The Alpha's Fight

Chapter 7 - It Was Simply Two Friends

My feet protested in our destination.

I wasn't enthusiastic for what was about to come either, but I had no choice in the matter. Refusal to show would result in a single unpleasant outcome. Having my father train me today was most definitely the lesser of two evils.

Scott was already present with his father, Ford, and Hayes stood nearer Nicholas. His father, Reid, was already leading the warriors through their paces and the head tracker was disappearing into the treeline with the other trackers.

'Cutting it a little close,' Scott gave me a worried glance.

'My damn alarm didn't go off,' I muttered.

When I turned my alarm off the previous morning, I had accidentally turned it off fully and hadn't reset it. Of all the days I could've slept in, this was the worst.

"So good of you to finally join us," my father said lowly, his eyes narrowed.

"It's only a few minutes…" I muttered without thinking.

'Goddess, now you've done it,' Hawk mentally slapped me.

My father's jaw ticked and the vein on his temple pulsated. Hayes smirked from the side, knowing the brutality that I would face and taking great delight in it. The last time we sparred, I broke his nose and his femur. He knew he would never get his payback directly. Ever since I had gotten my wolf, my wins had been on the increase.

"Hayes, you can go join your father. I think I'll be sparring with my son personally for the entire duration today," Nicholas's eyes darkened.

'And I never got to sniff our sweet blond boy one last time,' Hawk sighed melodramatically.

'I get it, all right?! My smart mouth landed us in s**t this time.'

Ford and Scott looked to start warming up with stretches, but I never got a chance. My father's fist came flying at my face. I narrowly avoided the brunt of the blow. Unfortunately, his knuckles just grazed my nose, shedding blood instantly. He followed up with an experienced and precise jab to my ribs. The wind was knocked out of me as I folded, clutching my side. I couldn't be sure, but at least one of my ribs was possibly fractured.

"Get up! You rest on your own time, since you like lie-ins so much," he sneered, moving to snatch a fist full of my hair to pull me to my feet.

I made a painful roll to the side out of his grasp and stood, taking a defensive position to guard my injury and wipe the blood from my nose. When he launched another punch, I was quick to lean backwards out of its arc, grab his wrist to pull him forward and land a swift uppercut to his jaw. But no sooner had my fist made contact that his knee rammed into my side. If a rib wasn’t broken before, it was now, with several others. I crumpled to the ground, barely able to breathe.

“Your mistake was thinking you could hide your weakness. The moment you guarded it, I knew where to strike,” he sneered down at me. “I see we still need to revisit my other lessons; weaknesses must be beaten out.”

Hide my weakness? Guarded it? Was he talking about our sparring? Or something else? Was I being paranoid? Did he know?!

How could he know?

Taylor was never around the pack house. I only ever saw him at school… and he wasn’t a weakness!

‘Still in the vat of denial, I see?’ Hawk shook his head. ‘You were declaring your undying love for him to ourselves yesterday. Face it, there is literally nothing you wouldn’t do for him… or to him,’ he shivered.

This was the absolute worst time for him to be getting aroused by a boy!

I picked myself up, completely blanking Hawk’s remarks, and trying to appear as though nothing my father had said sent me into a momentary mild panic.

I was already in agony, fatigued, stressed and pissed off… I had only been sparring for 15 minutes.

Fuck my life.

*

*

*

I could almost throw up in my exhaustion. But I was satisfied that I had gotten in a few good swipes, too.

My body was littered with injuries. They would heal in a few hours, but the pain would still linger long after. All wolves had a faster rate of healing, even pre-shift, although a scar could still be left without our wolf spirit present. Its rate rapidly increased during and after the shift, to cope with the bone realignment. Silver injuries were the exemption and the only thing that could leave behind heavy scarring after we shifted. The metal reacted to our skin in a similar fashion to a chemical burn and inhibited the nerve receptors responsible for the rapid healing response. The same was said of vampires, though I didn’t think wiccans were affected; not that I had ever met one to ask. I had never even met a human. All I had ever known were werewolves, having never left the pack.

My father finally released both Scott and me from our training, so I gathered up my last shred of energy and tried to stagger away as best as I could. Once we were far enough and completely out of earshot of anyone, I could finally turn to my friend.

“Scott, I need you to pop my shoulder back in,” I grimaced, the pain radiating through my whole chest.

“Uhh, I have no clue what I’m doing though,” he looked on with worry.

“Just… ugh… hit it right there,” I breathed through the pain and indicated the spot I needed him to punch to knock my shoulder back into its socket.

He sighed and reluctantly did as I asked, rearing back to aim.

A white light of agony seared my whole chest and I momentarily lost all feeling in my arm before it slowly returned.

“Did… I get it?” He cautiously placed his hand on my back where I had doubled over.

“Yep…” I groaned.

Even though it had hurt like hell, it was already feeling better and I knew the joint was back in its place.

“Do you need me to walk back with you, or…?”

“No, I’m fine. I promise,” I grimaced again. I would be fine… eventually… I just needed to lie down.

He insisted on walking with me till at least near the pack house. I just about managed to shower and take in all the bruises that would remain for a few days yet. I didn’t even bother getting dressed and collapsed on my bed, completely spent and pulling the bed sheet over my naked skin.

‘You know what would help you relax?’ Hawk started up, but I shut him down immediately.

‘DON’T!’ I snapped. ‘Everything aches. Can you just not be you, for a few hours?’

‘Fine, I’ll give you this one… spanky.’

Why did I end up with this cheeseball of a wolf?

