Chapter Nineteen

Morning came faster than expected. Bright sunlight streamed through my window, falling upon my closed eyelids and awakening me from my deep slumber. I turned over, away from the sun's rays, feeling the pinch of nervousness as the events of last night came rushing back to me. Today was the day I would be 'tested', as Gabriel had put it. Hopefully that didn't entail anything too horrible and I could showcase my fighting skills. I could definitely hold my own pretty well back in my own pack.

I slowly sat up, rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes. What time was it anyways? Blinking, I glanced at the old-fashioned clock that hung on the wall by my bed. 10:08 a.m., it read. I was surprised Gabriel had not woken me up yet; he seemed the type to make everyone rise at the crack of dawn.

I did a quick assessment in the mirror. My face seemed slightly paler than normal, and wayward curls were sticking out in numerous directions. I took a quick shower, not wanting to waste any time, brushing through my wet curls before roughly shoving my hair into a bun. After brushing my teeth and dressing myself in a loose t-shirt and shorts, I exited my room and headed downstairs.

I was slightly disappointed to see that Gabriel was nowhere in sight and his alluring scent was slightly stale. It seemed he had left early this morning and hadn't bothered to wake me up. I tried to reassure myself that perhaps he was just being polite (although not his typical behavior) and allowing me to recuperate before my tests today.

I opened the refrigerator, taking out a water bottle and snagging an apple from the fruit bowl.

I quickly finished the apple and took a few swigs of water. Thankfully, I heard three large knocks on the front door, saving me from having to make the decision between staying or leaving. I hurried towards the sound and swung the door open. To my surprise, Eli stood there calmly, arms crossed in front of him.

"Good, you're awake. The Alpha wanted me to come fetch you for training." His words held no room for argument but he gave me a small smile.

"He couldn't come fetch me himself?" I muttered, trying my best not to sound petulant. For some reason I felt quite comfortable openly expressing my irritation in front of Eli.

Eli shook his head, smiling wryly. "He's always got a million things to do. Maybe it'd be better to say that I volunteered to come get you."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "You did?"

He shrugged. "You're the Alpha's Mate, and you seem nice enough. If you're gonna be around I might as well get to know you better."

I smiled despite myself. At least there would be one consistently friendly face. "Okay, I'm ready," I said, stepping outside and closing the door behind me. Eli nodded and beckoned for me to follow him. As we began our trek through the village, I inhaled deeply. The rain had obviously stopped overnight but the fresh smell hung in the air and the ground was still slightly damp. A slight breeze tickled my skin. It was hard to be in any sort of foul mood with weather like this, but my slight sense of nervousness persisted.

"Ummm...Eli?" I began, slightly timid because I was unsure if I was supposed to call him 'Beta'. He didn't seem to mind the informal term, for he turned his expectant gaze on me.

"What exactly will I be tested on?" I continued the question.

"Basic ability," was his calm response. "Agility, endurance. Your human form will be tested before your Wolf. You'll likely have to spar with a pack member of similar age and stature."

"Hmmm," I replied noncommittally, my nervousness spiking. Would Gabriel be observing the affair?

"It's just standard for a new wolf to join, although it doesn't happen often anymore. It's been a while since one of our pack members found a Mate outside the pack." He kept his tone neutral, so I was unable to decipher his feelings about outsiders.

Eli furrowed his brow slightly as he continued. "I'm not sure what all you'll go through. We've never been in this exact situation before. I'm sure it will be different for you than for the average wolf."

I wasn't sure if different was a good or bad thing. Eli had a point though; an Alpha's Mate joining the pack was not the same scenario as the standard rogue.

We continued our walk through the village. After I let the subject of my tests drop, Eli began pointing things out to me. He indicated the long, flat building where the food was stored, the Pack Doctor's infirmary, and even his own house. I nodded with interest. Gabriel hadn't been forthcoming with the tour so it was good to get a better idea of the place. Once again I was struck by the sheer number of houses. Because their home was twice the size of mine, I knew it would take some time to adjust.

