The Wolfpack

Chapter 6: Control

     As Blake slept, the rest of us gathered up. Jace and Ember stood up while Kyle looked up at the group from his bed. I leaned against the dresser and looked at the group. "Okay, so it seems like the three of you, mostly, have some problems among yourselves." I looked at Jace. "And it's mostly to do with you." Jace growled at me and I raised my hands up. "It's the truth, man. But hey, it doesn't have to be."

     "That doesn't make any sense, Fang." Jace shook his head and I looked at him. "How do we fix this problem, then?"

     "Well, the problem mostly stems from your anger. It seems that, from everything you've learned, you never really learned to keep your temper in check." I looked at Jace's arms, and leaned against the dresser. "Do your arms just turn into claws, or can they become more?"

     Jace shook his head with a simple, "There's more." He looked at me and the others as he sat down on the empty bed. "I don't know how to fully control the other shapes. The claws just come naturally."

     "Well maybe it's tied to your emotions. Anger clouds your judgement, and maybe clouds your power's full capabilities." Jace looked at his arms and sighed. I walked over and looked at him. "Look, it's obvious that you're a powerful guy. But you're not gonna get anywhere with basic knowledge, not a whole lot of combat training, and an overly aggressive attitude."

     After some explaining to Ember and Kyle, the two set up a sort of training room in a nearby abandoned building. No one went near it and it was big enough for us to make a mess without anyone caring. All 5 of us got some training gear and moved to the building, dropping the training gear onto the ground as we looked around the place.

     Jace was the first to be trained as he stood in a big circle. Kyle stood across from him and got into a fighting stance that none of us had ever seen before.

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     I stood across Jace in the ring and watched him get into a boxing stance. He wouldn't make the first move, so I rushed over and he threw a punch toward me. I slide under his punch and moved my forearm near his head. I stopped just before hitting his head and exhaled.

     "Your stance. It's sloppy." I let Jace go and walked back to where I started off. "Spread your legs apart a bit. You're too closed in and can't move around so much in that stance. Watch, come at me." I got in my own stance with one foot in front of the other, the other foot behind and ready to push away from the position, one fist near my head to both block an attack and prepare for a straight punch to the upper body, and the other arm low and at level with my hip.

     Jace rushed over and threw his left fist toward my head. I blocked the punch with my right hand, my hand twisting around his arm and locking it into place, then used my left foot to push off the ground and around Jace's head. I pulled him face-first to the ground and pulled his arm into a death grip as Jace laid there. I let got and stood up, helping Jace stand as he held his arm. "All in the stance." He shook his head and stretched his arms.

     "But we're not here to work on your fighting stance. We already know Ember has been taking you on late night training sessions on the roof." Fang nodded and Blake sat on the floor as they both watched us. "You guys aren't as quiet as you think." Jace looked at me as he stood at his side of the ring.

     "Then what are we working on?" He got in his stance, legs spread a bit wider, and I smirked as he did this.

     "Getting you angry." I rushed over and slid under him, pulling his legs back and throwing him onto his face. As he got up, I jumped over him and sent him onto his back. I heard him growl as he got up. "Get mad, dude. We need you pissed off for this part." As he rushed over, I ducked under his punch and pulled him back to the ground. He got up and unleashed his claws as he got up.