Alpha's Girl

{14. A Mouse Among Lions}

My hands felt sweaty and my throat felt drier than the desert as I followed Bates and Lea out into woods toward the training field. Zac was long gone, citing that he had some things to take care of before the training session, and I'd missed him immensely, far more than I'd like to admit.

Though I knew Zac wouldn't even entertain the idea of me partaking in the training session, I still felt extremely on edge. Up until yesterday, Bates and Lea were the only other wolves that I'd seen, and now, I would be surrounded by dozens, likely hundreds of wolves that we hardwired to mame and kill as if it were as easy as breathing. And I was the weakest among them.

We live with the 'kill or be killed' mentality. Zac's words from the night before filled my head like an echo in the Grand Canyon.

"Austin, relax, I can smell your nerves," Bates said as he slung his arm across my shoulders. His bare torso felt warm against the day's cool breeze. I wondered if he and his kind got cold the way humans do, or were they like a living breathing pocket warmer like Twilight would have me believe.

"Wait, you guys can actually smell that?" I asked, causing Lea to hit Bates.

"Ow--!"

"No, Austin. Don't listen to him. He's just messing with you."

"Oh," I said, releasing the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"But we can hear that your heart is beating almost as fast as a mouse-- OW!"

"Bates, knock it off!" Lea chastised as we broke through the thicket of trees and my legs stopped responding to my brain's instructions to move, cementing me in place like a statue. In front of me were literally hundreds of men, women, and even people around my age, some even younger, of all races and physical appearances. In front of them on a platform was Zac sparring with another man. Their strikes were lightning-fast and with every impact, my skin crawled. I could practically hear the bones breaking and instantly healing just to be broken again, something that would take me months to recover from whereas they didn't flinch.

Anger pooled in their black eyes as they struck each other looking as if they were about to kill each other. I had to ball my fists and dig my nails into my palms in order to keep myself from running up to him in a hopeless attempt to save a man who didn't need saving. As if to prove me right, Zac smoothly maneuvered his way around his opponent and effortlessly shoved his hand into the right side of the poor man's chest, luckily not on the side his heart was on. "Yield," he coldly said, his voice enough to kill the man if he didn't decide to rip out his lung or heart first.

"I yield," he instantly choked out, and Zac removed his blood-covered hand from his chest cavity, causing the man to collapse and take loud, messy breaths.

"Alpha Zac, remind me to never volunteer to be your demonstration partner ever again," the man wheezed out after a few moments, slowly rising to his feet. His chest was fully healed from what usually would be a life-ending trauma without a single trace of disturbance or pain.

The cold look in Zac's eyes melted away and a grin spread across his face. He wasn't even breathing heavily as he used a towel to wipe off his bloody hand. "It's alright, Jefferson. You put up an impressive fight. You learn well." Zac clapped him on the shoulder as the pack started clapping in appreciation, their hands coming together oddly in sync, making it sound less like a group giving applause and more like one single person clapping very loudly.

Bates groaned as he reluctantly pushed in toward the group toward the platform. "That's going to be me next."

"Wow," I breathed, ignoring Bates' complaints, causing Lea to chuckle behind me.