As we exited the main part of the village, the path narrowed and weaved around large boulders and groves of trees as the terrain grew slightly rockier. We trekked upwards as the path led us towards a large hill. After a few more minutes of walking crooked routes and very narrow paths, a fairly dense forest at the base of some mountains came into view and the area closest to Eli and I was a decently sized, flat plain that led directly to the woods. I gathered that this flat area was where many wolves went to train and the forest was likely a convenient hunting ground as it was only a half hour trek from the village at most.

Confirming my suspicion, I could see about half a dozen wolves in the flat grassy area. It looked like a couple of them were sparring while the others watched. The guys were shirtless, displaying their muscular builds proudly as they sparred, and the girls were clad in thin tank tops. Apparently I was overdressed in my baggy t-shirt. I felt my heart rate spike as my eyes roved the group for Gabriel, but to my surprise he was nowhere to be seen. I frowned; was he not even going to be here to witness his own Mate's training?

Several wolves had noticed Eli and me at the top of the ridge, and as we trotted down the slope and approached the group they all gave respectful nods and greetings to the Beta, the two sparring temporarily halting their activities. I felt a few wary eyes on me but I tried to ignore them. I glanced around to see what type of training was going on. To my surprise there was no equipment around. Was it just simply sparring, then? I didn't see an agility course set up or anything like that.

"Where is the Alpha?" Eli was saying as we came to a halt in front of the small group of wolves. A big, burly fellow stepped forward to answer. He had blonde hair in a buzz cut and cold, calculating blue eyes.

"Joey injured himself pretty badly on the obstacle course." He jerked his thumb towards the woods and I gathered that was where the agility training took place. "The Alpha and Eva are with him."

I assumed that this Eva person was the Pack Doctor. The injury must really have been as bad as Blondie (or so I mentally named him) said if they needed a Pack Doctor's immediate abilities; werewolves healed quite quickly so only the most severe injuries were immediately tended to. I wondered what exactly this 'obstacle course' entailed if wolves were getting seriously injured during training. Each pack had different training methods; my pack had an agility course of its own but there was nothing dangerous about it.

"How long ago?" Eli queried.

"About half an hour, Beta. They should be back soon." Blondie's cold gaze fell on me and he looked me up and down. Judging by the expression on his face he was not impressed and I resisted the urge to scowl at him.

"Is she supposed to spar, then?" He asked gruffly, using me in the third person as if I wasn't standing right there.

"Yeah, but the Alpha wanted to witness it along with the others," was Eli's response. Great, I thought. I'd have a whole audience. Although I was admittedly glad that Gabriel would be here.

The blonde werewolf turned to survey the other five wolves, all of whom were staring between Eli and the beefy guy as if I wasn't even present. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, muscles bulging as he did so. "...Bree. You can spar with her when the Alpha returns."

I immediately turned to my opponent, who nodded smoothly but I detected the scowl she was attempting to hide. The girl, Bree, looked to be a year or two older than me but she was of similar stature, though slightly taller. Her light brown hair was pulled tightly in a bun and because she only wore a small tank top and short shorts I could see she was quite toned. I couldn't underestimate her.

"You two will begin as soon as the Alpha returns and gives the orders." Blondie said stonily, keeping his gaze on Bree instead of me.

"They will be sparring in human form," Eli added. Bree didn't look surprised by this, nor did the others. Human sparring was much more common than sparring as our Wolves, for wolf-inflicted injuries were much more severe. That was a much more advanced stage of training that I had passed back in my own pack but didn't expect to begin with here until I was deemed 'worthy'.

Just then the rest of the group stirred, heads turning in unison towards the trees. I followed their gazes, my heartbeat increasing in anticipation of seeing my Mate again. I did not have to wait long before Gabriel emerged, two other wolves with him. I felt a surge of irritation as I saw the redhead by his side, the same she-wolf from the pack meeting. Was she Eva, the Pack Doctor? All of these thoughts processed in a split second before my mind became quickly preoccupied.

