Aether's Claim | Editing

Chapter 14

"You need to fight harder!"

I had been thrown onto the ground, my knee was throbbing with pain and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Aether wasn't joking when he said his pack's training was hard; it trumped the warrior training I had done, supposedly the hardest for females in the world, and left me batter and bruised every night.

It had been a few weeks since we started with my training and, true to his word, Aether had not held back, going full force with me every day.

"I'm trying my best." I said to Aether, gasping in pain as he padded angrily towards me.

He shook his head with a menacing, disappointed look on his face. "No, you're not. The award you got, I know you can do better, May. What will it take for you to take this seriously?"

"I am taking this seriously." I argued, but truthfully, I wasn't.

Ares and I had been meeting every night since Aether and I had started training. I felt awful and guilty, for lying to Aether about how much work I was putting in, only to go and undo it every time I was with Ares, and I felt awful about lying to Ares about what I was doing with Aether, why I was so exhausted every night.

I pushed myself up from the ground, the sweltering heat beating down on my head as I thought back to the day, I had seen Ares feeding Riven, and what had transpired the night when I left Aether's house.

The sun had begun to set over the horizon when Aether had bid be goodbye, a quiet breeze causing me to shiver as I began to walk back to the main pack house. There were few wolves milling around as I made my way, so I felt comfortable taking off my hood and letting the wind trickle through my hair.

I was almost through the gardens, about to dart in through a side door, when I heard my name being called. I whipped around, almost tripping over my own feet, and listened carefully. When I heard nothing else, I began to move, daydreaming about my warm sheets and whatever movie I was going to put on.

Then I heard it again, this time louder and harsher, and as I was about to enter the pack house I was suddenly grabbed.

I struggled against whoever had taken me, thrashing and trying to scream while the person pressed their hand against my mouth.

"Shhh, it's me, it's me."

I blinked up at Ares, relaxing almost immediately.

"A... Ares?" I whispered back, realising it was, in fact, Ares who had grabbed me on my walk back.

He cracked a charming smile, brown locks falling in front of his eyes. "Didn't you pick up my scent?"

I shook my head, still in shock as he ran a hand through his hair. "I couldn't...I wasn't focused." I muttered.

He scoffed teasingly. "Yeah, I could tell. That's why it was so easy to grab you."

I shook him off, not liking his laid back nature after I had seen him feed Riven. I wanted to get back to my room, not only because I was still angry at him, but because I was sure I still had traces of Aether's scent on me.

"I'm sorry about what you saw in the dining hall today." He said, seemingly reading my mind.

I rolled my eyes, not thinking, but my annoyance was evident. "It doesn't matter, does it?" I answered, not able to think of anything else to say.

Ares tried to decipher my expression as he had done so many times before, his eyes analysing my face as we stood there.

"Can I go now?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest to try and stop the shiver that went through me when he looked at me.