Outliers

The people who consider you weak have not yet noticed the wolf hiding behind your eyes, nor the flames inside your soul.

Let them think you are weak and do what wolves and fire do best.

Surprise them when they least expect it.

- Nikitta Gill

“Emily.”

I groaned, face shifting deeper into the comfort of my pillow as I tried to block out the irritating sound.

“Emily!” Again that incessant voice continued, so eager to break me from my sleep, when I was so determined to stay wrapped in the warmth of my bed. It had taken me hours to fall asleep last night while wrapped in Thane’s arms. Unable to think of anything other than the delicious heat of his body that seeped into every inch of me, the steady thunder of his heart in his chest, the gentle brush of his every breath against the length of my neck; I had laid awake for hours.

“Emily, if you don’t get up, you’ll sleep through training.”

That woke me up.

Shooting up from the bed, my heart now pounding, I shot a wide-eyed look towards the intruder. Nero. The younger boy was standing far too close for comfort, leaning across the bed towards where I had been curled up against the wall.

“What time is it?” I hissed, clambering out of the bed and shoving past him to grab whatever clothes I could find first. I had no desire to arrive late to my first training session with Lorcan. He would certainly have me running laps until I physically collapsed from exhaustion as punishment. I had waited so long for this moment, I didn’t want anything to ruin it.

“You have five minutes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you still in bed after seven.”

“Tell me about it, I feel so fucking groggy right now,” I grumbled, grabbing the nearest pair of trainers and forcing them roughly onto my feet. I was only dressed in shorts and a sports bra, but I had a feeling that - much like the Alpha - Lorcan would make me sweat. The Head Trainer didn’t strike me as someone to go easy on new comers.

“Did you have a little sleepover last night, Em? Your room reeks of him,” Nero laughed, and then laughed even harder at the sight of my blushing cheeks. “Please tell me you did more than just sleep.”

“I think I’m going to make it rule that we can never talk about him,” I huffed, grabbing a hair tie and heading towards the open door. Nero was quick on my heels, following me down the stairs and into the kitchen, where I grabbed my water bottle from the fridge.

“Oh, by the way, this was resting on the pillow next to you when I went to wake you up.” Nero waved a small scrap of paper at me, the smirk on his face awfully taunting. His eyebrows danced suggestively, and it caused a second flush of heat to scorch cheeks.

Snatching the note from his hands, I hissed, “And you read it?”

Emily,

We will not be training this morning as I have to escort Riley, Benjamin Russo, and his mate into the territory.

I will see you later today to discuss things.

Thane

“That’s it?” I frowned, shooting Nero an odd look.

“Why, were you expecting something dirtier?” He grinned, breaking out into a laugh as I smacked him sharply across the back of the head.

“You know damn well that’s what you made me think.”

***

When Nero and I arrived at the training grounds, we had mere minutes to spare before we could be considered late. Thankfully, it seemed Lorcan had yet to arrive and begin training. I began some light stretches as I eyed the rest of the group, not sure what to expect from my first training session. Had everyone else in this group begun their training in Colorado together in the past month? Or had some been here longer?

There were only ten wolves altogether, eleven, if I counted myself. Most of the training groups, I had noted while being in Colorado, were small; no doubt so Lorcan and Sandra could concentrate on individuals better. Well, that, and the fact that not many wolves actually made it past even a week of training in the Colorado pack - not everyone was cut out for it.

The wolves in the group spread out, a couple stood by the metal frames for pull-ups while they chatted, others lingering on the edges of the sparring rings - wide circles of pale dirt amongst the grass where two wolves could spar without risk of knocking into anyone else.

Movement to the left of Nero and I caught my attention, and it was with irritation that I watched the brute of a wolf who had challenged me two weeks ago step towards us.

“I may have forgotten to mention Daniel was in this group,” Nero murmured beside me, not seeming the least bit apologetic as the corner of his mouth quirked into a small, barely there smile.

“How considerate of you,” was my dry response, before my attention fell away to once again find the hulking oaf that currently glared in our direction.

“I see you’ve finally come to play with the big boys.” Big boys? Was he intentionally patronising himself? “You sure you can handle it? Wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Clearly Daniel thought I had kept my distance these past few weeks because I was inadequate, and not because I hadn’t been an official pack member yet. It would certainly be interesting to prove just how wrong he was.

