Not Strong Enough

Advanced Combat

I stood by the array of mats all lined onto the floor, looking up at the tall bulky man addressing us.

"And so advanced combat, though essential for everyone, is especially vital to all Alphas. I hope you are bringing your A game here, but as alphas, you can be assured that the enemy will bring in no less!"

There were excited cheers all around me and I just stare. What the hell is all this about? I have been a pretty decent fighter to the point that defeating the previous Alpha and taking over my current position was a little more than a cakewalk for me; and that was just me being a regular werewolf. Now with my heightened strength and reflexes, I am pretty sure I got this. It would give me a great opportunity to test out the spectrum of my personal skill set, as I have been too busy in my Alpha duties to actually pay attention to myself.

"You, the new Girl." the Coach says, ushering me, "Come on up. Let's see what you are made of."

I step forward, and a familiar whiff of seduction assaults my nostril. Goosebumps immediately rise up on my arms and I assess Gabriel standing in my peripheral vision. Like everyone else, his eyes are on me. I can feel his stare like a physical weight on my body.

"So you think you have what it takes to be a part of this class?" Coach calls out, coming up to me.

"I would like to believe so, yeah." I say lightly. I don't want to brag but I am eager to show off my fighting moves.

"Let's see what a female Alpha can do" The coach gives me a pat on the back, "Dylan! You're up."

I turn around to see a scrawny kid jump up excitedly. He is atleast 4 years younger than me, if not more. And he totally looks like an over enthusiastic kid going to get himself an ice-cream as he bounces his way happily over to me.

Is this some sort of joke? Is the Coach trying to make fun of me by pairing me with a kid? No way am I beating up a kid to prove myself.

I look at the Coach, a question on my face.

"You are gonna face each other in 3 bouts. Standard rules apply, and everything goes, except neither of you are allowed to shift. Begin." And the Coach steps away. Silence falls in the gym, and I can feel all eyes on me, as I start to circle Dylan warily. I am not Dan to derive joy from beating up little kids. The coach should have-

"Oof!" I huff out as suddenly, a little lump crashes into me so fast that he is a little more than a blur. I fall on the floor in surprise and he has already landed two blows by the time I can regain myself.

I quickly throw him off me, reflexively more than anything else and my wolf growls in annoyance. Little boy or not, I am not losing this fight. But I can end this quickly, and spare him the pain and humiliation.

I launch into attack mode and head for him, eager to pounce and pin him to the floor. Clean attack and quick victory. But he quickly sidesteps and kicks my legs out from under me. Before I know it, I am lying on the floor and a smattering of applause arises from all the other witnessing my humiliation.

This really riles me up. Fun time is over. I am gonna destroy this kid.

With a shriek of anger I launch myself, bringing my A game in, and I saw fear flash in his eyes. Oh yeah boy, you messed with the wrong girl. I feint to the left and he leaps at the chance but I quickly move to the right and jab him hard in the ribs. He reels; my strength is clearly unexpected for him. I don't back away instead continue my assault with a flurry of moves that he is unable to anticipate. My wolf frowns; restless, needing blood. Defeat does not sit well with us.

Dylan, meanwhile seems to have upped his game as well. He gives a mean growl and comes at me with full force and I realize with a jolt of surprise that he had been holding back as well, clearly testing me. The fight turns savage as we trade blows, more wolfishly visceral as time passes until at last Dylan is flat on his back with me on his throat, my wolf hounding to establish dominance.