Facing Odette in the training ring I smile as she lunges for me, aiming to punch me in my right side. I easily dodge her, using her momentum and pushing her lightly by placing my hand in the center of her back. She falls onto the ground behind me, her body hitting the training ring floor with a loud thud.
Odette growls in frustration as she turns to lay on her back. It has been three days since I was told I could train again but no one would spare with me out of fear of pissing off Quincy and Rune. In the end, Odette became my training partner with the intent of becoming stronger because she wanted to be promoted from an Omega to a Warrior since she is now mated to Caspian. At first I was hesitant, not wanting to hurt the she-wolf who essentially became my sister-in-law. But Caspien begged me stating that I was the only wolf they could trust in bringing out Odette’s strength.
“Come on Odette. Just one blow is all you need to land.” I call out, lazily stretching as the she-wolf pushes herself off from the ground. Training with her turned out to be just what I needed and is a lot more fun then I thought it would be these last three days. She went from knowing only the basics in hand to hand self defence to being a quick learner in offensive attacks. It’s given me a chance to focus not only on my own short comings when fighting, but also help create a stronger Warrior in the pack.
“You are such a pain in the ass.” She grumbles out with a huff, making me laugh.
“I see Caspian is rubbing off on you.” I playfully call out.
“That, and inside me.” She retorts and I respond by fake gagging. Stalking towards me, Odette’s eyes are constantly moving while trying to find a weakness to exploit. I grin, knowing just how attentive this she-wolf is after weeks of working alongside her in the pack house. We circle each other in the ring, the others in the building pausing their own sparing to watch.
Every time Odette would rush me, I would use her momentum against her again and again. At one point, Caspian had to be held back, wanting to protect his mate. After reassuring him that she is fine while climbing to her feet for the umpteenth time, Odette turns her attention to me. It’s like something has clicked as her eyes stare into my own instead of roaming my body to find a weak spot.
I brace myself, feeling the Omega blood inside her hum and churn as something fights to take over. She pushes off, racing towards me. Her movements are still slightly clumsy but there is a fluidity that wasn’t there before.
She swipes a fist towards my face and I duck, only to have to lean back and avoid the knee that was coming towards my stomach. I have noticed with each sparing session we have that Odette is slowly growing faster. At first she never believed me, stating she always felt so slow when fighting me, but right now is proof that she has improved in these short three days.
I dodge swipe after swipe, jumping back or blocking a few kicks. She is still sent sprawling to the floor but those instances are becoming fewer and fewer in between as she seems to grow a confidence that wasn’t there before.
Everyone is cheering Odette on while the crowd continues to form and this seems to push her confidence higher. I find myself blocking and throwing my own kicks and punches towards Odette in hopes of slowing her down and this seems to trigger something in the she-wolf. The two of us soon got into a rhythm of blocking, kicking and punching. Neither of us landing a blow as we forget about the growing crowd and focus on trying to gain the upper hand on each other.0
Finally, the stalemate comes to an end as the two of us managed to land a punch on one another, sending us both sprawling onto the training ring floor. Silence settles for a moment before I start laughing. Three days of training Odette. Three days of sparing and sending her to the ground and she finally lands a punch on me.
“I…did that actually happen?” Odette asks in shock, the two of use turning to look at one another as we both pant from the workout.
“It did. You’re stronger than you look Odette.” I confirm, pushing myself into a sitting position. Odette smiles, looking up at the ceiling as she starts giggling. She seems euphoric from being able to finally land a blow on me and after focusing on finding the changes within her, I notice that her blood hums with a new power that wasn’t there before.
“Do you want to go again?” I ask as her giggles die down wanting to nurture this new strength of hers.
“I do.” With her answer, Odette and I climb back to our feet and prepare another round of sparing. Somone had dragged Caspian away after Odette landed that punch, my friend reassured with knowing his Mate can hold her own against me. I know Caspian means well considering Odette is – was – an Omega when he met her, but he now needs to let Odette find her place in the pack since she is mated to a stronger wolf.
Once we have stretched out the sour muscles from the previous sparing, Odette and I begin to circle the ring. The crowd begins to disperse with many wolves returning to their own sparing and some choosing to workout alone by the free weights, but many choose to remain by the training ring Odette and I use wanting to see if this newly made Warrior can best their Beta again.
Odette is the first to rush me, forcing me to turn my body to the left as I doge her punch. Before she can regain her balance, I bring my knee up feeling it connect to her stomach. She groans, using my knee as a grappling spot and uses the momentum to pull me off my feet.
Shocked she came up with this idea, I fall onto the ground, the air being forced out of my lungs as I land hard. Odette is quick, aiming to pin me down but I send a palm strike to her chin. She falls back and I roll out of the way before springing to my feet. She isn’t down for long and soon we are in the middle of the ring, landing kicks and punches onto each other while we each try to gain an upper hand once again.
Odette manages to put be in a head lock after throwing me onto the ground. To say I am both proud and surprised is an understatement. I fight to get out of her hold as she keeps me held down, wanting to push her off of me and find that Odette is ticklish.
I am about to tickle her into letting me go when something inside my mind sends off an alarm causing me to freeze when I realize what is happening. The mate bond calls out to Rune and for a moment I panic. It is a danger alert that I knew could go off in hopes of alerting my Mate. The weird thing though is that I am not in danger, but Odette will be if she doesn’t let go.
I tap on Odette’s arm, feeling the broken bond hum as I sense Rune coming closer. This is the first time its ever done something like this and I am worried Rune might come in ready to fight. The doors to the training room are thrown open, stopping all the sparing and cheering in the building into complete silence.
“Let my mate go!”