by C. J. Cooke
Kyle dropped to his knees in front of me and his head fell forwards into my lap. “Forgive me.”
“I understand.” I said trying to hold the tears back. “I must be pretty disappointing when you’ve had a whole life to dream of the mate that you want.” He lifted his head and I turned my face away from him not wanting him to see my tears.
“What do you mean, Aria? You are more than I could ever have dreamed of.” His hand cradled my cheek and I leaned into it feeling confused. I hadn’t realised that the tears had started to fall until I felt his thumb brush them away. “Don’t cry Aria, I can’t take it if you cry.”
“I’m sorry” I sniffled. “I didn’t realise it would hurt this much when you left me.”
“Aria, no. I would never leave you.” He said pulling me into his arms. “I heard what happened in the library with Isaac and I came to beg your forgiveness. I came to see if you could stand being around me anymore knowing how my father is.”
I pulled back so that I could look him in the face. “You’re not going to leave me?” I asked.
“No.” He smiled. “I could never leave you Aria. I was made for you.” He sat down on the bed next to me and put one arm around my shoulder pulling me closer to him. I snuggled into him and breathed in his pine and amber scent. When had I become this person? I never would have thought I would be this weepy chick over guys.
“I don’t know what to think Kyle. Why would your Dad think that he has a right to make Britt be with that guy? What type of place is this?” I was so confused. “Do you agree with what he’s doing?” I asked dreading to hear the answer.
“No, of course not sweetheart. The pack is a complicated thing. After the wars our numbers dropped so low that the pack warped into something very different than what it was. The strongest were valued more than the weakest and the females were preserved over anything. They were the only hope for us to re-establish our numbers. Over time that need to protect them became twisted and ugly into a need to control them. Those that were the strongest considered them better than those that they saw as weaker than them. Our numbers grew but we still don’t have a large amount of females. They started to be traded like commodities. It’s a terrible system and there is no excuse for it. It’s something that needs to be changed but right now I don’t have the power to be able to do anything about it.”
“I can understand how you would want to protect your females, but what is happening now … you cannot possibly justify what is happening. Yes, it can explain how you got to this place but it doesn’t make it any better.”
“I’m not trying to make excuses.” Kyle sighed. “I hate it just as much as you do. I just can’t do anything about it at the moment.” I snuggled into Kyle and we both cuddled up to each other on the bed. “We will change it Aria. We will change it together.”
Chapter Thirteen
Dinner was going to be interesting. I felt stronger having talked with Kyle. He wasn’t like his father and we were going to work together to change things for the better. As we headed towards the cafeteria people in the corridors were already watching us. The whispers were more humorous than annoying. Subtlety was not a strong point of these people. Walking into the cafeteria, the room fell silent. Kyle walked in ahead of us. Liam and I followed. Just before we entered the room, Liam scooped up my hand in his own and gave me a soft smile. Sykes followed behind us. The plan had been just to go about our business as usual but it seemed like it was changing into something new on the fly. That is after all the best way to make a plan. As you go along, without forethought, definitely the way to success. It was almost like there was an unheard signal and every head turned towards us. Just then Kyle turned to me with a grin on his face and I knew exactly what he had planned. I’d pretend to be mad later, this was actually strangely hot. He pulled me into his arms, dipped me like a 1950’s film star and kissed me until my head span. I wasn’t sure if my knees would take my weight. I was definitely in swoon territory. As quick as it happened, I was suddenly back on my feet. One of the other packs at the tables near the door suddenly stood and tension filled the air. It was Pickle and his pack. Another pack to our right stood. Apparently now was the time that we were going to be making a stand on this issue. But this is not something that I was just going to sit by and let the menfolk decide between themselves while they fought over me. If we were going to be making an impression right now then I wanted that impression to be that I was strong female who was going to choose her mates herself.
“Oh, hey there Pickle, how’s the limp coming along? No lasting damage I hope.” I said strolling out from behind Kyle. He didn’t try to stop me and I smiled at him as I walked past. I knew that he would have my back in this if I needed him too. The smiler in the pack barked out a laugh and I cocked my head towards him. Pickle was going to have problems in his pack soon, he wasn’t going to keep his alpha position for much longer. I turned towards the other pack who had stood. “You might want to sit your asses back down.” My magic swarmed through my veins and I embraced the rage this time. I let it wash over me and flow out across the room. It always filled me with a sense of calm and clarity. My short swords shimmered into existence in my hands and I smiled gently at the new pack in front of me. I felt my magic flash through my eyes. It was stronger than I had ever felt it before but I didn’t struggle to keep it in check. I could see the pack shifting uncomfortably in front of me. “I’ve made my choice boys, sit the fuck down.” I sneered at them. One of the pack gave me a short sharp nod and sat. The others in the pack followed his lead. I felt my magic leave me as I exhaled and my swords blinked back out of existence.
