"Lift your leg higher."
"I'm trying," I grunted out raising my leg once again.
"Don't try," Kieran said as he caught my ankle before it hit his arm again, "just do it." He let go of my ankle with a bit of a shove.
I glared at him as I tottered on my feet. I contemplated just how I was going to extend my leg high enough to kick his shoulder. It seemed pretty impossible for my nonflexible self. I just had to keep reminding myself that at least it wasn't laps.
Everyday, Kieran and I (and occasionally Marilyn and Bolton) would come to the back yard of the fairly sized house that the four of us lived in and trained me. It was honestly back-breaking and at times I would love to just lay down on the cold dirt and cry. But, I haven't actually reached that point, yet.
It wouldn't be as stressful if Kieran wouldn't be so pushy and serious all of the time. All that he ever cares about is making sure I can go one step further than the one step further than I need to be. When I finally got down jogging a mile, he made me run two. Once I could actually do a push-up without my arms giving out, he made me do ten of them. In all, I probably did near seventy a day considering Id make it to about six and fall flat on my stomach. He made me do them all over again until I could do all ten.
He never really lets me play around either. He always looks so in the moment. I tried cracking some jokes to lighten up his super-mean attitude, but he just decided that my jokes were for four year olds and that running a mile sounded like a crap-ton of fun in that moment. Safe to say, I haven't really tried lightening up Kieran's pessimistic spirits.
When Marilyn and Bolton train with us, it's a lot easier. Usually, he is so focused on what Bolton is trying to accomplish that he doesn't worry if the impact of my foot would 'knock over a small, unstable chair rather than a tree' as he likes to put it. I do feel a bit bad when Kieran ends up just throwing Bolton somewhere. It's a bit strange, though because I think Bolton may actually like it. I don't mean it in a kinky way, but Bolton seems to enjoy pissing Kieran off.
Marilyn on the other hand, could probably care less. Usually she's the one telling me 'boys will be boys' and Bolton peels himself off a tree that he was just thrown against and goes after Kieran again. I truly think she needs some actual girl friends.
"I'm only 5'7," I muttered angrily looking at his large frame that had to be six feet at least. I would like to say he was a gentle giant, but he really wasn't.
"It's not like I'm asking you to jump over my head," he countered crossing his arms over his buff chest. A scowl formed on his face which I hated. He rarely ever smiled. A smirk was occasional, but scowls seemed to be the winner.
"Kind of," I mumbled quietly so he wouldn't hear me. I knew I was just whining and that it wasn't even closely related to jumping entirely over his head, but it was still hard. He gave me the usual look of Kieran as Marilyn likes putting it which consists of 'just do what I'm telling you,' and a little bit of 'are you kidding me or are you just stupid'.
Deciding on what would be best for my health, I conjured up all of my strength before raising my leg in a poor attempt to kick his shoulder. It didn't work out that way. He let out a bit of laugh, but it was almost a grunt once my foot landed where it had on his arm.
"Oh look," he said staring down at his arm where my foot had just been. "You managed to kick me right here," he stated, his finger pointing to the now bruising area just above his elbow, "again."
I could feel my wolf wanting to push through. Kieran was making her mad like he usually managed and planned to do. He figured that by making me do things harder than I'm used to, it'll make my wolf angry due to her attachment to my own feelings. If I start getting angry or upset, then it would make her mad. He wanted me to learn to control her when she tries taking control and slaughtering half of the human population.
I felt my vision flicker from the detailed vision of my wolf to the dull vision of my human side until it all went blurry. I quickly closed my eyes feeling the oncoming headache as my wolf tried pushing through until the headache went away. I opened my eyes not expecting what I had.
It was actually my own vision for once.
Usually, I would never actually be able to do that. I'm pretty sure Kieran wasn't even expecting it by the way he held his hand up a bit, ready to grab me in case I bolted for him or even town like I did the second day of training. My wolf honestly believed that the girl that she managed to practically make bald would still be at the mall.
"I did it," I said in awe as I lifted up my hands. I just stared at the palms of them liking how dull and not super detailed they looked in my vision. "I actually managed to-" I began before I was interrupted by my own grunt of pain as my headache returned. Only this time, it was much worse. My hands immediately flew to the sides of my head as I squeezed my eyes shut. I had a feeling that now my wolf wasn't just mad at Kieran. Almost as if on cue, a snarl ripped through my head making me clench my teeth together.
