The Dragon King's Heart

Seeing how Laina reacted made Dante chuckle. It had been too long since he had last seen this side of her. He never realized how much he missed it until now. When Laina tried to steal a glance at him, ultimately getting caught. 

Dante grinned. He knew she was pretending to pout. He had to apologize to her for being away, and for how he had abruptly left their call. But before either of them could say anything, the sound of trumpets filled the entire colosseum. 

The battle of power was about to begin. Everyone had their attention on the arena. Both competitors had taken their stand, ready to pounce at one another. As previously agreed upon, there were no weapons or armor to be had. 

Kragen removed his tunic, revealing his hairy chest and muscular abs. As he flexed his arms, the crowd cheered him. Women in the colosseum swooned at the sight of him. Despite his horrible personality, Kragen was a perfect specimen of a man. 

He truly was an Alpha Werewolf in his prime. 

Compared to him, Victoria looked small and weak. She wore a simple outfit, nothing special or unique. It did not accentuate her body in any way either. Kragen grinned, showing off his sharpened fangs. 

But Victoria was not intimidated. She got into her stance. A loud horn was sounded, signaling the start of the fight. As the crowds roared to life, Kragen lifted his head as he howled towards the sky. 

In a matter of seconds, he took to his wolf form. His size alone would easily scare off most other werewolves. Kragen stood at twice the height of an elephant, over six meters in height. 

His fur coat was golden chestnut brown. Under the sunlight, it shone brightly. Her sharpened claws protracted from his feet. Kragen bared his teeth menacingly at Victoria. 

He glared at her with his yellow bead-like eyes. Victoria did not shy away from his stare. She knew that look in his eyes. She had seen it before. That was the look he had when he was ready to kill his enemies. 

"I will be the one who walks out alive," Victoria repeated to herself. 

She did not dare to close her eyes, in fear that Kragen would take the opportunity to sneak an attack on her. She looked towards the sky and searched deep into herself. When she opened her eyes next, Victoria realized she was no longer in her human form. 

She had paws in place of her feet and hand. A pair of ears on the top of her head. Her fur was silvery white. Victoria looked up at Kragen, her eyes were sapphire blue. Though she was only half of Kragen's height, she was still considered large of a werewolf. 

"Let the games begin!" Kragen declared with a grin as he lunged towards Victoria. 

Seeing him rushing towards her, Victoria carefully dodged his first attack. She narrowly missed as he swiped at her with his paw. She created distance between them, knowing she would not stand a chance right now if they were too close. 

Kragen was going out in full force with all of his attacks. The amount of strength he exerted was enough to crush a skull and crack the ground beneath. 

"You can't run forever!" Kragen yelled as he lunged forward like a madman towards her. 

His attacks were erratic as if he was fighting in berserk mode. To be fair, his raw strength was enough to kill most of his enemies. If Victoria took one misstep, her fate would be sealed. 

Laina was on the edge of her seat the entire time. Each time Victoria narrowly avoids an attack, she heaves a sigh of relief. 

"Come on, Victoria! Get him!" She exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she got out of her seat to cheer her on. 

Dante had not seen Laina this involved in a fight before. He was intrigued. Though the fight was exciting, he simply could not take his eyes off her. When Laina noticed him looking, she could not help but blush. 

She quickly tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear before taking a seat back down. Realizing what she was doing, Dante placed his hand on hers as he took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket. 

He gently dabbed it on her forehead. 

"I like you the way you are, Laina. You don't have to change for me," Dante whispered to her with a smile. 

Despite the energy of the crowd and their loud overpowering voices, at that moment all Laina could hear was Dante's voice and her own heartbeat. She could feel as if it was about to leap out of her mouth. 

Before Laina could reply, everyone's attention was drawn to the arena. A howl of pain rang throughout the colosseum accompanied by the roar of the crowd. Laina turned to the arena, gasped in shock to see blood splattered all across. 

All the dodging had tired out Victoria. In a fraction of a second, Kragen realized she was growing tired. He took the opportunity. He unhinged his jaw and bit down onto Victoria's shoulder. 

Blood splattered across the arena as he threw her to the side. Victoria's body heavily hit the wall of the arena was a thud. She winced in pain as she attempted to get back up. 

Blood flowed from her open wounds. Though she now had self-healing, it was not quick enough. The loss of blood fueled her fatigue. Victoria looked over to Kragen. Her vision was blurry. 

The wound throbbed in pain. 

Was this it? She had barely shown the world what she was made of and her time was already up? No. Victoria knew she could not let this be it. She still had to avenge her family. 

When her vision refocused, Victoria saw as clear as day. The opportunity she had been waiting for had arrived. Her energy may have been spent, but so has Kragen. The wound she suffered hurt but it was nothing compared to the years of abuse she had suffered in his hands. 

Adrenaline fueled her body as Victoria got back up, one step at a time. Once she was up on all fours, she let out a howl into the sky. In an instant, the entire colosseum fell silent. 

Kragen could feel his legs getting jelly. This had never happened before. He felt a new emotion lingering in his heart. The fur on his back stood up. 

Was this fear?