Feral Obsession

Chapter Seventeen

Ruby had never been into sports. She had never been a part of a sports team, nor did she ever frequent a gym. So when Alpha Kierson insisted that she run twice a day, it was no surprise to Ruby that she couldn't even make it a mile on the first day.

Or the second. Or the third.

Ruby was beginning to wonder if Alpha Kierson just really needed a good workout buddy, because she couldn't quite understand why he was training her in the first place. She was never going to be as strong as he was. She was never going to be able to actually contribute to anything.

He could talk about taking down Alpha Langdon all he wanted, but even Ruby knew, werewolf or not, she would never be capable of defeating Atlas.

I mean, had Kierson seen Atlas? He was six and a half feet tall, for goodness sake.

That morning, Ruby had almost made it a mile. She was hunched over, hands on her thighs, gasping hard for breath. The path they ran was through the woods, but not down the long, winding driveway.

When Ryan had brought her there, Ruby hadn't been paying a lot of attention to where they were going. But after Kierson had caught her staring longingly at the driveway that first running day, he had banished all thoughts of escape out of her mind: they were five miles deep into the woods, and even if she managed to somehow escape, the other wolves would scent her escape immediately.

But, that five mile distance stuck like glue in her mind. The longer she ran with Kierson, Ruby argued that eventually, five miles would be a piece of cake.

And as soon as she could run five miles, she would be out of there. She would figure out how to lose the wolves off her trail when the time came, because at this rate, Ruby was not going to escape anytime soon.

Ruby may not have been a fighter, but she was smart. Don't let them think you're going to run. Let them underestimate the human. Practice running five miles, and then you'll be out of here.

If she was too eager for escape, she wouldn't make it five feet, nevermind five miles.

"C'mon. We aren't finished. Get going." Kierson had an angry voice. A demanding, commandeering voice that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She wanted to snap back at him with something witty, but she was terrified of him.

She straightened, lungs burning, and forced herself forward. Her legs screamed in pain the moment she resumed, and Ruby thought that this was torture enough. Forget the starving and the sleeping on concrete; this felt worse.

Her breathing was loud and labored. "Please," she wheezed out. "I can't make it."

Kierson shot her a look over his shoulder. "I can't even believe he let you be this weak. Let's go."

"Who is he?" Ruby was panting and moving at a snail's pace. She knew who he was, she was just hoping Kierson would give her more information. Ruby was dying to know why Kierson even thought she and Atlas were tied.

"Alpha Langdon doesn't care much for his pack, does he?" Kierson grunted. "If you make it to that rock, then we'll stop. If you don't, we'll keep doing this until you faint."

Ruby had no desire to faint, or continue this painful exercise training. She wheezed and staggered her way to the rock, the distance so close, yet so far in her mind. When she finally got to the rock, she threw herself on the ground with a groan.

Sweat clung to her forehead and neck, hair sticking to her skin uncomfortably. She hated Kierson. She hated that he kidnapped her and forced her to run. And most of all, she hated that he couldn't just let her rot in the basement.