Thantophobia

Chapter 25

About a week into training and I was already more exhausted than ever. I knew my body was trying to rebuild its shape that it once held when I was beta, but it was still painful nonetheless.

My hamstrings felt hard as a rock, and not in a good way. My mind hurt from trying to shift with an absent wolf, which was useless since I couldn't shift. And sometimes my arms even felt like noodles. Wet or dry noodles, it didn't matter, they just felt that way.

I barely have time to drown out my wandering mind to focus back on the present, where I was fighting another pack member for training. Both of us in human form, obviously.

The blonde man lunges towards me, and I duck, aiming for the top of his legs. As soon as we connect, I wrap my arms around his legs and he falls down with a heavy thud on my back.

I roll over so my back is now pressed against the top of his legs, and my shins wrap around one of his arms quickly while he was still stunned from the impact. I take a hold of his wrist and pull, and the blonde knew he had just lost.

He taps his hand three times on the mat, and I release my legs and hands that held his arm in a painful position. I get up, panting, and offer out my hand to help him up as well. The blonde takes my hand and soon enough, he's walking off the mat in a pant as well.

"You're improving. That's good." Arina stands up from the bench that was against the wall in the training room.

The training room held a lot of equipment. Mats, weight machines, even a boxing ring with a few boxing bags hanging from the tall ceiling.

"I don't feel like I'm proving." I step off the mat and go towards my water bottle, drinking the clear liquid like I had been dehydrated for hours.

"You are. You'll have your wolf back in no time." Arina told me hopefully.

I give her a side glance, and remove the bottle from my lips. "It is not up to anyone besides my wolf on whether he comes back or not. You can try and hope all you want, but in the end, what is that gonna do for any of us?"

Arina crosses her arms over her chest, not at all surprised or taken aback by my snapping.

"You'd be shocked what hope can do, Kyle." She tells me patiently.

I roll my eyes and she continues with the conversation, walking to the closed door of the gym.

"One more fight, and then you're done for the day. Sound good?" She turns to me, her hand on the door handle.

I shrug. "Fine."

She opens the door, and a few moments later I see him walk in, clearly ready for a training session.

I feel anger quickly heat up and bubble inside of me. Arina really thinks it's a good idea to spar Enzo?

"Arina-" I growl, but she cuts me off.

"Just trust me on this. For once, please." She interrupts me, clearly expecting me to not be happy with fighting him.

"Get on the mat, both of you. Remember the rules. No shifting, honor the tap out, and don't intentionally harm."

She walks her way back over to where she sat on the bench, and I glare at her.

Enzo was already obeying Arina's orders since he was on the mat, looking at me expectantly.

"Kyle. Now." Arina used her alpha voice, so I had no choice in challenging her, and my body reluctantly obeyed.

I stood a few feet away from Enzo, and I felt my anger radiating off of me in waves of heat. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you could see steam flowing quickly out of my ears.