CHAPTER FOUR
1721 Words
Sleep evaded Leslie for the rest of the night, she kept on turning on the soft bed. Frustrated and restless, she decided to examine her room.
Opening the wardrobe, her eyes bulged out in surprise as she saw a variety of clean clothes well folded and some hung inside.
Did this room belong to someone else?
She glanced around, trying to look for clues that this room was owned by another but found nothing.
Glancing at the clock, she jumped into action with a sense of urgency as the time for the training grew closer.
Entering the bathroom, she didn't have the time to explore it as she quickly took her bath. Luckily, everything she needed was present.
Wrapping the towel around her body, she trailed to her discarded bag and searched through it.
“No way!” She muttered under her breath. There were no clean clothes in her bag.
Slamming her hand to her forehead, she realized she never branched at her house.
“Pfft, what house? More like a storage unit” she muttered to her herself as she shook her head.
Glancing at the clothes she had worn earlier, she considered putting it on again.
A loud knock sounded on the door startled her out of her thoughts. She walked to the door, her brows furrowed because she wasn't expecting anyone.
Peeking through the peephole, “Oh, thank goddess it's you, Aaron.” She said as she opened the door wide for him, not caring she was only wearing a towel.
It was big enough to cover all important parts anyway, she thought.
Raising one eyebrow, he stared at her puzzled, “Why?”
“Nothing, come in, come in” she ushered him in.
As Aaron stepped in, redness flushed her cheeks as she was unsure how to tell him about her situation.
“Uhm,” her voice was laced with awkwardness. “I don't have any clothes to change into. I don't even know what to wear, and then again…” she hesitated to ask what had been on her mind.
“What is it?” he urged.
“Did this room belong to someone else?”
She didn't want to think it was true, but if Lucas had chased someone from here on her behalf, she wouldn't be happy.
“No, why?”
“I found clothes in the wardrobe, that's why.”
“Oh that. Alpha told the maids to arrange some clothes for you.”
Aaron slammed his head, “I can't believe I forgot to mention it.”
Leslie felt grateful. No one had cared for her like this before, not even in her former pack.
“Now!” Aaron clapped “change quickly. Can't keep the alpha waiting.”
Leslie jumped into action and quickly donned a sports bra and leggings, canvas and a t-shirt on top. Aaron didn't say anything about her outfit, so she believed it was good.
He took her to a large training room where Lucas and Jason were waiting. They all wore similar outfits, a loose t-shirt and shorts.
She took another peek at Lucas, her eyes remained on the way the shirt hugged him. That wasn't a loose tee, it was fitted. Very fit.
Her cheeks flushed red at her thoughts as she quickly averted her eyes from his figure.
Hopefully, no one noticed her ogling.
“Hm” the sound of Lucas' voice brought her away from her thoughts.
Lucas studied her “Let's get your blood pumping “ he nodded at Jason.
“Follow me.” Jason said.
Jason led her outside the building where there was a racetrack.
“This will be part of your daily routine until you build enough stamina,” he said as he began running.
They jogged for what felt like hours. Her breath heaved by the minute as she pushed herself to keep up with him.
Finally, Jason came to a stop, and she collapsed on the floor, her chest heaving up and down as she laid there, her clothes were thoroughly soaked with sweat.
“How, how…?” Leslie huffed, trying hard to catch her breath.
They had started when the sky was still dark, but now, the sun was shining bright.
“Come on, we are just getting started. Get up!” He commanded.
Oh no, he wasn't going to put her through this again, was he? She wondered as she struggled to get up, her muscles trembling from pain and exhaustion.
He led her back to the training rooms where Lucas was sparring with two pack mates at the same time. The spar ended in less than two minutes. They approached as he corrected his spar mates.
“Good you're back.” Lucas shifted his focus to Leslie, “Spar with her, Jason.”
“Why not you?” she asked him, curious.
“I need to see where you're lacking and what needs improvement,” he explained.
“Oh.” She replied as she tried to shake off the feeling of disappointment.
“Don't worry, you'll get a piece of me soon," he said playfully as he winked at her.
