Alpha's Blue (BXB)

Chapter Eight

Marco took his sweet time to calm down and start acting like a normal human again, which he just now revealed he wasn't. We stayed there instead of entering the woods a few more minutes while I asked him just about everything I could think of and he answered accordingly.

"If he is the Alpha, there must be a pack too, right?" I curiously asked him.

"How do you know? Don't tell me you've been reading those werewolf stories." He shook his head in disapproval.

"What? What's wrong with it?" I glared at him. No one was allowed to insult my favourite books.

Marco sighed and answered. "You're right. We do have a pack, but it isn't half as fascinating as you humans made it seem. Most of the packs don't even live in the woods anymore. They prefer apartments over trees. You wouldn't know what they are even if you were to live with them."

"What about your pack?"

"We are the traditional type. Our Alpha refuses to move from here." Marco shrugged and pointed to the woods behind his back.

"But why not? Wouldn't it be easier to live in the town?" I asked, wondering.

Marco visibly flinched and shook his head. "Don't let him hear you say that."

"He'll be mad?"

"Not mad, but hear out his reasoning first, okay?" Marco explained.

"Okay." I nodded my head.

"By the way, you can come out now, Alpha." Marco whispered the last word before turning toward the woods. "And stop growling, he can't hear you."

My eyes roamed over the trees, but he was nowhere to be seen. "He's here?" I asked as I continued to try to find him.

Marco nodded. "He's running away now."

Marco turned around all of a sudden and grabbed my hand before whispering, "let's go get him." He pulled me forward and started running. He ran into the woods while I struggled to keep up with him.

He wasn't running quite fast but I was a soon to graduate university student. Exercising had been the last thing on my mind amidst the tons of classes and assignments. I focused on my steps and tried my best to not trip and get injured.

At some point, I was more than ready to just stop moving and let him drag me on his own. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my mouth, whereas Marco seemed just fine. I couldn't even hear his breathing over my loud panting.

"Stop! Please. I can't." I let out in between my laboured heaves. "No more." I continued begging until he skidded to a halt.

I was on the ground as soon as my feet stopped. I laid on my back, not caring about dirt underneath and just gasped for air. Once my eyes were able to focus again, I looked over at Marco. By no means, he looked like he was running ahead of me. He was barely sweating while I could feel my clothes sticking to my skin with sweat.

"How?" The first explanation that came to my mind was that it probably had something to do with him being a werewolf. There was no other way he was still standing and breathing normally.

As if reading my mind, he answered. "It's got nothing to do with what I am. We barely ran." He laughed.

He had the audacity to laugh while I felt like dying. I looked in the direction we came running from, but trees had become so dense in there, I couldn't see past them. He was definitely lying. We ran quite a lot.

I threw him a glare before closing my eyes and tried to even my breathing so I could give him a piece of my mind without running out of breath again. A minute passed by before Marco leaned against the tree nearby.

"Where is he?" I asked him as soon as I got my breath under control.

"With the rest of the pack. Probably training." He answered in a bored tone.

I got up with a little struggle as the muscles in my legs ached and resisted. "Let's go." I dusted off my clothes and started walking ahead.

Marco followed behind almost instantly and we kept walking until the trees started to thin out once again. I could hear chatter before trees gave away to a large clearing.

At first glance it looked like a summer training camp for kids. A handful of kids of all ages stood lined up according to their heights, practicing air punches and kicks. All of them looked scarily synchronised. Each punch and kick along with the voices they let out in between, all of it happened at the same time.

The smallest kid in front looked barely past five, yet he somehow managed to keep up with the rest of them. On the right, few people seemed to be sparring. Paired up, they circled each other probably looking for an opportunity to attack. As soon as I saw one of them - a girl jump toward the guy in front of her, I looked away with a wince.

Looking on the kids' left, I saw some padded columns standing upright. In front of one, stood Nicolas. With his inked back toward me, he was punching the column aggressively. His mesmerizing tattoos moved with each punch and flickered under the sunlight.

He definitely wasn't playing, even from distance I could see that each punch shook the column vigorously. Soon, he started pairing up the punches with occasional kicks. He moved around the column, circling it like it was his sparring partner.

Not only his fists moved swiftly - in and out, he was quick on his feet too. He had already circled the column and was now facing me. His hair was pulled back in a bun and I finally saw his face. Despite the fierce expression on his face, he looked beautiful.

His eyebrows were furrowed, lips pulled back - revealing few pointed teeth and his hazel eyes narrowed in a slit - completely focused on his target. He pulled back his arms to punch once more, but the punch didn't hit the target. His arm stayed pulled back as if stuck when he looked up and his eyes met mine.

His expression softened slowly, he dropped both his arms beside him and stood up straight. I didn't dare look away until I felt Marco wrap his arm around my shoulder and pull me toward him. He cleared his throat right beside my ear and I had to look at him in annoyance.

He gave me a smile before whispering near my ear. "You're not gonna thank me?"

I glared at him and tried to distance myself from him.

"I'm not gonna let you go until you hug me and thank me." He said, pulling me closer.

Before I could've said something, I heard an animalistic loud growl which silenced everyone at once. The growl made a shiver run down my spine and I pushed against Marco with all my strength. Marco's hold had surprisingly loosened and I collided with the tree behind me.

I realized I was trembling when I tried to push against the tree to stand up straight but failed. It took me a few tries to finally stand up again and when I looked up, all eyes were staring at me, including his.

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You're beautiful. Thanks for reading!