Page 54 of Blood of the Fallen
She attacked again, but I bucked, throwing her off. I rolled to my feet and spit on the ground. Blinking, I shook my head to clear my blurry vision. I’d had worse before. It would take more than a couple of punches to defeat me.
Desna charged again, but I stepped out of the way in the last instant and swept a leg around, knocking her feet from under her. She sprawled on the ground with a bone-cracking thud. Hissing like a snake, she pushed up and whirled around to face me again. She swung her left arm with amazing speed, catching the side of my head. Stars exploded in my vision, and I went staggering sideways. I tittered like a drunkard but managed to stay on my feet.
Doing a half cartwheel, she pushed from the ground and landed a double kick in my stomach. Airwhooshedthrough my mouth. Grabbing my middle, I gasped for breath and fell on my butt.
As I struggled to fill my flattened lungs, I caught sight of Kall on the sidelines. His forehead was split by a huge worry line.
Get up, Sheela, he mouthed.
“Get up, rat,” Desna snarled. “I’ll teach you your place.”
A hand pressed to my middle, I faltered to my feet. Desna waited, crouching. She moved from foot to foot, light and agile. Hatred dripped from her expression. To her, I was nothing but an intruder trying to steal what was hers.
“You don’t belong here, no matter what others tell you. No matter what you want to believe,” Desna sneered, inching closer as she planned her next attack. “Even if you’ve spread your legs for every member of the triad, it won’t make a difference.”
A collective gasp went over the crowd. I shook my head, my anger building and slowly morphing to match her hatred for me. I had done nothing to hurt her. I had taken nothing from her. What she wanted was hers to win or lose at this very moment. So why didn’t she shut up and just fight?
My arm came away from my stomach as my fists clenched. I would not let her insult me like this.
I lunged, my blood boiling with fury. She planted her feet and raised her arms to block my jab, but I feigned to one side and landed a punch on the opposite side of her face. She flinched back, and I landed another jab right under her ribs. As she bent over, I jump-kicked her, and sent her flying backward. She crashed to the ground and sprawled on her back.
Blinded by my anger, I jumped on top, straddling her.
“You’re a liar!” I wrapped my hands around her neck and put all my weight into them. I “Take that back.”
She wriggled under me, trying to free herself. There were ways to fight off a chokehold, but she didn’t attempt any of them. It seemed she’d never been taught how. Either way, I was ready to strangle her unless she took back her horrible accusation.
“Take it back,” I repeated.
Desna’s eyes bulged as she did nothing more than slap weakly at my arms, making pathetic guttural sounds. As her lips turned pale, it occurred to me that she couldn’t have answered even if she wanted to.
What am I doing?!
I started to release the choke just as a hand fell on my shoulder. “You’ve won, child,” one of the elders said, blinking at me as I glanced back.
Immediately, I let go of Desna, my arms going limp at my sides. I stood up slowly, my mind in a stupor, my chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. Desna turned on her side, coughing and wheezing.
“She… she was lying,” I mumbled, unaware whether her accusations mattered to the pack. Either way, they mattered to me.
I glanced at the Chieftess first, and I was surprised to find that I cared about her opinion. I didn’t want her to be disappointed in me, to think that I would do something that could possibly cause jealousy and infighting within the pack. But I shouldn’t have worried because I found no accusation in her eyes. Instead, she gave me a nod of support.
Too bad I didn’t see the same when I glanced around the other members of the pack. It was mostly the young women who were looking at me with anger. We were members of a small pack with only so many eligible males and females to go around. Our survival depended on mating and producing new offspring. It would be terribly wrong for anyone to monopolize lovers simply for fun.
Low murmurs began around the circle, voices of protest beginning to rise.
“It isn’t fair,” Desna’s sister spat.
“No, it isn’t. It’s wrong,” someone else said.
“She has no right.”
I hunched my shoulders, embarrassment washing over me. I wanted to run into the trees and disappear. I met Kall’s gaze, which trailed from side to side as if he were also embarrassed. Maki and Novuk stood behind him, mouths pressed in thin lines. Why weren’t they saying anything? They knew Desna was lying. Maki’s yellow eyes flicked to Ila with concern. For an instant, I feared what I may find in her expression, but like the Chieftess’s, my sister’s features showed nothing but solidarity.
Kall clenched his fists as the women grew louder. He trembled on the spot as if he were trying to contain the urge to scream. I watched as he stared pointedly at Chieftess Yura. She sighed and reluctantly gave him a nod.
Immediately, he took a step forward. “It isn’t true,” he said, his deep voice rumbling with barely contained wrath.
Everyone went silent.
