To Claim A Crown Book One: The Half-Blood King (Complete)

35.

Naomi punches into the punching pad that Benedict is holding up. She is sweating profusely and her heart is pounding from the intensity of the training. She licks her dry lips and lifts her arms up to her face, her hands in tight fists on either side of her face. Her upper arms are burning but she still holds them up firmly.

"Come on Naomi, why are we stopping?" Benedict asks loudly.

"Just give me a minute, Ben."

"Did Brody give you a minute?"

Naomi punches the pad squarely in the middle and the pain sears through her knuckles. She inhales sharply and glares at Benedict who has an intent look on his face. Naomi knows that he is trying to get her to come to terms with what happened but ignoring it has been working just fine for her.

"Don't Benedict" Naomi instructs as she punches the pad with her right hand then her left. Raurlin and the younger wolves are jogging towards them in the distance.

"Did Brody give you a minute Naomi?"

Punch, punch "no...he didn't" punch, punch.

"Good. How does it make you feel?"

"How does what make me feel?" Naomi asks as she wipes at her forehead.

"Arms up. That he tried to kill you. How does it make you feel?"

Naomi punches the pad with all her might and Benedict takes a surprising step backwards. Raurlin comes to a halt beside him and he looks at Naomi with a frown. Naomi steps to Benedict and continues punching the pad with grunts of anger.

"It pisses...me...off that he...tried...to...kill...me..."

Naomi doesn't allow Benedict to recover and Raurlin steps towards her but Benedict shakes his head at him and allows Naomi to continue to push against him.

"It pisses me off that...he tried to kill me to hurt Raurlin... to hurt my aeturnum."

With that and a final punch Benedict lands on the floor with a hard thud and Naomi inhales and exhales deeply. Raurlin's eyes widen as he looks at Naomi. Her eyes for a brief moment are a gleaming red. She blinks and they're back to their normal colour. Raurlin steps forward and pulls Naomi into a quick hug then helps Benedict to his feet. "Thank you," Raurlin says to Benedict and he nods once.

"Alright let's break here," Benedict announces and he walks to the house.

Naomi drops down and sits cross legged on the ground. She lifts her arms and tries to settle her breathing. Raurlin drops down in front of her and is silently watching her. Naomi gives him a look then rolls his eyes.

"I know what you're thinking," she tells him.

"Yeah and what's that?"

"Workout therapy is the best thing for me right now. I'll apologise to Ben. How are you feeling about tomorrow?"

"I feel fine I guess-"

"-Did you know that by undergoing the awakening you're accepting Mikain as your Alpha?"

There's a pause.

"No I did not. That's very interesting. Sandy told you?"

Naomi nods her head at Raurlin and as she does Benedict jogs back to where the group is gathered. He has a water bottle in his hand and a towel around his neck. Naomi and Raurlin stand up and face each other as Benedict instructs everyone to pair up. Naomi inhales and lifts her hands to protect her face and she and Raurlin run through the same drill they had been over the days. Naomi can tell that Raurlin is distracted but she too is deep in her own thoughts and chooses not to point out his level of distraction.