Chapter Mate?
The first week of school went by at a super pace. And the last lesson just before the weekend has come to an end. Damon left me alone with Nelly and Daisy who have become good friends of mine. Nelly just said goodbye to me at the exit of the school. Sara looks fiercely in my direction, I smile green at her before I walk quickly to Damon’s car. There’s a group of muscular guys at his car and I swallow hard before I walk over to them.
When I get to them they make room for me so that I can get in the passenger side. I hurried into the car, but the boys are all staring at me through the open window.
“Lana, do you already know the boys?” asks Damon.
“Chris, thanks to Nelly and these two boys, I don’t know their names yet.” The larger of the two puts out his hand and gives me a firm handshake.
‘I’m Jonathan and this is my brother Jonas. We’re twins.’ I look at the two identical hazel brown boys. Who, like Damon and Chris, have a body full of muscles. And make a shocked face before I answer with some derision: ‘Are you serious? I really didn’t realize it.’ The two others snort. Jonas starts laughing and shakes his index finger in my direction.
‘I like you.’
The guys spend some time talking about their fight camp this weekend.
“Are you going camping?”
‘No, we’re going to box outside our village in the human city. Are you coming too?’ Jonathan asks.
‘Yes, hello. She probably doesn’t know what boxing is,’ Jonas mocks. My blood starts to boil.
“I happen to know what boxing is and it looks like they’ve hit your skull a few times too many.”
“Wow, that fire, man. I like you too, Lana. But seriously now. Ever boxed or trained?′ asks Jonathan who I think is the more mature brother of the two.
“Yes, combat training against my… against warriors. But I was only five years old when they taught me the basics, but I sometimes watched the advanced ones. Or to…” I shut up and bite my tongue. I don’t want to start about my father.
“Lana, are you okay?” Damon asks.
‘Everything is good.’
’Would you like to come along to the boxing and warrior training? It’s a detour and…”
‘Can I train with you?’ I ask enthusiastically. I know I’m a girl between guys, but I also have to train. I know nothing about boxing and certainly not enough about combat training. And I definitely need basic training, because when there’s a war, they don’t differentiate between male and female. So, hopefully they don’t now either.
The others look at Damon, waiting for an answer I think. In my father’s pack, the women only learned defense. The rest belonged to the men.
‘Um, are you sure? You’re a girl with zero experience and we’ve been at it for years. The girls too, by the way’ says Damon with doubt in his voice.
‘You have to learn it sometime. So today I’m going with you.’
“Okay, interesting,” he says with a curious look. His smile and the little euphoria that comes over me make me laugh.
‘Now, will you be able to show what kind of cloth you are made of. And I will also make you stronger. Maybe we’ll find our soulmate, our Mate in that stinking pool of sweat,’ says my wolf enthusiastically and hops around. It’s weird to feel her like this and not know what she looks like.
Another guy walks up to them.
Hey Alpha Damon. Can I come with you?′ he asks breathlessly. He gasps a few times before continuing: ‘Sara normally had to take me with her, but her car is already gone and I certainly wouldn’t ask otherwise. But you know how Gamma Daniel will be with me if Sara makes me late again. Last time I also had to do a hundred pus ups because of her. I don’t want to do two hundred.’ Chris looks angrily at the boy.
‘Don’t tell me what my sister is like, Pieter. She knew she had to take you from our mother. You have a bad cousin to rely on.’
‘Get on the backseat, you’re lucky there’s still a seat available,’ Damon says to Pieter.
“Thanks, Alpha.”
The twins and Pieter get in and sit in the backseat. Chris opens the passenger door. Damon flips up the spacer and taps lightly on the seat that’s now unfolded next to him. I move to the middle so Chris can join me. I sit very awkwardly between the two muscular guys. Chris sniffs at me and looks with a deep grin at Damon.
“Damon, I smell fear. Would she be scared of us or, mmm... nope... she’s excited too.′
“Stop it Chris,” Damon laughs.
“She’s uncomfortable.” He sniffs at me again.
“And…” Damon doesn’t finish his sentence.
‘Damon, have you lost your words. We don’t often see that our Alfa has run out of words,’ says Chris mockingly. All the boys laugh, which also makes me chuckle behind my hand. Damon growls in annoyance and starts the car. I look at Chris with a confused face. Chris shrugs and looks outside the window.
On the way we stop at a red light. There is a red convertible on the right side of the RAM.
‘The Bitches in heat are watching in our car,’ Jonathan says behind his hand. I straighten up and look directly into Sara’s fierce eyes. I swallow a morsel and watch the car drive away with ripping tires at the green light. Damon leaves a little more cautiously.
