Warriors

RORY

When Everett orders me to do something, I find it hard to disagree, as he is my mate and my alpha now.

But I really don’t want to train. My gym teacher even told me to sit out most lessons or do something like walk around the field, even though I would still manage to injure myself even doing that.

Now Everett wants me to box.

“We didn’t have any kids’ gloves, which would be her size, but the female ones are the closest,” Ace tells Everett in an amused and mocking tone as he glances at my hands.

Everett huffs in response, his hand clasping around one of the gloves already on my hand and dragging me away with him.

Everyone around us stares intently, some with scowls, others with curious looks, and a few with amused expressions, most probably from seeing their strong powerful alpha next to a small, weak and human girl.

Everett then draws my attention back to him when he removes his shirt and reveals his washboard abs, his built shoulders, and bulging biceps.

My Goddess, he’s as hot as a god himself. I purse my lips to prevent my jaw from dropping and myself from drooling all over him, but he does notice my staring.

I just awkwardly act like I am not dazzled by his looks and my eyes dart everywhere but his body.

I see a slight smirk appear on his face, but it’s soon pushed away as he raises his arms, palms facing toward me.

“Throw a punch, Aurora,” he orders, urging me with his expression. Bringing the gloves up, I jab his hand with a tiny bit of force, but then I slip in the dirt and into him.

His hands quickly move to my waist, holding me up, but I can tell he’s disappointed. I hear faint chuckles and see other wolves giving me strange looks as I try to regain my balance.

“Oops,” I mutter in a quiet voice, but I know Everett hears it.

After a few more failed punches, he passes me off to Ace as he has business to attend to as alpha. Ace holds a more amused expression as opposed to Everett’s dismayed one.

As I slip again while taking my right glove off, I don’t notice Lucius behind me and my right fist thrusts back right into him.

It sends him right to the ground, his body slapping to the earth with a grumbling thud. My eyes widen as I turn to face him, dark red blood streaming from his nose.

Did I really do that? What the hell? So I can only punch by accident? That screams me all over.

“I’m sorry, Beta Lucius. I didn’t realize you were behind me. I-I—”

“Rory, it’s fine,” Lucius replies with a grimace as he pinches his nose and scrambles to his feet.

The other wolves’ smirks have been somewhat wiped from their faces, now confused and surprised expressions adorning their faces.

“You can pack a punch only when being clumsy,” he mutters bitterly, his eyes narrowing at Ace, who’s chuckling at his friend.

“I’m really sorry,” I tell him with my best pleading eyes, to which he rolls his own. He’s never liked me, so I shouldn’t be surprised by his hostility.

While neither Everett’s beta nor gamma approve of me, Lucius takes a disgusted and openly judgmental approach toward me, whereas Ace just appears amused and mocking of my weaknesses.

“Well, little human, let’s continue,” Ace announces, allowing Lucius to leave and get cleaned up.

“I didn’t mean to hit him, although I may have enjoyed his stunned expression,” I admit with a smirk as Ace grins at me after Lucius goes.

“I know, Rory. He does have a point. That was one powerful accidental punch. You can’t do that again?”

“I think I’m cursed. I don’t think it’s normal to be this clumsy. I did learn to walk as a toddler, I just can’t do it,” I say and he chuckles at my statement.

“We can take a break if you want. Does your hand hurt? You are a human, and you punched a wolf’s nose, hard.”

I take a look at my right hand, my knuckles raw with blood, swollen and purple.

“Fuck! That looks serious.” It should feel serious, but my pain threshold has always been high, luckily. The fear of hurting Lucius must have distracted me from the pain.

Now it aches, throbs. But not as bad as it looks.

“It’s fine,” I state nonchalantly and start to prod at my hand, testing the pain of it and whether anything is broken.

Before I can do anything else, my arm is violently dragged back and my body crashes into a stone-hard chest from a force that could have shattered more bones.

From the sparks streaming throughout my body, I know who it is.

“Moon Goddess,” a gut-clenching, butterfly-making, spark-creating voice grumbles. I look up at him, expecting to glimpse a disappointed Everett, but instead, he’s concerned.

His brows are pinched together, his eyes examining my wrist and the back of my hand and my knuckles. “I caught Lucius with blood pouring out of his nose and he told me what happened.”

“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it. I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t—”

“I’m not mad, Aurora,” Everett interrupts me. “I’m more concerned about you, and your hand and wrist. I think you broke some bones. Why weren’t your gloves on?”

“I was fiddling around with the glove because it wasn’t on right. And then I slipped, and Lucius was behind me, and I whacked him. I’m sorry.”

For some reason, I always feel as though I should be apologizing to Everett, for everything. I’m only a burden for him. He has to take me in, since I have nowhere else to go and I’m his mate.

Which makes it harder for him to reject me, if that’s what he wants, because I have no one else but him. I’m no luna, especially not for a pack as big and as strong as his.

These warrior wolves train every day, three times a day, whilst also hunting and patrolling and keeping everyone safe. No wonder they’re looking at me with disapproving expressions.

“Stop apologizing, little mate. I have to get you to the hospital,” he declares, leading me in front of him with his hands on my shoulders guiding me away.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital. My hand’s fine. It barely hur—”

“Don’t lie to me, Aurora.”

“I’m not lying,” I complain, turning around in his hands with a pout on my face and my brows furrowed. “It just needs to be iced and bandaged. I don’t need to go to a hospital for that.”

This confidence seems to only appear when I’m hurt or tired. But I generally lose it completely.

Especially when Everett is looking down at me with that threatening and dark glare.

“You won’t disobey me on this, Aurora. Not on this,” he growls. Which, in the moment, actually fuels my need to argue with him.

“Disobey you? I haven’t disobeyed you once since I’ve gotten here.”

“You went into my office,” he argues, although taken aback by my attitude.

“You never told me to stay out of it yourself. I didn’t directly disobey you. And I obeyed you this morning when you told me that I had to train.

“And it was obvious that I would probably end up in the hospital, but you didn’t care,” I rant, but my eyes widen hugely as I realize what I’ve just said.

“I do care,” he growls, stepping even closer to me so he towers above me. His eyes darken and his wolf, Chaos, tries to gain control over him. “We care a lot, little mate. More than you know.”

“Chaos?”

He tilts my chin up so that my eyes can meet his eyes easier. Dragging his thumb up my chin, he tugs my bottom lip down in an intense moment.

“We both want to protect you, but whilst Everett thinks as an alpha first and foremost, I think as a mate. He wants you to be able to protect yourself. We didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

Chaos is different to Everett. More forthcoming. And more openly affected by the mate bond.

Our bond.

“I didn’t get hurt. Like I said, I’m fine. There’s no need for a hospital.”

He assesses my face, looking for something; what something, I’m not certain of.

“You don’t like hospitals?”

“When you’re as clumsy as me, you tend to not see the need for trips to the hospital. I’ve had many injuries similar to this one. I don’t like the hospital for minor injuries,” I explain truthfully.

He lets out a big sigh, staring directly into my eyes.

“Fine.” Without another second passing, he effortlessly lifts me into his arms bridal style and hugs me into his body.

“If Everett won’t take care of you, I will.”