Rite of Submission - Rite 1

69: Fight Like A Girl

                As promised, I'd begged for most of the night, but not for forgiveness. Even with my healing abilities, I woke up with sore, protesting muscles and flaming red buttocks. It made it that much more difficult to slip out of bed without waking him as the sun started peeking over the horizon. I wanted to try to actually learn how to train today, before training in a group with Sophie and the newly selected female enforcers. I'd had to pour the sway on extra thick to get Nathan to agree to meet with me without telling Dmitri about it.

"You said sunrise," he grumbled as I made my way into the sparing room under the house.

"Careful Beta," I warned, knowing it irked him to be reminded of rank formalities. "I'm here now, what's first?"

"Females usual start with..."

I cut him off, "If I wanted the subpar training that this pack gives to its female shifters, I would've trained with them. I need to be able to hold my own in a fight as an Alpha."

A sly smile curled his lips, "If you want me give you elite training, no favoritism, you're going to have to leave your rank at the door. On these mats, I am your superior, until you can pin me and make me tap out."

"Yes sir," I saluted him sarcastically.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he chuckled just before he swept my legs out from under me.

For the next few hours, he kicked my ass. He made me run drills, for a short while, until it was clear that I would be able to outrun just about anyone rather easily, even him. Being a woman would mean that if I was ever in a fight, my opponent would likely be larger, stronger and have had more training. I needed to learn to use my speed to dodge their attacks and keep myself out of their grasp. Over and over, he'd circle around me, never coming from the same direction twice in a row. As soon as he got his hands on me, he slammed me into the mat and pinned me until I tapped out.

"Same time again tomorrow," I told him as we headed upstairs to join the others for breakfast.

"You're a glutton for punishment, explains your choice in mates," he grumbled, "I'm happy to knock you on your ass as much as you want. As long as you swear to keep that mate from ripping my throat out for it,."

"Agreed," I decided not to let his mocking tone when he said the word mate deter me. Dmitri would never approve of or be able to give me the full contact training I needed and wanted. I was already far behind the skills of even the youngest shifter. I thought of Mark and smiled to myself, maybe the second youngest.

Just as I'd expected, our regular little breakfast meetings had evolved quickly. It had to be moved into a larger dining room, with 3 additional tables to accommodate everyone that resided in the main house. We eventually put a smaller table in a corner, just enough room for me, Dmitri, Sophie, Nathan, Blake, Kelly and Lalita. Alphas, Betas, and our head enforcers, still accessible to the other members, but set apart enough for us to discus business. Kelly graciously accepted, at my suggestion, Dmitri's request to have her fill Candice's old position.

Over the next week, my days started to feel less hectic. The demolition was done and the blueprints were approved and awaiting the construction plans to be finalized, furniture and finishes selected. The tailor brought in to create a new wardrobe for me only sent a few sketches a day now. Extra training sessions were scheduled for us women, on top of my still secret lessons with Nathan. Sophie set aside an hour every day to expand my lycan history and politics education. I even started to take a few meetings off Dmitri's schedule, with Sophie's guidance as former Luna. We would spend our meals together when we could, but we never spent a night apart. By the second week, everyone seemed to have adjusted to the new dynamic.