“Damon, is it true what my sister says? Are you no longer a couple?′
“Uh… no. I’ve known for a while now that she’s not my fated Mate and I no longer want to fuss about her birthday this Tuesday. Does she happen to smell it on someone else already?′
’No man. You know we only smell it after our first transformation. We don’t have that advantage like you do with your Alpha blood.”
‘Mh, yes. Are you sure?’
“Why, do you already smell something around someone else?”
“No, I don’t smell anything around anyone else. Just your sister’s smelly perfume, which she sprays way too much of on her. I’m surprised anyone will smell her natural aroma.′
‘You haven’t smelled our house yet then. That perfume hangs all over our house.’ I can’t hide my giggles.
“Are you laughing with my sister now. Hey this one is really nice. Tell me why do girls spray so much of that sickening stuff on their skin?′
‘I do not know either. I never spray perfume. Until recently, my mother’s pills made me smell like onions, but that’s disappearing.’
‘Yes, I smelled that. Fortunately, you smell much better now. Certainly no perfume on, all wolf, which is good. My friends here must still smell the onions,’ Damon says softly. The others nod.
‘Don’t worry, it’s not that strong anymore,’ Jonathan whispers.
“I’m happy,” I whisper back.
‘How long until your birthday. And do you already smell something around a certain person since you also have Alpha blood?’ asks Jonathan curiously.
‘Two more weeks and…’ Damon interrupts me and asks, ‘What shower gel do you use?’ I look around me and all the boys are silent in the car.
‘Uh...’ I look around again until my gaze finally falls on Damon. Damon is watching the road with a deep frown. Something is bothering him, his aura is deep green and strong. “Uh, that sport shower gel that’s in the shower.”
‘So mine. And that cinnamon smell?’
‘Maybe I eat too much apple pie, it has cinnamon in it. I just ate a piece during the break,’ I reply shyly.
‘Could be,’ he sighs with relief.
Chris has a doubtful look as he alternately looks at us, but says nothing. The rest of the ride is quiet and I think the others (not counting Damon, Pieter and me) are linking. I look at Damon again, who I think senses my gaze. He smiles shyly and looks back at the road ahead. The red convertible drives in front of us and we pass it at a certain moment. Chris sticks out his middle finger to his sister and then our car drives off in a flash.
We arrive at the training center and I like what I see. Practices are in progress on the sports field and there is a large building on the left. As I thought, mixed combat training is underway. Something very different from my old pack, where only the men did these trainings.
“When can I do that?” I ask the boys.
‘When we are eighteen we train for the first time. It is better this way. Our wolf makes us stronger and it has been proven several times that we and our wolf train best together. If you train before then you want to dominate. This is different in boxing, of course. But we do have the advantage that we are stronger than the people, even if we don’t need our wolf. So just be patient and you can join in a few weeks,’ Damon replies.
“I can’t wait to beat them all,” says my wolf so excited that it makes her howl. I smile and don’t realize I’m making a funny face listening to my wolf.
“Does she hear her wolf yet?” I come to my senses and look at Chris staring into my eyes.
“I can hear her already, but I haven’t seen her yet.”
“And what’s her name?” Chris asks.
“Zoe,” I reply proudly.
Chris begs, “Can she join our beginners training? I want to know how strong her wolf makes her already.′
“Today won’t work, Jonathan,” Damon replies, looking at the people training.
‘Phew, I’ll ask my father,’ says Jonathan and walks to the training field, calling his father. When he has spoken to his father, he returns with a smug grin.
“Dad likes her.” I look cheerfully from Jonathan to Damon who shrugs. ‘Okay, then she’s in. Come get dressed and box before we start training.’ We walk to the building and Chris shows me where the girls’ changing rooms are. I put my coat and backpack in an empty locker and close the door. I’m glad I didn’t choose my dress this morning. But that I put on my top, sports shorts and sneakers. I was not prepared to train.
I’m waiting at the ring for the boys. When they come in I have to keep my mouth shut or I’d be staring at their muscular bodies with mouths open and drool all over the place.
The twins get into the ring and soon begin their match. Damon and Chris each go to a punching bag. Chris hits it with his fists that are in red boxing gloves. Damon is doing High Kicks. The punching bag has to endure a lot and I can’t stop wandering off my smartphone screen to look at Damon’s sweaty body. The way he tenses his muscles, the smile on his face or when he wipes away the sweaty hair from before his eyes are all moments that wet my pants. I am therefore angry with myself if I catch myself with my behavior at the moment. I’m just a bitch in heat.
When Damon and Chris are in the ring I watch their match. Chris is certainly good at defending because that’s all he can do. He can only block or avoid the striking blows that Damon deals. But he gets tired and at the last blow he lies on the ground. They both laugh as Damon helps him to his feet.