Sykes strode up behind me and dropped his arm around my shoulders. “I smell burgers, you hungry sweetheart?”
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning I pulled on my work out clothes and slipped on my trainers. It was 5:00am but it was the perfect time for a run. I loved running at this time of the morning when it was quiet and no one else was around. I don’t think I had ever left it this long between runs and it had only been two days. I gently closed my bedroom door behind me so I didn’t wake anyone up in the other rooms and skipped down the stairs. I pulled up my running playlist as I opened the door and then I skidded to a stop. Sex Shop Barbie was standing in front of me with six other girls. They were all milling around stretching and chatting. I recognised two of them from my History of the Race lesson, Harmony and Nix gave me a sheepish smile when I looked over at them.
“Erm what’s going on?” I said looking around the group with suspicion, and annoyance if I was being completely honest.
“We’ve come for the run, obviously.” Sex Shop Barbie said. She was wearing the most ridiculous outfit. Yes, it was technically workout clothes but she looked like she was about to step onto some porn set.
“What run?” I glared at her. If she had come here to fuck with my run, I was going to fuck her up. This was sacred time to me. It was the only way that I could control the rage and I could not afford to flip out.
“Ignore Della, she’s apparently grumpy in the morning.” Britt said skipping over to us. I hadn’t seen her stretching on the grass while my sole focus had been on the bitch witch herself. I was glad to see her as something instead of the cowering girl I had seen in the library.
“Well we’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes.” Della snarked as she flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and bent over to perform what I assume she thought was a stretch but actually just looked like she was shoving her ass at me and stroking it. Bitch was strange!
“Waiting for what?” I was starting to worry that I was looking a little slow on the uptake her.
“For you! God are you always this slow in the morning?” Della screeched at me.
“Okay, Della rein in the screaming bitch for now if you don’t mind.” Britt said shoving Della to the side, who just glared at the back of her head. “She doesn’t speak for the rest of us.”
“ I’m still a bit confused about what is going on her
e though.” It was 5:30am, everyone was supposed to be asleep. This was me time god damned it!
“Right yes, get right to the point, I like that. We want to train with you.” Britt at least had the decency to look embarrassed as she said it. Worst nightmare come true. Training crashers!
“Oh right, well if you speak with Caleb he’s going to be setting up some training routines and I’ll be helping him out so I’m sure he will be able to sort something out for all of you.” I could see where this was going already and if being purposefully dense about it was going to get me out of this, then I was happy to sing that song.
“No, I mean yes, we will do that, but that’s not quite what I meant. The other day in the gym you kicked ass. Like to whole new epic levels. You stood up to Isaac for me and he’s actually left me alone. Then in the cafeteria yesterday two packs stood down because of you. I don’t think you understand how unbelievable that is. They stood down for a woman.” Britt gushed.
“If he values his balls, he better stay away from you. So, you want to learn how to stand up to them and make them listen to you.” I sighed. Crap! She just had to go for the only soft spot that I had.
“No, we want to learn how to be strong.” She said forcefully. Double crap! Now I couldn’t say no.
“I can do that. It’s not going to be easy though you know. In fact, it’s going to really, really suck for you lot.” I sighed in defeat.
“We don’t care about that,” the other girls murmured their agreement around her, “it would be more than worth it.” Huh, maybe this was going to be my way to elicit some change around here. “Well, you know me and Della,” my mind voiced over ‘sex shop barbie’ in my head, “and this is Mae, Aeryn, Harmony and Nix.” I gave them all a weird awkward wave.
“Okay then. Everyone stretched and warmed up?” I asked addressing the group. They all nodded their agreement. “It’s fifteen miles. It’s fifteen miles every morning. You run till you drop. Then you get up and keep running. You need to throw up. Throw up. Then you keep running. Once around the building is a five mile lap. I’m doing three laps for the full fifteen. I suggest that you start with one lap this week then increase from there. Okay ladies, you want to train, then it’s time to run.”
I started out slow. I wanted to see what they had and how far they were going make it. I’d seen them running in the gym the other day and they were not exactly in peak physical fitness. It would be interesting to see if any of them made it round one full lap. We lost Della by about half a mile but then I didn’t have high hopes for Sex Shop Barbie. A couple of them threw up around the third mile. I was actually impressed that all but Sex Shop Barbie and two others made it through the first full lap. Brit was one of those that made it through the lap and I was impressed with her. She was barely still upright but none of them were. As soon as we made it back to the steps, they all collapsed in a heap on the floor. I could see her though eyeing the track. She had the stubbornness to attempt a second lap like she had something to prove.
“Don’t. If you push it too hard today you won’t make it back tomorrow.” I told her. To the rest of them I shouted “You did well. I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning same time to go again. Stretch. A lot. Try and soak your muscles if you can. We can discuss a proper schedule tomorrow.”
