Rejection and Second Chances

Dealing with a Bully

I awoke the next day feeling fresh before I stretched. My hip and leg muscles were sore, and it hurt to move them.

“Adelina?” Ashton’s voice was soft and low as he woke up, igniting a fire within the pit of my stomach.

“Good morning.” I said, yawning as well.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, watching as I tried to loosen my muscles.

“Sore. Tense. Like I used muscles I never have before.” His chuckle was low as he stood up to answer the knock on the door. He brought back a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, avocado slices, and berries. I smiled as he handed me the plate, loading eggs and avocado onto a slice of toast and biting into it.

“I figured you would want breakfast in bed after…early this morning.” I giggled and nodded, swallowing the food I had in my mouth.

“I do, thank you.” I giggled, and he held up a piece of toast at me.

“Unfortunately, that does not get you out of training on this Friday.” I breathed in defeat, having expected this. “So after breakfast, we’ll be going downstairs.” And we did. We finished our food and got dressed, heading down into the training room.

“Adelina!” Yessenia’s voice was sing-songy. I smiled as she flounced up to me. She didn’t say a word, but smiled at me with a sweetness. “You’re glowing!”

“Let’s just say I feel like a totally new person after this week. Sore, but in a good way.” I smiled, not wanting to tell her a secret in front of so many people. She nodded excitedly and smiled.

“So you like training, huh? And eating good food to help make you stronger?” I laughed and nodded.

“Absolutely! I feel like I could take on a lion right now!” She giggled at my analogy until Ashton spoke up.

“Alright, good morning everyone.” He said, his voice rising above the crowd, effectively silencing it. “Today will be like any other day, so let’s get to it!” We rounded up in random couples like we did every other day; this time I paired with a man my age named Adam. He took his first swing and I dodged it, swinging upwards and hitting him in the jaw. He stood there, stunned, before wiping his jaw and taking an offensive stance.

“You’re not as stupid as you made it seem.” He growled. “I hate bitches who play games.” I looked at him in shock.

“You realize I’ve been picking things up as we trained all week, right?” I said as I dodged another attack. Unfortunately, I missed the third one because he hit me in the shoulder right as I stepped to the side and I fell backwards.

“All I can see is that you’ve been playing us like fools.” He swung downwards and I rolled out of the way. His fists kept coming down so I kept rolling.

“Woah, what the hell is going on here?!” I heard Ashton’s voice ring out. I stopped hearing pounding sounds against the ground so I stopped rolling and looked up to see Ashton right next to me.

“Just practicing, Alpha.” Adam said, crossing his arms. Ashton crossed his right back and stared Adam down like a pup who needed punishment.

“It looked more like you were trying to hurt her and she was trying to get away from it.” Ashton’s voice had an edge to it, and I scrambled to stand up.

“Isn’t this supposed to be real?” Adam responded, looking like he was on the verge of challenging the alpha.

“To injure, not to kill. Are you challenging me, Adam?” I held my breath as the people near us stopped practicing to watch. Ashton stared Adam down, an electric charge shooting between the two of them.

“No, Alpha. I wouldn’t dare to challenge you.” Adam said, looking at the ground.

“Good. Go to my father’s office. I’ll be there to deal with you shortly.” There was a tone behind his command, and Adam began marching back towards the packhouse. Ashton turned back to the rest of us, an angry look on his face. “You may continue from where we left off.” He said, turning back to me.

“I’m your partner for now. We will continue.” He said. I nodded as he swung at me and I dodged it, throwing my own punch back. He blocked it, firing back a punch to my shoulder. I parried it, swinging back and hitting him in the cheek.

“Good job. What was happening just now?” He said as he kicked, sweeping me off my feet.

“He tried saying I was a liar because I dodged one of his attacks with ease.” I said as he kicked at my knee. I stepped back, dodging his kick by inches. “My response was that I had been learning things all week since it’s Friday.” He nodded as he swung at me again, his timer going off.

“Alright everyone, switch!” His voice bellowed, and he struck an offensive position. I immediately swept my leg, knocking him down, and swinging downwards. He jerked to the left, dodging me and scrambling to his feet quickly.

“Alright. I’ll get this figured out quickly.” He said, and I nodded in appreciation. We exchanged blows for a little while; me throwing punches and kicking and him dodging, blocking, and parrying. His timer finally went off by the time I was sweating and even more sore than when I woke up.

“Alright everyone, time for a run.” He said. We all followed behind him as he lead a run around the boundaries of the pack before we made it back in time for lunch.

“Good day, everyone.” He said, watching everyone go inside the packhouse for their sandwiches and drinks.

“Are you going to come eat with us?” I asked as I walked up next to him. He looked down at me with a smile and put his arm around my shoulder.

“I definitely will for you, but I have business to attend to afterwards.” I smiled as he kissed my forehead and we walked inside to grab our plates and sit at the table.

Roast beef sandwiches and carrots and potatoes for lunch filled me up quickly, but I ate over half of it. Ashton smiled at me as he stood up and kissed my forehead, leaving to go to his father’s office and deal with Adam.

“Good luck.” I said quietly as I watch him turn the corner.