I glanced around the crowd and the silence that had befallen it. Some people did clap and cheered on Sam's name, but it did not lose the wave of terror in the crowd. It did not bother Hailey a bit as her now yawning eyes looked at Sam with boredom. Her sharp features made her look even more malicious.

Channing held the coin in his hand and stood between them, his finger raised at Hailey in a warning. She gave him a kind smile, one that was deceiving on the inside.

Channing recited the rules again, "To win the duel, make your opponent accept defeat or push them out of the fighting area. Remember!" His gaze turned to look at Hailey and as though it bore in her bone, his finger raised in front of her again as he emphasised sternly his next words, "any kind of serious injury inflicted will lead to direct disqualification and will have the person responsible punished"

Hailey did not faze her selling smile in response to Channing's warning.

Channing continued with the rest, about in which form they wanted to fight in, where I barely paid attention. My eyes were fixated on Hailey's eyes as she gawked at me. Her lips rose in a smile so sinister I could hear my heart beating in my ears. Sam and Hailey both chose to fight in their human forms. She had answered Channing while eyes drilled into my soul. Why was she so obsessed with fighting me?

Channing got out of the fighting area, and the fight began.

I was truly expecting Hailey to mess up and inflict some serious damage on Sam, not like I wanted that to befall on Sam but a little dark thought in the back of my mind, hoping Hailey would be disqualified.

But Hailey was unexpectedly being cautious while fighting Sam, shifting glances at me once in a while.

I had a strong feeling that if Hailey goes against me, I might have to use my abilities, which I have been solemnly hiding for potent reasons. If my abilities were known, I knew there would be many people wanting to exploit me to the last drop of my blood. Not to mention the king and the queen would leave no pages turned for making me stay here and force me to use my ability for their personal advantage.

Arina returned to sit beside me and I greeted her immediately, "Hey, are you alright?"

She waved her hand while adjusting her seat. "Ya, it was just some exhaustion. Elaine can heal that pretty easily" I returned her smile.

The sound of liquid spewing on the floor took my attention worriedly towards where the fight was ongoing. I was expecting Sam to have got hit, but it was Hailey. She leaned on the thick ropes that surrounded the border of the fighting square; her face covered in blood. Was her threat empty? I could tell the bloodlust I felt was not false, but then how come she is this injured in the first few minutes.

Sam had to just push her out now as she was already at the border and he ran for the same. He went for a kick but she was out of the way just in time and Sam almost flew out of the ground but Hailey held him by his collar and pulled him back inside.

Her eyes turned black, and her tongue licked the blood on her teeth. Hailey looked at me and her lips twisted when she saw my eyes fixated on her.

I pulled my gaze away and turned to Arina. I had seen the silence before in the crowd and had my doubts. "Do people here fear Hailey?"

Arina had a terrified expression on her face looking at Sam, not Hailey, but she looked concerned about Sam. Her eyes met mine, and she replied, "Ya, she has almost killed three members of our pack previously. All of them were the strongest omegas" She breathed heavily as her skin crawled at those memories, "She also defeated our previous Beta, John Walter, once. A completely one-sided match."

It was totally the opposite of what I was seeing right now in front of me. Hailey stood there bathed in blood while Sam did not as much had a scratch on him yet.

Hailey advanced at Sam as he got up, alerted to take a defensive stance. His intentions to fight had totally disappeared, and he looked terrified. Hailey took slow and merry steps, "I must say, I am not at all disappointed at your weakness, Sammy. I have no interest in fooling around with you, but I would love to enlighten someone about me"

Her eyes darted towards me, and the hair on my neck stood up. She was planning to fool around with Sam, so I got to see her capability! Someone who has defeated the former Beta.

While her gaze was fixated on me, Sam came on to attack her with a punch right on her face and she held his fist in her palm without even looking at it. Her head slowly turned from me to Sam, who was pulling his hand out of her hold, but she held that entire man with merely his fist and her fingers. After two-three pulls, she let go of his hand and Sam stumbled back.

My eyes were focused on the fight, but my mind was being inquisitive about her special ability.

Hailey removed a kerchief from her pocket and smacked it in the air for it to unfold. Sam cautiously stepped back, gaining significant distance between them while Hailey casually wiped her face as if there was no fear for her. Her sharp features revealed with every stroke of the kerchief on her face.

What was it that she had which made her this confident? I turned to Arina, who sat beside with her hand in a praying position. She was mumbling something under her breath with trembling eyebrows.

I decided to steal her attention away from her reciting. I had so many questions about Hailey and I believed Arina knew a lot of things. She had told about the ritual and its secrets when no one knew about it. I had a feeling she would know about this as well. So I asked her the one simple question that would almost answer all of my doubts, "Arina, why did Hailey take so many hits if she was as strong as you mentioned?"