Outliers

Seven

"A strange wind is coming from the west. It smells of change. As it gently blows my hair, I feel my unanswered questions fade. I don't remember them anymore. Their answers don't matter. A tickling feeling over my face makes my bare skin come to life when I know that it is my very soul that is actually awakening from a long, deep sleep. Wind of change... now I know I had been long waiting for you. I am ready."

Vasiliki

A week had passed with me in Colorado. True to Harris' word, he had been training me every morning from six am for an hour. Mostly we would go for a run through the territory or he would work on me with combat techniques. Every morning I would wake up sore and aching. Harris pushed me harder than Jack ever did, and had me feeling more weak and unaccomplished than I thought was possible. I hadn't realised until now just how much more I had left to learn. It was clear I had grown too comfortable with Jack, and allowed myself to grow too confident.

It was nearing the end of another one of our morning session and we were running later than usual, already some of the trainees were out on the training field warming up and waiting for Lorcan to appear.

"Get up," Harris commanded, drawing my attention back to him instead of across the field. From my position on the ground where I had slumped after our run - of which he had made us sprint nearly the entire time across the rough terrain through the trees - I watched him cross his arms tightly, a scowl on his face. It wasn't often he wore anything but a scowl when we were training. I was sure he was judging and criticising me the entire time.

It was all I could do each day not to swear at him; I was already counting down the days until I could join in on the training with the rest of the pack. He wasn't even out of breath, and only the slight sheen of sweat on his tanned chest, that shined under the early morning sun, indicated he'd done any exercise at all.

"Are we not done?" I almost groaned, dragging myself slowly to my feet. His scowl deepened, those thick eyebrows of his knitting together tightly.

"We're going to spar today, I want to assess where you are in hand to hand combat."

I tried not to let my surprise show. While sparring was the one thing I had been missing this entire time, there was a heavy feeling of trepidation settling in my gut. Yes, I knew I was skilled in hand to hand combat, my years of experience with Jack proved that; but the problem was my only experience was with Jack. While he was an Alpha, he was only twenty-six years old, barely trained himself. Alpha Harris was at least over a century old, despite not looking a day over twenty-five. He was experienced and highly trained and I knew without a doubt he would wipe the floor with me. With Jack, there was always a friendly competition to our fights. With Harris, I only felt intimidated.

Already he had proven my overall fitness and endurance was not as impressive as I had thought. I wasn't sure my pride could survive my combat skills being ripped to shreds.

"You've seen me spar before," I pointed out, shaking out my limbs and stretching loosely, preparing myself nonetheless. I was still slick with sweat, a cool breeze feeling amazing against my skin. I had started to train in only a sports bra and tight shorts, needing less layers to keep cool during training.

"Yes," he agreed, eyes narrowing, "But I want to see how well you hold up against me."

I couldn't hold his gaze, my eyes falling to the ground as I kicked at the grass. My arms came to wrap around my waist. Embarrassment was the feeling suddenly weighing heavy in my stomach. I knew my cheeks were flushed - regardless of if it was noticeable against the rosiness of my cheeks from the workout.