Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Day one, and I could barely breathe.

"Do I really need to wear this?"

I brushed off invisible dirt from the outfit that looked somewhat close to a swimsuit, and as though it wasn’t bad enough, it was tighter and clutched against my chest. Every inhale reminded me it was there. The fabric did not care that I hated it.

"It’s a compression jacket. It’ll help you a lot more than you think," Clawface said into the open.

We were in the middle of a clearing. An orange tree stood behind me, and I rested my back against it, arms wrapped around myself as I paid attention to the rest of Clawface’s lecture. The bark was rough. The shade was thin.

He had what looked like a scarecrow in the clearing, and he was using it as an example of how to defeat an enemy. Straw. Cloth. A painted face that did not blink.

My mind drifted off at some point until the crack of the whip in his hand split the air. The sound snapped the day back into place.

"Are you even listening, Alex?"

"I said I wanted to fight, not listen to lectures and whatnot. Just teach me practically. How to actually win, not point out areas of weakness that don’t really mean anything." I rolled my eyes.

On a battlefield, I’d probably die a thousand times if I knew only the theory and not the practical ways to defeat my enemies.

I wanted to be able to look down at an Alpha and chuckle as he breathed his last breath, knowing he’d been defeated by an Omega. The picture sat bright in my head. The lecture did not.

"So, what do you want?" he asked, and my lips curled upward.

Excitement flushed my skin, and I lunged forward. Once I stood in front of him, I raised my brows.

"Combat. Let’s fight. I’m a fast learner. I’d pick up from..."

My words were cut off when the air got knocked out of me.

My eyes widened before a sharp burst of pain slammed into my stomach and swept me off the ground.

All within seconds of being airborne and the pain settling in, reality returned with the harsh impact against the earth. Dirt met my back. Sky met my eyes. Neither was kind.

"Fuck..." My face reddened as I wheezed, clutching my stomach, my features twisted.

The pain reverberated through me, stealing my ability to breathe for almost a minute and leaving me gasping for air. The clearing spun once and then decided to stay still.

When I finally could, Clawface was standing above me. His shadow cut the sun in half.

"Stand up!"

∆∆∆

Day two, and it was fucking hell!

"Argh! Stay away! I command you to stay away!"

My scream split the air as I sprinted out of the clearing and back toward the castle. My feet carried me to the first section of the grounds. Grass tore under my steps. My lungs burned like I had been running for hours instead of minutes.

Seeing the guards there, I waved frantically at them. Concern etched their expressions. Out of breath, I couldn’t communicate properly, so instead I hid behind them. Armor. Spears. Bodies that were supposed to mean safety.

One second, the fog was peaceful. Then a shadowy figure appeared within it, and suddenly the mist split apart as Clawface ran through it, heading straight for me.

"Raise your spears! Don’t let him get me!"

This time my scream graduated into a full wail.

Eyes bulging and lips dry, I croaked as the guards parted, ultimately giving Clawface a clear path.

Shit...

Clawface was only centimeters away when I pointed.

"No, no, don’t come close! Order from your Luna. I command you, Clawface!"

I screeched as my back hit the wall. Stone bit through the jacket. There was nowhere left to go.

He charged toward me with such determination, eyes locked onto me as though I were his lifelong enemy and he was ready to end me entirely.

"Clawface, no. No, please..."

His arm struck my stomach, carrying me into the air before he slammed me into the ground. The world folded. Then it opened again, uglier than before.

∆∆∆

Day three, and I was determined not to lose again.

There were three major physical points where a wolf could be weakened: the neck, the limbs, and the heart. When it came to using scent as a weakness, there were potent substances mixed into weapons such as arrows that delivered venom directly into the bloodstream.

There were other methods too, but I hadn’t learned further before I got bored again, my eyes growing heavy with sleep. The words stacked. My head refused to keep them standing.

"Do you want me sending you back to the infirmary?" he questioned, and my eyes snapped open. "I’m merely not doing that already because the doctor complained it might harm the baby, and I’d like to keep my head attached to my shoulders before Alpha Kai." He completed.

"Well, you’re boring..."

Clawface groaned and waved me off.

"This isn’t working. When you’re ready to stop wasting my time, you’ll get back to me."

Clawface turned away from me, struck the scarecrow, and it split halfway down. Straw spilled. The painted face sagged.

I pouted.

"Why would you do that?"

"Did I fail to mention you’re a terrible student? Oh, right. You’re possibly not even paying attention."

"I am. I’m learning. Isn’t it supposed to be bit by bit, or do you expect me to know everything immediately because I have magic?"

Clawface raised both hands into the air.

"Speaking of that, I’m starting to think that’s possibly the best way you can fight."

"What does that mean?" My fingers dug into my back pocket as I squinted at him.

"I don’t know. What do you take it as?"

"You’re calling me incompetent."

"Perhaps you truly are."

"You’re rude."

"You’re lazy," he huffed.

"What?" I uttered in disbelief, my brows knitting together.

My fingers curled as I raised my left hand.

"Then I’ll show you exactly how I stopped the war between MoonBlade and SilverFang."

I was about to utter the foreign words of a spell when Clawface knocked me to the floor. This time, however, he protected my head and stomach. The ground still found me. It just found me kinder.

"It takes time to cast a spell, and you’d already be dead," he stated.

Marcellan walked into the clearing just then, a smile dancing on his lips. His skin glinted beneath the sun, and he chewed gum, adding to his already mischievous appearance.

"Looks like combat is your doom."

From beneath Clawface, I yelled,

"Get off, Marcellan."

It wasn’t surprising he’d come to mock me, just as he had yesterday and the day before. He always arrived when the dirt was already in my mouth.

"I can teach you strategy. Come and play chess with me."

As he spoke, Clawface hauled me back to my feet. My knees complained. I ignored them.

"Please. Who needs strategy that badly?"

"Strategy is what wins wars. Every person plots, and you can be the editor who scrutinizes and dismantles those plots."

I rolled my eyes at him as I walked past. The path back to the castle felt longer with both of them behind me.

"I’m going to take a bath, Marcellan. Please leave me alone."

Upon arriving at the staircase in the lounge, now inside the castle, I halted when Kai came into view.

"Kai... you’re awake."

I breathed out the words, and he smirked at me.