Micah laughed, “I wouldn’t take it easy on her if I were you either.” I ducked behind Levi. He frowned asking, “How the HELL are you so fast?” I shrugged, “I was born fast.” Tristan snorted, “You’ve gotten faster.”
I smiled admitting, “I do a lot of cardio. Like a lot.” Levi smiled, “I’d imagine so since Alexander has a crazy training schedule he puts out there because he forgets not everyone does cardio like we do.” I smiled, “I managed to keep up… eventually….it was an… experience…. at first.”
We fought until the fight was called. Tristan looked disappointed. Freya told me, “Apollo wants to get in the ring with us.” Easy enough. M brother thought I was tired. I linked my wolf, “Does no one listen to me? I do an insane amount of cardio.” Freya chuckled, “You’re right, we’ve got this.” I agreed, “I know.”
The pack started cheering for me and my cheeks turned red. Tristan linked me, “They already love you here, but I can’t say I’m surprised.” I explained, “I make them muffins.” Tristan replied, “They see your heart and your amazing baking skills. Let’s go, little sister. I won’t take it easy on you either.” I warned, “Good…because neither will I.”
I’d watched Tristan practice religiously before I left. I’d wanted to be just like him. He’d gotten better, but he fought with the same style. Styles didn’t tend to change. Freya said, “We could beat him faster.” I knew that, but I didn’t want to. He was here and we were being normal… and that… was everything to me.
Tristan smirked while I blocked his moves. He linked me, “You’re damn good at fighting, Ladybug.” I replied, “Thanks. I train a lot… like all the time… and I had to train other people too, so… it was a lot of gym time.” I connected a punch. Tristan snorted, “I can tell.”
I saw another opening to pin him and I took it, taking him by surprise. He bucked against me, but my brother couldn’t shake me off. Tristan laughed it off and I couldn’t help but feel really happy. I could see the pride in my older brother’s eyes. We should’ve been doing this all this time. I refused to let myself go there. I wanted to enjoy this moment. Sparring with my big brother.
We walked back to the larger group, but I just didn’t want the moment of normalcy to end. Nor did I want to do the awkward… ‘wow... you’re good fighting’ with everyone. Freya said, “A racing challenge is hardly fair, but I’m here for it.”
I knew I’d win and so did my brother. Bjourn started the race, and I took off. I’d beyond smoked him. Freya chuckled. I asked her, “Am I getting faster because you’re getting stronger? I was always fast, but that was fast even for me.” Freya answered, “Yes, you are getting faster as I get stronger.”
I grabbed two Gatorade’s out of the fridge. Xander and Tristan arrived at almost the same time. My brother raised an eyebrow at me. Tristan linked, “Ok. So, you trained too much, and your cardio is out of control you little flash, you.” My lips twitched into a smile.
I’d always been faster than my brothers, and I did do every program Xander put out. I wasn’t ready to share that Freya said it was because of her. Freya chuckled, “They’d probably think I was just full of myself.” I didn’t care about that. I just wasn’t used to being so open anymore.
I always had to keep things to myself. It had become second nature. Tristan finally believed I could beat Dalton and Dakota in a fight. They would be tougher than the Alpha’s I’d beat, because they are true Alpha’s who don’t fight their wolves…. but I could beat them.
Freya agreed, “Hell yes, we could. Thor and Oden though, that’s questionable. We would give them a good fight though.” I asked, “Thor, really?” That was Eric’s wolf. Freya answered, “Yes, really.” That was amazing since Eric was legendary in fighting.
Everyone joined us and Xander tossed in the fact that I’d almost beat him when we sparred. Tristan and my dad looked at me in shock. My cheeks flushed and everyone seemed stunned. My dad linked, “Really?” I said, “I nearly had him pinned but he flipped us at the last second… it was such a good move.” I needed to do some core work and maybe I could do it.
Everyone was staring at me, and it was awkward. I quickly excused myself to go upstairs and shower. I locked the bathroom door knowing Xander would respect that. I peeled my clothes off, jumped in the shower, then I grabbed my body wash and loofa.
I was humming when the reflection in the mirror caught my eye which had tears filling my eyes. I gently ran my hand along the scars on my back. I whispered, “I hate you, Trevor McCann. I’m GOING to find you and you’ll pay.” I wiped my eyes furiously.
I was finally home, and I still couldn’t be normal. Freya disagreed, “You can.” I snorted, “No, I can’t. We have enough to deal with this... would just… break them all over again. My past and tragedies are just that. Mine. We can keep this to ourselves. I’ll triple my effort to figure out a way to hide them.”
Freya urged, “Just tell mate.” I argued, “No, this would crush him… more than what happened to me already has.” I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. I had just grabbed Xander’s hoodie when anger and anxiety felt like it came up from my foot. What the hell?
I jumped on the bed and looked at my foot. I closed my eyes and shook my head. My tattoo seemed to be pulsing. Freya told me, “Mate needs us.” I surmised, “That anger and anxiety I feel… it’s his?” Freya answered, “Yes.” I questioned, “How?” Freya replied, “I’ll explain later. You need to go to him right now.” She was right.
I ran back down the stairs as the anger intensified. Now there was a possessive feel to his feelings. This was about me. I heard him snarl that no one would take me. Who did they think would? I had no intention of leaving. I jumped into his arms letting him inhale my scent to calm down.
Phil linked me, “Here I was getting the gym all prepped for him to come back and beat things to a pulp. I’ll tell the Warriors to stand down. You really are better than Prozac, Melanie McAlister.” I rolled my eyes then replied, “I do my best.”
Phil said, “Your best is far better than most. I do my best and he would still have spent all night in the gym. You do your best and he’ll just go to sleep.” I smiled hoping that was true. I was actually hoping for something other than sleep first.
Xander popped us away and we somewhat seriously talked about anyone who would try to take me away. I would not go willingly and silver and wolfsbane didn’t affect me. Freya reasoned, “He doesn't know that yet.” That was true.
I was trying to give him my freakishness in doses. Freya growled, “We are not a freak.” I sighed, “Even before I shifted, they tried to drug me with wolfsbane... but it didn’t do anything to me.” Freya confidently stated, “It never would’ve. It can’t hurt us.” That was weird.
I’ll give her it was somewhat special, but still weird. Xander pushed up his hoodie to see my stomach. This was ok. God, it felt good. He couldn’t see the scars from the front. I could feel his anger, bitterness, anxiety, and desperation shoot up from my foot when he found the scar from the bullet I’d taken all those years ago.
I linked Freya, “See? That’s his reaction to ONE scar. If he sees the ones on my back…. I can’t imagine how he would feel.” Freya sighed, “He’d be upset, but he’d get over it. Mate could fix it with his mom.” I still didn’t get that.
I guess, maybe one day I could talk to Haley about it. Maybe she would figure out how to get rid of them... with Paige’s help. My future mother in law would have to promise it was in confidence though. That was something that had… merit. She’d understand.
Xander distracted me from all thoughts as his mouth descended on my nipple for the first time. God, it felt better than when I’d imagined it. He seemed to lose all sense when I called him my Alpha. Xander nearly marked me, but I don’t know if he even noticed.
I wouldn’t have cared. Especially since Freya was confident we would shift. I wanted his mark on me. Freya purred, “We would shift, I’m still positive. Before you ask, no I still don’t have proof or anywhere people could look it up. I just know.”
Before I could reply Freya purred, “Oden is in charge.” I asked her, “Do you want to come out?” Freya answered, “For a minute.” She took over. Longer than she had before, but as we came she slammed me forward. It was a definite head rush. Xander and I went at it for hours.