“I’d worry more about your own safety if I were you,” I sighed, doing my best to stare at the wolf with genuine pity. I wasn’t entirely sure who would win in a fight between us. I had never seen the wolf spar before, but I wouldn’t go easy on him. If I were to lose, I sure as hell was going to cause some serious damage before I did.

“Is that right?” he laughed, his disbelief clear in the way he glanced back at a couple of other wolves with a grin. When he faced me again, his eyes scanned me from head to toe. “You don’t look like much. Have you ever gone up against a wolf as strong as me? Or do you just spend your time with weak boys like Nero here?”

“I’ve never sparred with someone like you, Daniel.” Cocky, overconfident, untrained. No, I certainly hadn’t trained with someone who overestimated themselves so damn much. But I wouldn’t correct him, wouldn’t let him know just how wrong he was. He would have to learn that lesson the hard way.

“Would you like to know what it’s like to be with a real male?”

I ignored the double entendre as I thought of the Alpha that had not so long ago shared my bed; certain that Daniel would not like the comparison against such a powerful male.

From beside me, a grin curved across Nero’s face. He had seen me spar with Thane before. He knew just how well I could hold my own. No doubt, he was now picturing just how explosive a fight between me and the buffoon before us could be.

“Would you like me to go easy on you?” The wolf grinned, a vicious smile curving across his own mouth.

The other wolves from our training group had gathered now, anticipation eating away at their composure as they eyed the tension rippling between Daniel and I. No doubt they too were eager to see me - an unknown wolf - in action. Some of the wolves began murmuring to each other, but I was too focussed on Daniel to hear what they were saying.

I had seen other groups like this one sparring amongst themselves under Lorcan’s command before. They likely all knew of Daniel’s skills, of how well he could hold his own in a fight. But I was new, and had only sparred with Thane long before this particular group began their day’s training. Whatever fighting skills I had were still to be discovered.

“Is there a reason,” a male voice drawled from behind her, “that you lot are not already warming up, ready for the session?” His voice was like silk - soft and delicate - as if he were barely concerned with the answer, and yet I was smart enough to detect an edge to his words.

The other wolves stiffened, and even Daniel had the intelligence to seem fearful as Lorcan prowled to the centre of the group, coming to a stop between us. The dark-skinned male caught my eye, the amusement in his gaze awfully apparent as I stared right back, even if he kept his expression harsh. I had watched enough of the quiet male in the main house to know when he found interest in something, even if his expression rarely gave it away.

He surveyed us all, keen eyes resting on every wolf, challenging them all to hold his gaze; none did. I watched as he rolled his broad, muscular shoulders and crossed his arms against his chest, seeming impatient.

“Emily?” He speared me with another sharp glance, this time allowing his amusement to tug faintly at his lips. A minuscule sign of his enjoyment, one that most wolves would miss if they weren’t studying for it. “Care to share?”

I merely shook my head, in no position to question his authority.

“Well then,” he mused, definitely enjoying this situation too much. I had no idea how much of my conversation with Daniel he had heard, but he clearly knew something had been occurring before his interruption. “I believe we will begin today’s training with some sparring. Emily, since you’re new to the group, why don’t you demonstrate your skills so I can confirm that you’ve been placed in the correct group?”

So the groups had been arranged by skill… interesting. Perhaps Daniel would be a worthy match after all.

“Who will I be sparring with?” I wasn’t sure why I even bothered to ask, not as Lorcan’s eyes slid to Daniel’s tense form.

Seconds later, Daniel and I were positioned within one of the sparring rings, the wide circle of dry dirt stark against the surrounding grass.

Lorcan was stood in the centre, hands on his hips as he commanded, “I want no shifting. This is just a quick sparring session to assess Emily’s skills. Do we understand?”

I held back any retort that suggested the sensible option was for Lorcan to just fight me himself, as Thane had when he first wanted to assess my skills. There was far too much aggression eating away at Daniel’s composure for this to be quick and simple.

A short nod from both Daniel and I was enough to satisfy the Head Trainer as he stepped outside of the ring, to join the rest of the wolves from our training group that formed a barrier between us and the rest of the field - all eager to watch what was about to occur. It seemed Daniel and I would be the only ones sparring, providing entertainment to our captive audience.

I settled into a defensive stance, waiting for Daniel’s first move.

We circled one another, neither one willing to make the first move just yet, and I kept my attention on his hips and his shoulder, looking for any slight change in movement to signal his oncoming attack.

