Athena's Human Mate

Chapter 5

"On my tenth birthday when Artemis woke up, I was excited and happy. She told me how strong we were and that we had Alpha blood in us. I tried to play games with the other kids, boys in particular. Their games looked more interesting than the she-wolves who played with dolls. Nothing wrong with dolls, but I wanted to pretend taking out rogues with the boys too."

"The boys wouldn't let me play with them because I was a she-wolf and too weak to fight. This made Artemis mad, she said that we could take on any of them, even the older ones who already shifted. I got in a few fights with them and got punished by my dad. I didn't try to play their games after that."

"How did he punish you?" Gramps growled out, the thought of someone hitting his precious angel angering him.

"Calm down," Athena reached out and placed her hand on Gramps' chest. "He didn't hurt me, I was grounded for a week and had to do extra nasty chores around the pack for a month. It was enough for my ten year old self to deter me from doing it again."

Once Gramps sat back she continued her tale. "I was frustrated and Artemis was angry so we started running. Every morning we would run for about an hour, then I'd watch the warriors train before showering and going to school. Then I found a flyer that saved me from my aggression." She paused for dramatic effect. "I started doing karate."

The understanding lit the adult's eyes, "no wonder you know how to fight! Why didn't I think of that?" Jacob said. "Are you a blackbelt?" He asked excitedly.

"Of course."

"How did you keep that from Alpha Ryan?" Audrey asked.

"Easy, I told him I joined the human club Girl Scouts. Anything that involves humans he ignores. Add in that it's only for girls, it was the perfect cover."

"I saw your fight last year, that wasn't karate." Uncle Chris stated.

"Not exclusively. After a few weeks, I found the downside, classes were only once a week. It wasn't enough, I craved the physical workout. I signed up for something different to do every day after school."

"No way! That's so freaking cool!! I knew I had a bad ass cousin."

"Jeff, language!" His mother reprimanded him.

"Sorry, I forgot Brandon was here. Go on, you were saying?"

Athena laughed, "yes, well, I loved learning different fighting and defense techniques. I am a black belt in karate, judo, jui-jitsu and basically in kung-fu. Kung-fu is a lot more complicated and explaining isn't necessary for my story. I don't have a title for boxing, to get those I'd have to compete and that is out of the question."

"You can box too?!" Brain said.

"I swear, anyone else interrupts and you'll be doing the nasty pack chores for two months." Gramps yelled at the boys. They nodded, not wanting to risk getting in trouble.

"It's ok Gramps. After I shifted, I would do my runs half in human and half in wolf. Dad wouldn't let me spar with the warriors so Artemis did the same exercises they did. Dad still has no clue about the extent I've gone to in my quest to condition myself. Even after the first games, he chalked it up to luck and good genes," she scoffed.

"Luck my butt, I've worked hard the last eight years to get this far. When I turned sixteen I began doing MMA fights. The gym has tried hard to get me in tournaments but all I had to do is remind them I needed parental approval. Which I would never get, nor want, it wouldn't be fair to compete against humans."