36. Zia's POV - Mate in Coach Form

36. Zia's POV - Mate in Coach Form
Zia

“Huff huff huff!”
I thought I would come down with a cold after Cain’s demand yesterday, but although I’m burning and itchy all over, it has nothing to do with falling sick.
In fact, according to Cain’s explanation, it’s because blood is pumping in areas it usually doesn’t flow to. It was an explanation I found ridiculous. Anyways, I can’t do this anymore.
I stretched and picked my napkin that was now soaked and dripping with sweat, then brought it up to wipe my face and neck before stuffing it in between my chest.
I wasn’t wearing a bra, but it was no issue for my breasts to hold a handkerchief even while running.
“Why are you slowing down? Or do you want me to increase the speed?” Cain called from beside me, and I turned to look at him running so fast on the twin treadmill, but not once did he stop for a water break. It was almost like he was used to it.
But how could he be used to running so fast that I could barely see his legs without breaking a sweat?
“Please, can I stop now?” I had finished the two bottles of water he let me have and was on the lowest speed, but my legs felt like they would give in at any moment.
I had no choice but to desperately hold onto the handle of the treadmill as I looked at him with pleading eyes.
However, he shook his head.
“Zia, we can’t have that. It’s only been ten minutes and you have your tongue out like a dog. I told you we’ll be doing this for three hours because it’s the weekend.”
He’d said this before but my body still processed it like I was hearing it for the first time.
Tears sprang in my eyes at the thought of doing this and many more for the next three hours, just as he promised.
“Why not?” I sniffled.
“Are you crying?” he asked, but I couldn’t look at his face to see his expression.
Did he really care or was he mocking me?
“Crying?” I sniffled.
“Why would I cry? I’m just angry at you. Dogs are part of our family too and I’m just so angry that you made them sound so weak and bad,” I sniffled and buried my face in my elbow as I whined like a pup.
“When did I do that? I…”
I raised my head at him with a ferocious look, but my tears and snot wouldn’t let me look anything more than a comic relief character.
“When you said I was wagging my tongue like a dog.” I pointed my index finger at him with an accusative glare.
He wrapped his hand around it and looked into my eyes slowly. So calmly as if his legs weren’t racing faster than a cheetah.
“Okay, how about this, instead of doing three hours this morning, we only workout for three hours. We currently have just,” he glanced at his watch, “1 hour 45 minutes to go, you spent the last five minutes whining,” he said, and my eyes brightened.
“Really?” I wasn’t the least bit offended by his last sentence.
I realized that I’d have to get used to his unfiltered way of speaking whether I liked it or not, so I might as well stop getting offended.
“Yes, then we do the remaining two hours in the afternoon,” he said, and my hands suddenly felt heavy as they fell to my side.
“Two hours in the afternoon? But if we do two hours out of three now, it will remain just one hour left,” my voice sounded like a whine, and I immediately corrected myself.
However, the tears started to pool in my eyes again.
What did I do to deserve this?
I asked for a mate, but the moon goddess gave me a strict coach who preferred to get paid with blowjobs instead.
“Don’t panic,” he leaned in, “you’re not bad at math, that’s just how workout mathematics works. And don’t forget that you also have to workout before bed.” I gasped.
“Before you complain. It’s an essential part of my day to workout all my emotions in my personal gym before going to bed. And since you are living under my roof, you’ll have to do the same.”
“Six hours of workout per day? Please don’t kill me,” I wanted to plead, but I could only gasp in double shock.
“Why are my legs suddenly going at a faster speed?”
I quickly grabbed the treadmill and turned to see the evil smile on his face.
“But why?!!!”
“We have to make the best use of our two hours,” he pouted, “look, I’ll increase mine too if it makes you feel better,” the ping sound of his speed increasing made me puzzled.
He was already improved.
I had no doubt that he could lift all the weights in his home gym, so why was he working out like he had some goal to achieve?
“What’s on your mind?” he asked as he continued to work his legs while focusing his whole attention on me.
“I’m curious, why are you working so hard if you are already so good?”
“You want the truth?” he asked as he reached to grab a bottle of water.
His muscles that were always hidden beneath his outfit flexed in their full glory, because now, he was wearing a sleeveless hoodie.
“Yes,” I nodded.
“I feel ashamed that I can’t lift you up. So I have to do better,” he said and tipped his head backward to gulp from the water.
My heart on the other hand thudded and even Gina, who had been absent all through the night, stirred and I felt her wag her tail.
But that was the last moment he gave me to rest, because for the rest of our two hours, we jumped from one intense weight training to the other. I thought I would die.