His hips rotated, barely, but enough for me to prepare myself in time for the swing of his leg aimed at my waist. I blocked the attack easily, and the next as his fist snapped out towards my chest. A growl rumbled up from his throat, already revealing his irritation.

Had he really expected to hit me so easily?

Daniel stepped towards me again, his movements more hesitant. A mistake.

My right fist collided with his solar plexus, driving upwards into his body. Daniel heaved, air rushing from his lungs as he faced the brunt of my attack full on; but I continued my attack, my left fist grazing his jaw, the impact hard enough for his head to jolt backwards.

Behind me I heard a cheer from Nero, and from Daniel’s quickly darkening expression, he heard it too. His ego had been thoroughly bruised, and we had only just begun.

I didn’t allow the minor victory to delude me into thinking I had already won. Especially not as I noticed my opponent’s body vibrating with scarcely restrained anger.

I barely had enough time to recognise Daniel’s next move, barely had enough time to scramble away from the wolf as he shifted in one explosive movement and nearly took my head off with a grand sweep of his claws. My knees hit the arid dirt with a heavy thud that vibrated through my bones across the entirety of my body, causing my fingers to curl tightly at my sides as a cloud of dust and dirt scattered between me and the furious wolf.

How quickly his control had snapped. All my assumptions of the male had been correct; he was an arrogant, dangerously untrained wolf with a complete lack of self-control.

Lorcan’s shout of outrage cut through the jeers of the other wolves as they cheered us on, but it did little to calm the enraged wolf snarling down at me.

For one quick second, I felt a shiver of genuine fear strike my chest.

But then a clang of metal beside me pulled me sharply from the growing panic and drew my eyes to the ground. My knife.

The silver metal glinted in the morning sunlight, and a step behind it, Nero stood on the outward edge of the sparring circle, a sober and stern expression pulling at his usually soft features. His eyes met mine, and a message passed through them clear as day - do not let this male win.

My fingers curved around the hilt of the cool metal, my grip on it relaxed unlike the last time I had wielded the blade. I had approached that lion on the mountain with nothing but panic, and as a result, I had barely escaped with my life. It had served as an exceedingly excellent lesson, and I would consider myself nothing more than a fool if I hadn’t allowed myself to learn from such an experience.

So I would not approach this fight with alarm.

I had seen wolves fight before. I had studied them across my many years distanced from them. I knew how wolves fought, how they attacked, how they defended themselves; and I knew that most wolves relied more on their combat skills as a wolf than in their human form. So I knew that I had the upper hand - should I allow myself to truly embrace my training and instincts. Daniel didn’t know how I fought, he had barely known how to fight himself unshifted. He had been sloppy in his human form, had allowed his anger to get the better of him, and had failed to prove himself as worthy against my fists.

I had the upper hand here. As long as I could stay calm and focus, then I had the upper hand.

Or at the very least, that is what I had convinced myself.

I gathered myself to my feet, the weight of the knife in my right hand not seeming so daunting now, as I stared down my opponent with a neutral expression. My stance was relaxed, not the defensive stance I had taken before, but not quite an offensive stance, either. I was merely stood, waiting, watching; stood in anticipation of what his next move would be, and offering him a small smile as I did so.

Daniel snarled quietly at the sight of me, of my flippant countenance - as if the sight of him before me, ready to attack, was of no real threat to me.

My answering grin was practically feral.

The wolf pounced, his powerful back legs launching him in my direction, jaw wide enough for me to get an eyeful of the large canines. I knew if I allowed him to get too close, those teeth could be deadly. I darted to my left, the knife at my right slashing forward and finding a target against the male’s soft underbelly.

He didn’t utter a sound as the blade carved a shallow line into his flesh.

The first drop of blood stained the dirt. It wouldn’t be the last.

When he charged again he wasn’t caught so unaware, and despite my quick reflexes, was relentless in his pursuit until his claws dug into my thigh, deep enough to draw blood.

I narrowly escaped his teeth, dropping to my knees and rolling across the dirt as Daniel leapt to the other side of the ring where I had just been standing. I was quick to my feet again, not wanting to give Daniel even a second to catch me off guard.

Facing him, I knew my face had lost its haughty expression, now replaced by a scowl. My attention didn’t fall immediately to Daniel however, instead, it was caught by new additions to our audience. To my left, I saw Sandra and some other wolves stood close that must have been hunting with her. To my right, I saw Thane; and by his side stood young Riley, mouth agape as he watched Daniel and me with an awestruck intensity.

