Chapter 30

Khai vehemently spit on the ground, his frustration evident as he twisted his t-shirt to wring out the sweat. Gordon had brought in a special Coach, Commander Eduard Vinther, to train the legacies for a week.

Commander Vinther was a formidable figure, standing at 6'5" with a muscular build. He had a wide chest, broad shoulders, and thick arms, with a chiseled abdomen and large biceps that showcased his strength. His deep, raspy voice boomed when he spoke and the distinctive tribal tattoos on his arm and chest only added to his frightening aura. His rough and tough demeanor, combined with his larger-than-life physique, made it seem like he could send a werewolf cowering into the woods just by staring at it.

When Gordon informed the legacies that Vinther would be training them in combat, Khai assumed he would be learning new fight techniques. But he soon realized that the next seven days would be nothing short of hell for them.

The legacies had been training for a little over twelve hours and were allowed one break that lasted for an hour. During that time, they were provided with a meager meal, consisting of oatmeal and cured meat.

The Wahren legacies were constantly in motion well before sunrise. After a grueling warm up session, Vinther had them start off with doing log PT, sit-ups, push-ups, rolling in the sand and slogging through mud without a minute's rest.

Mud covered every inch of their training uniforms, hands, faces – everything but their eyes. The sand chafed against his raw skin as Khai dragged a large iron cylinder weighing more than three hundred pounds across the rough terrain in the forest clearing.

Unlike their regular training held on the academy's training grounds, the group was now training on an expansive clearing around a deep lake in the Monserrat forest. The lake in itself measured five hundred yards in length and the entire clearing had a radius of half a mile.

Vinther's stern gaze shifted from the stop watch in his hand to the 4 men in front of him. He timed them as they ran a lap of over three miles on uneven terrain around the lake. Khai finished in twenty six seconds, while Austin finished four seconds behind him. Philip was a close third finishing at thirty-one seconds while Rowan took almost fifty seconds, coming in last.

Khai saw the poor lad gulp nervously as Vinther approached him with a predatory gaze.

The commander picked him up by the collar and closed in on him so Rowan could feel his menacing breath splash his face as he admonished the frightened legacy.

"You can run like a little princess in a ballgown if you want the werewolves to chew on your intestines for dinner. Otherwise, I suggest you speed up, you gutless bastard!"

Rowan scrambled to his feet as Vinther flung him down. Shooting a sinister glare at the four men, he bellowed. "Again! You will run until each and every one of you is completing the lap in under thirty seconds."

Every legacy knew that they had to train ten times harder than a regular Wahren, but what Vinther was putting them through made their muscles burn like they stood in a fire pit.

Gordon blew a resounding whistle at nearly 6:45 PM, indicating that they were done training for the day. The men were asked to jog back to Arcane which was close to five miles away, but the image of a warm meal and their soft beds had them sprinting back to the Academy as if their lives depended on it.

On reaching his room, Khai fought every nerve in his body to collapse on his bed. He let out a string of curses as he made his way to the shower, already regretting Austin's idea of signing up for the soccer team. He watched vacantly as the hot water washed the mud from his aching limbs before Ana's beautiful face flashed in his mind.

He was suddenly worried that she would fall asleep before he finished soccer training and prayed that she would wait up for him. He yearned to hold her soft body in his arms after the torturous day he had so far. He grabbed the meal that Gordon had delivered to their rooms and made his way over to Elliot's.

The three friends wolfed down their food, with their faces in the bowl, in complete silence. After licking his fork clean, Khai addressed Elliot in hidden envy. "I want you to go easy on Ana. Do not exhaust her."

"Relax, I won't hurt your little rabbit."

"Stick to the warm ups I told you so you don't throw her off and remember to keep your distance. I'll tear the flesh off of your bones if you get close."

"How am I to teach her how to tackle me to the ground then?" Elliot asked Khai with a somber gaze before he quickly grinned at his friend's thunderous expression. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I only plan to teach her how to kick vital points today."

Austin snickered from behind his bowl at Khai, who was still staring at Elliot murderously. "We're late to practice. We should head there if you're done being jealous."

*****

Ana heard a knock on her door as she waited for Elliot's message. She swung the door open and jerked her head up to meet Elliot's gaze as he towered over her.

Meekly stepping out of her room, she shut the door behind her and started to walk out of the women's dorms with him. "Thank you for doing this. You must be exhausted."

"Not at all Ana. My day has been easy-peasy so far." He smiled down at her.

Elliot seemed to be popular among the ladies at Arcane and with good reason. Ana could see the strong muscles on his arms ready to burst out of his t-shirt. His stood exceptionally tall and his dirty blonde hair looked sleek and well-groomed for a Wahren. His stubble emphasized the shape of his sharp jaw, as if it was groomed with extreme precision.

As they walked through the hallway, Ana caught him winking his green eyes at seven different women, all of who swooned at being noticed by him. She kept a small distance from him and hid next to his large frame, as they made their way to the training grounds, trying her best to avoid earning the scorn of his numerous fan girls.

"Tell me Ana, did you cast a spell on Khai?" One corner of his mouth went up in a half smile as he looked down at her with playful eyes.

Ana looked up at him mildly annoyed at what he was insinuating. "Why would I do such a thing?"

"Well I haven't seen him this happy in my life and he threatened to tear the flesh off of my bones if I got close to you." He eyes held amusement as he looked down at Ana.

Not wanting him to see her blush, Ana simply shrugged her shoulders in response. Secretly, her heart swelled at Khai's affection and concern. But she wondered if Elliot thought there was nothing special about her for Khai to hold her in such high regard.

They reached the ground before she could snap out of her negative thoughts. "We'll do the same warm up exercises that you did with Khai. Let's begin." He drawled.

Ana focused extra hard on her form, speed and movement that day, hoping she wouldn't come off as a complete weakling to Khai's best friend. At the end of the session, when she executed the final move he taught her with vicious precision, Elliot thumped her on the back in praise, albeit a little too hard.

"Good job Ana! I'm sure you could beat up Khai by the end of this month if you go on like this."

Ana winced as she rubbed the spot on her back, but shook her head with a nervous laugh. "I wouldn't dream of fighting any of you giants, but I do feel stronger. Thank you for helping me learn."

"Nonsense! You've got spunk Ana. I don't see any other healer running around to learn attack and defense moves so early in the school year."

She gave him a tight lipped smile as she rubbed her sweaty palms over her shorts. His praise made her feel more guilty than good because she was only truly doing this to defend herself from Sean. But Elliot and Khai viewed her as someone with an initiative to be a strong and mighty healer. Not wanting his thoughts to linger on her, she quickly changed the subject.

"How long have you known Khai?"

"Probably since I was three. Maybe we were even younger. I grew up with Austin and Khai. My parents are also his godparents."

Anna nodded silently. Although George mentioned to her that Khai's parents were killed in an ambush, she was still curious to know more about his life.