Chapter 10

I don’t know why I thought opening my mouth and telling the whole world that I needed Toby was a good idea. Ariel thought as all pairs of brown, blue, and gray eyes were trained on her.

Can the ground just open and swallow me?

"Ariel?” Toby asked with a look of confusion, looking at her like she had lost her mind, and she agreed with him. Indeed, she has. “Alright everyone, training is over; you can go rest your lazy ass.” Toby said, and there was a collective sigh of relief from the lips of everyone.

Ariel moved to the side, making way for them as they began to file out of the room, but not before giving her a once-over.

Yep, she was sure they were judging her in their minds. Suddenly, the shorts she had worn were too short, the shirt too old, her posture too slouched, and she was sure there was a horrible pimple sticking out of her face, just ready to burst.

“Ariel?” Toby's voice was breaking her thoughts, and she was grateful for that. “Come in.” He gestured inside, and she didn’t hesitate before she entered, shutting the door tight.

“I think I fucked up.” She sighed, pursing her lips, and Toby shook his head.

“You don’t say. Now everyone would think we have something going on. I need to explain to him before he gets mad.” Toby said more to himself, but Ariel was quick to pick it up.

“Explain to who?” Ariel asked absent-mindedly; her eyes were all over the place, taking note of the training room. “How come I didn’t know that this place existed, and how come you have been scarce?”

Toby swept his hands around the room as if to say, ‘This is the reason why.’ “To answer your question, Kane,”

“Kane?” Ariel squinted her eyes, more confused than ever. “What has Kane got to do with this?”

Toby was almost facepalming; his muscles were aching, and he needed a bath. The last thing he wanted to do was talk. “You were asking who I needed to explain to, and I was just saying that Kane may misinterpret your words, so I wanted to clarify it.”

“Okay, hold up.” Ariel wagged her fingers around like a wand. “Why do you need to tell Kane everything? Who even cares what he thinks?”

"Well, I do, since he is the one in charge here. Now tell me, why are you even here?”

“Ouch.” Ariel clutched her heart as if she were in pain. “So much for a best friend.”

Ariel watched as Toby went to the fridge in the corner of the room, opened it, and removed a bottle of water, which he chugged down in seconds. “I thought Cloudy was your bestie.”

Ariel rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Staying in a place with all men has a way of ruining you. “News flash, you can have more than one bestie, and her name is Claudia.”

“Her parents should have done better,” Toby said underneath his breath, and Ariel heard it but pretended not to. “So, really, why are you here? As you can see, I just finished training, and I need to take a shower and get some food in my system.”

Ariel pursed her lips, wondering if she had made the right decision by coming here. “I was bored, and I needed company. I have literally been cooped here alone with no one to talk to, and I am slowly losing my mind.” Ariel didn’t realize how bored out of her mind she had been until she began to talk, and now there was no stopping. “I barely know anyone here, and the people I know don’t even bother to check up on me, something I wondered why I even came here.”

She tried to blink back the tears that had pooled in her eyes, but she was failing. Coming here was a cry from Australia, even though she was living alone there. At least it was by choice.

“Oh.” Toby’s mouth opened in a silent O. “I am sorry about that; I have never thought of that. It wasn’t our intention to make you feel left out. There has just been a lot of work around.”

“Yea yea.”

“Come on, I know you must be starving. Let’s get something to eat, and we could talk better.”

“Alright.” Ariel reluctantly agreed, wiping the tears from the back of her hand. She allowed him to lead the way while she dragged her legs around. She tried her best to ignore the pair of eyes boring into her as she made her way through the floor until they were standing in front of a room.

“Do you want to wait outside while I take a quick shower, or do you want to come inside to wait?” Toby asked, and Ariel gave him a look that he interpreted as really, and she was storming inside the room.

“Just make it fast before I come to drag you out.” Ariel declared, dumping her ass on the sofa.

“Aye aye.” Toby teased, and he was racing to the bathroom before she could uncover any secrets. He took the fastest shower known to man and came out, feeling refreshed.

“You must really like wolves.” Ariel commented offhandedly, holding a photo album in her hand, and Toby was frozen in place. He tried to rack his brain, thinking of any things he had left behind that might give anything away, but it came back blank, and he was relaxing his muscles.

“Yeah, I guess.” He replied, walking towards a part of his room that served as the kitchen. He placed a bowl in the microwave and set the timer before going towards him.

“So... you train people.”

“Yeah, I guess. We have to find people who are fit, and I love working out, so it was only fitting that I train them.” Ariel was regarding him as he talked, and her eyes widened almost like a saucer as a crazy idea came to her. “No, no. I don’t think I like that look, and I don’t want to hear that idea.

“Come on, you don’t even know what I was going to ask.” Ariel folded her arms, pursing her lips in a pout.

“I don’t want to know, because it is going to be a no." Toby stated firmly, refusing to back down.

“I just want you to train me; it would at least occupy my mind from a lot of things.”

“No, no, no.” Toby was shaking his head, and luckily for him, the timer went off, and he was running to get his food.

There was no way Kane would be in support of it. Training leads to a lot of injuries—injuries that Kane would kill him for.

He was still yet to find his mate, so he wasn’t going to risk his life before that.

Ariel watched Toby as he came back, holding a bowl of what she thought was food. “What did you cook?”

“I just microwaved some Mac and cheese; care for some?” he asked, handing her a fork.

“Hell yeah. I am starving, and I need food if I am going to convince you.”

“We shall see.” Toby said with a smile, and Ariel's lips widened.

She liked a challenge.

Ariel didn’t know how she was able to do it, but somehow she was able to convince Toby that training her was a good idea, and she couldn’t be any happier.

She couldn’t wait to tell Claudia; she was going to be so jealous.

***

Enough was enough.

Ariel was tired of Kane avoiding her; the man had practically vanished into thin air since the last time she saw him, and she couldn’t take it any longer.

Maybe she was going to pin him down the next time and tie him, but he was going to have a piece of her mind when she next saw him.

She stumped to his room with this thought, letting the anger fuel her, but they were deflating into thin air when she got there, and the door refused to give way.

“Shit! So much for nothing.” Ariel sighed.

Dejected, she began to drag her foot down the hallway, about to take the staircase, when her eyes locked in with brown ones.

They both froze, regarding each other, until she broke the silence.

"You have been avoiding me."