Branches of Life

"If I last twenty minutes without tapping out or being pinned, then not only are we allowed to go on the mission, but you also have to keep your shitty opinions to yourself." I held his stare as I walked out to the center of the mat.

A slow smile lifted the corners of his lips, and I nearly missed a step. It wasn't a true smile, but the small taste of it had my breath picking up. I wasn't sure I could handle a full-fledged smile.

I stopped a couple of feet away, craning my head back to maintain eye contact. My 5'7" height was failing me, yet again. His powerful build made me feel small in all ways. Even though my arms and legs were defined from all the years of training. My legs could crush a watermelon between them, I tried once when I was ten.

Standing this close, I was finally able to catch his spicy and smoky scent. So intoxicating, it took all of my willpower to stop myself from burying my face in his neck. How the hell was I supposed to fight him, when all I wanted to do was fuck him?

Wait, what? No, I didn't want to fuck him. It would be stupid as hell, wanting to fuck a guy that was about to beat my ass.

"Start the time," Koa called out right before he lunged. I threw myself to the side, but not fast enough to avoid his punch glancing off my left shoulder. The stinging in my shoulder was easy to shake off and ignore. That wouldn't have been the case if I hadn't moved when I did. It appeared he wasn't pulling his punches.

A kick was leveled at my abdomen. This time, I fully dodged the blow. Staying on the balls of my feet as I watched where he kept his weight, allowed me to predict his moves and dodge them. Most of them. Several times I hadn't moved fast enough. My aching left arm and hip, along with my right thigh and side, and my lower back could attest to that. As long as I didn't let him land a direct hit, my bruises would be healed within the hour.

My luck wore out when he began predicting how I would dodge his attacks, and used it against me. This time, I received a direct hit. My right shoulder throbbed, sending painful tingles down my arm. Motherfucker. Just to add insult to injury, the dick swiped my legs from under me, knocking me on my ass.

My stinging shoulder slammed into the mat, causing an embarrassing whimper to slip free. I rolled to the side, dodging another kick from him. White hot pain flared up whenever I moved my right arm—also known as my good side. My roll to my feet wasn't smooth or pretty by any means, but it got me off the floor. I tucked my right arm against my stomach, knowing it would be stupid to try and use it.

How long had I been fighting him? It felt like twenty minutes had already gone by. I wasn't out of breath, but I was definitely breathing harder than before. Loose strands of my hair that escaped my ponytail were plastered to my face and neck. Meanwhile, his breathing had barely increased. I could never outlast him.

The gold in his eyes was more prominent than the copper as they tracked my movements, assessing my weaknesses. With all the aches in my body, I had a fuck ton of weaknesses. At this moment, I was the prey and I despised it. I was tired of dodging his blows and taking painful hits. He'd already caught onto my technique and used it to injure me. I needed to switch it up and do something he wouldn't expect.

I dodged his next punch, and instead of moving out of hitting range, I aimed a kick at his stomach. At the last second, he managed to move back, but I still made contact. His eyes widened and I couldn't help but smile.

Koa's focus remained on me as he called out, "Time?"

"A little over thirteen minutes," Dove responded.

There was no way it hadn't been at least twenty-five minutes. Her wristband must've been wrong or something. I refused to believe that I was this tired after only thirteen minutes.

Maintaining eye contact, I waited for him to attack again. Instead, he scanned my body before turning and walking off the mat. "We enter the rift to the human realm at 7:30," he tossed out over his shoulder as he left the room.

Star gave a small apologetic smile, before following Koa.

With the adrenaline wearing off, I now felt the full extent of my injuries. Ari clapped as I limped back to them. "You bitch." I groaned, easing my aching body into the chair beside Reed. His bored expression was nowhere to be seen as his hands gently probed my shoulder. Even though he was gentle, I still hissed a couple of times.

"Sorry about this, my nephew can be a little intense at times, but he—" Dove's words were cut off by a loud ringing. Sighing, she pressed her wristband's crystal and read something only she could see.

"You're lucky nothing's broken or dislocated. It shouldn't take long to heal," Reed said, relaxing back into his seat. I nodded, watching Dove frown at whatever she was reading.

"I'm sorry to bail, but I have to go. Starling and Koa will fill you in on the details," she said, distracted as she powered off her wristband. She gave us a quick smile and goodbye, before rushing out of the training room.

Ander knelt in front of me, his clenched jaw the only outward sign of his anger. Knowing what he wanted, I shifted on the chair, groaning as I did so. I lifted my shirt as soon as my back was to him. Careful hands traced around the growing bruise. When he was done with his examination, he pulled my shirt back down. Having me spin around and show the bruise on my hip before he sat down beside me.

"I already fucking hate that guy," he growled, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Join the club," I muttered, dropping my head to his shoulder. "It's a shame he's an asshole."

"But is he such an asshole, that we reject this mission, as a fuck you to him?" Ari pondered. "What do you think Harm?"

"I say we go, and not just to prove him wrong," Harmony answered as she shifted from foot to foot. Her voice lost its competitive edge.

"I agree. Jade?"

It took me some time to answer while I mulled it over. I wasn't too keen on spending any more time with Koa or going on an unknown mission. On the other hand, I just fought to prove myself. It would look bad if I didn't go. I couldn't have him thinking I was too scared, or intimidated by him to go. "You two have already said yes. Now I have to go, otherwise I'll look like an asshole."

"No way am I letting you three risk your lives without me there," Ander said.

Shifting around on his shoulder, I muttered, "I'll ignore the implication that we can't take care of ourselves."

His shoulder shook with his chuckle, bouncing my head. "I would lock you in the house if I didn't think you could take care of yourself." Knowing him as well as I did, I knew he wasn't joking.

"Reed?"

"Nah, I'm good. You guys already have an elemental."

Even though I figured he would say no, I was still shocked nonetheless. Ander shifted in his seat, dislodging my head in the process. I made a grumbling noise at him, while I also faced Reed. He'd gone back to reclining in his seat, fingers interlocked behind his neck. The only indication he wasn't as relaxed as he led on, was the way he squeezed the back of his neck.

Ari's foot hooked around the leg of his chair, pulling it out a couple of feet, making an earsplitting scrapping noise. She then proceeded to knock his chair back, sending him falling back with the chair. "That's for being a dick," Ari called out over her shoulder as she grabbed her water and left.

Ander let out a low whistle, while I attempted to suppress my laugh.

"What's going on with you Reed?" Harmony asked softly.

"I'm fine Harm, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to join you." Reed climbed gracefully to his feet. By this point, my laughter had ceased as I stared up at Reed, worried he was hiding something. Catching my stare he gave a small smile. "Stop your worrying Jay, I'm okay."

I didn't believe that for a second, but I knew now wasn't the time or place to press further. Instead, I watched in silence as he left the training room without a backward glance.

"He's not okay," Harmony murmured, still staring at the exit.

"Definitely not."

Ander stood, stretching his arms over his head, his shirt lifting to reveal his chiseled abs. "It probably has something to do with the human realm. In all the years I've known him, he's never once set foot there."

Harmony and I shared a look of confusion. I sifted through all of the times we went there, and each time, Reed had some sort of excuse. He had to visit his parents, he was busy helping in the district. I just somehow never put it together that he had an aversion to the realm. Now I felt like a shitty friend for not noticing this sooner.

"It's kinda creepy how much Ander pays attention to us," Harmony whispered loudly to me.

Ander's lips twitched. "We should get home and pack." He helped pull me to my feet.

My healing body was stiff and ached. Fucking Koa. "Next time I see Koa, remind me to punch him in the face."

"Oh, I don't think I'll need to remind you." Ander laughed as we made our way home.