*

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*

I woke to the golden orange rays of the setting sun in the late afternoon. My bones still screamed but at least I could stand without collapsing. After the day I had been subjected to, I needed a run. Only, when I tried to shift, my shoulder screamed in protest; I must've torn a ligament that was still tender after healing and it felt as though there was still some swelling left behind. So I had to settle for human form instead, wandering as far as I wanted and sightly regretting not eating beforehand.

I wasn't particularly paying attention to where I was going; I let my feet decide on their own which direction we took. I hadn't gone too far outside the pack's main town. Out here, the homes were a little more sparse with more privacy and more open access to the forest around them.

There was something about the house I was approaching. I couldn't quite put my finger on why it drew me in as I circled around the hedge border. It was an ordinary-looking small home, cosy and inviting with a large greenhouse near the back door, but ordinary all the same. I heard voices approaching from across the road, from the direction of the high school. I ducked down behind the hedge on instinct, not wanting to look like some thug hanging around and held my aura in to help hide my presence. The voices belonged to two people, a young girl and a boy.

I didn't need to see the owner to know who it was… it was Taylor. It had to be. How had my feet led me here? Was this by chance? I didn't even know where his house was. My heart fluttered, beating into overdrive at hearing his voice for the first time. His voice sounded boyish still, he was only 16, but very much masculine and so soft, gentle with a slight sultry edge.

'Goddess, is that what angels sound like?' My wolf sighed. Our sweet boy's voice was more divine than I could ever imagine.

I started to feel a slight dizziness overtake my vision, making me lean into the foliage of the hedge, shaking it. s**t, did he see?!

'Maybe release our aura?' Hawk deadpanned. 'Taylor hasn't shifted and whoever he's with hasn't shifted either. No-one is going to sense you, dummy.'

'Oh yeah… I just kinda panicked.'

'Imagine my shock,' my wolf rolled his eyes.

Blood Alphas, Betas and Gammas emitted a natural aura of authority that made itself apparent upon shifting; an Alpha's aura being the most dominant, which grew with maturity. It was possible to suppress an aura, but only temporarily and with some training to achieve a longer suppression. Holding it for too long caused the individual to feel a little faint, as I had. Only individuals with an emerged wolf spirit could feel an aura, although those pre-shift could sense the faint crackle of electricity in the air when stood close by.

The melodic laughter snapped my attention back as I peered through the gap in the shrubs, pulling a branch back to confirm it was in fact Taylor… laughing and talking with a she-wolf. An instant, deep and stabbing jealousy took hold of my heart. I wanted that to be me, making him laugh and smile… oh goddess, help me, his smile and laugh drew me in like a siren.

"Thanks for today. You've been a lifesaver," he spoke to his female companion. Was she his girlfriend? My heart twisted painfully, worse than anything I had endured today.

"No, problem! See you soon," the girl, who was still facing away from me, said with a wave.

Wait, I knew that voice too. Just as the thought occurred, a gentle breeze wafted her scent over along with Taylor's sweet rain aroma. Imogen? She was friends with him?

I couldn't help my eyes following him, all common sense evaporating immediately having him so close. I could just about see him through the windows and the exchange with his parents, the fatherly pat on the back he received, and his mom handing him a plate. He was a perfect mix of his parents, his father's eyes and his mother's hair. There was so much affection on their faces, he looked so loved. I wasn't jealous of him, just what he had. A family. One that loved him.

I had been so engrossed in Taylor, as usual, that I completely forgot about the little she-wolf. Until I heard her footsteps stop beside me, making my eyes snap to hers.

"Hunt-" I slapped my hand over her mouth, pulling her down to me before anyone saw or heard her.

"Shhhush!" I hushed her, looking over to the house to make sure the occupants were none the wiser.

Imogen muffled a protest and smacked my hand away, "what're you doing here? And why are you covered in bruises?" She asked worriedly, tracing her fingers over my cheek and jaw.

"My father's supervising my training, personally," I tried to ignore her look of pity.

"What were you doing with Taylor?" I couldn't keep the bite out of my tone.

'Way to play it subtle,' Hawk muttered.

"Tutoring him, why? Do you know him?" She whispered back, confused.

I audibly sighed. Thank goddess! It was stupid to feel jealous; guys were clearly not her thing… but it was hard when others were giving him the things I couldn't.

She looked at me, sceptically, just as it dawned on her. "He's your secret crush!" She squealed in delight.

I hushed her again, aggressively, and slapped my hand back over her mouth.

"Yes! But be quiet! I can't be seen here," I whisper-yelled.

Even after I let her go, her beaming hadn't stopped. I stood with her, took her hand and pulled her away, keeping an eye over my shoulder to make sure we weren't spotted.

"Oh my goddess, he'd be so perfect for you! He's so sweet and cute, and kinda feisty too. You picked well. There's a bunch of girls with a crush on him," she gushed, automatically linking her arm around mine.

A growl escaped my throat, automatically.

"Ok, ok, chill," she patted my arm. "I've never heard him talk about a girl though, so I don't know, maybe he plays for your team?"

I cast a glance back at Taylor's home. Like I'd ever be that lucky…

"How come you're tutoring him?" Remembering what she had said earlier.

"Oh he's pretty smart, but he sucks at English. I've been helping him once a week for a few months now. We just came from that study hall they host at school once a month," she explained. "We're not super close or hang out or anything. But he sure does talk about plants a lot.'

That I already knew, that he had an interest in them anyway. I saw him many a time with plant books in his hand. Or, I had often caught him staring at them and, judging by the greenhouse I now knew he kept in the backyard, he grew many too.

The whole walk home, Imogen talked away, happily, keeping hold of my arm. Strangely, I felt completely at ease with it, because I knew it wouldn't go anywhere.

It gave others the impression I wanted, but in reality, it was simply two friends.