Amaya's Storm (Book One)

I still slept later than I normally would, but when I checked on my wounds I was completely healed with just pink and white scars to mark my injury. After I showered and got dressed I headed downstairs for breakfast. “How do you feel today, Amaya?” Feray asked.

“Good! I’m all healed up.” I sat down at the table with them, “Ready to get back to kicking Jax’s ass.”

“‘Ready to get back to kicking Jax’s ass,’” Jax mocked as everyone else chuckled, “You’re not funny.”

“At least I’m accurate,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

“You two are worse than Ava and Noah when they get started,” Jo said, rolling her eyes.

“Where are they this morning?” I asked.

“Hunting trip with their age group. It’s a whole right of passage thing for young pack members,” Jax explained. His phone dinged, “Ah. Our other guest will be here in about an hour or so.”

“Who will be here in an hour or so?” Aaron asked, walking into the dining room.

“Jax’s mystery guest,” I answered, taking a bite of my eggs. “I didn’t know you were staying here last night Aaron.”

“Yeah. I didn’t feel like driving back last night,” he said with a shrug.

“How’s your training, Aaron?” I asked with a thinly veiled smile hidden behind my coffee mug.

“It’s not too bad.”

“How about we train after breakfast then?”

“Sure,” Jax smiled wide at him, “Why is he looking at me like that?”

I quickly finished my breakfast, “Don’t worry about it.”

I ran upstairs and braided my hair back and secured it tightly. “Ready when you guys are,” I said, running back downstairs and sliding into the dining room.

Jax rolled his eyes, “There’s something wrong with you.”

“Yeah you try not training and doing practically nothing for a few days, and tell me if you wouldn’t be chomping at the bit to get back into training.”

He sighed, “Fine, you fucking psychopath. I’ll take the winner. Come on Aaron before she drags us outside and beats our asses.” I gave him a look which caused him to sigh again, “At least if we go willingly we might have a chance.”

“Keep telling yourself that pup,” I said as I walked out to the training field.

“This is going to suck isn’t it?” Aaron groaned following us out to the field. I chuckled a bit evilly while Jax just hung his head, accepting his fate.

As we stretched, I tested the limits of my newly scarred torso. “Okay Aaron. Let’s do this.”

He rolled his neck and bounced from foot to foot. He struck first, an easy right hook, which I dodged quickly. I took a couple steps back and waited for his next attack. He kicked with his left leg attempting to catch my torso, but I caught it and twisted him around. I released him but gave him a firm kick to the ass that sent him stumbling forward. “You know if you wanted to touch my ass you could’ve just touched it. You didn’t have to fight me,” he said with a chuckle.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as we circled each other. He shifted onto his heels just slightly, meaning he was about to move, so I waited before making my move. He kicked again, which I blocked, and I threw my first actual blow of the fight, a leg sweep, which landed Aaron on his ass.

Jax and I laughed, “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You assholes,” Aaron said from the ground. He got up and started his attack again.

-Fox’s POV-

I turned where my GPS was telling me to, into a long winding driveway. It let out into a large clearing with a huge house. “What the fuck Jax? You’re loaded,” I whispered to myself.

I parked my rental by the house and was greeted by a beautiful black woman and a handsome suntanned man, who both looked vaguely like Jax. “Hi. You must be Fox. I’m Jo, Jax’s mom, and this is my husband, Charlie, Jax’s dad.”

Charlie shook my hand while Jo insisted on a hug. They both smelled faintly like the earth and a bit like a dog. “Come on in. We’ll show you where you’re staying and then you can join Jax down on the field.”

We walked into the house and I couldn’t help but look around in awe. “Your home is beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Jo said, “Charlie’s grandfather built it.”

As we walked through the house I picked up slight hints of petrichor and cinders. My hopes lifted a little that Amaya might be here when I picked up that slight scent of petrichor. She was the only person I had ever known to smell like a rainstorm, but dammit if I couldn’t get enough of it. I dropped my bag in the room Jo and Charlie led me to, “I’ll show you were Jax is,” Charlie said with a small smile on his face.

He led me outside and I saw her right away, circling a black guy who was well built but basically her same height. Charlie hit my shoulder before walking back to the house. A small gust of wind flirted across my skin, I watched as Amaya breathed in and locked eyes with me. The guy she was fighting attempted to capitalize on the distraction by swinging, but somehow she dodged every swing. She broke eye contact to throw an accusatory glare at Jax, who just shrugged. He walked over to me, “I’m glad you made it.”

