The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 6: Fighting

I swam a few more times that week until Derek told Levi that I was learning to be more of how to be a mermaid than a wolf, to which Levi told Derek to 'piss off.' The swimming did get better, though, the last time I swam it was like I was practically a fish gliding through water. I was getting stronger and relying more on this damn beast.

Levi and didn't speak much about our conversation from the first time we visited the tree with all the initials. I did learn about other things, though, like different packs and who their leaders were. Derek filled me in on the latest gossip while Levi filled me in on the social behavior of packs, which apparently was really intense.

Apparently, this 'alpha' guy and his female were to constantly be submitted to by the other members of the pack. They provided and kept things safe, kept things organized, and ensured that the pack stayed balanced, happy is what Derek would call it. They were also territorial, protective of their pack members and mates, and a mildly 'dramatic' according to Derek.

It still didn't explain Levi. He was such an enigma to me. We were living on his pack lands, yet he was not with them. That, and I hadn't seen another wolf or person since I had been here. I assumed it was because they were keeping them away. No use bringing people around if I was going to die.

My training every day got harder. More intense. Sometimes I swear I thought Levi was trying to kill me, probably because he was. But every day after we were done he would say, 'Good work Charlie girl, now go chop some wood.'

It was a ritual that I had come to hate and love.

However, today was different than the previous days. Today was different than the other days though, today I was learned how to fight.

"Now hit me girl, come on, no need to be afraid you'll break my pretty face," Levi taunted.

I was never a fan of violence. Ever. Levi had been standing in front of me for the last five minutes, chin raised, and hands on his hips while taunting me to strike him square in the nose.

I didn't want to. I didn't to use my fists like he had.

"Girl, what are you so afraid of?"

"I am not afraid!" I dug my heels into the ground and let out a breath of frustration. "I just feel like we should use our words, not our fists."

Both Levi and Derek laughed at me with deep hearty belly laughs. I felt a rumble escape from my mouth. The beast inside of me had not only grown stronger, but more vocal. Apparently, she did not take to their teasing well.

It felt like she was equally annoyed with me, though. We were at odds with each other, at the crossroads, a place where I felt torn in two.

"Go on little one, he definitely deserves to have his teeth rearranged," Derek chuckled out and Levi growled at him.

Levi looked back to me with a scowl. His patience was clearly starting to wear thin with me. "Charlotte, hit me."

"Levi, no," I said through my gritted teeth. I wasn't going to let him push me around and I certainly wasn't going to hit him, especially when I didn't have a good reason to.

"Little girl, you're wearing me thin here and–"

"And you what?" I spat out. "What? Going to smack me for not listening?"

"Charlie," Levi warned.

"Enough!" I took a step back and threw my hands up in exasperation. "I'm not going to hit you, ok? I'm not that person."

With that, I turned on my heel and stormed off. I had no idea where I was going, just that I was going away from the two of them.

I walked for a while and tried to settle down my emotions that felt like they were having a civil war, but it was no use. The beast in me wanted to tear Levi apart, and part of me did as well, but I couldn't. I couldn't be like him. I couldn't just hit Levi because I was angry at him.