I knew Thane was staring at me with his familiar weighted gaze, but I didn’t have time to acknowledge him, not as Daniel was once again leaping towards me with a fiery mass of teeth and claws.

Daniel went high, as I went low, sliding beneath him with enough force to knock his lower half off balance.

He adjusted quickly, body turned towards me in time to catch the skin of my shoulder with his teeth before he tumbled to the ground. I didn’t give him the chance to stand. Already I was on him, knife slashing against his shoulders as my body landed atop his.

My free hand gripped at his fur as the wolf’s body made of pure muscle and fury bucked and twisted to escape me.

His large snout turned, teeth catching my forearm and slicing it open with a deep, jagged cut. He was instantly released from my grasp as I hissed at the pain burning through my non-dominant arm.

But it was too late for him to follow through with his attack, as I threw myself wildly towards him and pressed the sharp blade of my knife to his neck. The metal dug hard against him, hard enough to draw blood at the most vulnerable place, hard enough for the wolf to understand his defeat.

I had won. Barely; but I had won.

Above the furious pounding of blood in my ears, and the buzz of adrenaline that surged through me, I heard Lorcan call the fight - his words a furious snarl. In an instant, I rolled off of Daniel and was met with Nero, pulling me into a tight embrace. The younger boy was cackling, so loud, and with such satisfaction it had a grin curving across my lips.

Nero pulled away, holding me at arm’s length as he appraised me. I couldn’t imagine I looked very good. There was a disgustingly heavy sheen of sweat that covered every inch of me. Blood trickled from my shoulder, my arm, and my leg; and I knew that the right side of my cheek was already beginning to swell.

When I turned back towards the other side of the ring, Thane and Riley had already disappeared, and Lorcan was reprimanding Daniel so fiercely I thought the wolf was very well about to crumble to his knees.

***

“Why didn’t you shift?” Daniel asked me sharply, when the other wolves from our group had dispersed to begin their own sparring matches. Just like me, he certainly appeared worse for wear now that he had shifted back into his human form; and along his neck, there was a faint line from where my blade had nicked the skin. Already it was healing, but blood still stained the skin.

“I can’t.” Not to mention Lorcan explicitly told us not to, you ass.

Daniel frowned at me, not saying anything as his head angled slightly to the side and he crossed his thick arms tightly across his chest. Then, after a beat of silence, he asked, “You’re Emily Jefferson, aren’t you?”

“You know of me?” My own arms were folded across my chest as I did my best to glare at the male. His choice to shift against Lorcan’s command could very well have killed me had I not been as experienced as I was - had Nero not thought to bring along my knife today. Though, I still needed to ask Nero exactly why he thought to bring it along in the first place. The light fingered gen.

“You’ve been to my pack. Our Alpha didn’t like you, I heard.”

“Which pack are you from?” I asked hesitantly, narrowing my eyes at the hulking wolf before me. Most of the Alphas, at one point or another, had disliked me. That didn’t narrow down the options.

“Nevada.” Of course. Suddenly, Daniel’s overconfidence, his rudeness, his brutish persona all made sense.

Granted, not all wolves from Nevada were like that - and Nevada certainly wasn’t the only pack to produce such a wretched wolf - but I wasn’t at all surprised to learn of Daniel’s heritage. Nevada’s standards of training, their relationship with the other packs, had been slipping for a while now. And while the Alpha wasn’t so terrible, their Beta definitely was. Daniel, like me, seemed only young, and for a young wolf to develop in such an environment, I could hardly blame him for his impudence.

Had Daniel seen Thane during our fight? Had he seen the Alpha male on the edge of the crowd with young Riley at his side? Did he even know his Alpha was now dead?

“You’re better than I thought,” the male wolf grunted, still frowning, still disgruntled at his loss.

“That much is obvious,” I retorted sharply, rolling my eyes. I was growing rather tired of this wolfs company. I needn’t have proven myself to him, but I had, and now I would be happy to not have to run into him ever again.

Thankfully Lorcan dismissed me. I didn’t need to stay for the rest of the training session. I needed to go clean myself up, and ice my face. That, and there was the fact that my blood still hummed from in my veins, and all I could now think of was the Alpha male that had been smirking at me from across the sparring ring.