“Well done, Chris,” Damon says enthusiastically as he gives his friend a few pats on the shoulder. Chris smiles at his friend and looks relieved.
After boxing, the guys go to the training fields.
“Come on the field, we’ll pull over.” The twins’ father comes and stands next to me. The man is a solid chunk of muscle, but you can tell he’s a gamma. You’d have to line him up with Damon’s and Chris’s fathers and this guy would be shorter and less muscular. Damon and Chris are also much more muscular than him.
‘Hello I’m Daniel, the father of Jonathan and Jonas. Are you familiar with combat training, Lana?’
“No, not really, no.”
“Then you may defend yourself.” He gives me a pad and shows me how to stand to take the most hits.
I stand by and wait for... the whistle to blow. The first attacker comes running towards me . She hits the pillow hard and I fall on my ass.
“Ooph, ouch, that hurts.” The girl helps me up. “You need to spread your feet a bit more and push them harder into the ground.”
‘Thank you.’
I’m ready again and the next one is already having more trouble, but I lose my balance and fall back to the ground. The guys are laughing on the sidelines. Damon laughs exuberantly and my wolf reacts very angrily to that. I feel the heavy growl that forms from my chest out of my mouth. It comes from deep down and scares everyone else. Damon and his friends look at me curiously.
Come on, the next one,′ I yell furiously.′ The boy looks like a solid chunk of muscle, but I take his attack and back away but don’t fall. Then another muscle bundle that I push back with ease.
The boys shout from the sidelines that they want to take on me now. And of course Gamma Daniel gives them access to the field.
Jonathan is first in front of me. He looks around proudly.
“Now, you will see how the real muscles do this.” Jonathan walks towards me and I take his attack with ease. I now even push him back to the cone that should represent his starting place.
“Fuck, you’re strong,” he yells as he gives up. I look with a proud grin at the boy I just stopped with ease.
Then I go back to my position. I can also beat Jonas with great ease.
Then I swallow when Chris stands in front of me. He is the second strongest of the group and an imposing appearance.
“Should I stop that?”
“Yes, you can!” shouts my wolf enthusiastically.
Chris and I have been pushing each other for ten minutes now. But I feel myself getting weaker and fall backwards exhausted. Chris gives me his hand and pulls me up.
“You did this very well, newsboy.”
“Thanks, but I didn’t win.”
“Me neither, there is still one person stronger than me.” He nods towards Damon who is staring at me with great interest. I look away and look at Gamma Daniel.
‘Gamma Daniel? I’ve had to defend all the time, I’d like to attack.’
“Who’s running?” shouts Daniel.
There is no answer in the first minute.
“I’ll do it,” Damon shouts with one hand half up. Everyone else gasps.
‘Are you sure?’ Jonathan asks.
‘Yes, I can always attack. I want to defend.’
Damon is in position and I can see the gold in his eyes. He clearly uses his wolf.
I walk over to him and get a hard punch as I fly into the pillow. I roll on the floor a few times and finish with my stomach facing the floor. I look furiously in his direction. His smug grin makes my blood boil in my skin. I stand up quickly and knock the dirt off my clothes.
“One more time,” I shout loudly. I stand ready and attack again. Damon kicks back when I fly into the pillow. This time I fly in the air and land on my hands and feet. I snap at Damon, making him look surprised.
“This is getting interesting,” Jonas whispers to Jonathan.
“Again,” I command.
‘Come on, where are you? Little wolf!’ Damon shouts defiantly. I growl loudly, “I’m not a little wolf!” I run over to him and push against the pillow. The pillow does not move and we stand there for a few minutes. I push, he pushes. All others are silent. We look defiantly into each other’s eyes. Neither of us gives up and small drops of sweat appear on Damon’s forehead.
The whistle blows and Daniel yells that class is over.
“Are you giving up?” I ask Damon.
‘No you?’ Damon laughs, which also makes me laugh.
‘Since we both don’t want to stop, someone will have to knock for us,’ Damon yells. ‘I’ll do it,’ says Jonas. ‘three two, one, loose,’ he shouts, slapping his hand on the floor a few times.
We both let go and then I smell it, that nice smell of chocolate and mint. It’s like the smell pulls me to one side.
“It smells so good in here,” I say subconsciously. Damon looks confused in my direction and his eyes turn more gold than brown.
“Lana, your eyes are turning purple,” Damon says before a funny expression appears on his face.