I turned to leave for two more laps when I heard the whiney voice of Sex Shop Barbie behind me. “What makes her think that she’s so special anyway. So what if she can fight, she can’t do anything that my magic can’t do.”
“Oh, good you made it back to the group. I was worried when you dropped out before the first mile was even over. It was nice of you to just hang out here and wait while everyone else ran five miles.”
“Running five miles is hardly a skill I need when I have my magic to protect me. I don’t need you, I don’t need this. I have everything I need.” With that she turned around and stormed back though the academy building.
“If anyone else feels the same way don’t come back tomorrow morning. I don’t have time to waste on people who don’t want to train.” I said setting off at a steady pace. The first five miles had been nothing but a warm up for me and I need to set a fast past for the last ten if I was going to get the work out in that I needed.
I was surprised when I got back to the front steps to find Britt still sat there waiting for me. “Something you needed.” I asked pulling my earbuds out and sitting down next to her.
“You shouldn’t listen to what Della says. She doesn’t even know what she wants. I can’t believe that she thinks that her magic is enough to protect her. We grew up together you know. She should know that magic isn’t enough to save us.” Britt said staring off into the darkness.
“Before I came here, I used to work for a woman who helped other women escape from abusive situations. None of those women thought they were entering a bad situation when they got into those relationships. Sometimes, things need to go to shit before people have the motivation to do something about it. You can’t force them before they are ready.”
“She should know better.” Britt sounded haunted but I got the impression that this was something that she wasn’t ready to talk about.
“The easiest person to lie to is yourself.” I said with a shrug. “All you can do is make yourself strong enough to stand beside her when she needs it.”
“I will.” I saw the determination in her eyes. I didn’t know what happened in the past but I could see her building her defences around her ready to make sure that it would never happen again. That was when I decided that I was going to make all of these women hate me by training them until they dropped. And they were going to be magnificent.
“I still hate her though.” I said seriously and that at least broke her out in a laugh.
“Mae and Aeryn are coming over to my room tonight to hang, you want to join us for a bit?” Britt invited.
“Yeah, maybe.” I shrugged. I don’t know if this is a good idea. I’m not good at this friends thing and I like what I have going with Britt. I really don’t want to fuck it up by showing them just how much of a weirdo I am.
“Something better to do? Like three tall, beautiful shifter males?” She laughed.
“Ha! Maybe.”
“Well ditch them for a bit and come and gossip with us about how gorgeous they are. There will be snacks, of course.”
“Oh, well if there’s going to be snacks.” I laughed, “You’d better count me in.”
Chapter Fifteen
I was as nervous as a virgin on her first date. I must have stood in the closet for about half an hour looking at my meagre selection of clothes and trying to decide what I was going to wear. If I was being sensible then obviously I should just wear what I normally would, but then should I be putting a bit more effort into it. Thankfully Sykes came to my rescue just as I was about to give up and text Britt that I couldn’t make it.
“What’s going on honey bear? Why are you staring at the closet?”
“Honey bear?” I laughed.
“Yeah, just trying it out.” He shrugged. “So what’s the deal?”
“Britt invited me to her room with some of the other girls but I’m being a weirdo and freaking out about what to wear.”
“Well I would have thought that was obvious, when you girls get together isn’t it all lingerie and pillow fights?” He actually cringed even as he said it.
“All the same.” I laughed walking into his arms and kissing his cheek. “Thank you, I think my mind was starting to spiral out of control a bit then.”
“Just wear what you always do cuddle bum.”
“Urgh that one was even worse.” I laughed before kissing him gently on the lips. “I kind of want to just stay here with you.”
“I know, and as much as I would prefer you stay here and cuddle up with me, I think it would do you good to have a break and get out of this room for a bit.”
Sykes was right, a change of scenery would probably do me good. I pulled out my trusty AC/DC shirt and a p
air of skinny grey jeans. It felt good to be back in my old clothes and out of that stuffy uniform. Sykes, being the gentleman that he was, walked me to Britt’s room after we ate. It was a nice touch although I knew it was just because they were still in their protective shadow mode.
I knocked on Britt’s door and she opened it with a squeal. “You actually came!” Yeah, she was definitely drunk. “Come in! Come in!”
“I’ll, erm, leave you to it.” Sykes said taking a step back and laughing. I couldn’t say I blamed him. Things looked like they were definitely getting messy.
“See you in a bit.” I laughed taking a step inside.
Britt’s room was similar to how my old room had been. Aeryn and Harmony from our fighting group were already inside and had a drink in their hands. As Britt closed the door, she smiled at me and passed me a drink from the desk which was set up with bottles of some purple drink and lots of snacks. “Help yourself to food.” She said nodding towards the desk.