I can't feel my legs.

My chest is so tight I think it might constrict on itself.

I can't breathe.

I think dying would be easier.

I've run 7 miles and I do not know how I am going to do the next 3. Most of the other females are no doubt finished by now. With Sean, I can accomplish the 5-mile mark in 15 minutes so, in theory, I would complete 10 in 30 minutes. Thanks to being a werewolf, we were fast predators. But I still had 3 miles to go, and I was approaching the 25-minute mark.

I may be a werewolf and it comes naturally, but I'm not strong enough as a human. The other girls would finish this in 20 minutes easily, being better trained than me. My wolf would happily take over, but we are told no wolf, so human me it is. Which I'm okay with to be fair.

'Come on, you can do it. Two more to go.' My wolf's voice encourages me on.

I'll show them all that I can run it, despite their concern for me. I was a strong wolf-my mind was made up. I may look feeble, but I was determined.

I let out a ragged breath and continued my way around the forest. I didn't know this trail well since I usually stopped halfway, but I continued to follow the scent of the others. They all appeared to be in a herd, only a few ahead of the pack.

One more mile.

One more.

Sweat was pouring down my face and dripping from my lip. My t-shirt was sticking to me uncomfortably, and I knew I was going to have to take it off, eventually. It was white and practically see-through now, anyway.

My feet staggered as I gasped for breath. I was barely jogging now. The clearing approached and I could see the girls already there and stretching their legs. I could hear them laughing and I felt so self-conscious knowing I'd have to approach them on my own.

Stumbling through the break in the trees, I slowed myself to a stop. Even though I was jogging, it still made me stumble. Pins and needles started up my ankles and my thighs quivered beneath me.

I was bent over my knees, forcing back the bile as I tried to catch my breath.

'You did it!' My wolf yipped.

I gasped thanks to her, swallowing harshly. I shakily straightened myself out, pulling off the suffocating fabric of my t-shirt. I slowly made my way over to the group, arms wrapped around my waist to make myself look smaller.

There was a woman who stood in the front, seeming to lead the others in some short, high-intensity workouts. Looks like I missed the ten-minute break.

Phoenix was not around the girls, but I could sense he was nearby. I turned myself into the humming of the mate bond and it told me to look towards the men. My eyes searched through the crowd until I found him.

My breath caught, and my eyes widened at the sight. I'd be practically drooling if it wasn't for the fact I was dehydrated. Phoenix was working out with the men of the pack. He had a few crowded around him cheering him on as he benched some weights. I could see the sweat dripping down his neck and unconsciously my tongue ran across my lips.

I cursed myself and looked away. Images of him lifting me that way filled my head, my wolf encouraging the thoughts. I shouldn't be drooling over him right now... but maybe just one more look wouldn't hurt.

As I looked up, he put the weight bar down, the large weights making the bench sag into the ground. They were lucky that part was tarmac. He sat up from the bench before pulling his shirt over his head. My eyes were glued, fixated on his upper body as he pulled the fabric from his skin.

Tanned muscle, glistening with sweat. I felt like a pervert just staring at him. But the sweat and the contorting of his muscles... He wasn't real, couldn't be real. He had to be crafted by gods.

I'm just saying...Michelangelo would be proud of this creation.

He must have sensed me because his eyes slowly met mine from where he sat on the bench. He was not one to smile, but I could see the smirk that graced his features when he caught me staring.

My cheeks flushed, and I chewed on my lip, glancing away. Shaking my head, I raggedly made my way to the back of the group, my breath finally caught up to me. It seemed like the last minute I wasn't breathing.

'How unusual.' My wolf teased.

Oh, shush you.

I grabbed a cup from the water fountain and filled it halfway, downing it in almost one gulp. I placed my t-shirt on the ground beside it and made my way over to the group.

"Hey new girl, keep up!" The leader shouted.

