Aspen folded her arms and pouted. "I'm just teaching him some basics, Xander. What's wrong with that?"
His scowl deepened a bit. "He's not a warrior."
"Then we can make him one," she argued.
I could tell that Aspen got on Xander's last nerve. Their personalities were polar opposites. I wasn't sure how they could even be in the same space for more than five minutes without arguing. They could talk sometimes, but they always ended up in one disagreement or another.
"Fine," he said, sighing and deepening his voice. "Just for today. If I see him here after that then he'll have to challenge me by himself." He looked me in my eyes, making me gulp.
Aspen wasn't satisfied, but decided to leave it at that. "Thanks, Xander!"
"Whatever, shithead," he said, walking off. "Keep practicing."
After Aspen decided I was getting a hang of the basics, she showed me how to hold someone down. Gently, she pressed her elbow into my spine, demonstrating the movement. I could never imagine actually being in that position; I think my back would break in two.
A few more punches, kicks and defenses and it was time for break. Aspen squeezed through the cluster of sweaty warriors and wolves, coming back with fresh bottles of ice cold water. We sat on a bench and drank. I tried my best not to down the water, but I'd exercised so much and it was hot outside, too, so it was hard to control how much I drank.
Aspen and I chatted for a bit and before we knew it, it was time to start training again. As we got up from the bench, I saw Xander again. He was turned away from me, but he was talking to head alpha Felix, who was glancing over at me. My eyes widened and I hurried to catch up to Aspen.
I could still feel him looking at me. I felt self-conscious, being all sweaty and inexperienced when it came to combat. I guess the alpha didn't mind.
It had only been a day and it felt like alpha Felix had been going wherever I was. It wasn't creepy, but it was a little strange. If he wanted something, I didn't mind him asking for it. It was just weird for him to follow me around so much. Lost in my thoughts, I forgot to defend myself and Aspen punched me in the gut, making me cough.
"Sorry, Luca!" She leaned over and tried to steady me. "You've been doing so well, what happened?"
I looked up to see the head alpha, still having a conversation with Xander, who was oblivious to what was going on. He had a small smirk on his face and ran a hand through his bleached hair. I looked away in embarrassment.
Aspen took me to sit down and handed me another water bottle. This time I drank with no restraint, welcoming the hydration to my parched throat. I wiped my mouth, twisted the bottle cap back on and sat on the bench, waiting until my heavy breathing calmed down. It never did.
She could tell something was off with me. She rubbed my back gently, but I kept panting and drinking more water. The warriors began to turn their heads to see what was going on.
Aspen helped me up from the bench and led me away from the training grounds. I looked over my shoulder at Felix as we left. His smirk had faded into the look of concern that his face wore when we first met. I had just overexerted myself. I'm sure some rest would do me some good.
I leaned on Aspen all the way from the elevator to my apartment door. My breathing had become worse, even more unsteady and shallow. She opened my door for me and I immediately fell onto my bed, laying on my stomach with my face on the pillows.
"Do you need some more water, Luca? Some medicine?" She closed my front door, coming closer to me and putting her hand on my forehead.
"You're burning up, Luca. And your face is beet red!"
"I think I just overexerted myself and trained too hard today," I mustered, barely able to catch my breath with every word.
"I'm going to get you an ice pack from the lobby. I'll be right back."
I nodded as best as I could, turning my head towards the door. My head was throbbing at this point and my vision was moving between blurry and clear.
As I looked out of my door that Aspen had left open, I saw her become wide eyed and heard her talking to someone, but I had no idea what she was saying. I guess my ears are messed up, too. She then left and I saw a tall man standing in my door frame. When my eyes focused again, I saw an unmistakable mound of bright blonde hair. Felix was here.
✩｡:*•.───── ❁ ❁ ─────.•*:｡✩
Training was going fine in the beginning, but what's going on with Luca? Felix is concerned, and maybe you should be, too... If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote and comment your thoughts! I love to read what you guys have to say ♡ - D