Gabriel was shirtless. My Mate was shirtless.

I sucked in a large gulp of air, becoming quickly transfixed as he approached. All werewolves had muscular builds, but Alphas were the fittest of all. I had never thought of it before but it was in the forefront of my mind now. I couldn't tear my gaze away from Gabriel's perfectly defined torso and sculpted abs. My Wolf just as eager as I was to drink in the sight of her half-naked Mate. There were numerous lustful thoughts rushing through my brain and I couldn't blame my Wolf for all of them; I was practically drooling as I stared.

'Look away, look away!' I repeated the mental mantra numerous times. I couldn't be caught staring, not like this! With a herculean effort I tore my gaze away, gazing into the distance as I felt that my face was on fire. That was completely unfair. He had to have known the effect he would have on me! On top of all of this my Wolf was starting to grumble in the back of my mind that her Mate's torso was on display for all of these other she-wolves to see. I did not like that one bit, even though I was sure he Shifted in front of all of them regularly.

That thought didn't help, either.

"Alpha," Eli was greeting him, the others following suit as they saluted my Mate with respectful dips of their heads. They began to discuss Joey's injury and condition but I remained preoccupied with getting my impulses under control. I took a couple deep breaths. Was I just imagining it or was Gabriel glancing at me every couple of seconds?

I finally turned back to the others to see Eva, the unfriendly redhead, slowly leading the injured Wolf away. He was limping pretty heavily. I thought I saw Eva looking at me from the corner of our eye before she left, but I could have been imagining it.

"Since that's taken care of, you all may resume sparring," Gabriel was saying. His husky baritone set me on edge even more than usual. He turned to the Blondie with the buzz cut. "Vincent?"

Vincent stood at attention. "I told Bree to spar with her, Alpha," he said respectfully.

Gabriel nodded thoughtfully. I still couldn't look at him for very long; instead I kept my gaze shifting between him, Eli, and Vincent. "Then go ahead." His gaze fixated on my face and I luckily managed not to blush again. "You'll spar in human form. The objective is to pin, not to maim. Vincent will tell you to stop if the pin is sufficient."

I nodded, trying to keep eye contact with him but failing miserably. Stupid hormones were betraying me.

Bree, holding her head proudly, walked a distance from the others and turned to face me. She stood there, shifting from foot to foot expectantly. I tried to swallow my nervousness as I followed suit.

"On my mark," Vincent said. He came to stand near us. I took a slightly shaky breath. Why was I so nervous? I had done almost this exact same exercise a hundred times back home.

"Begin," He said.

I was lucky I had fast reflexes. Bree immediately lunged directly at me at full speed. Many wolves hesitated before the attack but not she. I only had a split second to move as she came hurtling towards me. I decided to spin to my right as quickly as I could, throwing myself out of her way. She missed me by inches.

Bree landed and turned to face me, a new hesitation in her dark eyes. She clearly hadn't expected me to move quite so quickly when caught off guard. We slowly sank into crouches, circling each other warily. I dimly registered Gabriel's tall figure a short distance away, observing our battle. My Wolf was glad he was watching us, but I had to pretend he wasn't there or I would be far too distracted.

My opponent apparently decided that testing my sheer strength would be her next move for she came at me again, this time faking a quick lunge to my left before spinning around and swinging a punch from my right side. Observing her body language I detected the move and quickly dodged out of the way. I immediately countered with a couple punches of my own, a flurry of blows that she narrowly dodged by swaying from side to side as she backed away. Bree attempted to gain the advantage by turning, using her momentum to swing a roundhouse kick at my head.

