The World's Most Uncomfortable Training Exercise

The reaction arrived before the exercise did. Mara noticed it immediately. A girl near the bleachers nearly dropped her water bottle. Ethan Hale looked like somebody had informed him that his favorite sports team had been dissolved by the government. Dave developed the exact expression people wore before delivering bad news to relatives.

The only person who seemed completely unaffected was Coach Donovan. Which was suspicious. In Mara's experience, anybody surrounded by panic who remained perfectly calm was either responsible for the problem or actively enjoying it. She stared at the coach and the coach stared back. Neither blinked.

Finally, Mara pointed toward Alaric. "You cannot seriously expect me to believe this happened naturally." The coach folded his arms. "What happened naturally?"

"This." She gestured broadly. "The entire situation." Several students immediately found the floor fascinating. And to Mara, that was very suspicious.

Mara was beginning to think Larkin College should offer conspiracy theories as an academic major. "On the mat, Vale," Coach Donovan said. "See?" Mara pointed at him. "That right there."

"What?"

"That evasive behavior." The coach sighed heavily. "On the mat."

"One day I'm going to uncover whatever bizarre social experiment this school is running."

Dave rubbed a hand over his face. "You say things that make my life harder."

"I have no idea what that means."

"I know." That somehow sounded worse. Mara adjusted her grip on the water bottle she was still holding and walked toward the center mat. The atmosphere changed with every step. Like entering a room in the middle of an argument. People kept watching. Trying not to watch but watching anyway.

Across from her, Alaric Arden stood waiting. The annoying thing about Alaric was that he never looked uncomfortable. Most people looked different depending on the situation. Tired during exams, relaxed during lunch and awkward during social events. Unfortunately, Alaric always looked like he had already read the script. Mara suspected he could get struck by lightning and respond by asking the storm if it had finished.

Coach Donovan stepped between them. "Defensive grappling. Controlled movement only." Mara raised her hand. "I have a question."

"No."

"You don't even know what it is."

"I know you." A few students laughed. Mara looked betrayed. The coach pointed toward Alaric. "Ready." Then toward her. "Ready." Then he blew the whistle. Nothing happened.

Mara remained exactly where she was. Across from her, Alaric remained exactly where he was. Several seconds passed. Coach Donovan frowned. "Begin." Mara pointed at Alaric. "He's the one standing there." Alaric raised an eyebrow. "So are you."

"Yes, but I'm doing it ironically." The corner of his mouth twitched. Mara hated when he did that. Not because it was intimidating. Because it made her forget what she was saying for half a second. Which felt deeply unfair.

Maybe rich people learned that in special classes. Advanced Smirking. Tuition probably cost thousands. Finally, she dropped into a defensive stance. "Fine." Then she narrowed her eyes. "You should know I don't actually know what I'm doing."

"I noticed." Mara gasped at the absolute audacity.

Around them, several students looked horrified. Apparently nobody else had ever spoken to Alaric Arden like that. Which sounded exhausting for everyone involved. She moved first. Not because she expected to win. Because waiting felt like surrender and Mara had never been particularly talented at surrender.

Years of farm work had given her instincts that rarely translated well into formal sports. Nobody had ever taught her proper grappling techniques. What she did understand was balance. She understood leverage. She understood momentum. And she understood that if something much larger than you started moving in one direction, helping it continue usually worked better than stopping it.

Those lessons applied equally to sheep, stubborn goats and certain varieties of human beings. She reached for Alaric's arm and he shifted sideways, smoothly and effortlessly. The movement was so economical that it irritated her immediately. Most people wasted motion but Alaric never seemed to. Mara missed entirely.

A few students released disappointed breaths. Interesting.... Apparently there were spectators now. She circled him slowly. "Do you ever make mistakes?"

"Occasionally."

"I don't believe you."

"That sounds personal."

"It is." For the briefest moment, genuine amusement appeared in his eyes.

It transformed his face enough that Mara nearly forgot her next move. Which annoyed her even more. Being attractive should not provide tactical advantages. She lunged again. This time faster but Alaric caught her wrist. The instant his hand closed around hers, something strange happened. First, a sudden awareness flashed through her chest. Warm, sharp and unexpected.

