“Sky will be fine. She’s taken down pretty much everyone in the pack who can actually fight. I’m not worried about f*cking Kaley.” Kota finishes. He has no idea, it’s never Kaley who gets her hands dirty and they never come at me one at a time.
At least we don’t have school, that will help me avoid her. Although she has actually been coming to training every morning and dressed in workout
gear. She doesn’t appear to do much, but she’s good at looking busy. We all leave looking like something the cat dragged in while she looks exactly as she showed up.
She won’t fool people for long. She’s trying to impress the Elite Warriors by pretending to be involved. We just need to keep our head down and make a good impression so they will take us next year. Then we can get away from her for a bit. I love that my wolf just gets me and knows what I need to hear.
“I know, I just hope that she doesn’t start bullying other kids while we are gone. She’s starting to get worse with her bow-to-me Luna tirades.”
“Hey Shorty, where’d you go?” Mateo looks at me, concern clouding his eyes. “You know we won’t let anything happen to you, right?” This comment, of course, gets the attention of the others.
“It’s not me who needs protection.” I move to get up, annoyed that they are so short sided still, even after what I told them about the bullying in
school. I take the bullying so no one else has to. And I have told all the kids not to fight on school grounds since they are the ones most likely to get into trouble for it. So, they just come to me.
I walk toward the door and start a slow jog back over to the training field. I need to hit the gym and punch something that won’t actually get hurt if I pu
my full rage into it. I know they are following me, but at a distance. They have at least picked up on when I need some time to myself. It doesn’t mean
that they actually leave me alone, they just don’t try to engage and I have stopped trying to run and hide from them when I am upset. I just kind of
shut down verbally. It’s only been about six months since we have been hanging out and I still find myself overwhelmed at all of them being around al
of the time. There are times when I do miss the quiet and peace of being by myself.
I make the effort not to rip the door open as I reach the entrance to the gym attached to the main training grounds. I’m not here much since I prefer to
train outdoors no matter the weather. But the weights and the punching bags are a great way to release pent up frustrations quickly. Also the guys
can all be here with me without being in my way or in my space. It’s the best compromise I can give them. I walk over to the stereo and hook up my
phone and blast the loudest, most aggressive rock playlist I have. The guitar and drums fuel my irritation and help me channel the rage that has been
slowly building up as the year has gone on.
I walk to the wall and grab a spare set of wraps for my hands and begin the irritatingly long process of wrapping my knuckles. I prefer the MMA wraps
to boxing gloves, it’s closer to the real thing and I tend to not overdo it since the pain comes more quickly. I get one done and struggle with the other
since it’s my off hand. Without a word large hands grab the wrap and my hand and begin the process of securing my knuckles. I don’t look up, I don’t
have to, each of these guys brings me comfort in their own ways. Oliver is the one who showed me how to wrap properly so I did less damage to my
hands. He always makes sure I’m safe, but never tries to stop me from letting out my anger in a constructive way. That’s the part of me he seems to
understand and can sympathize with. When he’s finished, he just turns and walks away, leaving me to my thoughts.
