Tug Of War - Coming Back Soon

Chapter Nineteen

A soft gasp escaped her lips as something clicked then. The solution had been right there all along. Now, it was up to her whether to reach for it or not. She could ask Talisa to manipulate her memory, wipe the scene off so she and Axel could go back how they were.

Of course, she couldn't keep asking Talisa to hypnotise her every time Axel killed someone in front of her. But they didn't know it would happen again, and she could always take precautions. Avoid going to places that endanger her or would involve violence. She could avert her eyes and hope to God it would work if Axel had to resort to violence in her presence. As insane as she sounded to even herself, a small smile was beginning to curve on her lips.

Eliseo gave her a half smile, tying his wild blonde mane into a rough bun before standing up. He extended a hand to her and she gratefully accepted, allowing him to pull her up. Wordlessly, they began making their way back to the castle.

When they had neared the back entrance to the pack house, Eliseo broke the silence. "You should train. It might help with your panic when you're in a threatening situation." Inaaya halted, turning to him, and he mimicked her actions.

"I do train. Every morning. Well, except for the past month but that was because..."

Eliseo shook his head and pointed towards the woods. "With them. The hunters." Inaaya looked on with him, watching as the three hunters made their way back to the castle from the woods. "If you want to fight against supernatural beings, they are the ones to learn it from."

Eliseo turned back to Inaaya while she busily studied the profiles of the three hunters. "I am not sure if this will help but perhaps knowing you can defend yourself will distract your mind from its panic. Instead of freezing up, your body might go into action."

Inaaya looked back at him and pondered over his words, nodding slowly. This might actually work. It had worked when her brother had taught her some basic self-defense moves so she would feel safer when returning from her tuitions alone. The thought of Amol created a pressure in her chest. It had been six years— six years since she had seen him on his deathbed. Six years since her panic attacks had started. For six years now, she hadn't been able to give her dearest brother a proper goodbye, all because of their father.

"Inaaya, hey?"

Eliseo's hand on her shoulder broke Inaaya out of her reverie. Blinking and shaking her thoughts away, she focussed back on Eliseo. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Eliseo's eyes narrowed for a second before he let his curiosity go and looked at the hunters again. This time the hunters stared back as they made their way towards the odd duo.

"Dae-Nuri Kang, the lead hunter," Eliseo muttered, nodding his head towards the Asian man leading the group. "Get him to train you."

Inaaya looked in the man's direction to immediately look away as she met his attentive eyes. With a good height, a muscular built and sharp features, Dae-Nuri looked every bit of the hunter he was. The group was soon catching up to where Inaaya and Eliseo were, adding to her discomfort.

Inaaya turned to Eliseo, biting her bottom lip. "Can't you just order him to?"

Eliseo gave her a half smile that claimed he knew something she didn't. He probably did. She still had a lot to learn about his world.

"I can ask him but I can't command him. Hunters aren't legally a part of the pack, so to speak. They're more like friends of the pack. They are the channel of communication between the hunters and our pack."

Just as Eliseo finished, Dae-Nuri and the two hunters reached them. The three nodded in Eliseo's direction while Inaaya tried not to hide behind him.