Combat Lesson II

It was during a water break that the trouble started.

Cassia had just lifted a clay cup to her lips when she heard a laugh from across the yard, a high, dismissive sound that cut through the murmur of tired students.

"I still don't understand why we're learning beta techniques."

Cassia lowered her cup. The speaker was a girl she hadn't noticed before. She had the sturdy build of someone bred for strength rather than grace, with strong arms and thick thighs that strained her wrestling wrappings. Her dark hair was cropped short, and her jaw carried the particular set of someone who enjoyed causing discomfort.

"Julia," Antonia murmured beside Cassia. "Of house Crestus. Her family runs a shipping guild.

Cassia nodded, filing the information away even as her eyes remained fixed on the girl. Julia's posture radiated contempt, her gaze fixed on Victra with a challenge that bordered on open disrespect.

"Bellator," Julia said, louder now. "I asked you a question. Why are we learning beta techniques? We're omegas. We're going to be alphas. Betas are nothing but weak servants to slide one's cock into when you need relief."

A few students laughed openly. Some looked nervously at their feet.

Cassia felt her jaw tighten. The words weak servants echoed in her ears, and beyond them she saw her mother Lara's gentle face, the beta who had raised her with love and tenderness and who was nothing like what Julia had just described.

Beside her, Antonia's easy smile had vanished entirely. Her green eyes had gone cold and flat.

"That's not funny," Cassia said firmly.

"It's not meant to be funny," Julia replied with a cruel smirk. “It is the truth.”

Across the yard, Victra had not reacted to Julia's words. She stood with her arms crossed, her expression unreadable, letting the silence stretch.

When she finally spoke, her voice was mild. "You think betas are weak, Crestus?"

Julia shrugged. "I think they're made to serve. That's what happens when you cede your will. You become soft. You become eager to please. You become less." She smiled, showing teeth. "I've fucked three betas since my primacy. By the time I was done with them, they were begging to suck my cock and thank me for the privilege. It's not a fight. It's barely a game."

The silence that followed was different from before. Heavier. Charged with something that made the hair on Cassia's arms stand up.

Victra uncrossed her arms. "You're wrong."

Julia's smile flickered. "Excuse me?"

"You're wrong," Victra repeated, walking toward the girl with the measured pace of someone who had all the time in the world. "About betas. About strength. About everything you just said." She stopped a few feet from Julia and looked down at her. "But you don't have to take my word for it. I'd be happy to demonstrate."

Now the students were watching with sharpened attention. Cassia saw several of them lean forward, their exhaustion forgotten.

Julia stood, and even on her feet she had to look up to meet Victra's eyes. "Demonstrate how?"