Chapter Nine
Leo is strong
Three days later, Kalista wondered what she had been thinking to accept the challenge of a lioness. Three days could never be enough time to replace the three weeks she had been out of the dojang. She spent her mornings and afternoons training and learning the procedures to the prides’ challenges. Leonidas spent the evenings, when not meeting with his betas, discussing how to get her out of this fight, pacing the floor with worry. Even now, as they took in the morning meal with the immediate pride, he couldn’t stay seated.
“You’re making everyone nervous,” she chided.
“They should be nervous.”
“There’s something we need to discuss,” Helena said above the tension in the room. “Who is going to act as your second, should Gabriela decide to shift? They’ll need to be in lioness form on the edge of the ring, to act fast.”
“There will be three lionesses positioned around the ring. The betas will be posted behind the South American pride to ensure they do nothing to interfere with the challenge.”
“Why would they interfere? They believe it’s an easily won match.” Kalista pushed her eggs around the plate.
“The element of surprise is on your side.” Cosima lifted her juice in salute. “They believe there’s nothing a human has to offer. They believe humans are weak and have been made lazy with technology.”
“She’s a sprinter. She’ll come out fast and strong but loses stamina quickly,” Jaison added. “If you can stay out of her reach for a few minutes, she’ll tire. No one expects you to win, so the pressure is all on her.”
“Geez, thanks, Jaison,” she mumbled.
“Don’t blame him. I requested the rumor be spread we expected a loss. But you’re fighting for honor. So, win or lose, it didn’t matter.”
“Et tu?” She expected this from everyone, but to hear it from her mate hurt.
“If you can, as Jaison says, stay out of her hit range for a few minutes, I think you can kick her ass.” Leonidas stopped pacing. “But you have to stay past her arm’s length. She has power. But so do you. Listen to your inner lioness. She’ll guide you.”
“She hasn’t spoken to me.”
“Yes she has.” He crouched beside her. “When you named the babies. When you accepted the challenge. When you stood by my side as the human part of you screamed to run. She is coming to life more and more every day.”
“I thought you were against this.”
“I am. I’ll never be okay with you putting yourself in danger. But it doesn’t mean I’m not behind you.”
“Speaking of which, it’s time to go.” Cosima placed her napkin on the table.
She stood and adjusted her dobok, the uniform helped center her. Leonidas took the lead, followed by his betas. She stood in the middle, followed by the lionesses. As they reached the athletic buildings, Leonidas paused, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her breathless. “Be careful.”
She nodded as he stalked away. Lifting her face to the sun, she closed her eyes to find her center. She tuned out the sounds around her and made her way, with Cosima in lioness form, to her starting point within the ring. Cosima bumped her head against her leg before growling at Gabriela as the other woman arrived at the edge of the ring.
“Gabriela has challenged the queen.” Leonidas’s voice rang through the arena. “Gabriela, your challenge has been accepted. Please air your grievance.”
“I challenge Kalista and say she is no queen to our prides. She is—human.”
Another voice, with a thick Irish accent, came from the crowd. “Whether you feckin’ win or lose, she will still be our queen, and still be human, ye bleedin’ tick.”
Liam, or perhaps Silas, gave her a reason to grin. She glanced their way and was rewarded with a wink. It didn’t matter if she won or not. They supported her place at Leonidas’s side. It was her right.
The first blow came quicker and before she prepared, sending her flying a few feet and knocking the wind out of her. She shook off the shock and caught Leonidas mouthing, “Outlast.”
The next attack she dodged, and although she had some Brazilian jiu jitsu training, she realized her opponent couldn’t have much. She relied on strength to take victims down. Gabriela made contact again, but this time Kalista braced herself to roll with it. On the fourth attack, Gabriela made an error and got within leg length. Turning with a roundhouse kick, Kalista took Gabriela by surprise, and she went down to her knees. She didn’t have another chance at surprise. Kalista spun, planting a foot on the right side of her neck and with momentum and her other foot on the left side, she continued her spin and flipped Gabriela over. As the lioness made to stand, she swiped her feet out from under her. Keeping her on the ground was her best bet. Letting out a frustrated curse, Gabriela ripped her clothing and started her shift. The yell of forfeit ran throughout the arena as four lionesses surrounded Gabriela, and Kalista found herself hauled out of the fray. A second later, she stood behind Leonidas as his anger assailed her.
