Page 66 of Escaping Wildfire

“Oh, I was just remembering when you knocked me flat on my ass that first time we trained together.” He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “You were the first person, other than Alpha Henry, to ever do that.” He looked at her lovingly.

“You were too cocky back then, but now look at us.” Annie giggled, and the two shared a kiss as Noah and I looked on and blushed as we felt the implication of their words.

“Come on guys, no PDA in the gym.” Noah groaned as he stood back up.

“Come on, Mijo, you’ll be the same way once you find your mate…who knows, maybe you’ve already met her.” Gamma winked at us as he walked off, leaving me and Noah to stand beside each other in awkward silence.

“Let’s go again!” Noah suddenly yelled out before settling back into his stance. He was more vigilant for the rest of the training and didn’t let me get another hit on him again, but after that day, we became regular training partners. He both challenged me and made training fun, and he never went easy on me like some of the other guys. It was just one of the many things I loved about him.

Now, it had been so long since I had seen Noah that I was starting to wonder if I had dreamt up our night together at the Falls. Good Goddess, I missed him like crazy.

GEMA – Present Day

“Hey, there you are! I thought you had afternoon training?” Rory came up to me as I walked into the suite, effectively bringing me out of my memories. “Yeah, I have the pup class in an hour, but your father moved me to a different training group, so I’ll start with them tomorrow.”

“Do you like training?”

“Yeah, it’s actually the only thing keeping me sane right now…but I’ve always wanted to be a warrior.”

“Sometimes, I wish I could train, but Father says I’m not cut out for fighting.”

“That’s silly, everyone can learn something from training.”

“Maybe I’ll be able to try it out someday.” She shrugged wistfully, not really seeming to believe that.

Alpha Marek hadn’t asked after Rory or even sent anyone to check on her since her assault, but it wasn’t surprising considering he knew exactly how and why she got hurt. Rory hadn’t left our room since she was brought here, but today she felt well enough to get up and shower. The swelling had healed on her face, but her ribs were still a little sore.

“Have you heard from your brother today?” Rory asked as she sat down and put her arms on the back of the couch, resting her head on her hands.

“He texted me a picture of everyone at breakfast this morning…they looked happy, but other than that, no. Larkin bought an extra charger just for me, though, so I’ll be able to talk to him more often.”

“Your brother seems nice.”

I laughed at her remark. “He can be nice, but he’s my brother, so he’s also annoying, overbearing, hot-headed, and on occasions gross…but in all seriousness…I guess he is pretty great as far as brothers go. He’d do anything for me. It’s just the two of us, and he’s always had my back.”

“Larkin’s like that too. I don’t know what I would do without him.” She shifted over to let me join her on the couch, “What about your parents? What are they like?”

I let out a long breath. “Well, overall, they’re both great. My mom is tough, she’s been through a lot, but she still has a huge heart. My dad taught me a lot growing up, and he loves my mom so much. He would do anything for her…which I guess is what he did when he made that deal with your dad.”

“Are you mad at him for making the deal?”

“I’d say I’m more hurt than angry…and I get that he thought he was protecting my mom from being hurt again…but I just…” I paused, sighing and shaking my head. “There had to have been something else he could have done.”

“That must really hurt…what he did. If it’s any consolation, I’m sure he’s a million times better than my father.”

“Yeah.” I chuckled at her words. “Rory…have you and Larkin ever thought of leaving?”

“Thought about? All the time…but when it comes to actually leaving…” She shook her head, “he would go after us and hunt us down. I also can’t just leave my mom…he…well…you saw what he did to me.”

I nodded, feeling the weight of her words. I wished I could get her out like we did with the others…but I knew the only way she and Larkin would be truly free was if Alpha Marek was no longer around.

I woke up early the next Monday, mentally prepared for my new training class. Alpha Marek had moved me up a level, and I was now training with some of the more skilled warriors instead of with the recently shifted wolves. This group was much less friendly than my first one, and I felt like I was having a tough time fitting in.

The partner I had matched up with last week didn’t seem to be here today, so the leads paired me up with someone else. Unfortunately, that someone else ended up being one of the two sisters who had driven us here, specifically the driver who had been the ruder one of the two. She rolled her eyes and scowled when she saw me, but I wasn’t going to let her poor attitude deter me from doing well today.

Once we started sparring, I let her come at me first, and while she had some good moves, I was able to take her down the first two times. For our third round, I turned my back on her to walk back into position, and she ended up attacking me while I was facing away from her. I caught on to her quickly, but she was still able to knock me down as she’d already tripped me up. I made sure not to turn my back on her again, but that only seemed to anger her more.

“What’s wrong, are you scared?” She fake pouted to further mock me.