Believer (Embry Call)

Speaking My Lesson

From the brain

"Wake up!"

Rikki shot up, glancing around with wild eyes until they landed on Seth. He was grinning at her, no doubt at her surprised and disheveled appearance. Groaning, Rikki laid back down and yanked the covers up over herself once more.

"Come on, Rik! You get to train with us today," her best friend stated, flopping on top of her blanketed body.

"I don't wanna." It came out muffled due to layers of covers over her face.

"Yes, you do."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Rikki! Up, or no hot chocolate for a week," Danny piped from the doorway. Immediately, Seth was thrown to the floor and the blankets were flung off of herself as the girl sprung up and into her closet. Seth laughed from the floor, but it came out more like a cough before Danny grabbed his leg and dragged him from the room to give Rikki her privacy.

Pulling out an old Metallica shirt and some black athletic shorts , Rikki pulled them on along with her signature mud-covered black converse. Swooping out of her room and into the kitchen, she adjusted the bracelet on her wrist. Seth and Danny were talking about something when she entered, but she didn't pay too much attention. Instead, she pulled a left-over cinnamon roll out of the fridge and placed it into the microwave. She pulled it out and took a bite with a dramatic sigh of pleasure.

Danny chuckled at her then asked, "Ready?"

She finished chewing her bite and raised a brow, "No, I just stared my breakfast."

Seth rolled his eyes, "Chew faster."

"You chew faster!"

"I'm not even eating."

"Quit it you two," Danny cut in, though a grin was ever present on his face. "Hurry up and finish. We don't want to be late."

Rikki smiled with puffed out cheeks from the bite of cinnamon roll she had just took as he left the kitchen, then glared at Seth and stuck her tongue out at him. He did the same back and walked around the counter. "I missed this."

Rikki grinned and leaned her back against his front and finished her food, "Do you remember when we were little and we used to eat breakfast together in the back of the car on the way to school?"

"Leah would get so mad at us for chewing with our mouths open," Seth chuckled. Rikki joined in and pulled him out of the house to where Danny was waiting for them.

The young girl approached her brother's pickup truck, but stopped when Danny cleared his throat, "Where are you going?"

"The...truck?" Rikki replied with a confused glance between her brother and the car.

"Nope! We are running there," Seth exclaimed in excitement while Rikki's dropped into a dreadful pout.

"The hell I am!" She grunted, tugging on the handle of the truck only to find it locked. She stared at it in betrayal.

"Last one to Emily's has to train with Sam!" Danny shouted, taking off with incredible speed into the woods. Seth and Rikki shared a look of terror and sprinted after him.

~~~

Unfortunately, Rikki had been the last to arrive as Seth had shifted upon entering the woods and left Rikki in the dust, as she was still unaware of how to tap into her wolf abilities. Stumbling out of the forest and onto Emily's yard, Rikki collapsed on the ground as she tried to catch her breath. Inside, she could her the loud obnoxious laughter of her friends and groaned.

"Stupid Seth. He has four legs, the cheater," Rikki mumbled to herself and begrudgingly lifted herself from the damp earth. However, as she went to enter the cabin, she was blocked by the alpha himself.

"heard you're training with me today."

"...Maybe..."

Sam smirked, nudging her back down the porch steps, "Let's go for a run."

Rikki's eye twitched as she stared up at him, "I just ran here. You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope! We're building your stamina," he replied as he led her back to the forest. "Come on. We'll train for a while then go cliff diving. Sound good?"

Rikki crunched her face at him for a moment to see if he would falter. When he didn't she sighed and hunched over then got ready to go. Sam had them start off in a light jog that quickly picked up into a sprint. This time running, however, Rikki took time to focus on the way the trees blurred past and the sounds and smells that filled her senses.

Her head snapped to the right as something jumped at her from the underbrush. Swinging her leg out, she tripped whoever it was then used their leg as leverage to climb onto their shoulders and twist her body to bring them both to the ground; Rikki on top as she pulled out her trusty pocket knife and flicked it open, holding it to her attacker's throat. With a racing heart she finally got a good look at her opponent and gasped, pulling away from them in shock.

"Leah?"