Fated Rivals

Chapter 14

Grayson's POV

**WARNING: This gets pretty violent and bloody later in the chapter. I'll put marks where they start and end, but I just wanted to put this here just in case.

Right cross punch to his jaw, then left elbow strike to his abdomen. Watch out for his left elbow and try to get behind him. Dodge his back kick and back step. Shit, he's making another advance, evade his right hook. Left jab and-Shit!

I stagger back a bit from the unseen jab to my left side. Taking in a few gulps of air and I quickly wipe away the sweat stinging my eyes before I refocus back on my opponent, Mr. Ward. I should probably mention that I'm at my alpha training at the pack gym with him right now. And while yes, I would usually be at football practice after school, but my father made training days on Thursdays and Sundays for some reason. Well, at least it doesn't take up my entire weekend, but missing practices means more catch-up work later. Anyways, focus; circle him and find a weak point.

"Keep your shoulders loose. You don't want to be so stiff that you can't block easily," Mr. Ward says bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Right."

"And make sure you lean into your punches more to put more force behind them."

"Got it."

We go back and forth in a weird dance of sorts, exchanging blows and swift kicks with insane precision. Until he goes for a side kick and I catch it, hooking his other leg and making him fall. Taking advantage of the brief confusion I swiftly pin him down to the mat until he taps out.

"Good job today, I can tell that you're excelling well with your offense," Mr. Ward says hopping back onto his feet. Man, I still don't know how he's able to move so effortlessly at forty-six years old. Though I guess you have to keep yourself fit and active when you're the head general of our pack.

"Like father like son I guess," I say with a chuckle.

"Yeah well, unlike him, make sure you keep working on your defense. You don't want to overly rely on others to watch your six for you. And remember to stay on your opponent, the moment you let up on your attacks is the moment your opponent can strike back and gain the upper hand."

"Right."

"That being said, that will be it for today. Go get some water and cool off," he says as he starts packing up.

"Thank you, sensei," I say with a bow. Walking off of the sparring mat and I collapse onto the bench with my stuff on it. I down the water in my gallon size bottle and stretch out my sore arms, with some satisfying pops. Don't get me wrong, I like my alpha training days but that doesn't make them any easier. Especially when it comes to the boring stuff like long meetings with the pack Elders or other pack leaders. But that's the job of a pack leader, doing things that you don't like to do.

"Grayson." I, painfully, get up to greet my father who's entering the gym with four other alpha guards. I'm guessing we're going somewhere today.

"Are we going on a field trip to another pack today?" I ask with a chuckle, as I roll my shoulders.

His expression stays cold and serious. Well okay then. "We are going to go check on the pack's supplies shed. So don't bother showering now, just get dressed."

Oh.

"Yes sir." I quickly gather my towel and water bottle, and head to the locker room to change. I leave my gym stuff in my huge locker to pick up later, best not to bring it and risk my stuff getting ruined. I meet my father at the back of the pack house and we make our way towards the old storage shed hidden within the woods at the back of the house. This is another one of those head alpha jobs, "checking on the pack's storage supplies".