Claimed By The Alpha

9

     It's been a week since the hunters caught in the territory were captured and killed. Kastiel insisted upon training nonstop to better prepare me, in case of another attack. We've been training twice a day every single day for a week straight. Once in the morning and once before dinner. I can feel my body toning up, my stomach tightening into hard muscle. My legs could handle all the running without feeling like they were falling off, and my arms held so much more strength in my swing. I felt so proud of my body and the fact that I could keep up with Kastiel without making a fool of myself, considering that was the only time I saw him. Unless we were training or eating dinner, Kastiel was nowhere to be found. It was almost as if he avoided me when we weren't exercising. 

     Today we were training with a few of the packs warriors, preparing for the day's event. Later today, Alpha Marcus will be expecting to see my progress. We'll be showing him what I've learned so far and he'll watch as I fight and shift. To say I was nervous was a complete understatement. The alpha was going to be critiquing my every move when he watches me fight and then I have to shift on my own to show my control. I've only shifted once on my own, completely on accident. The fighting I could handle, I could show him what he wanted to see. Shifting was a whole other story.  

     We stood in the clearing by a lake, the spot we came to each day on our morning run, two warriors, Kastiel, and myself. The late morning was crisp and cool, slowly heating up as we neared the afternoon. The looming trees swayed in the breeze, their full tops brushing together like a dark green dance. The smell of perspiration and pine filled my nose as I took a deep breath and faced my opponents.

     I sparred with the two warriors, Jared and Sam. They were both attacking with a sharp ferocity and I was matching them perfectly. Sam swung a heavy hand and it struck my side, knocking me back in the process. The sharp pain in my abdomen was quickly pushed to the back of my mind, a secondary feeling. I recovered just as fast as I faltered and struck back, kicking my leg out to connect with his knee. He took the hit in stride and kept moving. I thrust my fist at his jaw and as he ducked to dodge, I quickly shoved his chest with my body weight. He staggered back and I jumped up, curling my leg and connecting my knee to his diaphragm. He gasped, the wind knocked out of his lungs, and before he could recover I reared back and sucker punched him, my knuckles cracking against his nose. 

     "Damn it!" Sam exclaimed, grabbing his nose tenderly. Blood gushed through his fingers and he tilted his head back. Jared burst into laughter as he stood next to a smirking Kastiel. Kas' grin was almost prideful and I was eating it up. He'd been fine tuning my skills all week long and I imagined today was just as stressful for him as it was for me. If I wasn't up to par, he would be to blame.

     "Something funny, Jared? Or do you need another black eye?" I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes at him. His smile faded and it caused Kastiel and I both to laugh.

     "Jared, get Sam up to the healer." Kastiel grinned. They disappeared into the trees and I noticed Kastiel's eyes glaze over. I knew that meant he mind-linked someone, but who remained a mystery. I stood there catching my breath from sparring and looking him over.

     We both stood there for a moment, silently checking each other out. It had been a week since we last addressed anything between us. All we did now was work out, spar, and check each other out from afar. The brief conversations we had were always short and to the point, never daring to be alone with each other for longer than a few moments. As we were now completely alone in the middle of the woods, I could feel the tension rising.

     "Do you think I'm ready?" I asked, absentmindedly adjusting my ponytail. 

     "Yes." He said, without a second thought. "You just broke one of our strongest warriors nose, but you're still worried you aren't ready?" he chuckled slightly.