Escape The Pack

Chapter 11

I gritted my teeth, picked myself up off the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Come on Laila, focus."

Eli stood in front of me, shirtless once again. He had a few minor cuts but nothing serious. I on the other hand was covered in bruises and cuts. I wasn't quite the fighter I thought I was. But that might have been because most of the time my pack would go quite easy on me.

"I'm trying. Its just a bit of a change."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Well this is what you'll be up against with rogues."

When Eli had started this new training a few days earlier, he had said from the start he wasn't going to go easy on me because I was a girl. And he wasn't kidding. He didn't go to the point of breaking bones, but punching and kicking was not out of the question.

While a lot of people would think this was extreme, I actually didn't mind. He had five years experience, so I wasn't going to quesion him. And I was improving.

I shifted now, cracking me neck, and getting into a crouching position. I narrowed my eyes at him and watched for the sligthest movement. 

His arm twitched, and then he sprang into action. Leaping into the air, he ran at me. I dodged at the last second, spinning to face him and just in time to block a punch to the face.

Next he swung his fist, aiming for my stomach. I dropped low to the ground, his hand just grazing the top of my head. But he seemed to have faster reactions than I did because as I tried to return to a standing position, he sweeped his foot under my legs and knocked me to the ground.

I landed hard on my elbow, hitting my funny bone and sending tingles along my arm. I leaped back on, trying to shake it off and we turned to face each other again.

This kept going for a while. I dodged most of his attacks, but didn't really attack him back. I didn't really have the same strength to make an impact. Even when I put my whole weight behind it, I  barely even bruised him.

Kick after kick, punch after punch, and I was starting to get tired. And just like that, my reactions slowed and a round kick hit me in the stomach. I went flying back, landing on my back and I groaned in pain.

I sat up to look at Eli, only to see him smirking at me. I rolled my eyes and cursed myself softly. Why couldn't I have gotten more of my mom's genes? Where was this Alpha power? I slowly made my way back on to my feet. My muscles were acheing and I was exhausted from the training so I just stood there, trying to catch my breath.

Eli walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, I'm awesome. So don't feel too bad."

I shoved his arm off and crossed my arms over my chest, stomping off back to the campsite. Eli followed me, chuckling to himself. As we reached our stuff, I took the opportunity to grab a damp cloth and press it to my now swollen lip. He had gotten in a very good punch earlier and it was not pleasant.

Eli sat down on the ground, grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head. 

I sighed. "I thought I'd be better by now."

"It's only been a few days. And you have improved. Don't be so hard on yourself."

I pouted, flopping down on to the ground and lying there. "I know. I'll stop whining."

"Thank god, finally." I could hear the amusement in his voice and I gritted my teeth. I flipped him off and then just lay there. After we lay in silence for around ten minutes, I rolled over on to my stomach and sat up on my elbows.

"Now what?"

Eli opened his eyes and turned to look at me. "I don't care. What do you want to do?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I'm bored. There has to be something a bit more fun to do."

"Something fun? In a forest?"

"Yes, there has to be something. We can't just sit here all day."

"Fine, let's go."

I furrowed my eyebrows and watched as he stood and pulled off his shirt. My eyes widened. "When I said I was bored and wanted something fun to do, I didn't really mean that."

He rolled his eyes and then pulled off his jeans. 

"Dude, I am serious. That is not cool."

Just as I was about to kick him for being a pervert, he shifted into his huge black wolf. His silver eyes looked down at me. I bit my lip, slightly embarrassed to have immediately jumped to him trying something dirty.

I jumped up, pulling off my shirt and jeans, before shifting into my own white wolf. We hadn't been in our wolf form in a while, because we couldn't communicate with each other. But it felt good to let my wolf have the reins for a while.

With a small bark, Eli started running. It took me a moment to catch on and I quickly followed him. We ran together through the forest, zigzgging and weaving around the trees. 

My wolf howled in happiness and I pumped my legs harder, picking up speed. I flew past Eli, leaving him behind and just running as fast as I could. I heard him growling behind me, clearly not enjoying being out-run by a girl.

I heard him picking up his pace, and then the game was on. We spent time each speeding up and slowing down, flying through the forest. We circled our campsite mostly, not wanting to get lost or anything.

It wasn't until I had passed him for, oh I don't know, the hundredth time that he suddenly leapt forward and landed right on top of me. We both fell to the ground in a heap and I growled at him. 

He lay right on top of me, pinning me down. And because he was so much heavier, I couldn't move him off. I wriggled and barked, trying to get him to get up, but he didn't move a muscle.

So I started to bite his ear, pulling it. This just caused him to snap at me. I knew I had to try a different tactic.

I looked right at him, widening my eyes and fixing my gaze on his silver eyes. He looked suspicious as I watched him. Then, very slowly, I leaned forward and licked the side of his face. His whole body froze. 

I smirked internally and decided to take my chance. Because he was so shocked, he wasn't expecting me to use all my strength to fling his body off of mine. Just like that, he was lying on the ground and I was standing over him.

He growled loudly and I gave a wolfish chuckle before I darted away from him. I knew he was right behind me, but I was too fast for him to catch up.

I soon reached the campsite again, and decided to just collapse on the ground. After lying there for a few minutes, Eli eventually came hurdling out of the trees. I lifted my head and looked at him. He still looked annoyed, but I just lay back down.

He huffed loudly, slumping down to the ground. The sun was slowly setting and it was getting darker and darker. I knew I should have shifted, built a fire, gotten food. But I was so calm and relaxed, lying on the ground in the middle of the woods, without a care in the world.

In that one moment, I had never felt more happy to be away from my pack than ever before.

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Thank you for you're continued support of this story, even though I haven't posted that much. I really want to finish this story in the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned for more.

-J