A few eyes turned to stare down at me, the rude girl from before giving me a confident smirk. She was flawless, didn't look like she broke a sweat. Where I was here looking like a sticky, wet mop.

I shakily joined in with the other girls, trying my hardest to keep up with some movements. I tired quickly and wasn't as into it as everyone else. Even though I wanted to give up, I knew I couldn't. I had to prove myself to them all. I am just as strong. I just need to prove it. My wolf huffed in agreement.

Ten minutes later, the workout finished. The woman announced that we had finished and were to do what we wanted to calm down. I gladly collapsed on the floor and began my usual routine.

Yoga, I could do. I was naturally flexible enough for that.

My legs and back were sore, so I focused on them, starting in a twisted seated position. I then rolled into the child pose, my face to my knees, and stretched my arms, enjoying the popping of my joints. I moved into a forward stretch, bringing my legs out in front of me to touch my toes.

Sitting upright for a moment, I noticed others were doing their own thing too, and that the other two groups were also in their cool-down mode. Most of the girls in my group were giggling and just stretching their legs, eyeing the men on the other side of the field and pushing out their chests. Some even started doing some type of dancing or gymnastics.

I pulled myself onto my front and pushed my body up from the ground, keeping my pelvis and legs to the floor. The familiar cracking and stretching almost made me moan in delight. Bringing my hips up, I moved into a downward dog pose, my ponytail hitting the ground.

Sean had taught me a lot about yoga. He says it helps with his wolf's anger issues. But he's just a big teddy bear. I don't know what anger issues he was talking about.

I walked my hands across the grass until I could grasp my calves, my body flush to my thighs. Holding it for ten seconds, I slowly raised myself into a tree pose, my foot to my knee, then followed by a mountain, legs straight and arms in the air. Lunging my legs after I could feel my body relaxing. So I completed it all with meditation, slowing my breathing and closing my eyes. I always meditated at home, so it came naturally.

Focusing away from the surrounding people, I opened my mind and my other senses. I listened through the chatter and further, stretching my ears beyond the trees. I could hear the rustling of the leaves from the wind, a tiny scurry of feet up a tree. My nose twitched, focusing. It was a squirrel, how cliché.

Birds flapped their wings, the sound of the air whooshing beneath their feathers. Small dribbles of water fell from a few plants, the smell of a small stream nearby.

I exhaled a deep breath and focused my attention on my body. I felt the tingles in my legs and the aching of my chest. Oh, it felt good.

Footsteps approaching from my side had me reigning in my senses. They stopped about three feet away, pulling me away from my mindset. I rolled my neck and opened my eyes to see my intruder.

"You did well today, Novie." Sean smiled.

I frowned up at him, taking in his sweaty, ragged appearance. He was shirtless and sweaty, and even though I was happily ogling another similar body, Sean was nowhere near as attractive. The surrounding testosterone was increasing, and I looked behind him to see many of the men walking over to the flirty girls.

"Thank you," I spoke, putting my legs out in front of me instead of crossed.

"How was the run?" He smiled, joining me down on the ground.

I rolled my eyes. "Horrible."

"What does your watch say?" He gestured.

I shrugged and glanced down at it, taking it off. "I dunno how this thing works."

He laughed and took my watch from my outstretched arm. He pressed a few things on the touch screen before nodding.

"You did ten miles in 34 minutes. Your heart rate was all over the place, but you did it. Well done." He smiled and gave it back to me to clip on.

"Thanks." I chuckled. "What you doing over here?"

"All the guys were full of energy and wanted to flirt with the girls." He shrugged with a smile. "What else?"

I laughed. "And poor you stuck with me."

He smirked and shook his head. "Well, I got to monitor my trainee, don't I? Make sure she's not gonna vomit or pass out."

I rolled my eyes with a laugh and focused my attention on the mixed werewolves around me. I spotted Molly making her way over to where I sat with a sour expression.

"Oh-oh," Sean mumbled.

