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They call Ari to go third and I watch her every move, its pure poetry in motion as she dances through the ornate display. She releases the arrow just a little too soon, and it goes high on her target, missing the half dollar sized bullseye. It’s now that I look at the other two targets. Neither has hit the bullseye. Arching an eyebrow, I decide to study the field. Just before the line, the ground is raised. It’s an odd hump that I’m not sure anyone else has noticed. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the rules for the ceremony. It clearly states you cannot go over the line. It doesn’t say how far behind it you can stop. The female before me also shoots high and to the right.
Four females in a row having the same issue cannot be a coincidence. Grabbing my bow and quiver, I walk to the line and step over the hump. Carefully, I count off my steps, making sure I allow space to stop before the lump in question.
The bell rings and I’m off. Several jumps and the final big spin as I nock my arrow and come to full draw. As soon as my foot touches the ground, I aim and let my arrow fly. It strikes true, hitting the target in the dead center of the bullseye. Cheers erupt around me as I turn and bow to the crowd.
The last two females don’t notice the hump and their shots go wide to the right. The one female even missed the target. Queen Lani gathers all the females up and we lay our bows with arrows on the presentation table.
Once we are all behind the wall, the males are allowed out on the field. Ari and I hold each other’s hands as we watch the males inspect our shots. Kaedyn must have been told to look at each target seriously. The furrow between his brows tells me he’s holding back from expressing his genuine reactions.
Ari pulls on my sleeve, and I lower my head to her. “Dad is making him and his best friend both shoot your target.” I raise an eyebrow in question. “They don’t want to give away that you two have already chosen.”
I nod my head slightly as King Coro announces for the males to inspect the bows. My heart is in my throat when seven out of the sixteen males handle my bow and arrows. Quickly I look at Ari, who is white as a sheet. Three males are hovering over her bow. Squealing with excitement, I hug Ari to me. My friend won’t be alone after today.
* * *
-Kaedyn-
My nerves are on edge the minute I see Bella is the only one to hit the bullseye. Five other males besides Derrick and me have shot at Bella’s target. As is customary, we have to present an arrow from our quiver to the female we intend to shoot for.
Bella sits there with a forced smile on her face as she accepts the arrows. Derrick approaches next and offers Bella his, and her smile is a little more genuine. I wait till last to offer her mine and she smirks, then winks at me. Damn, that girl sets my heart aflutter.
Bella has the stoic princess mask on not giving any hints about how she feels about the male’s arrows before her. We watch as she places the arrows in the order. She wants to watch the males shoot. It’s interesting to see that she set Derrick to shoot first and me to go fourth. The order in theory is supposed to show the female’s interest. But in our case, I know she’s doing it to distract from where her true intentions lie.
I notice now that my sister has three arrows in front of her, and a growl almost escapes my lips. Mother shoots me a stern look, and it even catches Bella’s attention. She follows the path that I am looking in and slightly nods. She leans over and rearranges the arrows before Ari and then smiles and kisses my sister’s temple. Apparently, Bella doesn’t approve of one male and she shows this to Ari by setting him to shoot last.
Since Bella is fifth in the shooting order, she gets to sit back and watch the event unfold. The first female has two males shooting for her using her bow. Neither male was lucky enough to have the draw length be correct for them. Their shots are all over the place. The female stands up with the two arrows in her hand and breaks both in half, signaling she rejects both males. They escort the female and the males off the field and off to negotiations.
The next males go, and one apparently rolls his ankle on the lump set before the line. I look from the line to Bella, whom double blinks her eyes, trying to signal that she was aware of the lump. It all makes sense now why the females’ shots were all over the place and high. The lump itself is almost three inches higher than the rest of the field.
It’s Bella’s turn and I watch the males before me shoot and some of them figured the hump out, others didn’t. Anxiously, I await my turn and when it finally hits; I have to wipe the sweat from my palms. Counting off my steps, I prepare for the most important presentation of my life. Drawing in a deep cleansing breath, I launch off the line, making sure that every step and move of my arms and bow are precise. On the last leap, I nock my arrow and come to full draw. Briefly, I close my eyes just before my foot touches the ground. When I feel my foot contact the earth, my eyes fly open, and I take the most important shot of my life.
Everything slows down to a halt; time moves in slow motion, and I watch every spin of the fletching’s in the air. The arrows twists and turns make my heart clench as I worry about where it will impact the target. I turn my back to the target just in time to hear the thunk of it hitting. My eyes drift to Derrick’s, and his expression is priceless. He stands there slack jawed with his eyes wide open in shock. Slowly I turn and my arrow is right beside Bella’s. I stare in disbelief, then look up at the royal box and my father is wearing the same expression as I am. I turn my gaze to Bella and her eyes flair slightly. The glow bathes the tabletop for several seconds before she reins herself back in.
The last two males go and only one comes close to where mine and Bella’s arrows are. Bella slowly stands, then looks over to my mother, who nods at her. What are these two females up to? One guard walks over and hands Bella her bow and quiver, and she comes to full draw. Arrow after arrow, she shoots and splits the other arrows in half with her own. From where she’s standing, she’s over eighty yards away from the targets far exceeding the previous distance. Bella destroys every arrow except mine.
The glow almost completely fades from her eyes as she tosses her bow to me. I catch the bow and, in that instance, Belladonna of the Shadow Court stakes her claim on me. One female down at the end of the table complains it is all a setup. Her dad, a duke in my kingdom, calls for the right of challenge.
My dad stands slowly, listening to the complaints of a few of the females. “I hear you, and as much as it pains me, the right of challenge has been issued.” Several guards move to escort Bella and Ellen to stand in front of my father. Bella lets a threating growl escape her lips when the guard tries to put his hands on her. Thankfully, Derrick steps in and escorts Bella forward.
Once both females are standing before my father again, Bella smirks, looking at the other female. “The rules are simple,” my father starts again. “Shift and fight. The winner will be my son’s mate.” My father looks between Bella and Ellen and both females nod, agreeing to the terms.
“It should be a battle to the death. Like we did back in the day,” King Flint states coldly as he looks back and forth between the females.
“That hasn’t been done in a century,” King Idris says as he glares down the row toward Flint.
“Do it!” Duke Johnson states as he glares down at his own daughter. She visibly shivers, then looks over at Bella, who is standing there as if nothing happened.
“Daddy, no!!” Ellen screams, with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Bella looks over at her coldly, then smiles. “Survival of the fittest. Maybe you shouldn’t have challenged me for Kaedyn. I’ll see you in the ring.” Her eyes flair to life with the full power of her wolf behind it. Even I feel the frigid chill of death creeping up my spine.
Bella smiles up at my dad and drops into a full curtsey before looking over at Ari and my mother. The three women walk off, their arms linked, and I honestly think it’s now that Ellen realizes just how badly she screwed up. I stare up at my father as he tries to wrangle the other kings into some sort of accord. These death matches were stopped because the female population took such a hard hit. I join the kings on the balcony and all they do is direct us toward the battlefield. My stomach lurches and I feel as though I have a brick in my stomach.
Looking to my left, it’s now that I notice they set up several cameras. My phone rings and it’s my friend Hayden. “What the actual fuck is going on, Kaedyn? They’re making the heir of the Shadow Kingdom fight in a death match??” Hayden’s tone screams with how angry this turn of events has him.
“Yeah man, worst part of it all. Belladonna is my true mate.” Shaking my head, I walk away from the kings, so they don’t hear my conversation.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Ryker would fucking kill you if he could, dude.” We both fall silent after he mentions Bella’s fallen brother.
