Chapter 33: Blindside

ELTON

Tuesday. The second week of February.

After last night's weapons challenge, I was ready to shower, eat dinner, and rest for the night. The funny thing is that I got more tired from standing up for hours, waiting for my name to be called out by the soldier with the clipboard, than by the match itself.

Defeating my opponent with a Katana sword was child's play for someone who grew up fencing; though we are talking about two different swords, the principle of the sport still applies. Most Alphas who came to participate in the tournament had no idea what to expect from it. Neither did I, at first.

It is against the rules to know what the challenge is ahead of time, but as soon as he heard about the tournament, my father hired a military advisor to counsel me on potential challenges. I have been preparing myself for the last two weeks.

It may not seem like much, but the whole thing was put together very fast. We had almost no notice at all, so he did the best that he could with it, and so did I. The truth is that I have been preparing myself to be the heir to the crown my whole life. To me, this is just a stepping stone.

Which is not to say that I can afford to slack off. If I make one tiny mistake, I could be out of the tournament. I cannot allow for that to happen, not a chance in hell. So, I have been preparing myself for this as best as I could so far. Now, it is just a matter of being present in the challenge and defeating whatever opponent they put in front of me. I did just that.

When I was in Georgetown for my pre-law undergrad, I was happy to be in college and forget about my royal problems for a while. I was having a nice time with my friends, despite the occasional trifle with a peasant or two. But now that I was forced to put that on hold, my life has become all about winning this stupid tournament.

It is the only way to secure my family's future and everyone I have ever known and loved, including my friends' families - even those who are competing against me in it. I cannot let anyone get in my way, friend or foe. It's too big of a risk, though if a nobleman wins the tournament, the damage would be far less, I am sure.

Even so, I was born to be King. And nobody is going to stand in my way of accomplishing that.

In the morning, I like to spend some time in the wellness center and take advantage of the facilities that my uncle had built. I can lose myself doing exercises, but what I really love is swimming in the heated pool. It was genius of uncle Lucius to build an indoor pool in the basement. It was even smarter to build one considering the colder temperatures during Winter or even Fall here in D.C.

My family owns properties in coastal cities, and we sometimes go on vacation there. However, nothing beats the privacy of an indoor pool, where no press or paparazzi can snap a picture of you. It's completely safe from prying eyes.

I don't mind a note on the society pages to keep me relevant, but sometimes it can work to your detriment. Goddess knows that my father had to buy some compromising pictures of me over the years. Some circumstances are best kept private, and that's it.

I am aware that the rest of the competitors are allowed to use the wellness center — except for the pool, of course — but for some reason, I did not anticipate finding Bradley enjoying the steam room naked. I mean, that's how one usually stays in a sauna: naked or wrapped in a towel.

But for some reason, I did not think he was going to be there when I entered the place.

As a werewolf, I can scent any person way before I enter a room, but with that much steam clouding the air, I could barely see anything, let alone scent his presence there. It amused me that he rushed to cover himself as soon as I walked in. It was even more amusing to catch him staring at my bare body.

Normally, I wouldn't give him the time of day, but somehow, I found myself intrigued by him. Of course, I played it cool, like it was the most natural thing in the world. At this point, I am an expert on playing cool in front of straight men who just so happen to be naked. I had to learn how to control my urges, or I wouldn't have survived boarding school.

Imagine having gone through puberty alongside two hundred other boys and at the same time far away from my family. Unfortunately, I did not have a say in the matter. Whittaker men have always attended boarding high schools, usually the same ones across the centuries.

It is much easier to grow up far away from the public eye, but I would have preferred that my parents could have been there for me. Some situations are hard for a young boy to face, especially if all you have to teach you are men whose puberty took place at the same time as my uncle.

Anyway, I was amused by him making a fuss about my naked body - not the first time a boy is curious to see me nude, but they usually are very creepy about it. Bradley looked at me in the same way I looked at older boys back at the boarding school. He was curious, intrigued by it. He was almost clinical about it, not lustful.

At least, he wasn't until he got an erection. Hey, when you look like me, anything can happen. Even straight boys get hot and bothered. *chuckle*

I did not expect, however, that things would turn around so fast.

When he left the steam room to enter the small locker room next to the sauna, I couldn't help but follow him. For some weird reason, now it was my time to check him out without any clothes on. And I already knew that the showers were open pits.

There was nothing standing in my way to check him out as he washed himself, but I noticed that he was doing the same thing to me. Both of us had just gotten out of the steam room, but somehow, we were feeling even hotter then.

