Osiston and I spar for what feels like a long time. I am dodging and rolling just trying to avoid being grabbed by his massive hands or put in any kind of headlock which he seems to be a fan of with me. Every muscle in my body is screaming at the long forgotten movements.
Nickolas and I would spar in the backyard of our house on the UMaine campus, but we had to keep it ‘human-like’ just in case anyone was watching or came around, so it has been a really long time since I have gone full out like this, and I love it.
An arm swipes past my face and I fight to refocus on what I am doing right now. Osiston said this is just an easy spar, but that doesn’t mean either of us have left our competitive spirit on the sidelines. I need to know I can still do this and I think he is pushing me to prove that to myself.
He is so fast. And huge, very very huge. His arms are probably the length of most of my body and his shoulders are so wide they make him look, and feel like a brick wall. I have to remember his weaknesses. Well, singular weakness, me. He won’t hurt me so he will pull punches to spare me, especially right now when he thinks I’m out of shape and not up to my usual standard.
I duck another swipe to my head and punch right at his thigh. The force sending a jolt up my arm, but also having the same effect of making his muscle cramp up and dropping him to one knee. The doesn’t stop him from swiping my legs out from under me as he goes down though and I hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of my lungs, I roll to the side before he can hit me or grab me though. I jump up and feel the stretch around my ribs and the burn in my thighs, ready to continue our fight.
“You are doing well, Little One. A little winded, but not as bad as I would have thought with how long you were confined. Now, Jena, what kind of training have you had as an Alpha’s daughter? I know you were contained and sedated for a significant period of time, but if we get you the proper nutrition and start to work your body, your wolf and muscle memory should be able to catch you up quickly.”
“I still haven’t heard my wolf. I thought I would have by now.” She sounds on the verge of tears, but is doing everything to have this conversation rationally. “We have been away for days and Doc Sylvia has taken my blood and checked everything, but I still can’t hear her. What happened? Will she come back?”
“That isn’t a question I can answer. I can tell you that she is in there though. I can feel her. Maybe she just needs more time to heal. We don’t know what she was doing to protect you while you were captured and being abused. She will return when she is ready.” He pats her gently on the shoulder. “For now we will use her absence to our advantage.”
“Huh? How is her being gone an advantage?”
“Because you will have to work harder to protect yourself, making your human side stronger without her, will only benefit you, if your wolf is ever unable to help you again. There is no shortage of spineless pansies that will try and use wolfsbane on a wolf they deem stronger, if you can fight well without your wolf that renders the wolfsbane or any other poison useless and you will be able to better defend yourself and anyone you are trying to protect.”
He’s appealing to her Alpha nature to protect and I think it’s working based on the way she straightens her back. He knows what this capture has done to her and probably has a good idea where her self doubts and fears lie. He’s going to push her and he’s not going to wait for her to ‘feel better’ to do it. He’s going to build her confidence starting today.
He gestures for her to step in front of him. “Skylar, I want you to watch and analyze like you would with any warrior. Take mental notes of what we can work on and where we need to start first.”
I nod and they begin. Jena is more agile than I would have expected and she does seem to have a good knowledge of fighting, but being locked up for a year and barely fed on top of the abuse she took, will weaken any amount of muscle. Osiston is using basic moves that we use on our elementary pups, gauging her reaction time and defensive instincts. I forgot how much I enjoyed teaching and training. Analyzing someone’s movement to make them stronger or faster. Jena’s movement is shaky, but not hesitant, she knows what she is doing even if her body doesn’t really want to do it right now. With time she will be fierce. I can already see it.
He makes her work with no break for thirty minutes, pushing her to her absolute max. When he finally calls for a stop, she is breathing heavily and sweating from every possible place on her body, but the smile that is lighting up her features can’t be faked. She loves this as much as I do.
“Go and get food, eat well, but both of you take your time. We need to build your bodies up to take in nutrients again. We can’t afford for you to get sick because you gorged. We will train again after and then I want to talk about options for both of you.”