I gave him a suspicious glance and was about to call him out on it, but Molly stomped her feet in front of us.

I glanced up to see her hair dishevelled and stuck to her neck, much like mine. Her hands were on her hips as she stared down at Sean with a mean expression. She's got guts, I'll give her that. Sean was scary looking.

"What are you doing here?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Me?" He scoffed. "Talking to Nova."

"Nova is my new friend!" She pouted.

He laughed. "I know. I told her to stand beside you. But I am her trainer."

She frowned and stuck her tongue out at him. I was confused by the exchange. It's almost as though they were- oh wait. I see it now. The facial features were so similar except for the eye colour. Sean's were grey compared to her blue. But they both had the same sharp jawline and pale skin. No doubt if Sean grew his buzz cut out, he'd have brown hair too.

"You're her b-brother?" I asked.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Older too. Unfortunately for me. This is what I have to compete with, why my parents force me to train so hard."

I frowned but nodded my head. I remember him telling me that his parents retired to another pack two years ago.

Sean chuckled. "Our parents are strict. It's one of the reasons my wolf can be aggressive is when he's protective."

Molly huffed. "Ugh, not this again. I'm going to the toilet."

She sauntered away, and I watched her go for a moment. She was very interesting.

"Sister or not, she'll be a good friend. She's just strange." He mused.

"All the best ones are," I smirked, glancing at him.

He was watching ahead of us but smiled gently. I turned my attention back to in front of me to see Phoenix had approached the group with the men. A group of girls were surrounding him, and I could make out the chatter of compliments and flirting they gave him. He was still shirtless, catching my attention immediately.

My wolf purred, and I had the vision of swatting her horny ass away.

Looking around, most avoided Phoenix and only the desperate approached. I could see pack members glancing my way and when I caught someone's eyes, they approached. About three men all came to stand around us. Sean soon lost his gentle demeanour and stood up.

"Gamma Sean, who's this little thing?" One man smirked.

I frowned, hating how I'm being referred to as though I can't speak. I mean... I can't, but that's not the point.

My wolf snorted at me. 'Brilliant.'

Sean kept his stern expression and stepped in front of me while I remained on the floor. "New pack member."

The men rolled their eyes. "Been hiding her away, huh? What's your name, sweetheart?"

I looked away from Sean's back to glance at the men. The one talking was the closest, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was tall and toned much like his two friends. The one on the right had brown hair with blue eyes, and the one on the left had brown hair with brown eyes.

Feeling small on the ground, I pushed myself to stand, staying partially behind Sean as their eyes wandered my body. I knew from when I met him he'd be a magnificent wall to stand behind.

"Nova," I said.

They chuckled among themselves; the leader crossing his arms. "How come we've never met before? Sean been storing you away?"

Sean grumbled. "Just back off, Michael, no need for confrontation. She's new and training with me, so just back off, yeah?"

Michael laughed. "Aw quit playing Sean, I just wanna talk to the little thing."

Sean growled again. "I'm serious. You shouldn't get too involved."

His friends laughed. The brown-eyed one gave me a smirk as his eyes shamelessly stared down at me. I shuffled uncomfortably, eager to get away from these predatory glances.

"I can smell the sweetness from her. Is that why you're hiding her away? She smells good, almost powerful." He grinned, eyes staring at me still.

Oh, so I'm guessing he was a tracker wolf, good with his nose. Sophie used to always comment on my 'perfume stench' but with distaste, not like this man was.

Before Sean could retaliate with his fist, I grasped his arm and he looked down at me. His eyes were dark grey as his wolf stared back, angry but confused. My wolf flashed her eyes in comfort and Sean blinked at me before standing back to cover me again.

"Hiding her again?" Michael laughed. "Hey...what's with the pink marks you got going on?"

I rubbed at my scarred skin and frowned. "I-I-"

A dominating presence came up from behind me and I tensed when the heat from his skin suddenly warmed my back.

