3. Twenty- four

My eyes subconsciously kept drifting to my right side to look at Ethan as he drove his car. I was sitting in the passenger seat, it was 5 p.m. and we were driving to the pack house so that we could attend our training session. 

I, for one, couldn't stop fidgeting in my seat because I was so excited about training with the whole pack. It would be the first time that everyone would see that I wasn't just a helpless human. I could look after myself in case a full-grown werewolf attacked me. I would be bragging but I knew that I had got pretty good at hand-to-hand combat and all the other skills Ethan had taught me. He even said so himself. My stamina had increased and so did my strength. 

I was practically bouncing in my seat because I wanted the pack to respect me and this was as good a chance I was going to get. 

There was also another reason for my being so restless that I couldn't sit still in my seat. Somehow, in the short time that I had come back, I had gained a new clarity about my feelings. I knew what I wanted to do but I had no idea how to do it. 

I wanted, not needed to talk to Ethan but I didn't know how. So, instead, I just kept watching him from the corner of my eye. I was sure he had caught up to what I was doing because his body became stiff every time my eyes landed on his. 

Needless to say, it was an awkward car ride and I just wanted to bolt across town and reach the pack house without this suffering. 

"I think we need to talk," Ethan said finally as he parked in the driveway of the pack house and I gulped nervously. 

"What do you mean?" I stammered. 

"Come on, Zara. Don't insult my intelligence. You are fidgety and you kept glancing at me as if you wanted to talk to me about something." He pointedly looked at me, waiting for me to take over the conversation and tell him what I finally wanted to say to him. 

"It's about Harper," I whispered, waiting to see his reaction. 

"I guessed that much." He arched his eyebrows and I blushed. "I think I know what you're going to say." 

"You do?" I questioned. Surely, he didn't figure out my feelings before he did. That would make me kill myself. 

I stared at his face, wondering if he knew what I was going to say. I stared at him for a few minutes and he stared back, just as determined to let me say my peace. Our stare down was broken when someone suddenly rapped on the car window.

We broke eye contact to look at Harper knocking on the car window. My eyes widened in surprise as he abruptly turned around and walked into the pack house. What the hell just happened?

I turned around to look at Ethan if he was just as surprised as me or if he thought Harper's actions strange, but he wasn't even looking at me. He had a small smile on his face and was already getting out of the car after unclasping his seat belt. 

I snapped out of my thoughts when Ethan pointedly looked at me to get out of the car so he could lock it. I scrambled in the seat and clumsily got out of the vehicle, looking completely out of place. 

Did it look like Ethan and I were having a moment? Is that why Harper had interrupted us and then walked away so abruptly? Because if that is the reason, he couldn't have been more wrong. 

I sighed because I had to admit it must have looked like we were having a moment. We were sitting in an empty car and having an intense stare-down. The next step was kissing a simple textbook move. 

I squared my shoulders nonetheless and marched through the pack house and into the backyard of the pack house, where the training sessions take place. I turned around to check if Ethan was following me and he was. 

There were around sixty wolves aged between 16 and 22, stretching and warming up. I faintly recalled Eva telling me that the training groups were divided according to age so that each age group could train to its best potential. 

I recognized a few faces I had seen roaming around the hallways of the high school. I had sat beside some of these wolves in classes and I had had no idea they weren't humans like me. 

As everyone was stretching, me and Ethan climbed down the steps, reached the ground, and joined everyone. I bent down to touch my toes and started stretching. 

I discreetly looked around the yard, hoping to find Harper, and was disappointed to realize that he wasn't there. I mean, sure he is an alpha and he had important paperwork and whatever to do, but he could have attended this one practice. 

"I want everyone to run ten rounds of this ground as a warm-up and if I see anyone slacking behind, they will answer to me. The last one to complete the rounds will have to complete five more rounds." A strong voice of an older warrior werewolf boomed in the ground and everyone immediately followed his instructions. "Don't keep looking at my face. Run!" 

Immediately, all the wolves started running and I wasn't even surprised when I looked ahead to see that Ethan was leading the whole group, each of his stride measured and agile. I huffed and puffed as I realized that at least I wasn't the last one. 

Who the hell counts ten fucking rounds of the whole ground as warm-up anyway? It was complete and utter madness. I felt the muscles of my legs cramping and when I finally completed the ten rounds, I practically collapsed on the ground, ready to kiss it. 

Some poor guy was the last one to complete the rounds so we all waited for him to complete his five extra rounds. I was glad for the relaxation because my lungs were legit burning and all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep. 

