It was a tie. Both of us, Henry and I had our claws on each other's necks. Internally, smiling I turn to look at Aiden.

Aiden is being held back by several weres. Then my gaze settles on his eyes. They are bright. His wolf must have been agitated after seeing his mate get hurt.

At least eight weres must be restraining him. Two hold him by his torso, two push on his shoulders each and his arms are kept captive by a few more.He must have anticipated him, as restraining the alpha king is not something someone would dare do.

I turn back to Henry and nod at him. We tied but I am hurt more than him. If only I could transform completely, the results would have been different. Aiden says he trusts these weres. But seeing something so abnormal like me might sway their royalties. Fear is a powerful weapon and I don't want it to be used.

Henry starts walking towards Aiden, his steps cautious. I follow his stead, unsure of Aiden's reaction. I see him looking at me, then taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment. He opens them back and this time his eyes are normal. His beast must have clamed down.

Aiden then looks at the other men and they step back, releasing him. Aiden's gaze then focuses on me, assessing me from head to toe. Henry and I are now in front of him.

"Aurelia is good, my king. She will be able to handle herself in tricky situations. I am actually impressed by her skills. Not many weres have been able to bring their claws to my neck, let alone their teeth. With a bit of training, she will be a force to be reckoned with."

Aiden's eyes glow with pride at Henry's words and my beast now turns up her nose in satisfaction. She is proud that her king is impressed by her.

"Well done, Aurelia. I see that you are not as much of a novice as I thought. Since you are able to tie with Henry, I think it is only fair we sparr too."

My eyes widen at his words. No way am I going to last long against Aiden, let alone win.

I open my mouth to refuse, but he interrupts me by exclaiming, "What? Are you afraid?"

His tone is taunting and his lips form a smirk. He looks more handsome this way. But his eyes are another thing all together. They are challenging and hard on me. What is wrong with him? What has happened overnight to make him transition from his caring self to this cold persona?

However, my beast, on the other hand, is offended. She feels like it is both a challenge and an insult to us if our mate thinks we are afraid. I crack my neck in response to him and reply. "Never."

His smirk widens at my words, and my confidence falters. It feels as if he is setting a trap for us. Like me and my beast are being manipulated. Even if that's the case, I won't back out now. Filled with determination, I stare at him as he steps into the circle.

He is now serious—his usual broody self—as he assesses me. He starts stalking me in circles just like Henry did, but he is not lazy in his movements.

Every step of his is precise and calculated. I think of adopting the same strategy as I did earlier, but I get a feeling that it would not work. So I start walking in circles too, mirroring his actions.

We continued like that for a while, testing each other's patience. Waiting for the other one to attack first. I am getting impatient. But then suddenly, the small hairs on the back of my stand. Aiden is releasing his reigned in power.

My beast is now alert as he tests us. I have to suck in a breath to stop myself from kneeling. Even though, in the absence of the shot, we are strong, Aiden is on another level.

I stand still for a moment to get used to his power and Aiden takes advantage of that and breaks into a run at me. I see his fist clench and wait for him to reach me with his fist, clenching my muscles to move to the right.

Just as I expect his fist to fly in the air towards me, I step aside only for him to spin and kick my feet under me. I fall to the ground, dust flying around me.

I look at him, my eyes widening as he aims another punch at him. This time, I don't give him a chance and roll to the left as his fist meets the dirt. Now, it's his turn to stare at me in shock as I make a cartwheel and move behind him.

I try to nail him on his back with my fist but he is too fast and moves to the right at the last moment. I try to punch him again and he manages to duck.

Now my strategy is offense as the best defense. I know I won't be able to take his hits for long, so I need to annoy him so that he gets angry and makes a mistake that I can take advantage of.

I continuously punch and kick and he manages to dodge all of my attacks. Now I am the one getting annoyed. I realise that it is going to be a battle of wills.

Suddenly he changes strategy and ducks my kick but does not raise back. Rather, he picks me up by the waist and throws me behind him, over his shoulder, like one drops a sack of potatoes.

I meet the dirt again, but I roll to the side to break the momentum. He is on me in a moment, pinning me to the ground. He is sitting on top of me as he aims a fist at me.

If I get hit, this is over. I thrash around the ground and try to move my head aside, his fist meeting the dirt again. But this time I can't escape him, as he is pinning me to the ground.

So I change my strategy and raise my hips, borrowing strength from my beast as my eyes flash with my beast. He loses his balance, falling too the side. I take advantage of that opportunity and roll us, pinning him to the ground.

He tries to hit me, his fist towards me, but I'm fast as I stop his fist in it's tracks and hold his wrists in my left. He tries to do the same thing as I did by trying to disbalance him, but I wrap my feet around his torso, clinging to him.

His left wrist is still enclosed in my right hand as he aims his right at me. I use the same strategy and catch his right wrist. His eyes widen at me as I push his hands above his head, pinning him to the ground.

We are close now, nose to nose, our bodies aligned. In the adrenaline of the fight, I didn't notice, but now electricity flows through the air trapped between us as sparks fly, our eyes locked with each other. His eyes flash with his, and so do mine, my beast acknowledging her mate.

His eyes linger on my lips momentarily before meeting mine once more, causing me to gulp. We remain in that tense silence until Aiden's expression toughens once again. He lets out a loud growl and uses all of his strength, unleashing his power and rolling us.

Again, I am pinned to the ground and during the shift of positions, he grips my wrists together in his left hand.

Damn It. I try to roll us again, but to no avail. He is too strong for me, and his power rolls off him in waves, raising the hair on my arms. He raises his hand and I close my eyes, expecting his fist, but I feel his fingers brushing my cheek, carressing my face.

His fingers trace a path from my cheek to under my lips, and I'm overwhelmed by the rush of emotions within me.He leans in, and my eyes close on their own accord, but then I hear a growl. My eyes fly open as I look towards the source of the sound.

A were drops down his hands clutched to his neck. We see the end of a dart peeking through his fingers and Aiden looks at me, his eyes widening in alarm as he lets out a loud roar this time.

He jumps up, and I follow his lead and rise up as a few weres close in on us, forming a protective circle.

As soon as I am on my feet, Aiden interlaces his fingers with mine and tugs me towards the forest, the circle moving with us. However, the weres surrounding us drop one by one as we keep moving. Soon, all weres fall unconscious, and darts shoot at us.

Soon, the darts hit us, and we fall unconscious, our hands still entwined. 

Word Count: 1548

I tried to show some chemistry as well as romance, but I am not sure I succeeded. Well, this is what I have got. So....

Toodles!!