Astronomical (girlxgirl)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three (Rose's POV)

Sunday morning, I decided to reintroduce some normalcy into my life. While I sat watching a random action movie with Nate, I noted that he did not mention his worsening arguments with Annie; I didn't tell him about the incident last night with Skye either.

As had been my weekend routine for years now, I sat chatting with Annie over a simple lunch and then went to join the afternoon training session. I fell into a rhythm running beside Jacob, glad to return to activities so familiar and grounding.

Benjamin didn't have any cutting remarks to throw my way today; I was in the zone and giving my all. Even as the group of wolves disbanded for the day, I lingered outside, enlisting Mickey and Claudia to practice more with me. Ben supervised for a while, then lost interest before going inside to do whatever he did in his free time.

I suppose this is my version of meditation, I reflected as I dodged Claudia's fist and blocked Mickey's kick with a forearm. Just focusing on the here and now; on how each muscle contracts in synch to create effortless fluidity of movement.

I did not let myself think about Skye or anything that had happened since I met her in that alleyway; I was consumed by pushing my body to the edge of its tolerance.

Mickey tapped out first, being the most unfit of our trio – and went to sit on the ground outside our unofficial dirt sparring ring. I saw in my peripheral vision that he was patting his pocket, trying to find his lighter.

"You know, if you weren't a werewolf – those things would kill you", I quipped as Claudia side-stepped my arm, her face flushed and covered in a light sheen of sweat.

I glanced over and saw Mickey stick his finger up at me wordlessly, before cupping the end of his smoke to protect the tiny yellow flame from going out. I laughed and wasn't quick enough to stop Claudia from gaining a momentary advantage and hooking her foot behind my ankle.

As I sprawled to the ground with her on top of me, I kept laughing. "You're getting better, Clauds; see, Ben isn't shit-talking when he says 'practice makes perfect'".

"You were distracted – that's the only reason I got past your defences", She threw back, trying to deflect the compliment as she flicked a piece of long hair out of her face.

"Noticing your enemy's weaknesses counts just as much as how skilled a fighter you are", I countered with a small grin.

I noticed that Cole was sitting next to Nic today, just watching us as we continued to spar. His wide grey eyes were unusually focused as he sat still; I worried that someone had doped the kid because I had never seen him go without moving or speaking for more than two minutes. Nicholas was perched in his usual spot, silent as ever. Those two make a funny pair...

When Claudia decided that she had enough of my "gruelling training" - that was more brutal than even Ben's - I started to warm down.

I walked up the back steps and ruffled Cole's long blonde hair - noting how Nic narrowed his eyes at me, "Hey, kiddo – how's the arm feeling?"

The little boy grinned without reservation up at me, "Doc Jane said it's all healed now, but that I'm not to pretend to be Superman again". I laughed heartedly, I don't think I was even stupid enough as a child to believe I could fly; poor Deb and Miguel – Cole is a handful and a half.

I smiled as I remembered Miguel's panic as he rushed into the packhouse the other day. "Nora convinced Cole to jump off the roof of our house; I took my eyes off them for two minutes while I made lunch..." Cole had broken his arm in three places and cried the entire time for Nic, who had been reading a book in his room until he heard the younger boy's distress. Because Cole hadn't yet shifted, he healed a little slower than an adult wolf would have. Jane had wrapped his arm in a cast, so the excitable blonde didn't worsen the injury in the two days it would take to mend.