Ariadne: Almost an Alpha | ✓

Chapter 7 - Unannounced

Chapter 7 - Unannounced

"You're never going to be able to do that again," Carter says after a punch to his abdomen, throwing his forearms up to guard himself from my oncoming attacks.

Immediately, I quickly punch him in the shoulder and block his fist when he tries to take advantage of the vulnerable spot. I hear Dylan, Sterling and Nathan laughing from the front porch; they seemed to enjoy watching us spar.

"Never again, huh?" I tease Carter as he puts more space in between us, trying to use his long limbs to his advantage.

Before he can, I rush forward and make an uppercut to his middle chest. Not fazed, he throws a right hook to my side before I have time to back up. Quickly, I use my left hand to make a small jab towards his jaw, not putting much energy in it, but when he goes to block it, I take advantage, rotating my hips and throwing as much power as I can into a straight punch at his gut.

"Oomf." The noise rushes out of Carter's mouth when he staggers back. "That one hurt."

I give him a shrug and an innocent smile.

"Alright we can play it that way," he says running forward. His arms come towards my hips, and knowing he has too much power for me to stop it, I brace myself for the fall, making sure my head doesn't hit the ground too hard. He punches me hard in the chest once (we agreed not to go for the face) then adds, "Come on, give up, Ari."

"Not happening bud," I comment, pulling him on top of me, wrapping my right leg around his foot, and swinging my left arm around with my hips to pull him under me and reverse the position. Before he has a chance to react, I pull his arms over his head with one hand, and with the other hand I come down with a few punches to the spot in his gut I hit earlier. When he looks winded enough, I repeat his words. "Come on, give up, Carter."

"Ok, ok, I give up," he says, groaning. "Just get off of me. My gut fucking hurts."

I stand up and smile, wiping the dirt off my pants.

"Come on, Carter, you barely lasted 5 minutes that time!" Sterling yells.

"Hey, she's heavier than she looks!" Carter retorts, pointing at me.

I stick my tongue out. "You're just saying that because I creamed you. Again."

"That one was boring," Dylan whines. "Ari didn't do any cool kicks."

"Yeah, Carter," I tease him. "You're supposed to be my best fighter, and I didn't have to use any 'cool kicks' on you."

"She has to use cool kicks on me, Carter!" Nathan yells. He's right; I've been training for the tournament with all of them, and Nathan is slightly harder to take down than Carter.

"Boy do you guys know how to hurt a man's ego," Carter notes, rubbing his gut and pretending to be insulted.

"Man?" I question laughing, "I don't see any manliness underneath all that jiggly."

"Jiggly?" Carter asks, moving to take off his shirt. "This isn't jiggly."

"Oh no!" I exclaim at the sight of his bare chest, covering my eyes with my hands. "Put it back on! The sight is hurting my eyes!"

Someone laughs from the end of the dirt driveway, and Nathan is the first to recognize him. "Alpha Hudson!"

The afternoon sun causes an uncomfortable glare in my eyes, making me have to squint at the approaching figure. Therefore, the first thing he says is, "You look like a chipmunk," before pinching my cheeks.