To be quite honest, it took some effort on my part to not get hard as he did in the steam room. Fortunately, I am a master of avoiding the appearance of impropriety. Spending four years in an all-male boarding school will teach you a lot, as it seems. But I don't recommend that to anybody. Parents are so important when you are going through that phase.

After I had gotten dressed and left the wellness center, my mind was filled with images of the naked Pendragon boy. I refocused, meditated, had lunch with my parents, and then spent the afternoon preparing myself mentally for tonight's challenge. I need to crush it, come what may.

At seven p.m., all the contestants were assembled inside McCarthy Hall for another round of the competition. But first, Colonel Armstrong had to address the elephant in the room. The allegation that Bradley used excessive force when he defeated his opponent in the last match.

"I have watched the recording of his fight with a panel of soldiers, and I am now confident to declare that..." As he was speaking, one of the soldiers close to him dropped a handcuff on the floor. The noise disrupted his speech and turned all our attention to that.

Armstrong glared at the soldier, who blushed under the scrutiny of the intense gaze he was receiving. He continued speaking soon after.

"I am now confident to confirm that there was no excessive force deployed by Mr. Pendragon." He continued, surprising some of us - not me - and causing the boy to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Goddess!" Bradley exhaled since he was practically holding his breath even before Armstrong arrived to talk to us.

"When I was reviewing the recording of their match, I found it odd that Pendragon's opponent had gone straight for the jugular when I specifically told you guys to avoid any vital organs. Is there anyone here who thinks that the throat isn't a vital organ? Because if that's the case, we need to review what they teach you in school." He spoke in a snarky tone.

"I am sorry for the misunderstanding, Mr. Pendragon. The soldier tasked with supervising your match should have suspended it immediately and declared you the winner by default. We did not bring you or any of the Alphas here to fight to the death. Later, we discovered that the soldier was related to the guy you had defeated. That's probably why he didn't stop him when he should have. My soldiers know that they cannot work with family and that person should have recused himself as soon as he got the appointment." He revealed, causing us to gasp in shock at the information.

"On behalf of His Majesty's Army, I extend my sincere apologies, young man." He told Bradley, looking directly at him in the crowd by the wall.

"Thank you, Colonel, for the swift justice. I've been wracking my brain trying to find any way in which I could have exceeded myself, but I haven't." Bradley responded, humbly. He looked so relieved, as I would be too if I were him.

"Rest assured that all the measures have already been taken against the soldier, who should have known better." He declared, confidently. He looked mad that this happened.

"Now, onto the task ahead. I am sure you must be asking yourselves what's in these boxes that my soldiers are carrying tonight. Another set of weapons?" He teased us, playfully.

"The answer is no, these aren't weapons. I will explain better when the live stream starts because I want the cameras to catch your reaction when you hear about it." He announced with a devious smile.

Oh, I see what you're doing...

"You're going to blindside us?" I spoke up, shocked by that stunt.

"That's precisely my job for the duration of the tournament, Your Royal Highness. I have to catch you all off guard." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone, sounding bored by my question.

"Now, if you allow me to continue, as I was saying, you will find out what your challenge is in a minute. But before I do that, I am honor-bound to announce which player generated the most buzz online during yesterday's livestream." He continued, sounding excited.

"That player will have the honor of fighting first in tonight's challenge." He declared, much like he did last time when he announced the Alabama boy as the victor.

"This young Alpha showed amazing dexterity with the Katana, causing all the viewers at home to get excited by his style of sword fighting. Congratulations, Prince Elton." He declared, completely catching me off guard.

I received a round of applause from the guys, stunned by being the most talked about contestant last night. I am genuinely surprised by this, I cannot lie.

"One more thing, before I start the live stream, you should know that you won't be alone in the tatami. For tonight, you'll work in pairs. But don't worry, nobody is going to lose the tournament because of somebody else, that would defeat the point. You'll understand better once I explain. The only reason I'm saying this is because you will have to fight alongside another person." He informed me, catching us all by surprise.

"Who am I fighting with? Is it Jace?" I asked him, utterly shocked by this announcement. Jace is my best friend, who just happens to be competing in the tournament. The two of us stared at Armstrong expectantly.

"What would be the fun in that? No, you'll fight with the boy you almost choked to death. Bradley Pendragon." He announced with a devious smile, and I gasped in shock. And so did he, staring at me in horror.

What the fuck?!

A|N: BOOM!

You. Can. Hardly. Wait.

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Love,

Léo.