“I’m just a beginner, why are you making me carry so much weight?” I whined as he stacked up the weight one after the other.
“Because anything less than this will be too light for you to handle. Don’t worry, I’ll reduce it when you lose weight to make it proportional,” he said as he added another weight for me to bench press.
“I hate you,” I muttered.
“I don’t,” was his reply as we started.
With groans and tears and even passing out at some point, I eventually managed to finish up.
The worst part was everything I did, he did more, so I couldn’t properly complain without feeling like I was whining.
The pressure was a lot, but when I thought about how I would be able to easily throw a punch when next someone bullied me, I felt better and motivated.
“Time up!” he whistled and threw a bottle of water my way. The swiftness with which I caught it caught me by surprise, only for my hands to start shaking when I tried to open it.
“I’m so glad this is over, it felt like we spent two days inside his private gym instead of just two hours.”
“Let me help with that. Then you’ll go have your bath and come down for breakfast,” he said and I nodded with pain in my chest.
“Okay.”
“Why do you sound so down? You were complaining about being hungry,” he seemed genuinely confused and I had tears in my eyes.
“What are we having for breakfast?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise,” he smirked then helped me to my room before turning around.
It was a duplex and he ensured that my room was upstairs to help me exercise.
I realized that aside from his reputation for being shy and keeping to himself and the fact that he was obsessed with blowjobs, I didn’t know anything about him.
Well, until he brought me into his house to show how much of an exercise fanatic he was.
He had rods for calisthenics in case he felt bored and even different weight sizes in different corners of his house.
And my bathroom, there was a hold for me in case I wanted to do pulse squats.
Trauma!
I turned on the shower in the coldest temperature, loving every bit of the cold water droplets as they calmed my body.
My tense muscles loosened and the imbalance in my blood flow regulated. I let out a deep breath with my eyes closed and just stood in that position for a full minute before reaching out for my body wash and sponge.
I didn’t even want to think about what breakfast would look like.
Salad maybe, and tasteless white meat. I gagged on my toothbrush just thinking about it.
“Table is set, Zia,” Cain called out to me as my stomach grumbled, but I couldn’t even fake enthusiasm for it.
“If he serves you salad, we are moving out,” Gina scolded and I chuckled.
We had more interaction over the workout session but when I asked her about the whole thing, she also couldn’t remember.
The trauma of forcefully shifting must have caused the blackout.
“What are we having?” I asked as I walked down the stairs.
Cain had also had his bath and the living room smelled of his soap unlike before when everywhere smelled of our sweat.
It was relaxing and I couldn’t help but feel calm in his presence. It was a feeling I’d never felt at home. Not once, yet despite how rigorous the morning had started, I still looked forward to spending my afternoon and evening at home even though I would have to work out.
Just as long as he was around and together with me. I felt safe.
“Guess,” he said with his back turned to me.
“Salad?” I snorted, but the scent in the air didn’t smell like greens and there were too many plates on the dining table to contain just salad or whatever boring meal I was thinking about.
“Salad? That’s crazy, Zia. As healthy as it is to eat green grass, we are not goats and you, as a female, need more meat than I do, in both the literal and figurative sense,” he paused and I blushed.
“So dig in and eat. We need to down your calorie level but your protein needs to attain a new high. The goal is to protect yourself and strengthen your wolf,” he said but Gina grunted and turned her face.
The exhaustion from running the treadmill and doing all of that rigorous exercise and weight pulling had transcended from my body to my soul. We both suffered together.
The thought of us doing this every day until he approved of my wolf’s strength made me think about running away, but the grumble of my stomach accompanied with the large food buffet in front of me erased that thought and I started to shove it all in one after the other.
I couldn’t be bothered with manners.
Cain had already seen me at my worst. In fact, he put me in that position.
When I remembered how I’d passed out as soon as I got off the treadmill only for him to splash water on my face and force us to continue, my head would spark with some angry lights.
However, I didn’t stop eating.
I was too hungry and exhausted to bother about dignity.
“When you are done, you’ll give me a blowjob to thank me for breakfast,” he said.
My mouth was full, so I didn’t retort. Instead, I showed him my two middle fingers before taking up a roasted chilli and biting into it.
His eyes widened with mock fear, but I felt gratified at his reaction still and found myself chuckling.
As soon as I finished chewing the mouthful in front of me, I noticed I’d finished the small bowl of rice and fat slab of steak in front of me.
I yawned as I reached out to refill my plate.
I felt full already, but the small fear at the back of my mind that this might be a dream amplified my greed.
I didn’t know when, but I passed out.