Harley and Will spent the next couple of training sessions in the workout room instead of the clearing. Half of her was relieved Will wouldn't make her face the clearing for a bit. The other half was angry at herself for not facing the fear. The longer she waited to "get back on the horse" the worse it would be.
Will had moved her from regular exercises into actual self defense. She liked it. It gave her more of a sense of progress than running circles. He'd cleared off some space in the workout room and now stood in the middle with her, his hand on her wrist. "Okay, I've come at you from the front."
"I can see that."
He stared at her blankly.
"Sorry. Continue."
"If someone ever grabs your wrist like this, you rotate your wrist," He waited until she'd done it before continuing. "Good, now bend your elbow and pull."
She bent her elbow like he'd told her and pulled, but Will held on. "Do you really think your opponent will let go if you barely use any strength." Frustrated, she yanked, throwing her body into it. Her hand came free, nearly sending her backward.
"If that doesn't work," Will said, flattening his hand and lightly placing the side below her ear, like a karate chop, "try to land a blow to their vagus nerve. It will incapacitate them."
He showed her a few moves in case she was ever approached from behind and had her go through all of the moves over and over and over until she could do them in her sleep. By the time training finished up, her muscles ached. She'd done a lot of conditioning in the last week or so, however these moves used muscles she didn't even know she had.
"Harley, though I've taught you this, you need to remember that the best option in any situation is to run if you can." Will said, "You cause a distraction and then run."
"Then why spend time on this?"
His focus on her was steely. Intense. "For those times when running might not be an option. But whenever it is, you run. Got it?"
In other words, he'd gotten more details about the rogue from the other day and decided to remind her of the best option. Cam probably ratted her out. She let it flow right past her--Cam had told her to run. He'd tried to make the best of the situation. It wasn't his fault she'd decided to be a stubborn fool.
"Stretches." Will reminded her and sat on the ground with her as she put her heels together and pulled her ankles forward into a butterfly stretch.
After a pause, Will cleared his throat. "How has work been?"
She smiled. The man at least got points for trying to small talk. "Good. It's been an easy routine to settle--"
"Will." Jamie appeared in the doorway, "Dad needs to see you. Immediately."
Harley didn't like the sound of that. Was there another trip in Will's future? He stood and was halfway to the door before he stopped and looked at her.
"Go ahead." She tried to give him her best encouraging expression, though it felt awkward and heavy on her face. "I'll finish up here."
Finding that answer good enough, he left, but not before warning her, "make sure you do all of them."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Of course, general, sir."
Jamie still stood in the doorway, arms crossed, expression pinched. She glanced behind her once and stepped further into the room. "Look, Haley--"
"Harley."
Her eyes narrowed. "Whatever. Harley. I know you think Will is amazing and everything but don't get so cozy."
"Cozy?" Harley echoed. What did that even mean?
"He's trained a lot of wolves around here." Jamie said, "just because he's giving you private lessons doesn't mean anything."
Did she ever say anything about it meaning something? Though a small part of her flinched back. Will giving her private lessons and spending time with her had somehow started to mean something, whether she had realized it or not. Will had started to mean a lot more than she wanted. She couldn't help it. He was kind and welcoming and didn't look at her with the pity most people did. And he was Mathias' friend. He was, however small, her closest connection to her family.
"Truth is," Jamie went on, "He will never see you as anything more than a kid sister."
Kid sister. It stung. Until now, Harley didn't realize just how much the thought of Will looking at her as a sibling would sting. "I never..." She trailed off, not sure what she wanted to say.
"Will has always looked out for others." Jamie said with a roll of her eyes. "He protects those younger than him. It's practically in his DNA. So don't go thinking he's doing any of this for any other reason."
And with that warning, she left, her words echoing through Harley's ears.
Harley finished up her stretches and went back up to her room to shower and get ready for work. The bus to town left at 11:30, which safely gave her an hour to get ready.
Jamie's warning wouldn't leave her mind, even throughout work. As she helped customers and rang up exorbitant clothing purchases, she cursed herself. Of course Will only trained her as a way to help out. In fact, it was Alpha Mark who had assigned him to train her in the first place. Will didn't put it upon himself to make sure the latent could protect herself.
She couldn't pinpoint when she'd started to want more, to expect more. It just kind of...happened. Since the moment she'd walked into the kitchen and saw him at the sink with that cup in his hands and the grin on his lips, she'd noticed his handsomeness. But when had it become anything more than her acknowledging his looks? Was it when he'd discovered she was latent and didn't freak out? Or when he'd helped her through the panic attack with calm clarity?
