Fight!

“Don’t hold back” Darja murmured. “I won’t be.”

Jaroslav grinned, baring his sharp teeth with a soft growl. “No worries there.”

“Fight!”

Smiling, the alpha shot around to the side. Leaping to all fours to jump against the fence, she launched herself at him in a flurry of kicks. Jaroslav had moved with her. His legs tense and ready, he blocked each blow with his forearms but the force was enough to force him back, his boots sliding over the hard-packed sand. She was smaller and lighter than him, but she was strong. Extremely strong. For a Vucari male, that was an incredible turn on and Jaroslav found himself panting for reasons other than exertion.

Twisting his arm around her next kick, he drove his elbow into her inner thigh before snapping the heel of his hand into her stomach. The force of the blow knocked the wind from her and threw her to the ground. Jaroslav lashed out with a kick that would have knocked her out had it collided but Darja proved herself exceptionally resilient. Flipping back to her feet, she came up in time to block with her forearm, using her left to reinforce her right.

Unlike the male, she had a shorter kick range and while she was fighting to keep her head from being kicked in, she was at a loss to strike back. Jaroslav came on relentless, expecting any moment to feel her arm snap. It was a surprise when she suddenly ducked his kick and came up inside his range. Her body against his for an instant, he was vividly aware of the excitement coursing through her. It was a nice feeling and something comfortingly familiar. He’d experienced it only one other time in his life…

Red exploded across his vision as his temper flared to the surface and the world came rushing back. Catching himself with one hand as he fell, he spun. Taking Darja with him in the pull he managed to save his ribs from being broken by her driving her knee into his side. With her off balance, he brought his knee up between them and snapped it outward, easily tearing her free and throwing her across the arena. She hit the fence back-first but managed to land in a wary squat.

Skidding around to a stop in a crouch, Jaroslav tried to calm his rage. Darja wasn’t his enemy. She was his alpha.

“You should keep your mind on your surroundings!”

He looked up in time to see her charge and rose to the challenge in a burst of fast, powerful kicks. Immediately forced to defend, her advance came to as abrupt a halt as if she’d slammed into a wall. Their speed and stamina were close but for as strong as Darja was, Jaroslav was stronger. It was time he showed her exactly how much.

Lashing out at her legs, he forced her to jump back only to duck when his next kick came round aimed at her head. Instinctively bringing her arm across to block the inevitable blow in its wake, he lowered his leg mid-kick and caught her in the side.

Thrown to the ground, Darja landed hard on her back with a grimace. Before she could regain her wits, he was on her. His legs between hers, her wrists held to the ground over her head with one hand and his other braced beside her, he had her pinned. The only way she could get loose was if she ripped his throat out.