Profound Devotion

Chapter 46

August 20th
Monaia

"Yes! Again!" Jamie cheered from the sideline, bouncing on the balls of her feet and pumping her fists in the air as if every hit I landed was her own.

I swore I would focus solely on training while Cass was gone, and that's exactly what I did. At the break of dawn, Atticus would join me for a run around the territory lines. I would then split off with the warriors to learn ways to defend myself and, eventually, attack unprovoked.

As someone who could barely throw a punch before, I was actually doing pretty well. It hasn't been long since I started, but my hits were already much stronger and my dodging was starting to feel like second nature.

My experience at the medical center also came in handy more than I thought it would. My first and only spar with Jamie ended with her nose broken and bloody from the contact she made with my knee, while my shoulder had to be popped back into its socket after she flung me over her head and into a solid tree. It was intense, but I learned a lot of tricks that she picked up back when she still lived among River Ash—a pack known for their members who dedicated most of their youth building muscle and learning how to use it.

Taylor wiped the blood off his split lip with a frustrated growl. He was clearly annoyed by my upper hand, but I trusted him enough that he wouldn't snap and take things too far. He had overwhelming control over his wolf compared to some of the other male warriors who had to be contained when things got out of hand.

"You're so close to winning. Just get him to the ground!" Jamie encouraged as I circled my opponent, trying to find the weak spot Cass taught us about the first time he helped our men train.

Taylor shook his head with a cocky grin as if he didn't think I would be able to land more than the few hits I managed.

"Yeah, Naia. Make your move." He snarled jokingly and wiggled his fingers at his sides, anticipating where my next attack would be.

Taylor was a few inches taller than me, had a decent amount of muscles from his consistent participation in pack events, and had great balance more often when he was in his wolf form. Standing on two legs, however, his left leg would occasionally drag behind the other because he favored his right dominant side more. This made him slower with every attack to his left side, and it gave me my perfect opportunity.

As expected, he wasn't able to turn quite as quickly when I approached over his left shoulder, grabbing hold of the joint and kicking out his knee, flinging him back into the dirt that stirred up into a cloud of dust.

He recovered faster than I anticipated, locking our hands together as he wrestled to get out from beneath me.

"Come on! Lock him down!" Jamie clapped, coaching me all while hovering at the circle outline to stay out of our space.

I growled and pressed my weight into my hands, my healed shoulder burning the longer I held this position.

All I needed was him to get tired first. If I could wait him out, maybe I could end this sooner and let my body finally rest.

"Give it-ugh-up." Taylor grunted, struggling under me and trying to squirm out from under my knee that was pressing into the center of his chest.

"Never." I snapped, gritting my teeth and trying to use my other leg that was my only stability to flip him over.

It wasn't easy, but a waiver of his weaker elbow, and I finally managed to drop his left arm onto the ground. This helped me by restructuring my strength, pulling on his right hand that was still firmly grasped into mine. He gasped as his body had been completely rotated, his face now buried in the ground and his arm pinned behind his back.