Reaching up, she placed a calming hand on his shoulder, infusing her peace into him. “I’m fine.”
He didn’t reply but shielded her from seeing the assault happening. Gabriela refused to give quarter. Just when she didn’t think she could take another minute, Leonidas roared in the mesmerizing voice he had used on her. “Enough!”
The world became silent around her as she dared to peek out around his bulky form. Gabriela, at least she thought it was Gabriela, lay bloodied and defenseless on the ground. “I need a first aid kit.”
“You would save her after what she just tried to do?” He turned on her in disbelief.
“I’m a nurse. I can’t let her die. Banish her for eternity, but I can’t let her bleed to death.” She turned to no one in particular. “A triage kit, now!”
The lioness lay on her side and growled as Kalista approached. Lowering her voice so only the lioness could hear, she said, “You bite me and I’ll puncture an artery myself, got it?”
The South American alpha tried to get through, but the four betas refused to allow him entry. “That hymania will not…”
Trying to stop the bleeding, she looked over to see Leonidas pounce and close his hand around the other alpha’s throat. “Ricardo, use that insult to describe my mate again, and I’ll break your neck.”
“Leo, I need your shirt. I can’t stop the bleeding.” She said that as much because she did need the shirt as to break the tension. In a second, she had two shirts thrown her way: her mate’s and the other alpha’s. “You,” she barked to the other alpha, “Come and put pressure on the wound. Leo, I need you to lift her leg above her heart.”
The South American alpha focused on Leonidas, who growled but didn’t question his mate. The alpha sat down and did as instructed. She wrapped the most serious of the other wounds to stop the bleeding before she could focus on the large vein bleed. She spoke to Ricardo. “I need to close the wound. When I tell you to, you are going to remove the pressure and move it to her pressure point in the groin area.” She demonstrated the place to press, making sure he had the right placement.
Not a vet, she hoped if it worked for humans, it would for a lion, too. “Can she shift?”
“It’s better she doesn’t. It’ll take a great deal of energy, and we heal better in this form,” Leonidas said.
Working fast she moved to stitch the vein then the skin around it. She worked the thread around the wound with efficient fingers until she had done all she could. Pulling off her gloves, she checked the breathing of her patient. “It would be better not to move her, if possible.”
“Not a problem.”
“We need to keep this leg elevated.”
“Thank you.” Ricardo called for a beta to take over elevating her leg.
“Don’t. I did what I do because I couldn’t live with myself if I did nothing.” She stood then stumbled when Leonidas’s arms wrapped around her, crying out in pain. “I think I’ve a broken rib.”
With great care, he lifted her. “What do you need?”
“Something to wrap the rib and some pain meds.” She laid her head on his chest. The endorphins from the fight and then performing triage on a lion faded, and all the aches and pains came forward.
“Give me a list. We’ll have it brought over from the mainland,” he said as he worked his way through the crowd. A slow clap and growing chant of vasílissa mou worked through the crowd.
“Can you make it back to the villa, or do you want me to stop and wrap those ribs?”
“Don’t stop. I want to be in our room.” She hissed as someone bumped her feet and jarred her. The crowd murmured something, almost a chorus. “What are they saying?”
“They are chanting ‘my queen.’ You have an adoring fan base now.”
“Some queen.”
“You were amazing, strong, and compassionate.”
“I couldn’t let her die.”
“You realize her reason for shifting wasn’t to win the match but to kill you.” He remained silent the rest of the hike back to the villa. Beautiful flowers filled their room, along with a tray of food with a note. Protein for healing—again.
Once he’d wrapped her ribs, she took some over-the-counter pain pills she kept in her purse then crawled into bed. “Can’t wait to see the lovely color my ribs will be in the morning.”
“The stronger pain killers will be here in an hour.” He sat on the side of the bed, brows furrowed in concern.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.” As long as she didn’t take deep breaths, laugh, or move.
“Watching you walk into that ring might have been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Sitting on the sidelines when you would be hurt…”
“Would you please come over here? You’re too far away.” She needed to comfort him. His primal need to protect her had been at odds with his need to allow his mate the freedom she needed. He’d chosen his mate’s needs. He climbed in next to her, with his arms around her, they were complete. She was the soft to his hard. The fates chose her to care for his people while he protected them. Closing her eyes, she discovered the pain receded and the warmth of his love engulfed her, in the arms of her billionaire lion.