I had developed a decent stamina but I was a far cry from the wolves who looked like they had just come from a casual stroll in the park. They weren't even sweating while I was producing buckets. 

Ethan came and sat down beside me. "You okay there?"

I just nodded my head and then midway changed my mind and finally shook my head. He laughed at my face and my cheeks burned as a result. 

"I am going to be back in ten seconds, I need to pick up this call. In the meantime, everyone grabs a sparring partner and start hand-to-hand combat." The deep voice of the warrior boomed again and everyone started pairing up. As Ethan was a rogue, no one was eager to soar with him because the pack members still didn't trust him whereas I was a human and they considered me beneath their skill set. So, Ethan and I had to pair up even though I was way below his skill set.

Everyone scattered into groups of two and started sparring. Ethan offered me his hand for me to get up and I accepted it. 

"Are you ready? You haven't forgotten what I taught you, right?" Ethan smirked at me and I stuck my tongue at him. I know, very mature. 

He jibed at me and I ducked out of his way. We kept circling each other for a few seconds when I aimed a low kick to his shin which didn't even affect him while he landed a strong blow on my stomach. My breath whooshed out of me and I took a few steps back.

I narrowed my eyes at Ethan. He wasn't taking this as I joke. 

I fake-jibed at his stomach and threw a round punch on his jaw which caught him by surprise. It wasn't strong to bruise him but it was enough to know that I had caused him pain. Ethan smiled at me and I nearly puffed in pride.

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation on my neck and I turned around to see that Harper was watching me. Shivers ran down my spine as I watched him watch me, with his arms crossed across his chest. His lips were slightly turned which meant that he had watched me best Ethan with my punch. I smiled back at him and he smiled back.

He turned his eyes away from me to watch and demonstrate fighting techniques to some 16-year-olds and I immediately felt the coldness from the absence of his eyes on me. 

I turned back towards Ethan to see he was already looking at me with a smile. He tilted his head to the side and taunted me. "Ready for more, Zara?" 

"Hell yeah." With that, I lunged at him and he dodged every punch and kick I threw at him. I took a few steps back to catch my breath, aggravated that I hadn't been able to land a single attack on him and his snug face was the evidence that he was enjoying my annoyance. He flicked his finger towards me and taunted me to come at him again. 

I had enough brains to not fall for his leering and let him come at me. He tried a high kick which would have hit me right in the face had I not ducked. I deflected another of his kicks and landed a pinch on his ribs. 

There was no stopping now, we were exchanging and dodging blows faster than we could think and I felt invigorated at our practice. Out of nowhere, Ethan tucked his foot behind mine, which made me fall straight to the ground but instead of falling alone, I caught hold of Ethan's shirt and somehow pulled him down and he landed on top of me. 

I must have caught him by surprise because I would have never been able to do it before. I was short of breath and panting while Ethan was in way better condition. He was laying on top of me and immediately out his weight on his elbows.

We gazed into each other's eyes and started laughing. It felt so good to laugh because we had put in such great work at our combat session. I was especially proud I was able to rob Ethan of his breath. 

A low growl suddenly boomed in the air which halted our laughter. Out of nowhere, Ethan was pushed away from me and thrown several feet away, close to the tree line of the woods. 

I gasped at the sudden loss of weight and sat on my knees to see what had happened. Ethan had landed against a tree and was slowly getting up. 

I moved my gaze away from him and looked at the white wolf standing between me and Ethan. Harper! Oh my god! His wolf must have taken over and when he saw us in that position threw Ethan away like a rag doll. 

Before I could say anything, Ethan had shifted into his black wolf and was barreling towards Harper. I wanted to shout, do something to stop what was happening but no sound came out of my mouth. 

I screamed when the two wolves bared their claws and grappled with each other. Harper was stronger than Ethan but Ethan was giving him a very good fight. I stood frozen, as I watched them tear each other apart. 

Harper's white fur had splotches of blood and I didn't know it was Harper's or Ethan's. Harper three away Ethan from his back and growled at him. 

The fierce growl practically shook the Earth and I knew that he had instilled his alpha command in this growl and was challenging Ethan to defy his authority. 

I could see every pack member on the ground immediately submit to Harper. They went down on their knees and bowed to him. 

Ethan stood against Harper still which enraged Harper. Harper's wolf growled and bared his teeth and Ethan's wolf whimpered and bowed. Ethan's wolf had acknowledged Harper's authority and supremacy, even though it was done begrudgingly. 

The pack grounds looked like a prayer shrine to Harper, with everyone bowing to him in respect. Well, everyone except me. 

I stared into the green eyes of Harper's wolf for a second before he turned around and ran into the woods.