Together Again

Part 2

The following day Grant and I had made the short trip from our house to my parents home to discuss things with my Father.
He'd been hesitant at first,  but after talking things through with him;  with Grant agreeing along with the idea,  my Father had conceeded, but only after decreeing that Grant would not be allowed to participate in the close quarter fights as a wolf.
He'd promised not to get involved with the more extreme training; just enough to have the ability to keep his wolf in control.
After that we'd spent some time with Stevie and Mum before refusing the plea to stay for dinner and heading back to our house; training began tomorrow.

He'd been so nervous walking over to the training grounds that morning, that I'd had to force my wolf back from wrapping Grant up in our arms and hiding him away; but I knew we couldn't do that, not with how eager he was to learn how to have more control.  So instead I'd taken his hand in mine and rubbed my thumb over his as we'd walked,  hoping to soothe him even just a little.
"You'll be fine,  I'll be right there if you need me."
He'd smiled worryingly at me and then let go of my hand once we'd reached the yard; moving to stand with the others.
My skin had itched seeing him; standing just off to the side from the others, and trying not to let his expression show how unnerved he was. It really wasn't sitting well having him surrounded by other wolves; especially when he wasn't fully claimed,  if he got hurt he wouldn't be able to heal as fast as the others.
My Father had  already split those gathered into different sections by the time we got there; beginners and experienced both going off to run warm up exercises.
For the beginners it was mostly about building up their stamina for now; but it didn't stop my worried gaze searching for my mate everytime we crossed paths.
I wasn't sure how many times I'd gotten distracted by one of the other wolves getting too close to him, and having to hold myself back from charging at them; or how I'd been trained to Grants every step.
It hadn't gone unnoticed by my Father either and after about half an hour of the same he'd sighed and beckoned me to him.
"Evan," he'd huffed out exasperatedly as I stood beside him.
"I know you're worried about him, but he's doing fine. So get your head screwed on and focus; you're no use here if you can't do what's expected of you, especially not to him."
I knew he was right; I hated that he was,  and that not too long before I'd have had a word myself to any wolf acting how I was now, but I couldn't explain how much I didn't give a crap right then. The drive to make sure that nothing happened to him was forcing me to follow his every movement and even though I wanted to snap at my Father and tell him where he could shove his advice; I simply nodded; my brows drawn in a grimace and headed back over to where the group was and retook my position.
An hour later my Father had given the command for everyone to take up the task of one on one combat.
We'd all agreed earlier that Grant could participate with it, but we'd arranged a signal in case it became too much for him. He simply needed to catch my or my Father's eyes, and my Father would call an immediate halt to the training until Grant was out of the yard.
But he was holding his own, given that he'd never trained like this before. His movements were sloppy every now and then and he mostly focused on his defence, but he handled it well.
A short while after we'd began I glanced quickly over to where Grant had been before, and noted that he was looking worn-out.
I swift sweep of my opponents feet; a sharp guttural curse, and I caught my Father's attention and then inclined my head in Grant's direction.
He'd taken a quick look over and called for a short break.
Grant had almost fallen over once the command had been called; and I'd jogged over to him with two bottles of water.
"Here."
I helped him straighten up and handed him one of the bottles; he downed nearly the whole bottle before he spoke.
"Thanks."
His struggled reply told me exactly how exhausted he really was; despite his efforts in quieting his laboured breaths.
"We should head home."
I told him absently, taking a drink myself while he caught his breath a bit more.
"But, it's just a break; we're not meant to;"
"You're exhausted Grant."
"M-maybe,"
"Grant we already agreed,  you can't overdo it with this,  remember what happened last time?"
Though he grimaced slightly, he nodded his head and finished the remainder of his water.
"I'll let my father know and then we can head back home."
"Okay."
My father had been the first one of us to mention taking Grant back home for today and I'd divulged that I'd had the same thoughts, before turning back to where Grant was.
I inclined my head to him and we set off for home, walking only for a minute or two when from the corner of my eye I saw him stumble over his own feet,  struggling to walk straight.
"Should I carry you?"
I half joked with him, waiting for him to catch up with me; almost subconsciously drawing my arm around him to support his weight against my side.
"No, I'm all sweaty, and I s-stink."
"I'd still carry you."
His head turned, eyes staring at mine before he shook his head.
"I'm good, really."
We didn't say anything more, continuing home slowly side by side.