6. Time to play

Mia

It has been a really long time since I was able to train with a pack. Roaming around with Lucien doing 'official business' did not really set me up to make any friends. Feeling a little apprehensive, I followed Zach to the training grounds after finishing up with our breakfast. "Is the Alpha not joining us?" I quesitoned as we walked. He looked at and shrugged, "he usually joins training a little after the rest of us start. Who knows, maybe it comes with Alpha privelege."

I had found it quite easy to settle in after Lucien had left, a lot easier with Zach around. His warm personality and cheekiness made my transition into a pack a lot easier. He also seemed to be the only wolf not incredibly wary of me. If anything he saw me as a challenge that he was more than willing to take on.

"Now the guys may be a bit weird at first, but they will warm up to you," he continued to reassure as we walked onto the field, seeing the warriors warming up and talking. "Just try not to scare them too much," he winked before speeding off ahead of me. I knew he was mindlinking them because they all very quickly turned to look at me. I noticed Leo immediately and he gave me a curt nod, while the others seemed to either be sizing me up, or already deciding that this was a bad idea. I looked to Zach who had his arm stretched out to come to him, so I took in a deep breath and did exactly that.

Now as a guard, my confidence in the battle field was off the charts. Throw me any rogue or monster and I had no doubt in my mind that I could handle it. But being around people was another story. One thing guard training did not teach you was how to be sociable.

"Boys, we are blessed today to have this little pocket rocket train with us." I rolled my eyes at the introduction. "While she may not look it, she is an elite guard which means she could drop each and every one of you onto your ass." Some of the guys smirked and I could feel myself blushing firey red. "Training today will be 1 on 1 combat. Anybody game enough, is more than welcome to take her on."

I could feel Zach smirking, egging on his pack members to challenge me. I guess looking at me I was not very intimidating, I had a small stature and didn't seem to have any bulk on me. This resulted in a lot of opponents under estimating me, and it was quite fun to knock their ego's down a few notches.

As the men paired up, I observed their interactions. Quite a few looked at me as if they did want to have a go, but would shake their head and find somebody else. Onle after a couple of minutes did a man, who had a stature closer to that of a giant, stroll up to me. "Need a combat buddy?" he asked me with a soft smile. I nodded and stuck out my hand, "Mia." His much larger hand engulfed mine and I noticed the fair scars littered all over his tan hand. Looking up to meet his piercing green eyes, I smiled. "Tanner," he replied back, giving me a small smile. "Lets head over there, where we have more space," he suggested, nodding his head to the front end of the field. I agreed and walked with him, further away from the rest of the brawling.

Walking with Tanner he ambly chatted about his life. Tanner was the lead warrior in this pack. He had a mate, who was once a rogue and stumbled upon her when he was on his first ever patrol of the border. He has a pup on the way and I have never seen anybody prouder of their own family.

As we got away from the warriors, we took position facing each other, now in full fighting position.

“Are you sure about this little wolf?” Tanner growled at me with a smirk. I winked back, “are you big boy?” By this point I hadn’t failed to notice the many eyes on us. I guess they were all keen to see how I would go. “Let’s do this then,” I sang and crouched even lower, waiting for Tanner to make a big move.

Now Tanner was a big guy, and wolves like him often relied on brute force to fight, so here he was, running at me at full speed. Any wolf would be quaking in their boots if they were in my position, I was crazy not to be. But guards, we had heightened senses, it was almost as though things moved in slow motion for us when we fought. So I watched his trajectory, calculated where he was going to be, and leapt to the other side. What I didn’t pre-empt, was how reactive he was. Before I knew it, he had side stepped and was swiping my way, nicking the back of my arm with claws.

I hissed and stepped away, looking at him. He was smirking, knowing he had caught me out and I chuckled. ‘Time to play Mia,’ Fallon chimed and I grinned, knowing very well I have absolutely no intention of holding back.