The Warrior King

Chapter 2

Nicola's POV

"Alright everyone listen up!!" Kane yells and all the men standing around snap to attention.

"Nicola is going to hand out new guns to everyone and we are going to go through our normal range routine. At the end, any questions you have about your weapon, she can answer."

I begin to hand out guns to each of the warriors while they all listen to Kane speak.

"Alright, anything before we start?" Kane asks the group once I've finished.

"Yeah, why do these look exactly like our last guns? I thought we were supposed to be getting an upgrade?"

I stare at him and narrow my eyes.

My wolf growls in my head from the disrespect and I'm not going to lie, I feel offended as well. He gives me a look that clearly indicates he doesn't think I know what I'm doing and that irritates me.

"Calm down Freya, let me just explain the upgrades too him." I say to my wolf, not wanting to make a scene in front of the Beta.

"They're 18% lighter." Kane barks at the man. "Got a problem with your gun or are we good to go?"

"No sir Beta." The man bows his head and clamps his mouth shut.

The rest of the training goes by uneventful. A few of the men come up and thank me for their new lighter weapon and it reminds me why I enjoy my job so much. As soon as the training ends, I see Cameron jogging up to me.

"Hey Nic! Meet you in 10 for out weekly training session, right?"

"Yup, I'll be right there."

Every Tuesday after the warrior's range training, Cameron gives me some lessons in hand to hand combat. Most of the time a few of the other guys jump in and try to show me a few moves they think I'll be able to pick up on easily. This has been going on for the last 3 years so I've gotten to be decent. Not to mention it's a great way to let off some steam, especially since Freya has been aggressive lately.

I walk up to Cameron waiting for me by the training mats as he extends his arm out for a fist bump. We go through our normal stretching routine and then start on the basics.

I lean left and then right as Cameron lazily throws punches for me to dodge. I throw a few back, hitting his open hands and then do a tuck and roll. He grins at me as we do this for a few more mins.

"So I was thinking about stepping it up a notch today." He says to me and I raise my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like actually spar."

"With who??"

"Me. Don't worry I'll be easy on you, but I think you're ready."

I glare at him, trying to figure out what he has up his sleeve and he throws his hands up.

"No funny business I promise."

I nod in agreement and we both start to get into a fighting stance. He approaches slowly and starts to circle me. Quickly he lunges forward trying to wrap his arm around my neck but I slip out from underneath him and send an elbow to his ribs. I start to laugh, obviously tickled with myself I was able to land even one hit, but as soon as I do he kicks my legs out from underneath me and I hit the ground hard.

"What the hell." I whisper to myself

Freya is frustrated right now, embarrassed that we got taken down so easily.

I jump up quick to see him smirking at me and it pisses me off even more. We each throw a few punches at each other but all are blocked as we continue to circle. I'm breathing heavy at this point and not sure how much long I'll be able to keep this up. Since I don't train nearly as much as the warriors do, my stamina is comparatively lacking and it's starting to show.

I begin to get annoyed with the back and forth and Cameron takes advantage of my sloppiness. My legs get kicked out from under me again and I hit my head when I fall. This time my wolf is fuming inside and pressuring me to get up and fight back. In a rage, I jump up and quickly slam my fist into the side of Cameron's jaw. I instantly look down in shock to see blood on my knuckles and Cameron with a shocked expression and a busted lip. I look at him cautiously as I rub the back of my head that is throbbing from the last impact, not sure what he might do in retaliation.

He just grins back at me, obviously pleased I was able to even land a blow like that. We start to circle each other again and this time I throw my body at him, trying to catch him by surprise and tackling him to the ground. This wasn't the best idea on my part, seeing as he's twice my size and easily rolls us over. He's soon on top, his heavy weight pinning me to the ground.

Freya huffs in annoyance once we realize the situation we're in. We've clearly lost.

I relax my body as I stare up at the ceiling and breathe heavily, accepting my defeat.

The air suddenly shifts and I look up to see Cameron inches from my face and staring at me with an expression I haven't seen before. His eyes search mine and flick down to my lips as the air thickens between us. I've always thought Cameron was attractive but we've never been anything more than friends. Plus, we knew we weren't mates, not that that's stopped others from having relationships, but we certainly haven't. It's not exactly that I'm against it, I've just never been interested in anyone yet. Not like that. Freya is only interested in finding our mate, and I have no objections to it.

His mouth slowly comes down to mine but I turn away at the last minute and his lips find my cheek. This isn't something I expected from him, not when we've spent so much time together over the last three years without a hint he wanted something more. When I look back at him, his eyes are clouded in slight embarrassment and there's a red tint creeping up on his neck.

I'm not sure what to say or even do, but thankfully Cameron makes the decision for me by hopping up and grabbing my hand to help me back on my feet. I start to look around, a bit confused by what just happened, and catch two men standing off to the side. One of them is Kane but the other is someone I don't recognize. But he sure is staring at me intently.

"Hey Cameron?" I say to him

"Hmm?"

"Who was that guy standing next to Kane?"

He looks down at me with a puzzled expression, our previous encounter momentarily forgotten.

"I'm not sure. I don't know all the warriors, we have too many of them. I think I've seen him fight once or twice though and he's pretty good. Why?"

"Just curious." I mutter before heading back to my place to shower.

But for some reason, I can't get him out of my head.