Kieran wrapped his arms around me. He was trying to tell me something, but there words wouldn't come through. I was too wrapped up in the mental fire setting a blaze to everything in my head to listen.
I tried not giving into her. I really did. I tried thinking of how awful it could end up being if she got control, again. Instantly, another snarl ripped through my head making me flinch back and squeeze my eyes shut even tighter.
That's when I felt it. The familiar haze that seemed to wash over me frequently.
"No," I growled out with clenched teeth as I could feel the pressure in my mind fade and my senses sharpen. I could hear the words Kieran was yelling at me now and I could smell his scent directly next to me. I could hear his heartbeat along with Marilyn calling for Bolton in the house.
My hands fell from the sides of my face as the fire in my head turned to mere candle light. I knew as well as Kieran knew that she was in control.
Kieran wrapped his arms around me tightly as I began turning to bolt for what I'm guessing was the house. He restricted my movement as he held me against him.
"Don't let her win." I knew the words were coming from Kieran, but they were a bit muffled. She was trying to block me out.
I was panicking more and more by the second. If she blocked me out then I would have no chance of getting control back until she wanted to give it back, and right now she just wanted who ever that girl was dead.
"Arden, come on," Kieran growled out what I imagine would have been extremely loud but it was just a whisper.
My head snapped to the right seeing Bolton and Marilyn run out of the house with worried expressions. A growl ripped through my mouth as I started pulling away from Kieran. He was too strong, though. I mentally thanked Kieran for being the ape on steroids that Bolton makes fun of him for.
Do you want to die?  I snapped mentally to my wolf. I didn't expect her to hear me, but I felt her jolt up at the sound of my voice. She had never done that before. Give me control back, I pushed.
I could tell that holding me back was beginning to become a struggle. She hadn't really stopped jumping, and pulling, or even growling at him. I knew that if I didn't get control back now that she'd free herself and cause more damage than necessary. Especially, since she is mad that we have been holding her back.
I used all of my strength to focus on my own body. I tried pushing past her to get into my own brain. She was honestly like a virus. Times like this, I hated her. I focused everything I had in me on trying to at least wiggle my fingers, but with the amount of movement my wolf was using now, I'd never actually know if I moved my hands or she did.
Stop. You're going to get us killed, I urged mentally. To my surprise, she actually almost stopped, besides the fact that she was still tugging her arms a bit.
"Us?" My wolf said out loud. I could just imagine what Kieran was thinking.
It made sense, though. Even if my wolf loved angering me and taking advantage of me, she always only wanted what was best for me. She wanted me to be happy and okay. She never wanted me in danger, but I guess since she's an animal it's only instinct to want to kill what wants to hurt you.
Yes, us, I repeated praying to God what I was doing would actually work. My wolf didn't say anything. She only nodded before something extraordinary happened. I slowly gained control back as my vision because the same ugly, dull sight and my sense of smell was as useless as ever.
"I actually did it!" I squealed causing Kieran to jump in surprise. "and you didn't even have to tackle me this time!"
Kieran loosened his grip on my body allowing me to turn around and look at him. He watched me in bewilderment as I smiled bigger than I had my entire time here. It seemed silly, but this was like finding out you are like God or something. I felt like I could do a cartwheel and not die.
"How did you-?" Kieran began saying, but dropped it. "Come on. Marilyn planned on ordering pizza for dinner and I'd rather not miss it." I rolled my eyes at him. Classic Kieran, avoids any type of happy moment. I swear he only lives to hear people cry.
I didn't ask about his sudden activity change. I knew part of his crankiness issue was because he wasn't sleeping well. I figured it was because I was still sleeping in his bed, but Marilyn explained to me that the fact he isn't sleeping in the same bed as me makes him a bit restless. It makes sense, though. My wolf hums loudly all night until I see Kieran the next morning, but I've lived with her annoying habits my entire life. I just learned to ignore it.