For one confusing second she became painfully aware of everything. The pressure of his hand. The steady rhythm of her heartbeat. The fact that his eyes were considerably closer than they had been a moment ago. Secondly, she felt as electric sparks that sent a tingling sensation in her bordering on arousal.

Then her brain restarted and Mara immediately pulled free. Absolutely not. She mentally cursed. Whatever that had been, she wanted no part of it. Across from her, Alaric looked equally still. The expression lasted only a second before disappearing behind his usual composure. Mara pointed at him suspiciously. "There it is again." His eyebrows lifted slightly. "What?"

"The weird thing."

"That narrows it down considerably."

Several students coughed suspiciously. Mara looked around but nobody met her eyes. Every single person suddenly appeared fascinated by walls, ceilings, floor markings and distant equipment. The collective innocence was so artificial it deserved legal consequences.

She turned back toward Alaric. "You know, everybody at this school behaves like they're protecting state secrets."

"They aren't."

"You answered that far too quickly." Coach Donovan blew his whistle. "Continue." Mara looked offended. "We were having a conversation."

"You were avoiding exercise."

"Those are not mutually exclusive." The whistle blew again. Mara sighed, then she moved.

This time she stopped overthinking. Grandma Ruth always said thinking had its place but sometimes people needed to trust their feet. So Mara trusted her feet. She shifted left, then right. Then stepped inside his guard unexpectedly. For the first time, Alaric reacted instead of anticipating.

The opening lasted less than a second. It was enough. Mara hooked her foot behind his ankle and shifted her weight exactly the way she once had while preventing an angry ram from charging through a broken gate. The technique made absolutely no sense in a gymnasium but it worked anyway.

For one glorious fraction of a second, Alaric Arden lost balance. The gymnasium collectively forgot how breathing worked. Mara felt it happen. Not the stumble but the silence. It crashed through the room with such force that she immediately looked up. Every student was staring.

Ethan looked horrified. Dave looked like somebody had just informed him of an approaching natural disaster. Even Coach Donovan appeared suspiciously interested. Mara blinked. Then looked back at Alaric. Then back at the students. Then back at Alaric again. A realization arrived, slowly. Like a sunrise over very stubborn terrain.

"Wait." Nobody answered. Mara narrowed her eyes. "Did I almost get you?" The silence became even worse. Which was impressive because it had already been spectacular. Mara pointed triumphantly. "I knew it." Across the gym, somebody choked. Another student looked away to hide laughter. Ethan appeared personally offended by reality. Alaric simply stared at her.

Mara folded her arms. "You almost fell."

"I did not."

"You absolutely did."

"I adjusted."

"That is rich-person language for almost falling." A few students laughed despite themselves. The sound spread quickly. Even Celeste covered her mouth, though not quickly enough. Mara saw it and her eyes widened. Then she pointed at Celeste. "You're laughing." Celeste immediately lowered her hand. "I am not."

"You are."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

The argument might have continued indefinitely if Coach Donovan had not intervened. "Enough." His voice carried across the gym. Students straightened automatically. Mara noticed that too. Another thing to add to the ever-growing list of suspicious behaviors. The coach looked between her and Alaric. Something unreadable flickered across his expression before disappearing. Then he nodded once. "Exercise complete."

Mara blinked. "That's it?"

"That's it." She looked genuinely disappointed. "But I was improving." Coach Donovan turned away quickly. Almost like he was hiding amusement. Suspicious, again. Everything at Larkin was suspicious.

As students began moving toward the next rotation, Mara picked up her water bottle and shook her head. "You people are unbelievably strange." Beside her, Alaric watched her for a long moment. Not because she had nearly tripped him. Not because she challenged him. Not because she ignored every rule of social hierarchy at Larkin. Those things mattered. But they were not the reason. The reason was much simpler.

For the first time in years, someone had looked at the future Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in the country and seen nothing more frightening than an annoyingly athletic rich boy. And somehow...Alaric found himself liking that far more than he should have.