Heartless Angels

Chapter 64 – Oakley

Chapter 64 – Oakley

After lunch, we make our way to the field to watch the last two rounds in the sparring rings. I’m thankful that Ray isn’t asked to judge these rounds, so I get to stay with him. I’m happy for Jer ry and Cassie. Especially knowing that Je rry kicked Lisa’s a ss. But I’m having trouble with the fact that I was already kicked out.

I know that I had to deal with a lot of s it with my family and my old mate. I just hadn’t realized that it had thrown me off of my game so much.

I didn’t realize how dejected I must be acting until Ray, who had been sitting on the ground behind me, my back to his chest, pulls back and turns my chin to him. I stare into his eyes, loving the feel of his skin against mine and how the sparks march up and down where his skin touches mine.

“Oakley, you gotta stop beating yourself up, ok? Even if they were going to pick the Elite 10 today, you’re well within those ranks. And you’ve had a ton of s hit going on this week. You’re the only wolf that I’ve ever heard of have their ex-mate and their family show up, begging to have them back. You have done an amazing job coping with that and still made it in the top eight, coping with that. You’re amazing, my mate.” Ray whispers the last part, leaning in and k*ssing me gently on the l*ps. “Stop beating yourself up.”

I smile up at him unable to hold the feeling back. I love this so much. I love us. “How do you do that?” I ask him.

His smile stretches wide across his face. “Do what, love?”

“Make everything better with just a few words and a k*ss,” I ask, leaning into him and k*ssing him again. This k*ss is hungrier, though no less gentle. My hand ends up in his hair, holding him to me and causing me to moan into his mouth.

He pulls back from the k*ss, breathing heavier and looking slightly dazed. “I love you so much, baby. You are everything to me. I will do everything to make your life easier.”

I smile up at him, lost in his eyes until the whistle blows to get everyone that’s milling around to focus on the sparring circles. I peck Ray’s l*ps and then turn to watch my friends fight.

Only two matches this round.

In the first circle, Jer ry faces Charlie, the guy that knocked Harry out in the last round. Charlie is a very tall, but lean guy, his strengths in his long reach and his stamina. He won his first two matches just making the guys he fought against tired from trying to catch him as he dodged and blocked each of their attacks. Like Dad used to say, takes a lot more energy to swing and miss than it takes for us to swing and connect. Then, when his opponent was tired and winded, he came in and beat the sh it out of them. He’s knocked every one of his opponents out, which doesn’t bode very well for J erry.

However, Je rry is also tall, with a very long reach, which takes away part of Charlie’s advantage. The other great thing about Jer ry is that he is lightning fast. He can weave in and out of someone’s guard and just their general space faster than anything that I’ve ever seen. With that ability, he might just be able to get past Charlie’s stamina and outlast him.

Cassie is fighting against the number fourteen seed, someone that we hadn’t expected to make it this far. Yvonne is a petite little thing with a swimmer’s b*dy. She looks like she could be blown over by a stiff breeze and she uses that misconception to her advantage. This girl is a freaking technical assassin. She came in having already mastered seven of the ten fighting styles that they taught us and really only needed help with combining them appropriately against an opponent. According to what Ray told me, she tended to stick with one fighting style, which made her easier to defeat for someone who might not have her technical proficiency, but could fluidly move between styles without difficulty. Obviously, not as big of an issue as it was previously. Hopefully Cassie can keep her on her toes.

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Chapter 64 – Oakley

When the whistle blows, my eyes keep bouncing back and forth between my friends, trying to make sure that I can see whether or not they are doing ok. However, Je rry is moving so fast that, at the angle we are sitting at, I can only see him as a blur. At first, Charlie seems to be keeping up with him, but Jer ry keeps pushing him towards the edge of the sparring ring. If anyone steps out of the ring, it’s an automatic disqualification. Because fighting and winning isn’t enough if you aren’t aware enough of your surroundings at the same time that you’re able to keep yourself safe. Je rry’s strategy seems to be to either beat Charlie into submission or push him out of the circle, whichever comes first.

Cassie and Yvonne are trading each other blow for blow, colliding in hits and smacks that hurt me just hearing them. Someone’s going to at least have a fractured bone by the end of their match if not a completely broken arm. The two she-wolves are so evenly matched that there is no way to tell who is winning their match.

Suddenly, a loud roar comes from Jer ry and Charlie’s side and I switch my attention to them. Charlie seems to be going with the b*dy builder’s rule that screaming pulls your strength out. He screams loudly and shoves Je rry away from him, sending Jer ry to his knees. However, he recovers quickly, rolling to his feet and preparing for Charlie’s onslaught.

Charlie seems to have changed his tactic and goes for the offense this time. He must have figured out that J erry isn’t like his other opponents, willing to just try to make him submit with blow for blow hits. Jer ry is going to actively take Charlie out one

way or another. So, Charlie has to take on the offense.

And he’s good.

He’s just not as good as Je rry is. Jer ry weaves and bobs, making sure that Charlie doesn’t hit him, but getting an

understanding for his opponent’s skills. Then he steps in when Charlie lets his guard down just the slightest to send a jab to Je rry’s nose. Jer ry ducks the jab, pushing Charlie’s arm to the side, steps into his guard, and punches him in the throat. Charlie’s

throat spasms from the force of the hit, something that is evident from the way that his face turns bright red almost immediately and he is having trouble not only breathing, but also swallowing.

“The

“The fight is over,” the head trainer of the sparring circle calls. “Black for the win.”

Immediately, two medics run over to Charlie. I know that one is going to inject him with a quick acting sedative. It isn’t going to do much or last long, but it will give them enough time for Charlie to relax so that the other medic can assess his injury and see if they need to do an emergency tracheotomy until his wolf heals him enough for him to breathe. I may or may not have pulled the move in training to a bully that I had right after I was supposed to have turned.

1 watch Jer ry to make sure that the medic is happy with his wolf healing and then turn my attention back to Cassie and

Yvonne.

They are still going at it strong, trading blows to their guarding arms, but also to their legs and any part of their torso that

they can get to. The blows are coming noticeably slower now, but they seem to be even more powerful. It seems that the two she-wolves have decided that if they can’t overwhelm the other with the sheer number of blows that they rain down on the other, they are going to just beat each other senseless.

Seems like a solid plan. Especially since I know that Cassie is stronger than Yvonne. Like I said, Yvonne is a f ucking beast,

but she isn’t super strong. Cassie may be able to tire her out and cause her enough pain that she can get an advantage.

And that seems to be exactly what’s going on. Cassie gives a round house kick to Yvonne’s shoulder. Having faked that she was going to hit her midsection instead of her shoulder, Cassie caught Yvonne off guard and hits her hard enough that Yvonne stumbles and her guard goes down for a split second.

And that’s all that Cassie needs. She jumps on Yvonne, pushing her down and taking her to the ground. She straddles

Yvonne’s chest and rains blows down on her until Yvonne taps out.

I didn’t even realize that I had jumped up and was screaming at the sidelines, but when Cassie wins, I’m at the sidelines

screening my head off.

screening

Chapter 54 – Oakley

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Chapter 64 Oakley

That’s when I realize that my two best friends here will be facing each other in the final round.

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