Marilyn ordered pizza which was pretty odd considering she loved cooking the most fancy looking things for dinner. She said her mother believed dinner was the time for family to sit down and be happy together. Kieran just snorted and said 'yeah, when your parents aren't assholes'. I wanted to ask about it, but considering he looked more angry about it than he did on a usual day, I decided not to.
I finished before everyone else, as usual. I still didn't eat as much a Kieran would like me to, but I've been eating more than I ever have before so he's cutting me a bit of slack.
I decided to take a hot shower before Marilyn had the chance to hog all of the hot water. It isn't a secret that she only spends 25% of her time in the shower actually showering. It was absolutely amazing until the water started getting cold, and I knew Marilyn had gotten into the shower down the hall.
I groaned, getting out of the shower as much as I really didn't want to. As I stepped out, I realized just how long I was actually in there. It was already dark outside. I chuckled nervously to myself knowing that I'd be hearing about using the hot water from Marilyn.
"No, I'm fine." I was startled by the husky voice that I was just able to pick up.
"You look dead. Go sleep in your bed, dude," Bolton said from downstairs.
"I don't want her feeling uncomfortable. I can sleep on the couch," Kieran answered sounding tired. Running those two miles with me today must have really worn him out.
"She's your mate. She won't mind."
"If you haven't forgotten," Kieran began sounding irritated, "she's only actually known she is a werewolf for maybe two weeks now. She doesn't even know what a shredder is let alone where she came from. Hell, she practically what she is." I gulped hearing the stress in his tone. I felt really bad knowing that I was the one who made him so stressed out.
"That is pretty bad, though. Growing up thinking you're some psycho must have been some shit childhood." I looked down at my wet feet with a frown. They don't even know the half of it.
I couldn't listen to anymore of what they were saying. It would bring back memories that I didn't want to remember. Instead, I walked to Kieran's closet that he and I now shared with some of my clothes inside. I didn't bother grabbing one of my tee-shirts and just grabbed his. He wouldn't mind right? I mean he didn't seem to mind when I kissed him. Or beat up that girl in the middle of the mall food court. That was bad.
I put on my underwear and bra before putting the shirt on and decided it would be best to wear a pair of shorts for what I planned to do.
I waited until I heard Bolton's bedroom door shut. I was far too embarrassed to ask Kieran to sleep in the same room let alone bed with me while Bolton was in our presence. Once I knew the door was closed, I walked downstairs knowing Kieran would be on the couch.
As I predicted, Kieran was lying in an extremely odd pose on the couch. His eyebrows were furrowed together and I assumed it was because he was uncomfortable. I felt really bad.
I walked toward him not really feeling like screaming, 'hey, Kieran! Let's go have a sleep-over!" would be a good idea. Once I was in front of him, I reached my hand out to nudge him, but I screamed fairly loudly when his hand shot out to grab mine. His green eyes opened and pierced into mine. I'm pretty sure if I were someone else, I'd be dead.
"Arden?" He asked in surprise.
"I-I uh wondered if you wanted to sleep in your own bed tonight-with-um-me," I eventually got out. He looked confused at first before one of the most amazing smiles graced his usually stoic face.
"Of course," he said before standing up. He looked down at me before his eyes landed on something. "Is that my shirt?" My eyes grew about four times the size they usually were and I could feel a blush spread across my face.
"I-it was in the closet and I-uh," I stuttered not knowing what to say.
"It's fine," he chuckled before leaning closer to my face, "I actually think it looks great on you." I gulped not knowing whether to say thanks or just laugh really loudly and be like 'yeah, it looks even better on you, though.'
We made our way up stairs and didn't really say anything to each other. He did touch me or anything when we laid down which I was happy about. I felt like if he did hold me or something I'd probably have a conniption. The little sparks are very distracting and so is he. It's very annoying, actually.
I did learn one thing, though. He likes the left side of the bed.
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No I did not edit this so if there is an awful/hilarious error ill fix it tomorrow.
I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU FOR GETTING THIS TO LIKE #119 THATS AMAZING. LETS GO.
My dance is this weekend and id rather not go bc I just got into this huge fight with my best friend and ive been in the worst mood ever.
That's honestly all I have to say. I have nothing I feel that needs to be said.
just uh Stay Awesome Gotham. 10/15/15