Chapter 254 STRONGER TOGETHER
Percival
Daisy looked up at me, her eyes wide with surprise. "Oh! Nice! Looks like you're feeling pretty good today. Did you do alright, Percival?" Her cheerful smile lifted my spirits as I contemplated my response.
Nodding, I replied, "Yeah, Daisy. You could say I did pretty well. I definitely surprised him." The corners of my lips lifted slightly in a smile as I shot Doc a quick nod. My wolf made him feel a bit uneasy, and he hunkered down in his seat, but he nodded back.
"I'm gonna take a shower. Seems kinda pointless since I'm training again later," I mumbled, heading down the hall toward the bathroom.
Daisy and Doc had stopped having therapy sessions with me. I had finally moved past the stuff that held me back at the start. Now, I was just overthinking everything. I often found myself reflecting on how others had unintentionally made my life tougher, but honestly, I realized that a lot of that was just me.
Once I locked myself in the bathroom, I turned on the shower and undressed in front of the tall mirror. I remembered a time I had just chilled without any clothes on, turning to the side to check out the bruises on my sides. My face was a mess, and my knuckles were totally wrecked, all busted up and bleeding.
I looked pretty rough.
My body had changed into something I didn’t even recognize anymore—my shoulder and arm covered in tattoos. I had this warrior symbol right under my bicep.
It felt like it was time for a new tattoo.
I would get one whenever I wanted to feel a bit of that intense pain again. I really enjoyed that vibe. Gaspar had mentioned that if I placed them right, they'd enhance my physique. No complaints there.
Wolves bulk up faster than humans do. Training for six months as a human is like a month of training for wolves when it comes to body mass, you know?
As I stared at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but check out the new me, covered in scars. I wondered what Edeline would think if she ran into me again. I really wanted to talk to her, but I just didn’t have a way to do it. I thought Mirabelle might have been chatting with her, but if she had, she probably wouldn’t spill the beans to me.
I ran my hand over the solid muscles of my torso, shutting my eyes and thinking back to that night in the cave—the night we hooked up.
Sometimes those thoughts helped me make it through another day.
As I felt a rush of warmth, my hand wandered down, and I couldn’t help but grab myself.
I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten tougher.
Thinking about her drove me a bit wild. I just couldn't resist. Those moments kept me sane, reminding me of what I had originally focused on through all of this: improving for her.
But I felt like at some point, I totally crossed that line.
Just reminiscing about the night I made her mine sent a thrill through me. Her legs wrapped around me, the way her eyes sparkled with delight when I made her feel amazing, her lips on my skin—everything about it was intoxicating.
As I started to touch myself, I got lost in that memory, each detail flooding back as vividly as if I were right there with her again.
I really needed to find a way to chill out and let go of this stress.
…
Nixx
I really didn’t like training with William. In fact, I totally hated it.
I had no idea what Percival was up to, but I really hoped he had something good in mind because we had a month of this crap left before I got to take on William.
Strolling back from the training field, I could feel William trailing right behind me, rambling on about how I needed to be quicker, how I had to do this and that. My wolf was getting pretty annoyed. William was the reason my buddy wasn’t around. He was the reason nobody wanted me to find my mate. And honestly, he wasn’t even that strong. Alphas don’t take orders from their crew.
I turned to face him, my expression making it clear that I was ready to lose it. My green eyes locked onto his. “Whatever! I really don’t care about any of this! If I can’t beat you, then whatever! I didn’t want this anyway!” I threw my hands up and walked away.
"That's why you'll never be good enough, Nixx!" he shouted after me. "Because you don't really want it!"
I shot him the finger and kept going, the sweat drying on my shirt in the cool air, sending chills across my skin.
I just couldn't handle it anymore. I needed to see Percival. Not having my mate around was tough; missing her was unbearable. I headed over to her cabin in the woods, but she always kicked me out once I overstayed my welcome. I could sniff her and feel her skin from a distance. For my wolf's sake, though, she seemed pretty weak—just a shadow of her former self. She wasn’t talking to me because she was worried about getting too involved again, and I was scared I’d let her down.
I knocked on the front door of Daisy the Healer's cabin, and Percival pulled it open. His hair was damp, wearing just basketball shorts and a towel draped around his neck like he had just stepped out of the shower. Fresh bruises decorated his body, and inked designs snaked across his shoulder and arm. I noticed his lip was busted and swollen from the ring he had on the bottom. His bright blue eyes scrutinized me, radiating a dominance that filled the space between us, letting my wolf know he was the top dog.
I struggled to be around him lately because of the aggression he exuded, but he was still my brother.
"Hey, Z. Got a sec?" I raised my brows, shoving my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants.
He rarely smiled these days. He nodded and grabbed a hoodie from by the door, slipping it on as he let me walk through.