Oh God, he probably did see her as nothing more than a little sister. Thank God she hadn't built up the courage to throw herself at him. Really she hadn't done much of anything. Maybe a part of her knew it wasn't a good idea. Perhaps it was best Jamie told her. This way, she could rip off the hurt like a band aid and proceed with her eyes open.
On the bus ride home, she sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs and pulled on her big girl pants. Will was a friend. Nothing more. And she would treat him as such. She nodded to herself, it would be better this way. She just had to make sure that she didn't fall headfirst into his warm gaze.
Outside, the world passed in a blur as the bus weaved through the town. Streetlights lit the interior of the bus in waves, in and out, like a lighthouse. June had come and with it, the heat and humidity swept through. She didn't much care for the cold, but didn't quite love heat either. Fortunately for her, Kensington rested in a temperate climate--which meant the summers weren't brutal. She quite liked the summers here. The nights were warm, often accompanied by a chill breeze. It made for a perfect reprieve from the hot sun.
She glanced from the window to the guy across the aisle from her and met his gaze. Surprised, she couldn't help but stare. Why was he looking at her like that?
The man, who couldn't be much younger than her, tilted his head to the side, recognition sparking. "You're Harley, right?"
There weren't many people on the bus. Her, the man across from her, a quiet man lost in his own world in the back, and a woman in the front whose anxious leg bouncing wouldn't quit. As such, she couldn't even pretend to ignore him. "Yes?"
He released a dimpled grin. "I thought so." His elbows rested on his knees as he leaned forward. "My name's Ben. I'm Cam's brother."
"Really?" Cam had a brother? Why hadn't he mentioned him to her?
"Yeah. He's talked about you once or twice."
She liked Ben. He was bright and open, with caramel hair and a friendly smile. He didn't wave any red flags, despite it being dark out and her being alone on the public bus.
Harley snorted. "I don't know why. I'm not interesting."
Ben's eyebrows came together. "You seem interesting to me."
She didn't know how three sentences made someone interesting, but she'd take his word for it. "Where are you headed?"
"Do you mind?" He pointed to the seat next to her.
Shaking her head, she scooped up her bag and sat it in her lap. "Not at all."
She caught a nice hint of cologne as he sat down. "So where are you headed?" She asked again.
Ben's shoulder brushed hers. Still no warning bells in her head. In fact, she felt more comfortable having him next to her. Which was bizarre, because she'd not only never met the guy before, but they were on the public bus at night which seemed like a terrible time to make friends. He just radiated this...calm.
"I'm going to the house." He said. By the way he said house, she could tell he meant the pack house--no one called it the pack house in public. That was a surefire way to get more attention than you wanted, usually in the form of confused glances. "My brother and some of his friends are hanging out and invited me along."
A pause. Then, "You're welcome to come along if you'd like. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
She bit her lip. She wanted to hang out with pack members her age, but would that be imposing? Though Cam probably wouldn't care if she joined. "You sure?"
"Of course!" Ben knocked his shoulder against hers. "It'll be great."
As the bus made it's way to the last stop, Harley and Ben chatted like old friends. Ben was easy to talk to. Harley loved it. For once she wasn't thinking about anything but Ben and the conversation.
With a woosh and click, the bus grinded to a stop down the block from the house. The two walked the rest of the way to the pack house.
"Harley!" Bailey split from the small group standing in the dim light of the porch and weaved her arm through Harley's. "How was work?"
"Good."
"And Ben's here too!" Even in the heavy shadows, Bailey's grin sparkled. This girl always seemed to experience emotions at a brighter, stronger calibre.
At the front of the house, Cam, Will, and Jamie waited for them. Cam snagged Ben around the neck and gave him a playful noogie. "Are you hitting on the lady's, little bro?"
"Ow! No, we were on the same bus! Ow!" Ben pushed away and rubbed at his hair, irritation written all over him.
"I didn't know you had any siblings, Cam." Harley said.
Cam grinned at Ben, but said to Harley, "That's because I don't want them stealing my spotlight."
"We're heading off to Will's." Bailey piped in, "Want to come, Harley?"
Automatically, Harley looked at Jamie, whose expression served as a reminder of their earlier conversation. "I don't want to impose..."
"Not at all." Will twirled a set of keys. "It'd be fun."
Well if he was sure-- "Okay."
"Cool." Cam clapped and rubbed his hands together. "We'll have to take two cars then. Who wants to ride with me?"
Jamie saddled up right next to Will. Harley, after a moment, worked her way to Ben's side. She needed the calm that he radiated.
"Looks like I've got Ben and Harley." Cam said.
They split off then to head to Will's for a night of fun. Excitement and tension filled Harley's frame. She was going to hang out--with friends. This would be a step in the right direction for sure.
Based on the warning looks she got from Jamie's direction, she only hoped that this endeavor wouldn't be squashed before it even started.