near reclusive.”
“Victims of routine violence generally are. It is a mentality that is forced upon them until it becomes instinctual.” Jaxon commented calmly, a note of sadness in his tone.
Their conversation ended with the return of Alora and the voice of Vice Principal Kalia over the sound system.
****
After Alora had landed her winning blow against Sarah, Vice Principal Kalia made her way over to Principal Jonathan. The number of challenges to the Alpha Class was going to require them to place a time restriction on those fights.
Kalia was there to confer with Jonathan on just what that amount of time was. Kalia bowed respectfully to the Pack Alpha and Luna, greeting them first before greeting Jonathan.
“There were too many challenges issued to the Alpha Class fighters this year and we need to set a time allotment for each match. If we do not, we will have to postpone the written exams by a full day.” Kalia told Jonathan.
Jonathan leaned back, he had one arm crossed over his waist, and the elbow of the other braced on it. Jonathan rested his chin on his raised fist and studied Kalia with a faint smile.
“And what solution have you come up with, Vice Principal?” Jonathan asked, a faint smile on his lips.
“I think we should limit the allotment of time to five minutes.” Kalia said confidently.
Jonathan's smile deepened. “What if the match were to end in a draw?”
Not missing a beat, Kalia answered. “If there is a draw in the match, we will advance that student as we would if there would have been a clear-cut victory. After that, it will be up to them to defend and keep their ranking in their new fighter class.”
Jonathan nodded, satisfied with Kalia’s answers. Not that he expected it to go any other way. Jonathan respected the female quite a lot, for her work ethic, intelligence and her genuine kindness and dedication to the pups of the school.
“Good, I agree with your solution. When do you plan to implement this?” Jonathan asked.
“Starting with the Delta Class challenges. As soon as the medical staff is done scraping Sarah Northmountain off the arena wall, I will make the announcement.” Kalia replied.
Jonathan nodded again in approval. “Then I will leave you to it.”
Kalia nodded. “Thank you, sir.” Then she bowed respectfully again to Andrew and Ember. “I will take my leave now.”
“It is times like these that I am grateful we are so long lived. You and Kalia have both proven to be the best thing for this school and the students. These students and teachers have thrived under you two for several decades now.” Luna Ember said, after Kalia had left.
Jonathan blushed and was surprised, to think he could still blush at his age. He felt honored to have been given such a compliment from his Luna. He would tell Kalia about it later.
“Thank you, Luna, to receive such a high complement is truly an honor.” Jonathan said, smiling.
Just then, Kalia walked to the center of the fighter's platform with a microphone in hand.
“Hello everyone if I can have your attention for a few moments. I am here to announce there has been a minor change to the rules of the last of the challenges for advancement. Due to the overwhelming number of challenges issued, we are limiting the battles to five minutes. In the event any fight was to end in a draw at this five-minute mark, the challenger will be allowed to advance. We will begin the Delta Class fighter part of the challenges in five minutes.” With that announcement made, Kalia calmly walked off the platform.
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