Chapter Sixteen

My eyes snapped open, my heart thundering as cold icy water splashed down on my face. I gasped, shock and anger coursing through my veins.

“It’s time to wake up, princess,” a gruff voice yelled as the bucket of water was emptied over my head.

I sat up, my hair dripping, clothes and hair soaked. I was shivering almost instantly. I looked up at the stranger, a burly man with a vicious sneer on his expression.

“The Alpha has asked you to come to the courtyard for your training.” He barked. “Sorry to break it to you but you’re not getting any special treatment.”

I felt anger burn through my veins and I had to bite back the retort that lay at the tip of my tongue. I got up, water streaming down.

“How did you get into my room?” I asked instead, glaring at my door that was left wide open.

He chuckled, shook his head, and marched off leaving me soaking wet.

Tears burned at the back of my eyes but I blinked them away and quickly peeled off the wet clothes from my body and changed into something else knowing if Rowan was out in the courtyard already, I couldn’t afford to waste any more time. It was barely the crack of dawn, earlier than I had to wake these past weeks for my servant duties but I knew Rowan was being cruel on purpose, and if this was how I'd been awoken, I didn't want to imagine what the training itself held for me.

Rowan stood in the middle of the courtyard, his arms behind him and a scowl on his face. I approached him cautiously.

“Good to have you finally join me,” he said.

I fought the shiver that almost escaped me. The cold was biting my skin and I could barely feel my toes. “Glad for the invite,” I retorted.

He began to pace around me, his intense eyes scrutinizing me until I felt bare under his heated gaze.

“First lesson, Reed, you must learn to be able to defend yourself in your human form. As impressive as it is that you are a Wild Wolf, you are only a liability to the people around you.” He stopped in front of me. “Need I remind you of the people you've slaughtered in your worf form? Even those most special to you?”

I sucked in a breath.

“Good to see you haven't forgotten,” Rowan said, his face inches away from mine. “Let's begin with your stance and posture, you slouch like a weakling. Any random person would be able to overpower you in seconds and without your wolf, you're useless!”

My eyes flashed with anger, but I remained silent.

“Stand straight!” He barked.

My fists curled by my side but unwittingly, I fixed my posture, standing straighter.

He took a step back. “Now let's see if all that subdued anger can be put to good use,”

And he lunged at me, his movements swift and precise. I stumbled backward, my eyes widening with fear.

Rowan caught me by the arm, his grip tight. “Do not flinch or back down! Hold your own and fight back!”

But I didn't know how to and the next time he attacked me, I tried to defend myself by blocking the blows but my movements were clumsy and slow, and Rowan’s blows hit their marks each time. The hits could've been way harsher but even at that, they still stung.

“Use your weight, Reed.” Rowan hissed, his eyes never leaving mine. “You're not just a fragile, little thing, are you?”

I felt my face flush with anger and I pressed my feet to the ground and lunged forward, trying to get my blows to hit him but he dodged easily, countering every blow, his expression unreadable.

I stumbled through the training exercises, my movements slow and clumsy. Rowan's eyes narrowed his expression a mixture of frustration and disgust. I felt a surge of anger and embarrassment.

"What's wrong with you, Reed?" Rowan snapped. “Is this a snail tournament?

I gritted my teeth, my face burning with shame. I knew I was weak and slow but I was trying. Rowan's words cut deep, I'd never engaged in this in my life. I didn't know how to fight, what reason did I have to?

I tried again, my arms and legs feeling like lead weights. We must have been at this for hours and I was only getting weaker and slower. Rowan lunged at me, his movements lightning-fast, and I stumbled backward, my heart racing.

"Focus, Scarlett!" he barked his grip on my wrist was fierce. "Use your brain, not just your muscles. Anticipate my moves, don't just react."

I locked eyes with him and took a deep breath, squaring my shoulders before trying again. I missed the blow yet again and he caught me by the arm, slamming against me but I managed to dodge further hits from him and slipped away.

Rowan turned to me, a glimmer of approval in his eyes. “If you've been overpowered in a fight, the best thing you can do is to get into defense mode. Some people are best at defending, not attacking and vice-versa.”

As he spoke, his attacks continued and I wasn't so lucky with dodging this time. He jammed his ankle into my ribs and grabbed me in a chokehold just before I could keel over.

“You defend as best as you can,” he whispered roughly against my ear. “Holding off the attacker until you notice them weakening, slacking, and then you find an opening.” Rowan released me, leaving me to stumble away.

But he didn't spare me, he threw another blow my way and I staggered backward just as his fist grazed my cheek and I lost my balance. He managed to catch me by the arm, pulling me back but our momentum sent us both crashing to the ground.

We landed in a tangled heap on the rough ground, our bodies pressed together, me on top of him, our faces inches apart. Everything else around us faded into the background until the only thing that became painfully obvious to me was him, my body’s reaction, our chest heaving, and his eyes on me. A spark of electricity cackled in the air and I could almost hear the pounding of my heart.

Rowan’s gaze was heated, burning through me, his eyes flashing with something unreadable but it made my pulse quicken. Try as I did, I couldn't look away from the intense grey of his eyes. It felt like I was drowning in their depths, trapped in them.

And just as quickly, whatever it was that was happening was brought to an abrupt end. Rowan’s expression hardened and he rolled us over, pinning me beneath him.

“That's enough for the day,” he growled. “You somehow managed to be worse than I expected.”

He pushed himself up, his eyes never leaving mine and I felt a pang of disappointment slice through me. The moment was gone, lost in the sea of hatred that brimmed between us.

I pulled myself up. “I'll take that as a challenge,” I said, my mouth pulling into a smirk.

“Thank you for today, Alpha.” And I bowed before rising, turning around, and walking away, my heart racing, my senses still reeling from our last contact.