Chapter 31 - Hidden Strength

CELESTINA VILLARAMA's POV

An open field was our venue. There was a huge crowd that surrounded Stella and I as we both stood from opposite sides, directly in the center of the field. The alpha and delta headed over to a room where they can watch us without anyone distracting them.

"Didn't know that this day would come this quickly. Are you ready to get smashed by the ultimate scythe user?" Stella provoked me while getting into position. She held her weapon with both of her hands, one of it near the edge, while the other was close to the sharp one.

I breathed heavily in and out to make sure that I'm not going to be swayed by her provocations. It wouldn't do me anything good if I listen to her instead of showcasing my own capabilities.

A floating timer appeared out of nowhere at the same moment that a woman showed herself above the stage. "The match will commence exactly after a minute. There would be no signals coming from me, it's up to the both of you which one among you will start the battle. There are also no other rules aside from prohibiting Lady Celestina and Lady Stella from killing one another. Any attempt seen would be considered as a violation, and once it reaches up to three, she would be disqualified," the one who served as the referee informed us.

A second remaining.

One blink was all it took for my entire vision to change. Everything seemed to be tinted with the golden hue. Only my target, Stella, was the one who had a red color, as well as her weapon. I could no longer hear the rowdy people who couldn't wait to witness us initiate the duel.

'Focus, Celestina. She's seriously thinking that it wouldn't be any harm for her to have a violation once or twice if she can at least have the chance to take your whole life away from you,' Celeste warned me inside my thoughts. 'She doesn't like the fact that there's someone else taking her place from being the only one who's interested with the power that the scythe holds. Leave everything to me and move according to what you're seeing.'

I have no idea how this wolf of mine was able to read through Stella's inner thoughts, but that was the least of my concern.

"You're too slow," a faint voice whispered to my ear.

It was too late for me to avoid Stella's attack. I didn't even notice that she was already out of the center of the field and also the fact that she was already aiming for my head. "H-hey! That's clearly a violation!" I yelled to her and took a peek at the referee who didn't seem to pay any attention to us.

I hissed at the same time that I clicked my tongue when I realized that her announcement was all a hoax. She didn't mean it when she said that there would only be three violations.

'Told you to be cautious of your surroundings, Celestina. I can't take over your entire conscience yet as I'm still chained in here. You have to try your best to survive and win,' Celeste was agitated as she said those words.

I stepped further away from Stella's reach and I placed the scythe in front of me. "Come." I raised a brow and widened my eyes up a bit to make sure that I wouldn't miss where she would go.

There wasn't much of a difference from the spot where she last appeared, so I pretty much anticipated that she would go behind me for the second and third time. She may have also realized that repeating the same step would be completely useless, so she moved away.

"Do you feel a connection between us?" Stella suddenly questioned me, in an attempt to remove my concentration.

Though, this may be the moment that I've been waiting for, so I couldn't stop myself from giving her a reply, "Yes."

A smirk curled up to her lips. "I knew it... Someone's behind all of this," she muttered to herself.

It was an opportunity for me to strike back, believing that she lost her focus. "Don't!" Celeste prevented me from approaching Stella. It was the first time that my body reacted to my wolf's warning. I unwillingly halted my movements in accordance with my wolf's will, and if it actually wasn't for her warning, I would have had my head decapitated right now.

"Aren't you going to turn yourself?" Stella asked as she stepped back after failing her attempt.

I gave her a confused look. "I don't think I get what you mean."

"Based on how you're reacting, you most probably haven't experienced getting turned just yet..." Stella said to clarify things up. "It's either you can't handle its power or you basically have no wolf to begin with," she inferred.

"Whether I have a wolf or not is none of your business, Stella."

I rotated my scythe in a full three hundred and sixty form.

'Go.'

That was the main signal of Celeste for me to land a blow against Stella. Even though I wasn't expecting her to support me, I still followed her guts.

"F*ck." Stella gritted her teeth as I successfully scraped her arm a few inches deep from her skin. "You're not that bad, huh?"

Her blood gushed out from where I hit her and it only took a couple of seconds before it was healed. Her regenerating capabilities were also out of the ordinary, I can't be careless as I don't have the same talent as her.

"What else did you expect? I'm drawn to your scythe, never have I imagined that there was already a user, of course I was born to yield a scythe."

The words that I said were definitely lies.

'Are you sure that you're the one who should provoke her?' Celeste questioned. 'It's a mere coincidence how you dodged that one earlier, it may have been your own conscience and not my doing. Don't get your hopes up.'

She has a point. I shouldn't have been surprised with that sudden move.

I squinted my eyes as I prepared for another attack. I gently lowered the angle of my scythe as I steadily maintained my current position with both of my knees slightly bent. With that, I made use of my agility and relied on my remaining strength left to smoothly land another scratch on her arm.

But, what I was expecting turned out to be a whole different scenario.

The loud cheers that came from the audience made me lose my focus and that's also the same time that I dropped the scythe to the ground. Both of my hands went numb and my feet automatically lost their balance without even stepping away from my spot.

"W-what just... happened..?" I murmured to myself.

My vision went back to normal as Stella was surrounded with her own blood that continuously came out from her left arm after I slashed it off with my scythe. "S-seriously... what happened?" I repeatedly asked myself the same question.

I gazed upon my palms that were still shaky, thinking how I managed to do such a thing.

"Argh! F*ck, not my arm," Stella was obviously vexed as she held onto her forearm to at least stop the blood from coming out. "You're going to pay for what you've done, Celestina!"

