Run Like a Rogue (Under Construction)

Chapter Eight: For the Love of Kicking Ass

Alana’s Pov

“Charlie, you can’t fight with a stick up your ass. You’ve had these moves drilled into you since puberty, so loosen up and be creative.”

“And you…umm…dude who hit on me…you’re gone to have to be faster than that. I can see that you’re planning each punch. In the seconds you hesitate, a strong opponent will be able to figure out what your next move will be.”

“It’s Bruce, and I don’t really get what you’re saying.”

I walked over to him. “Hit me.” I felt the adrenaline pumping, like I did before every fight, even if it was only a practice one.

“I don’t think I can hit a girl, Alana.”

That pissed me off. They knew that I could fight well and had asked me to teach them, but they still couldn’t get past the girl thing. “Well, I can hit a man, so defend yourself or run away screaming.”

With that, I socked him across the face.

His face turned red and with little warning he swung a fist at my face. I caught with both hands. This guy was strong! “Good. That was a lot faster. Your anger controlled your actions. Get it? Don’t think. Just fight. Practice with Jake. Jake, when you can’t catch his punches anymore come tell me.”

I walked away smiling. Today was great! After I realized that they really had been practicing all night, I was so proud. Then we all ate breakfast and they rested. When the sun rose, they said that they wanted to practice some more. Alpha Russell’s patrol group soon joined them. And that’s how we started Alana’s Ass Kicking Class. Hey that rhymes! It would make a great company with commercials and some corny jingle and a logo: Kick some ass! Yup, I can see it all now…

“Having fun?” Someone spoke right in my ear. I jumped a little and turned towards Damien. Umm…what do I say?! I told him some personal stuff last night and I don’t want it to be awkward between us. Yeah, good job Alana, because staring at him not saying anything isn’t awkward at all.

“Umm…no! I mean, yes. I had fun…umm… having! I meant to say having fun. Because I’m having fun now, not last night. I wasn’t talking about last night. Not that last night wasn’t fun, it was. Oh no! Now I sound like one of those girls in movies that talk about how much fun they had on a date.”

Did I just say date? I did, didn’t I? I started laughing. Yeah, that’s right. I babble when I’m nervous and laugh when I feel awkward.

“Date?” Damien asked, clearly enjoying my humiliation.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I know last night wasn’t a date. I’m just going to go find a large, dark hole now, if you don’t mind.”

 I turned and was about to walk away, when Damien spun me around with his hands on my shoulders. He brought his face close to mine until his gray eyes came into sharp relief. Whoa. So that’s what they mean when they say he takes your breath away. I stared up at his eyes as if they held the secrets of the universe.

“Don’t leave,” he said. What? It was just...those eyes! I’d like to think that what I said in reply was really intelligent, but I honestly can’t remember.

“Aren’t you going teach me how to fight like a rogue? You’ve taught everyone else.”

“Uh huh. Yeah. Sure…umm what do you want again?”

Damien laughed. As if his eyes weren’t playing havoc with my heartbeat enough, the damn boy had to go and laugh. “You’re distracted today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said, sighing heavily.

“I asked you to teach me to fight like a rogue. So, will you?”

“Yeah.” Geez, Alana, twelve years of education and that’s the best you can do? I shook myself lightly and lifted my chin. “Okay. Let’s start by sparring, so I can see what you’ve got.”

“Okay.” He lowered into his fighter’s stance and I copied him. We started circling each other. I examined him for any weakness and I could tell that he was doing the same to me. His movements were smooth, cat-like. Then, with no give-away movements he suddenly attacked, jumping towards me with his arms outstretched. He was aiming for my shoulders, trying to knock me down. At the last second, I ducked and let him fly over my back. I spun to face him, just as he did some kind rolling trick and landed facing me. We circled for a bit longer until I couldn’t stand waiting anymore and tried to punch him in the stomach. He caught my fist and I immediately used the momentum to spin into him and hit him in the stomach with my free elbow. Ouch! This guy must’ve had bricks for breakfast because his stomach is hard! Focus, Alana, focus. Still holding my fist, he grabbed my elbow and pushed me to the floor. I landed on my hands and swung one leg around as hard as I could, tripping him. As soon as he hit the floor I was on him, sitting on his stomach and punching him as fast as I could. He grabbed my fists and yanked me off of him so that I was on my back. With one hand, he pulled my fists above my head and the other hand pressed down on my stomach.

“Give up?” He asked smugly.

Hell no! I curled up bending my knees and kicked him off of me with both feet. I jumped up and so did he. 

Jake’s Pov

Alana and Damien were still fighting, completely oblivious of the groups of warrior that had stopped practicing to watch them.

“Damn. That was hot,” I said.

“Yes, yes it was.” Charlie agreed and several of the guys nodded.

“You guys are so immature,” Garrett said.

“Like you weren’t thinking the same thing,” I challenged him.

“I did, but I didn’t feel the need to tell everyone.” He said laughing.

“You just told everyone right now,” I pointed out. He stopped laughing.

“They’re going to go on like this all night, aren’t they,” One of Alpha Russell’s wolves asked.

“Probably. It’s not like either of them will win,” Dan said.

“I don’t know. Did you see Alana’s face when Damien asked if she gave up. She’s mad now. I’d bet on her.”

“No way. Damien’s the Alpha. His pride is on the line. He’s going to win for sure,” Garrett said.

“You say that now, but you don’t know Alana,” Charlie added helpfully.

“Naw, Damien’s as much of a tough ass as Alana, if not more.”

“Twenty bucks on Alana,” I shouted. I always had the best ideas.