The Trial She Faces

Chapter 13

Over the last week, Eve's training had progressed in much the same manner as the first day. She would wake up early and run up the mountain each day. Despite the short time that she had been training she was sure that she was getting quicker - it was certainly easier.

After her run, Curtis would instruct her to strike the tree with the mat. Each day he would teach her the technique for one or two new moves adding to her knowledge of fighting techniques. After seven days of this he was beginning to give her more complicated sequences of moves to practice.

Occasionally, he would remind her to stay light on feet or he would scold her for being too slow or too weak with her strikes. If he found her slipping, he would punish her. Her least favourite punishment so far had been the core exercises. She knew that her abdominal muscles were her weakest group, and she ought to train them more often, but she always hated doing it.

That particular morning, Eve had been distracted and as a result she ended up doing an ungodly amount of crunches and she spent way too long in the planking position. But eventually, Curtis announced that they were finished for the morning, although, he was annoyed at Eve's lack of discipline.

He briskly walked back to the house leaving her outside on the ground. She was exhausted. Partly due to the new training schedule and exercise that her body was still adjusting to. But the main culprit of her tiredness was a lack of sleep. Every night when she went to sleep, pain would rip through her body as she felt Adrian have sex with whoever he was hooking up with. She tried not scream out in the night, but she was almost certain that Curtis knew what was happening. After all, she had accidently shredded a blanket in a fit of pain one night. Regretfully, she had presented the torn piece of fabric to Curtis with an apology. The two had not discussed what lead to the blankets end.

With groan, Eve rolled over and slowly limped into the cabin as her muscles called out in distress. Once inside, she hastily had a shower to remove the scent of sweat form her body before making her way to the kitchen. Curtis always made breakfast and she always made dinner. On a particular day, either one of them could end up making lunch. Eve enjoyed this task though - she enjoyed the responsibility that she had been given. Plus, cooking always reminded her of Joanne.

Just as Eve walked into the kitchen, Curtis sat down two plates of food on the table. There was a mixture of grilled vegetables accompanied by two slices of toast. Eagerly, Eve sat down and began to shovel the food into her mouth. One of the side effects of all the training she had been doing was the dramatic increase in food that Eve needed to consume in order to be satisfied.

In the blink of an eye, all of the food on her plate had disappeared and she made her way to the kitchen to begin cleaning up the dishes. Curtis remained seated at the table as he ate his breakfast in a much more dignified manner. After a moment of consideration, Eve spoke up.

'Um Curtis. Is it alright if I ask you a question?' Eve said gently.

He grunted in reply which Eve took to mean 'spit it out'.

'I told my mum I would call her when I was safe at Alpha Ian's pack and well that clearly didn't work out. Do you have a phone I could possibly borrow?' Eve practically cringed as she spoke.

'No.' Curtis said before continuing to eat.

'Oh okay. Never mind, I guess.' Eve said disheartened as she turned back to the dishes.

'I'm going to the human town this afternoon. Usually, I would not need to go, but I did not plan on having a house guest, so I don't have enough food. I'll need to stock up. You can come with me and use a payphone.' Curtis said as he stood from the table and placing his dirty dishes on the kitchen bench. He turned and retreated to his room as a wide smile came across Eve's face.