Instead of feeling afraid, I chose to let myself prepare for whatever she might be plotting in her head. But, I couldn't go back to my state of focus earlier, which would certainly put my own life at risk. "Celeste, what am I supposed to do?" I whispered to myself, hoping that she can help me out with this one.

'I told you, I can only support you from the inside and I still can't get myself out to fight for your sake if you're still not being mated with someone,' Celeste replied, which made me run out of hope.

"Stop babbling nonsense and focus, Celestina!" Alpha Lucas mumbled from the insides of my mind. It was an unexplainable sensation how he got connected through our mind links, but the way that he was cheering me on was sufficient to get me back on my knees. "That's more like it. You don't have to be wary about your opponent dying. That blow was definitely unintentional and the referee only mentioned that you're not allowed to have these so-called attempts."

I raised a brow while I was continuously avoiding Stella's scythe by jumping from my current position. "Are you sure? Wouldn't Stella's death be a loss to your pack? I heard that she's powerful enough to lead a whole group. And she could also survive a whole avalanche all by herself," I said.

I heard faint laughter from him. "Stella can revive herself as she pleases. That's one of her abilities since the day that she was brought in the Silver Moon Pack. Everyone that resides here has certain, distinct capabilities that no one else possesses," Lucas explained as a reassurance. "That basically means that you can go all out. Show us your full potential, Celestina Villarama."

***

I lost count exactly how many hours Stella and I had to deal with our battle with someone winning. No one between the two of us admitted defeat. Although, even if we still had the energy to proceed until the next day, Lucas made up his mind to call it a draw.

"I'm sure that this wouldn't be the last day that we'll see each other. It was a splendid match, I never got this hyped up with anyone else before who was also a scythe user, since all of them were weaklings who couldn't even land a single shot at me," Stella said, then lent her hand to me for me to shake.

The moment that I touched her hands, I felt this shockwave from deep within our palms. I glanced at her because of that occurrence, and she also did the same. But we both chose to remain silent as we had no clue what it was all about.

"Celestina," Ice called unto me while waving. "Did Lucas already tell you what your ranking is?"

I shook my head. "No. I thought that he had no plans to tell me about it after it was considered as a match with no actual winner," I answered.

"I heard that you're going to be the Luna!" Ice announced, which made my time freeze.

"What in the world are you talking about, Ice?" I asked him with a blank expression written on my face, to imply that I was not in the mood for mere jokes. The atmosphere in the hallway of the pack house was altered by then. It no longer gave a gentle vibe that makes me want to smile all the time; the tension ate us up. "What do you mean that I'm going to be the Luna? Y-you don't mean that I'll end up as Alpha Lucas' wife, even though I am not his mate?"

Ice pressed my shoulder. "I'm kidding, Celestina." He chuckled. "Lucas simply doesn't want anyone to be his wife. He's actually picky when it comes to the one who would support him in this world. Someone who would rather stick around with him even if there would be a war outside of his office. Someone who would rather choose to die together with him than trying to be a hero and protect him."

My eyes widened because of what he said. "That's... unexpected."

"It may not seem like it, but Lucas actually wants to be pampered too," he added.

A gigantic book hit the back of Ice's head out of nowhere. "Keep your mouth shut, you damn Ice," Lucas said as he walked towards our spot. "Celestina, do you agree on being one of my Omegas? It may sound like your duel with Stella was redundant, but I have no other choice. I can't be reckless with my decisions and designate you to a position that you're not fit in."

There was no reason for me to object to his offer, so I initially gave him a tender smile. "Of course, Alpha Lucas. It would be an honor to be one of your Omegas," I responded.

Lucas nodded his head once as he brought his hand above my head. "Starting from this day forth, you're not allowed to head out of our pack house without my prior notice. You would only be permitted to go outside if you're together with one of our members, though I'm already expecting that you would always have Ice by your side."

"Understood."

"If it turns out that you sneaked out of our territories without saying a word to me or Ice, or to anyone else who resides here..." Lucas tightened his grip onto my head. It felt like my whole skull would be broken if he got deeper than this. "You're dead. Mark my words, Celestina. I would never tolerate a traitor within our pack, not on my watch," he continued.

I didn't know how to react since I knew for a fact that one day, I would leave this place.

When it comes down to it, I would be forced to betray the Silver Moon Pack just for the sake of returning to the Crimson Moon Pack. I have to set Celeste free, and only Siege would be able to help me with it.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"S-sorry, Alpha Lucas. I swear that I won't turn my back against you, I pledged my loyalty before," I muttered. I couldn't even hold eye contact with him for more than a minute. "Excuse us."

I tugged the shirt of Ice and even though he was utterly bewildered with why I suddenly ran away from the alpha, I pretended not to notice the way that he looked at me.

We've reached the third floor of the mansion where Ice's room was located. "I'm not prepared for this yet, Celestina," he said. I don't know if it was just my imagination, but I kind of heard how the tone of his voice has gone weird.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's gotten into you?"

He stepped away from my side. "Didn't you tug me all the way up to my room to make love?"

An outburst of heating sensation rose up to my cheeks.

Ice randomly held onto his stomach as he uncontrollably bursted out laughing. "Y-you should see the look on your face."

I rolled my eyes and decided to go out of the house.

"Are you sure that you're going to leave this soon? You just recently got Lucas' trust... and you're already breaking it?" Ice questioned after he finally got rid of his tears from all of his chuckles that seemed to be endless.

"I know that you're coming with me anyway," I confidently said.

We didn't go through the main exit of the house, considering how there's a balcony at the edge of the third floor's hallway.