So many questions
Elara
The “it” in question happened to be knives and knuckle thingies. I didn’t even know what they were called, but they were those things you attach to your knuckles when you want to punch someone and you want it to hurt and bleed. These were cast in silver , claws that would poke out of my knuckles. It looked mean as things when I put them on, but then again, it couldn’t even land a hit, so what was the point?
“How low?” he said, and I did hear it. “When you want to plant, take it in from your feet. You’ll be faster that way.” He demonstrated: “When you want to punch you can move faster , open your face just a little bit and close it on impact.” I tried it and it was like magic; my first move was so much faster. Still, it was being weighed down by the weight of that weapon on my knuckles.
“You’ll get used to it,” he said. “No kidding,” I wanted to say. He wasn’t the one wearing a five to ten-pound brass knuckle on his hand. Brass knuckles , that hit me. That’s what it was called. He didn’t just stop at the brass knuckles; he went ahead to bring out a throwing-knife set.
“Dude, I didn’t think I was going to fight that dirty,” I said.
“Good. You should visit.”
“Clearly you’re more jaded than I thought, Jared. I didn’t think you would be so honorable.”
He rolled his eyes. “To be medical? But yeah , you’ll die if you don’t fight dirty. You’re not a werewolf; a werewolf would kill you. If you have things like poison and darts, if you basically act like an assassin, it will be fine. Stick with the shadows, stay low to the ground.” He smiled and tapped my cheek. “I think you’ll make it. Now come at me.” He cracked a low laugh.
I didn’t know what to do. But being that he said I should keep low, I ran in a crouch position and tackled his legs. He fell borrowing to the ground and boom , I was on him. My small victory was still in my head, so I climbed on him and began to rain my punches down as hard as I could, which unfortunately didn’t get very far. In my head I pictured it would actually land; I pictured I would get a good hit in, but I didn’t. He held my hands above my head rather unceremoniously, but he had a smile on.
“Fifty percent of worlds aren’t as fast as me , no, scratch that: ninety percent aren’t as fast as me. So you did good.” He pushed me off him unceremoniously without care that I was a lady. “You can’t land a hit, and I wasn’t expecting you to, but at least you did well.” He stood to his feet. “Most of us don’t pay attention to our legs. Going for the feet was a good and smart move. You’ll bring down anyone, even the heaviest people, but it’s kind of like a one-trick pony: once they know you will go for the feet, they’ll know to expect it. So what then?”
I rested my hands by my side. He smiled. “Fight dirty,” he said. “I think, use that head of yours , you’re smaller, you should be quicker, but you’re not kind, so what can you do?” He waited, blinking at me.
I shook my head. I didn’t have any ideas. “I’m slow,” I said, pointing out the obvious.
“I know.” He raised his eyebrows. “So what can you do?”
I shook my head. “Is there a way I can leverage my lack of speed? I have a whole point of leverage to have something that raises your chances.”
“Tissue his head,” he said. “Not necessarily leverage , it’s just a way you can use something that might not be an obvious advantage to your advantage. So you’re slow; you can use that slowness to your advantage.” He smiled, perhaps thinking, “Here, I’ve done a good thing.” But I was still confused.
“Get up,” he said.
“What’s on my feet?” He moved closer to me, stepped within my range of vision, and then he was too close.
“What are you doing?”
He smiled. “Get up in their business,” he said. “Get yourself a scent. Smells bad , they’ll throw them off.”
I smiled. “I can’t carry piss and feces around; it’s going to stink.”
He smiled. “I know. But there are a few things that can trick our noses , make us lose our minds just for a little bit.” He winked at me.
“What?”
He rolled his eyes. “My sister didn’t tell you?” He smiled, leaned closer. “Sometimes,” he said, “a male werewolf cannot get a scent out of his head , the scent of a female.”
“Subtle,” he said. “Something which tricks his nose. It would cause him to stumble. A female,” he said, “in heat,” he said, “is an example , something that drives us crazy. Most people have learned to mask it. Surprisingly, you won’t smell it until you’re just within a few inches.”
Then he got up close again. “This close,” he said. “Every male smells a woman in heat , female,” he said, correcting himself. “He loses his mind, for good reason, to become submissive to her. And then, at the moment when he’s distracted, you can go for the kill.”
I gave a big nod. “Okay, so how do I get it?”
“I’m going to have to ask my sister to do it, or we can use an alternative.”
I smacked myself on the forehead. “Why did you do that?” he asked, allowing his hand to rest on my shoulders.
“You got my hopes up for nothing and now they’re dashed, and you’re asking me what,” I stopped, unable to finish my own sentence. “You know, I think you people collectively agree to make my life a living hell.”
“Good stuff,” he said straight-faced, then shrugged. “Sometimes,” he said, “it is fun. But only for you , it always is, if you do it right. Come on, get back. You can’t always be looking for shortcuts. You’ve got to get stronger. Let’s do it.”
I spent several hours in the gym that night, growling and grunting through pain, but it wasn’t that bad. Maybe it was something in the food, something in the water, or something in the air, but I knew I had grown stronger.
By the time it was the fifth day and nobody had come to pick me up, I could spar with Alejandra while she drilled me on my studies.
“Seventh alphabet,” she said while throwing punches.
Of course, I answered to the best of my abilities, but sometimes when I missed it, it came with a punch to my gut.
“Get up,” she said. “You’re nowhere near ready to go off.”
I propped up, shook off the pain, and got back into position.
“Are they back?”
She smiled and gave a small nod. “Yeah, but we’re going to keep you here for a bit, just until we see if there’s anyone who will make it foolish to let you go this time.”
“Maybe it’s because you guys are just ridiculously strong,” I said, rubbing my belly, still feeling the shadow of the pain.
She squinted, as though she was trying to focus on something. “You’ve changed,” she said.
I stood up straight, cocking my head in wonder. “Actually… um? How?”
“You want to be a little more specific?” she said.
“I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what you’ve done. I think I should call Kendrick,” she said suddenly, walking out of the gym and leaving me standing there with many questions.