Angel had Peter training on the dot. He had much to learn about being a Champion. She made sure he didn't seem weak, his stance stayed alert, and his attention divided into equals. Every time he complained or made a sarcastic remark, her flames would give him a small burn on his ears. He soon learned why she had decided it was her job to make sure he was in Champion status as quickly as possible. 

A cry of fury broke through the halls of the castle, followed by yowls of many other cats. Peter and Angel were with Kip and Marrey in the courtyard, a massive area with a high open roof, when a Cheetah came flying through and came to a skidding halt in front of Angel. The cat spoke swiftly in their language and Angel looked up to the doorway multiple times as they conversed in quick fluent words and then she sent the cheetah in a different way then it had came.

"Alec is here." Angel stood and threw her shoulders back, forming the stance of a regale queen.

A tiger came to a defensive stance at the doorway before being fired back into the courtyard by a ball of green flames. Angel made a cushion with her flame, as well as healed the burns on the tiger's chest. The tiger saw her stance and fled to area at once.

"Well, well, I see you noticed my arrival. Nice to see you can fight my flames. Of course, they weren't meant to hurt, simply to help. Your mother, the old seer, I assume she woke up quickly?" The boy from before stepped through the entryway, and Kip let out a growl.

"What do you want here, Poisoned One? You shouldn't have come back after you stole the sacred Feline Eye. Leave or suffer the consequences!" Angel's voice was a shout of authority, echoing through the halls.

"I don't think I will, not till I take out the Champions here first. Luckily enough, one is injured, and the other two are too weak to fight me. That leaves you, PureFire, holder of the hottest flames, the purest of fires." Alec's dark poison eyes flashed, and in a burst of sulfurous flames, a dark green tiger stood, flames surrounding it.

Angel threw herself into the air and in an instant, her feline form took her place. She yowled in anger and rushed the tiger. Their flames collided, making a purple kind of fire, which then jumped and caught the courtyard on fire, making it impossible for anyone to enter or leave. The purple flame didn't spread, but it stayed.

"Wait, this only happens when," Kip started his sentence, only to have Marrey end it.

"A Champion's Life Mate challenges it," Marrey took a step back as a purple flame licked at her wings.

Angel made a cry of pain and jumped away as thick red blood poured from her flank. She spat and swatted at Alec, his eyes light with concern and fury. He sat down and licked at his own wound, a deep scratch across his hind leg. Peter watched in silence as Angel hissed again and charged Alec again, gaining purchase with her massive teeth in the back side of his neck. He yowled in anger and threw himself back, crushing her under his weight. She shrieked in pain and managed to pull herself out from under him. 

Fleeing to a far enough distance, Angel turned to her human form, which was easier to tell where the wounds were, and yowled a cry of war at Alec as he changed back as well. He laughed, his dark poison eyes glinting in the light of the purple flames. Angel commanded her fire into a ball and fired at him, which he easily dodged, and returned one of his own sulfurous fireballs. His managed to hit her directly and she flew back, hitting the wall of flames, which threw her hard into Alec's body, knocking them both onto the ground.

Peter made a move to help, but Kip gripped his arm tightly. Whether it was an attempt to stop Peter or himself, neither could say. Angel's body remained still, her breathing ragged and shallow, as Alec rolled onto his stomach, forced his knees and hands under him, and got to his feet. His smile formed for a small second as he looked at the fear in the other Champions eyes, before his gaze fell upon Angel's limp form.

Panic flashed across his face, followed by agony. His flames formed into wings, like Angel's did when she saved Kip, and flowed over the burned and wounds their fight had caused. He bent beside her and brushed her hair out of her eyes as her breathing evened out and her body healed. Kip growled deeply and lurched forward, his ice forming round him. Alec stopped and stood, leaving Angel's sleeping form alone. The purple flames had died away and the tigers, jaguars, and lions were standing in every entrance, blocking Alec's escape. 

"I forgot who I was supposed to be before the Poisoned ever even came for me. Angel had made me remember my purpose. Kill me if you have to, but I won't be the cause of my own Life Mate's death." Alec transformed into his tiger form and flipped onto his back, surrendering. 

Kip lost his nerve and ran, his ice turning him into a pure white wolf, eyes ice blue, and he launched himself at the vulnerable cat. Marrey screamed for him to stop, Dina howled from somewhere out of sight, Jacquin's yowl sounded behind Peter, and out of all of that, Peter watched as Angel stirred like before, her eyes electric with fear and the need to protect. He stared as she flipped, flames turning her into her other form. He watched as she flew from her spot and flung herself into her brother, who hadn't seen her wake.

A deafening crashing sounded as the siblings wrestled off to the side, snarls and growls coming from a steaming cloud as fire met ice. Two lioness rushed in to the battle and came out with both the Champions' scruffs in their mouths. The siblings were both scratched up, but no blood. Meanwhile, Alec had been handled, and was standing to the side as the siblings fought over his life. Angel broke free, hissed at Kip, who flinched and whimpered in shame.

"We never went after Alec, because Angel was in too much pain at his betrayal. The betrayal of a life mate is life being cut apart slowly. Everytime death releases the pain, they bring you back. Everytime she finds herself becoming alive again, he just hurts her again. The poison that courses through his veins now, it forces him to do things he wouldn't ever want to do. Hurt her, attack their Kingdom, attack Kip, confuse the humans to shoot me, hurt the guards, come back everytime she forgets he ever left. Her flames saved him once, but she almost died, I'm not sure she could even survive mentally or physically this time." Marrey stared at Angel as she fled swiftly, yet held her head high, through the courtyard entrance Alec had came through. Alec's head hung as the tigers shoved him toward the opposite entrance. Kip licked the scratches as Dina spoke in another new language, her barks sharp and stinging. 

"Angel is the only one that can deal with herself when he does this. She won't be seen for months now."