When they were all drunk and stumbling, I felt awkward and asked Zane to let me go home. He surprisingly never drank, and neither did Casen, Vince, nor Malik. From what I could tell, Zane was running things, but assured me Andrei would return.
To be honest, I was nervous when I heard Zane say that back then, and I still am. I am so freaking nervous to see Andrei after the last argument we had. My heart might jump out of my chest and take off the very moment I face my mate.
Casen and Zane have tried their best to explain Andrei’s obsession with killing rogues to me. But none of it makes sense. Simply because I see no end to it.
The door opens, and Casen and Zane wait for me out the front. I do a quick double-take of Casen. There is something off about him. Casen is more bubbly and always wears his signature smirk, which isn’t in place today. “Vince?” I ask.
“Ah, I thought we could trick you, Luna,” he laughs.
“Where is Casen?”
I usually train with Casen, not Vince, not that I mind, but I have grown used to his outgoing personality. Vince is a little quieter, but when Casen and Vince are together, they are little jerks, always shoving each other and clowning around.
“Patrol duty with Malik,” Zane answers as I follow him to the clearing the pack uses as a training ground.
It is already warm this morning, the sun is already out and beaming brightly, not a cloud in the sky as we trek up the hill to the training ground, where everyone else already is training.
“Will you be ok training with Vince?” Zane asks, and I nod.
“I will go easy on you.” He laughs, and I roll my eyes. I was getting used to defending myself against a wolf, though the hand-to-hand stuff has caused a few freak-outs.
When we reach the spot, I stretch, Vince does the same, making me stop and look at Zane. “I know you hate it, Luna, but you can’t just train against a wolf,” Zane lectures, making my heart skip a beat as I look over at him.
I glance at Vince, seeing he also isn’t shifting into his wolf form. I don’t want to do hand-to-hand combat.
“They won’t hurt us,” Sierra reminds me, and I know they won’t, but certain things trigger my memories, shoving me back to the past. I can’t control it, though Zane and Casen quickly notice, but I haven’t trained with Vince before.
“Maybe we skip today?” I suggest, already feeling anxiety creep up and settle in.
“No, Sage, you need to learn to adjust, if you really need to defend yourself, it won’t be against Casen or me,” he warns.
Vince continues stretching, and I mimic him until Zane tells us to take our stance.
Vince’s eyes flicker over my body, but it’s almost clinical, searching for my weaknesses. I don’t have long to study him before he strikes like a snake. He’s faster than Casen and more focused on his strikes. It’s all I can do to defend myself against his attacks.
Two hours later sweat is dripping in a steady stream from me and my muscles are trembling. Zane corrects my movements when they’re wrong, and as time drags on it happens more often. Still, between the two of them I have learned a lot of different ways to escape difficult scenarios.
I take my position again, but I am growing sluggish, the heat is too much and I’m still not used to it. Vince lunges forward, and I can’t even bring my arms up to defend myself. Instead of attacking me directly, Vince dodges to the side his blow aiming for my stomach. I drop my elbow down to try to stop him, and get tangled up, twisting and falling on my stomach with a soft grunt. Vince lands on my back and I barely feel it.
I roll side to side, but he’s not getting off. I jerk my arm back to try to elbow him, but he catches it easily and pins it behind my back. With a little growl, I elbow with the other one and I don’t know why I am expecting the outcome to be any different, but he captures that one as well.
My skin grows clammy as my cheek brushes against the dirt. Vince’s breath warms my neck and Sierra is chanting in her head, trying to keep me focused and not freaking out.
“It’s Vince Sage, just Vince, just a seventeen-year-old boy, who is our friend,” she repeatedly chants in my head.
I hate being pinned, the weight pressing down on me. I have gone the entire session without one meltdown, but now that I am tired. My focus is waning, and I lose it, unable to force back the flashbacks.
I should have paid better attention to the warning signs. I’m thrown back in time, when I was still a toy to my captors. Whimpers escape me and my breathing turns shallow as panic fills me. I wriggle hard to break free when Zane drops on his stomach next to me.
“Think about the position you’re in.” He speaks calmly, though his words do nothing to calm my racing mind.
“I am thinking about my position, Zane,” I snap at him, trying to keep my focus on what I am supposed to do and not the fact Vince’s entire body covers mine.
I try to wiggle my arms free, but he pulls them higher up my back, making me cry out before he loosens his grip. Instead of holding me firmly, his knees dig into the back of my thighs.
“Think Sage, you can get out of this.” Zane encourages, but I am going into panic mode. I’m shutting down, trying to push up on my knees. He has me pinned, and I see no way out. I am not strong enough to lift his weight, not without at least one arm free. Zane is talking to me, trying to tell me what to do, but I can’t understand him as his voice becomes fainter and further away.
“Get off her, stop, she is done for today!” Zane yells.