Once in a Dragon Moon - Ophelia Bell Page 0,44
okay with that?” she asked the big hyena shifter.
Simon shrugged. “Is he willing to train me too? You and I have done well enough with each other, but there’s only so far the old vids Talon made for you will take us. If you’re training for two tourneys, I’ll need to find an alternative anyway.”
She turned back to Jacob. “Well? Can you handle three trainees at once? We’ll pay you, of course.”
“You’ll do it, won’t you?” Ksenia asked, giving Jacob a hopeful look.
He still seemed like he was having trouble processing this turn of events. He frowned and glanced at Teague and Gunther. “I need to talk it over with my partners . . .”
“What the fuck is there to talk over, man? Do it!” Teague said.
“I’m with him.” Gunther jabbed a thumb at Teague.
“Sounds like it’s settled,” Ignazio said. “But just for the record, if you two make it to the finals, be prepared to get your asses kicked.”
Astra lifted an eyebrow and grinned broadly at the pair of tournament champions. “You’d better be ready to put your money where your mouth is, Mr. Karsten. When we get done with those wolf twins, we’ll be hungry for some dragon blood.”
“Up and at ’em hot stuff. You’ve got a big day today.”
A big hand smacked Ksenia’s ass and she groaned into her pillow. Every single muscle in her body ached, including several she was pretty sure hadn’t existed until two days ago.
The day after the party, she and Astra had started training in earnest, and they’d gone at it even harder than she had alone. It felt good to have a true opponent to practice with. The guys and the sims weren’t really that much of a challenge for her, so there was only so much she could improve without actually fighting.
But her sore muscles weren’t the only reason she dreaded crawling out of bed. Today was the day she had to stand in front of the Nova Aurora Arena League’s Board and defend herself and her rule-breaking. Even though neither Astra nor any of the guys believed she’d have any issues, there was still a chance they’d ban her. She was worried they’d ask questions she wouldn’t be willing to answer, but she wasn’t willing to sacrifice the potential safety of her entire clan for the sake of getting back into the arena.
Something warm and moist nuzzled at her shoulder, accompanied by loud, chuffing noises and bursts of hot breath. She hazarded a quick peek out to see what was assaulting her.
“What the fuck?” she yelped, lurching to the side, then yelping as an enormous black bear leaped onto the bed and pinned her to the mattress, its long tongue lolling out and swiping across her cheek. “Gah! Get off!” She smacked at his furry chest.
The bear chuffed louder, its form shifting as it shrunk down to a normal-sized Teague gripped with laughter. He rolled off, still laughing. “Oh, shit, you should’ve seen your face! Priceless.”
“Fuck you,” Ksenia grumbled, climbing out of bed and stomping to the bathroom with his laughter rising in volume until she slammed the door behind her.
“It got you up, didn’t it?” he called after her.
An hour later, her belly full of tangled knots, she stepped through the doors to a vast, cavernous room in an old stone building that housed the League’s headquarters. The high windows overlooked the purple mountain ranges and the lake in the distance. The day was unreasonably peaceful and bright in sharp contrast to Ksenia’s dread.
The Board was comprised of nine shifters, five women and four men. She recognized many of them from the party that weekend, including Dr. Simina Taji, who gave Ksenia a warm, encouraging smile as she took her place at a lectern centered in front of the semi-circular table the board was seated at.
The door clanged shut behind her and the central Board member, a burly, bearded man whose name plate read “Gustav Barghast” rapped a gavel and called the meeting to order.
“This hearing is to determine the League eligibility of arena fighter Ksenia San Velka, also known as Desert Flame. She has been accused of exploiting undisclosed shifter abilities in order to gain an advantage in her solo match against Astra Garrick, also known as Midnight Star. Ms. San Velka, welcome.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said with a nod.
“Ms. San Velka, do you vow to answer all of our questions truthfully and to the best of your ability?”
“I do, sir.”
“Very good. Now I will turn the