Leslie felt a rush of happiness spread through her heart at the subtle flirting. She pressed her lips when she felt a smile tugging at the corner.
She had to be serious.
Looking around, she saw some pack members give her curious looks as she made her way to the center of the room.
Deep down, Leslie knew this sparring session was a test of her combat skills.
Irrespective of the fact that Lucas was kind to her, she was well aware that his pack members wouldn't be so welcoming, despite him saying otherwise.
Pack didn't take kindly to lone wolves; that was law.
Taking a deep breath, Leslie concentrated on the feel of the air in her lungs as she zeroed in on Jason.
Taking a fighting stance, Jason's features became sharper, the audience was nothing but background noise to her.
“Begin!” Lucas commanded.
Jason moved swiftly as he threw a jab in her direction but she saw it coming and dodged it.
This continued for a while, her eyes darting back and forth as she looked for an opening space to strike.
Jason's defense was impeccable, damn it! She cursed, her frustration increasing as time went by.
“This isn't a game of dodge, go offensive!” Lucas yelled.
Immediately, she saw a weak spot and moved in, lightly throwing her fist at his side as he grabbed her and threw her on the floor.
Before she could get her bearings, his claw was on her neck and she stopped moving.
The sound of clapping drew Leslie's focus to the surroundings. The audience was cheering for her.
“Wow, five minutes.” Lucas commented as he approached them.
A feeling of deflation rocked Leslie’s core. She couldn't believe she had only lasted for five minutes, her shoulders slumped down in disappointment.
Stretching out his hand, he raised Leslie up, “Nice job.” he praised her.
She furrowed her brows at him, “How? It was only five minutes.”
“Yeah” Lucas interrupted, “Five minutes against an enforcer and one of the top three of Obsidian pack.”
Leslie eyes bulged out as she stared at Jason, “Wow!” she exclaimed.
“And you nicked him.” Lucas pointed at his side where Jason's t-shirt had a tear on it.
Her claw! She smiled proudly.
“Don't get too chirpy. I went easy on you.” Jason said as he walked away.
As the crowd dispersed, Lucas led her to another room which served as a healing bay.
“Now I know what I'm working with.” He said.
“Which is?”
“You're good. You know how to defend yourself when necessary but you lack attack power,” his gaze fell on her face.
He raised his hand to touch her face, ”ouch!”. A sharp pain filled the side of her face.
When had she gotten that bruise, she wondered.
“And you heal very slowly. That isn't good.”
“Yeah.” Feeling dejected, she looked down, “that's how I am.”
“Nope.” He shook his head, “It's because your wolf isn't out. When you transform, your healing ability should kick in.”
“When?”
He smiled softly at her, “don't worry," he leaned closer and stared at her, "Your wolf is inside, I can sense her.”
Leslie watched as Lucas' eyes glowed with a golden color.
“Your eyes…”
He closed them and righted his stance “Wait til you're treated, then you eat and rest. Injuries hinder training.”
Leslie got a band-aid and painkillers for the bruise. The day went idly by and she got enough rest. She wasn't able to see Lucas again because he was busy attending to pack affairs.
Not wanting to be idle, she went back to the training room after dinner to train.
She focused on a punching bag to release her stress and punched repeatedly.
“You're doing it all wrong.” A voice said behind her.
Swirling around, she looked at the owner, a young woman, well-built and curvy with long red hair that reached her lower back.
“What did you say?”
“I said you're doing it all wrong. You punch like a human.” She said, strolling towards Leslie.
The woman eyed Leslie who was breathing heavily.
“So, you're what he dragged in.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don't know why people are curious about you. There's nothing to see here.”
“Excuse me?”
“Great. Dumb too.”
Leslie felt anger rise within her, she clenched her fist as she took a step forward.
Leslie refused to be intimidated in this new environment. Whatever happened, she had made up her mind to fight.
She was a survivor for a reason.
Staring at the strange woman,
“Who the f*ck do you think you are?”
Leslie growled out.
The woman c****d her head to the side and stretched her hand forward for a handshake, “Nice to meet you. I'm Jessica, Lucas’ mate.” She said as she smiled sweetly.
- Writer