“Damon, what’s wrong?” I ask concerned. Damon’s breathing becomes shallower. The other boys react to this and try to come between us. Chris tries to get through to him: “Damon, Damon. Are you still there? Thor? Make Damon come back up.′ All the guys are looking at Damon and not checking on me.
“Zoe, what’s going on? Why do I feel so strange?′ Zoë doesn’t answer, but is very restless. Happy, but restless. The smell of chocolate and mint becomes the smell of freshly baked chocolate cake that has just come out of the oven. It gets hot and I felt wetness between my legs. I wave my hand to my warm face and sigh deeply.
‘Pff, it’s so hot here,’ I whisper. My wolf says something that drives me crazy: “I want to ride that yummy chocolate cake until I drop.” The boys sniff the air and all look in my direction.
‘Fuck, I can smell her arousel,’ says Jonas. The twins approach me and try to stop me. They sniff at me which doesn’t mean much good either. A deep sigh escapes my lips as one of the boys sniffs my neck. Which is not well received by Damon who now becomes furious and lets out a deep loud growl from his throat.
The whole field full of students has stopped their training and looks his way.
Damon, please. She doesn’t have her wolf completely yet,′ cries Chris who fortunately has a Mate and is therefore not affected by my arousel. Damon snaps at Chris. Our eyes stay on each other and then something pops into my head.
‘Damon, I...I. Extent?’ I ask confused.
‘Extent!’ growls Damon in an animal way. “Mate,” Zoë and I growl in unison. That makes me blow the fuses, I want to go to him. I want to jump him. The twins stop me with great difficulty, Chris and Daniel stop Damon.
“Fuck, I can’t take it anymore. She’s way too strong. We suddenly feel a lot of water spraying over us. It is Pieter who sprays in our direction with the lance and the toxic smoke of lust disappears through the water. They release us from the pressure of the water which makes me run to Damon. We fly into each other’s arms.
“My Alpha,” I say affectionately.
‘My Luna,’ Damon replies lovingly. He kisses me softly on my lips and makes a path of kisses to the part of my neck, where there will be a mark later. My whole body trembles with desire from his kiss or is it from the cold water that continues to be sprayed on us.
‘Damon, come on he has to stop with that lance. He wets the whole field,’ cries Chris, who runs behind the Pieter. Damon smiles at me, quickly gives me a small kiss on the nose and runs after the boy. I look around and see a lot of young people staring at us. Including Sara and her gang of bitches. They certainly couldn’t have heard what was going on here, but the fierce look in Sara’s eyes betrays that she saw everything between Damon and me. I found my Mate and it’s the next Alpha. I panic. I’ll be the next Luna of the Black wolf pack? All those responsibilities, all those people under me. What if he rejects me?
I watch Damon just putting out the lance and rolling it up. Pieter gets under his feet from Daniel. Everyone else leaves the field towards changing rooms. Before I want to walk into the girls’ dressing room I hear Sara’s furious voice.
‘That slut thinks she’s everything, right? First she parades around here as a guest at the Alpha’s house and now she’s stealing Damon from under my nose. That bitch takes everything away from me. I would be the Luna, Damon is mine. Not from that Silverback.’
I get tears in my eyes from what she says and hurried to the toilets. I look in the mirror and stare at my watery eyes. The purple lines in my eyes are fading. My wolf, like me, is sad about Sara’s words. I blow my clothes a little dry under the hand dryer, but I can’t get them really dry. I walk out of the building towards Damon’s car. The boys are almost all in the car, only Chris is still waiting for me.
The ride is quiet, way too quiet. Damon watches the road and the others all look out the window. I shiver from the cold air conditioner blowing on my still wet T-shirt.
‘Here take my dry towel, Lu...Lana,’ says Pieter, handing his black towel to me and then looking anxiously at Damon. I look in Damon’s direction, who looks in his rearview mirror with an icy look. Everyone knows in the car that Pieter would call me Luna, but stopped after realizing that I am not his Luna. No acknowledgment has yet come from Damon’s side. Only from Thor.
“Thank you, Peter.”
I smile at Pieter and take the towel. I put the towel over my shoulders and feel that the air conditioning is warmer. Did Damon change this to the heater for me? It certainly won’t be Chris, because he’s sitting with an open mouth and his eyes closed. Is he dozing off?′
Pieter is the first to be dropped off at a small house on the edge of the village. Afterwards, the twins and Chris are dropped off at two large mansions that are not that far from the pack house. Damon then parks the car in the garage and before I can say anything it’s gone. My wolf cannot hide her grief. Her Mate doesn’t react the way she would like. Are we not good enough for him or does he not want me because I am a Silverback? Once in my bedroom, I change into a black loose T-shirt and loose dark blue sports pants and then let myself fall on my bed with a sigh.