That was extremely sudden. Did he teleport?

The three men in front of us immediately dropped their heads from the power itself.

"What's going on here?" Phoenix questioned, even though he probably already knew the answer.

"Nothing Alpha," Michael grumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

Phoenix must've sensed my discomfort, though, because he growled in disapproval. The three bared their neck in submission. Even Sean tensed beside me, looking at the ground.

"Leave." He growled. "If I hear about any problems regarding you three again, I will not hesitate to take it into my own hands."

They soon walked off in a hurry and the wandering eyes from before stopped staring, too. A slight pause of silence met my ears, but from his closeness, I could hear Phoenix's heavy breaths.

"Alpha." Sean tilted his head in respect when Phoenix round came to stand in front of us.

I kept my eyes downcast as he stood beside us now. Not wanting to look at his damn half-naked body in fear of a distraction and looking like a fish. The proximity has left me flustered, the smell of his body when sweaty was stronger. How I was attracted to that, I will never understand.

"Well done today Nova." His voice made me tense.

Knowing he was talking to me since he spoke my name, I had to look up at him. I shyly tried to cover some of my scars again, the three inches of my stomach showing in my workout clothes were making me self-conscious. My arm scarring was normal to me but the rest of me I didn't like.

"Th-thanks Alpha." I stammered, looking beyond his shoulder.

"What are your time stats?" He asked.

I swallowed and looked down at my watch with a frown. "Sean said 34 minutes?"

He didn't make a sound as he gestured for me to show him. I went to take off my watch, but he took my arm. The tingles from his warm skin had me shiver.

His hand held my arm steady as the other swiped through things on my watch. Clearing his throat, he turned my wrist towards me, stepping behind me so he could see. His other arm came around me and I held my breath as his front pressed against me. I glanced up at Sean in surprise to see him smirking at me as if he knew my thoughts. I gave him a small glare before focusing my attention back on the watch and not on the extremely warm man behind me.

"This bubble shows you your pedometer- the time you took to run. You can press this button here and it'll start it again as a new lap if you ever do laps on the field." He explained, his voice in my ear. "Back to the Home Screen, the heart bubble will tell you how many steps, your heart rate, and how many calories you may have burned. People burn calories differently but since we are wolves anyway, it's pretty much useless."

I nodded mutely as he continued. "There are other things like this is for text messages, this is a camera, this shows calls. There's also a tracker inside so if you wear it all the time and something ever happens I know where you are."

I shivered as his lips grazed my ear. "Oh-okay thank you."

I expected him to pull away straight away, but he didn't. His arm came from around me and he dropped my wrist, but he didn't step away. I turned to glance at him, not realising the proximity of his face to mine. I could count every eyelash if I focused hard enough. His eyes were a melting pool of gold, brown and green, a stern yet tender expression on his face.

My tongue darted out to wet my suddenly dry mouth, and I saw his lips follow the motion. This man... This arrogant and ignorant man who has ignored me for weeks... His breath, his scent, was making me light-headed. How one person can do this to another should be illegal. Damn mate bond.

A clearing of a throat had me blinking out of my trance to find Sean standing there awkwardly. Phoenix copied his action and stepped away from me, leaving me feeling cold.

"I'll, uh, leave you to your yoga," Phoenix muttered.

I watched him walk away in a daze, his bare back tense and his muscles dancing in the sunshine. His hand came to grasp at the hair on the back of his head as he marched his way through the group of people. I saw some of them eyeing me suspiciously, but I couldn't focus my mind right now.

"Well, that was interesting," Sean murmured.

Like a bucket of water was poured on me, I blinked up at Sean.

"I have never heard the Alpha say 'uh' before." He chuckled. "He is very jealous. I was right."

I blushed and rubbed my arms. "He... confuses me."

"Well, he just inadvertently laid a tiny claim on you there in front of a sizeable chunk of the pack." He laughed at my confused expression. "Let's go for lunch."

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