Thankfully I had prepared for the kick as it was a move I had used many times in practice sessions, a move I had used on the vampires, and a move I was good at. As soon as she shifted her weight I knew what was coming. Although her kick was fast, I rapidly ducked and her foot whizzed over my head. Before she could regain her balance I threw an undercut at her ribs. My blow connected solidly and Bree winced, bending over slightly as she absorbed the impact. I pressed my advantage by swinging a left hook at her face.

She caught my fist just in time, her arm trembling slightly. I had to admit she was fast. She swung her knee up towards me and I had to quickly stumble backwards to avoid the blow. Straightening up, the two of us began to circle each other again.

Two other times we came together to exchange blows, and each time neither one of us obtained the advantage. I received a powerful punch in the ribs and a painful bruise from when I blocked one of Bree's kicks, and Bree misread my body language before one of my series of punches and received a blow to the face.

Once again we circled each other. I was glad to know that I could at least hold my own with one of their trained wolves. I could sense the Black Mountains Pack watching us with renewed interest. However, I also knew that pinning a wolf required taking them down to the ground. Neither of us had even attempted a take down since Bree's first lunge; we were both just testing each other right now. I knew I needed to get her down soon before I received any more hits.

She was being cautious now, and so was I, so I had a few seconds to think. So far I had put most of my energy into watching Bree's body language and dodging her blows, but I needed to go on the offensive. I could punch fast and hard when I needed to. Although it left me exposed, if I could just get her off guard for even a second I would bring her to the ground. It was a risky gamble but I had my trusty roundhouse kick that I'd used on the wolves back home. They'd gotten used to my ferocious kick but Bree wouldn't know that was my secret weapon.

In an instant I lunged towards her, bringing my fist towards her face as I did so. She quickly dodged as I expected but I immediately swung my other first towards her. Utilizing all the speed I had I continued to throw punches left and right, not really expecting them to hit, just throwing them fast enough that Bree would have to devote all of her attention to dodging instead of attacking. Her face registered surprise at my ferocious onslaught, as I had been on the defensive all game.

She was quite agile, and continued to dodge my punches and even a kick here and there. She attempted to throw a few counter punches but I spun around to avoid them. I tried not to let my frustration show; most wolves would have been hit by now but I didn't let her agility distract me.

My opening came when one of my blows finally met its mark, colliding with a spot near where I had hit her earlier. Wincing, Bree spun around to my side and attempted a high kick at my chest to counter. Her kick was fast but she was slightly off-balance as she had not taken the time to absorb the force from my blow. I allowed the kick to strike me and I stumbled backwards as if I was caught off guard, although my movements were controlled. Bree, thinking she had the advantage and desperate to take me down the first opening she got, immediately tried to lunge at me, her body hurtling through the air. I spun to the side in a blur of movement, bringing my leg up in a roundhouse kick in the same motion.

As expected, Bree was still slightly unbalanced from earlier and she had landed somewhat clumsily from her lunge. She tried to turn around to avoid my kick but she was a hair too slow. My foot collided right with the side of her head and she staggered backwards, swaying in her disorientation, reeling from my blow.

I seized my opportunity and lunged; she was unable to dodge me. We collided and fell to the ground, me landing on top of her and using my weight as leverage. In a flicker of motion I grabbed both of her arms and pinned them on either side of her head, using my body weight to trap her lower half. I could tell she was still trying to recover from the kick to the head. Before she could begin flailing I allowed my canines to elongate, lowering my head to the side of her neck with the flash of my canines exposed. Bree tried to lift her arms but I used all of my strength to keep them pressed to the ground. She may have been just as strong as me but in this position she was at a disadvantage.

"Pinned." I said quietly. In a real battle, the enemy would continue to struggle, but in sparring the battle was over as soon as the opponent's neck was exposed and all of their limbs were pinned.

"Enough!" I heard Vincent's firm voice. I immediately released Bree, who finally seemed to have recovered from the blow to the head and was glaring at me with a mixture of frustration and grudging respect.