Chapter 71
Blair
POV
I sighed. James wasn't anywhere to be found once I'd finished breakfast, but I was a big girl and to be honest, I really did not need him to accompany me to the training room anyway. I made my way to the front foyer and struggled to keep from grimacing as Julia stopped me in my tracks, barring the exit, her arms folded across her chest. She wrinkled her nose, looking at me incredulously.
"You're not wearing that?" she asked in disgust.
"I am," I said nodding my head and glancing down at myself, "because it's exercise wear and I am about to train, hence exercise" I explained slowly as though she were a child.
Then again the way she acted, it felt like she was a lot of the time, a spoilt brat if I were honest with myself.
She growled. "I'm aware of that, but are you aware that we have an Alpha currently visiting from another pack right now? As future Alpha Queen is it not your responsibility to greet the guests as they arrive and welcome them?" she demanded frostily.
I smirked. "Do you mean Alpha Cody?" I said sweetly as she narrowed her eyes and nodded with a grunt "But I've already welcomed him" I said dismayed "just now, in the bedroom when I was naked."
Her jaw dropped open and she seemed to be speechless, I continued, fighting back my grin "I mean, he saw everything" I emphasized, using my hand to gesture at my body "and James and Braedon were there, so it was as good as an official greeting. I mean it couldn't get much better than that. I'm sure it was preferable to a plain old boring handshake in any case" I said thoughtfully, as Julia's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish "And I doubt that Alpha Cody is going to forget me anytime soon either" I added cheerfully, nodding my head up and down with agreement. "I mean if I saw a guy naked and he shook my hand I'm not likely to forget him" I added.
Julia looked like she was about to have a coronary. I gave her a cheeky grin "Well I really must be going, I have training now, but if I have time later, I'll be sure to greet Alpha Cody again, this time fully clothed" I trilled and headed past the stunned woman, darting outside and skipping towards the training ring. I wondered how long it would take Julia to recover from that conversation and shrugged. The woman would survive. It's not as though I hadn't done worse. It brought a grin to my face. Nothing beat making Julia look horrified. It was like the highlight of my day but she just made it so easy for me to do.
The training ground was surprisingly lax of members. I frowned, grateful to see that Josie was present at least. "Hey," I greeted her, looking at the few dismal pack members lining up "Where is everyone?"
She rolled her eyes "Back at the pack house, trying to get a look at Alpha Cody and his posse. Apparently there are quite a few attractive women in his group that he brought" she said sourly.
Oh. I hadn't noticed, but it's not like I made a habit of ogling the women in the pack house either. I shrugged "It just means that we get more attention from Malcolm," I said calmly.
Josie stared at me "You think that's a good thing" she said incredulously "are you insane?"
I didn't have time to answer. Malcolm began divvying everyone up into partners. Knowing that Josie and I were friends now, Malcolm took great delight in pairing me up with one of the catty girls who appeared to dislike me. I was certain it was the same girl from the kitchen that had been glaring at me.
"Blair you'll partner with Sierra" he instructed gravely "Sierra human form only, remember that Blair doesn't have a wolf," he said, staring her down.
She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and regarded me coolly. "No problems, beating you is going to be easy" she smirked.
I raised an eyebrow at her arrogance. I had been training regularly and worked hard to improve myself. I might have only had a few training sessions but even Malcolm had agreed that I seemed to pick up the moves easily. Still, I didn't possess the advantage of a wolf though, which was what was making her so damn cocky.
"Attack" Malcolm shouted and without hesitation Sierra launched herself at me, causing me to move quickly, dodging to the side as she tried to punch me in the face, my legs quickly moving as I kicked out and landed a hit in her stomach as she growled in anger.
She didn't look so cocky now. She tried to land a flurry of punches, but I dodged them with ease each time, able to correctly gauge which hand she was going to use and which direction she was going to take. I kneed her and then thrust my elbow into her chest, causing her to stagger back with a cry.
"Good job Blair" Malcolm shouted with approval, keeping a close eye on the proceedings.
Sierra did not like that. She was meant to be a seasoned fighter and she was being beaten by a newbie. She threw herself at me and I whirled around her, kicking her in the back and sending her sprawling to the floor. She landed with a thump.
"Do you concede?" I asked her, turning back around and seeing her glaring at me.
It made no sense to continue to fight. She was on the ground and I had defeated her. If she conceded gracefully the fight would end. She got back up dusting herself off and beginning to circle around me. I could see determination etched on her face. There was no way she was willing to let herself lose to a wolfless mutt like me. She had too much pride.