“You didn’t tell me Amaya was going to be here,” I said with a raised eyebrow.

“Must’ve slipped my mind,” he said with a shrug.

I gave him a sideways glance, “Who’s the guy she’s sparring with?”

“Family friend. Amaya’s just toying with him though. She’s gotten a lot of training since she left SEAL training.”

Just as he said that Amaya finished off Jax’s family friend with a stunning submission takedown. She got up and she helped him to his feet, “Remind me to stay on your good side.”

She chuckled lightly and they walked over to where Jax and I were standing. “It’s good to see you Fox,” she said before taking me into her arms. I relished in the electricity that passed between us. I didn’t know if she felt it too, but if she did she didn’t give anything away as she pulled back.

“Is it? With that glare you sent Jax I would think you weren’t very happy to see me.”

“He didn’t tell me you would be here. He’s sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong,” she said vaguely with another glare at Jax who looked as innocent as he could.

Before I could say anything else, the family friend stepped forward with his hand out, “It’s nice to meet you Fox. My name is Aaron.”

I took his hand in mine and gave it a firm shake, “It’s nice to meet you.”

I watched as Amaya stretched, “Okay Jax. Your turn.”

He groaned but took off his shoes and shirt, “Try not to toy with me as much as you did Aaron.”

She smiled wickedly, “Whatever you want, Jax.”

“Are they always like this?” Aaron asked me.

I nodded, “All the way through training they were always together, but fought like I do with my siblings, especially in hand to hand training. I haven’t seen her since she rang the bell, so it should be fun to see what she has in store for Jax.”

Aaron smiled, “They’ve been at each other’s throats since I’ve been here. I’m kind of sad I’m leaving in a little while.”

“Do you live in the area?”

“Kind of. I’m down near Barstow. Where are you?”

“I’ll be stationed in Little Creek, Virginia.” He smiled, “What?”

“I’ll let you find out,” is all he said before settling in on the ground to watch Jax get his ass kicked.

I followed his lead and settled in next to him on the ground. “Come on Little Duck. You could be nice for once and just let me off easy.”

As they circled each other, she tilted her head in mock consideration, “I could, but have you ever known me to take it easy on you or anyone?”

Jax sighed, “No, but there’s always a first time for everything.”

“Not today,” she said before taking off her shirt, so she was down to nothing but her sports bra and sweats. The sight made my dick twitch.

When she walked around this time, I noticed she had several new scars on her left side, “Where did she get those scars on her side?”

“She didn’t have those in training?” Aaron asked, nonchalantly.

“No. She had her lightning scar, but not those on her side,” I stated as she jumped on Jax and threw him onto his back.

“That was fair,” I just barely heard him say from where I was.

Aaron had a small smile on his face as if he heard Jax too. “I’m not sure. I hadn’t seen them until just now. That would be something to ask her.”

Amaya had Jax in an arm bar, but Jax easily got out of it. From the smirk on her face, he was supposed to get out of it. He rushed her but she was ready for him. She took his legs out from under him and started circling him again. As she got to his feet, he swept hers out from under her. He got up quickly, but she stayed down until he was in just the right position and sent a beautiful kick to his side while also bringing herself upright. “Christ Little Duck. What was that for?”

She didn’t say anything, just gave him a smirk and a deadly glare. Jax tried to fight back, using every move we learned and that he brought to us, but Amaya had trained more and was better. She dragged it out, but finally went for submission and Jax gave it to her willingly. He flopped out on the ground panting. “You’ve gone soft, my friend.”

“The fuck I have! That was awful. You need to learn how to take it easy on people.”

“The bad guys aren’t going to take it easy on you. Don’t make me come save your ass because you’ve lost a few steps.”

“How would you save his ass? You’re not in the Navy. I know I looked for you after you rang the bell,” I asked.

She and Jax shared a look, or I should say, Amaya glared and Jax actually looked sorry for a change. “I work for a private contracting company.”

“And you were at SEAL training because?” I pressed.

“Training. Just like you and Jax. I was recruited in training and it was worked out with my recruiter and the Navy.”

“What happened to your torso?”

“Some things went wrong on my last mission,” she said vaguely.

My eyes narrowed, “What things?”

“What things do you think? The kind of things that left me on R&R for the last month and a half while I healed. Jax reached out and said I should come out and it sounded like a good idea.” She grabbed her shirt off the ground and threw it back on before storming off back to the house. Aaron followed behind her mumbling something about needing to get on the road.