The Betrayal

Chapter Five

As the afternoon sun beamed through my curtains, my eyes fluttered open. Sitting up in my bed, I sighed. I finally felt rested for once. After going to Richard's pack with Aaisha, Valerio took me home and let me have the morning off of training.

I jumped up from the bed and padded out to the kitchen. Valerio sat at the kitchen table with a coffee in his hand. Dark circles laid under his eyes from his lack of sleep and he yawned.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Good! How'd you sleep?" I replied.

He raised an eyebrow at me and groaned. "We have to go train. Go get ready. I have a surprise for you today."

My eyes widened, and a smirk spread across his face. I threw on my clothes and we began our walk down the dirt path to the platforms. Warrior wolves walked back and forth on the dirt path, some of them stood guard while others bustled to the edges of the land. They bowed their heads to me as I passed and smiled.

I glanced over at Valerio. "I didn't know Damon had this many warrior wolves," I began.

"He doesn't. Many of these men are from Luca's old pack. Luca has made them cooperate with Damon, so everything will go smoothly during the Ascension. That's why they're so many of them here."

I nodded my head in his direction and turned back to the path. I noticed the man Luca spoke to in our apartment a month ago about taking Luca's pack back. The boy that Damon whipped for misbehavior walked next to him and they both talked quietly together. I smiled at them and they quieted down as they noticed me and bowed their heads.

I raised my eyebrows at their odd behavior and turned back to the path.

As we approached the training platforms, I noticed Luca and Damon scowling at each other from the side of the mat. I turned to Valerio. "This is your surprise?" I whispered. "You know that I'm trying to stay away from them both, so I can focus on the Ascension."

They looked to be in a heated argument. Luca clenched his fists as he glared over at Damon while Damon clenched his jaw.

He glanced over at the two men who talked angrily to each other. "They're not your surprise. I don't know why their at the platforms right now, actually..." he started, furrowing his eyebrows at them. He glanced behind me and a smile stretched across his face. "They are your surprise."

I turned around to see the two pups I saved walking hand in hand towards the platform. They took a seat at the edge of the mat and pulled some dirt from the ground and threw it at each other.

A smile stretched across my face and I hugged Valerio. He knew how to make me happy. I needed time off or something to make me feel better and the pups could definitely do that for me. "Well, they're here to watch us fight, so let's put on a show for them."

I stripped my shirt off and jumped up onto the platform with Valerio.

"Mae!" the kids squealed. I waved at them and smiled.

Valerio stripped his shirt and lowered into a fighting stance. We circled each other for a few moments and slowly inched our way closer to each other. I dodged a few of his attacks and threw a few of my own.

Valerio charged at me, ducking under my stance and gripping the backs of my knees with his hands. He pushed against me, trying to pick me up, but I threw my legs back and sprawled out, making it harder for him. With one of my hands, I forcefully pressed his head down and wrapped my other arm around his neck, putting him into a choke hold.

"Yeah! Beat him up, Mae!" a little voice yelled from the edge of the platform.

"Woo hoo!" the other pup cheered as I tightened the choke.