AVA
Alex nodded, a massive smile on his face after watching my silent interaction with one of his sons. “I’m glad my sons are fated to you, Ava,” Alex’s voice was grateful through the mindlink.
“Me too,” I replied.
“Where do you want to start, Ava?” Jacob had a smile on his face too.
Theo, as ever, looked jealous. If anyone was going to be a problem for this relationship, it was Theo.
“Callum and Oscar need to experiment with their new powers; in Oscar’s case, we need to work out what they are. Theo, Noah, if you two work with Oscar, see if you can find out what he can do. Stress is always a good way of bringing out powers, so the three of you could always spar.” The three of them nodded.
“Callum… his powers are all in defence and offence,” I glanced at Callum, biting my bottom lip. “The offensive skills are easy enough to explore. The defensive… I have an idea, Callum, but you’re not going to like it.”
He growled. “I can see where this is going.”
My lips were pursed. “It’s the best way, Callum.”
“Fine. But it needs to be someone in this room.”
I nodded, turning to Alex and Jacob. “How do you two feel about sparring with me so Callum can test his powers?”
“Sure,” they both smiled.
“Great, so I am trying to defend my mate from my dad and my Alpha?”
I smirked. “Pretty much. Your dad and I spar all the time, we’ll be fine.” I turned back to Alex, smirking at him. “No offence, Alex, but you on your own isn’t stressful enough for me, I think Callum needs to feel like I need help, which means I need more than one person.” Alex and Jacob nodded.
Callum grumbled under his breath.
“Callum, the alternative is that I go pick a fight with some rogues, it’s your choice.”
“It’s fine, spar with these two. I’d rather them than anyone else.”
“Thank you,” I smiled.
I opened a connection with Alex and Jacob. “Alex, Jacob, it’s possible still that Callum won’t be able to test his powers properly because he knows you two aren’t really a threat to me. If that happens, I need you two to promise that you’ll jump in and help if I need you when I pick a fight with some rogues.”
They both flinched.
“Ava… that’s a bad idea,” Oscar’s voice suddenly appeared in the link.
I turned to face him, eyes wide. “How did you do that?” I asked, out loud.
His eyes went wide as if he suddenly realised what he had done.
“Do what?” Callum asked.
“I was linking your dad and Jacob, Oscar hijacked it.” I smiled at Oscar. “I think we found one of your new skills, babe.”
He nodded. “When did you notice I was there?”
“When you spoke. What was the first thing you heard?”
“The bit about how Callum still might not be able to test his powers properly.”
“Fuck,” I swore.
“Ava, what is he talking about?” Callum’s face was stoic. He was forcing himself not to look angry.
“She said sparring with these two might not be enough because you’ll know they aren’t really a threat, so she asked them to back her up if needed so she could pick a fight with rogues.”
“Thanks, Oscar,” I growled.
Callum looked like I’d slapped him.
“Ava, please don’t do that, you said you wouldn’t take unnecessary risks,” Callum’s voice was almost pleading.
“I promise we’ll try with your dad and Jacob, but I really don’t know if it will work, Callum. I know it isn’t going to be comfortable for you, but we need to know what you can do before we end up in that situation for real, when we don’t have control over it. At least if Jacob and Alex are hanging around when I pick a fight with rogues, I have backup if I need it.”
He nodded, his face relaxing slightly. “I don’t like it, but okay. But only if sparring isn’t enough.”
I nodded, giving him a small smile. “Of course. After that, we do need to test your offensive skills too, Callum. I know your wolf won’t let you, so I won’t suggest you sparring with me.”
He growled. Well, Ares growled. “I will not hurt you, Avelina.”
“I know, Ares, I know. We need to see what you and Callum can do, but I won’t make you spar me to do it.”
Callum took back control. “Dad, are you happy to spar with me?”
“Of course, son.”
“Sorted. Once we’ve all beaten each other up a bit, Alex, Jacob and I will go talk to the Blue Mountain families. You four are still new wolves, so it might be worth you all going for a run and then sparring in wolf form.”
Alex, Jacob and I picked the middle of the main training field to spar because we didn’t really know what Callum was going to be able to do, and we needed as much space as possible. In case of accidents, we’d even brought one of the pack doctors with us at Jacob’s insistence.
Oscar, Noah and Theo were in the next field over, the smaller field that still should give them more than enough space to play with.
Callum stood off to the side, and I was in the middle with Alex and Jacob circling. “Callum, don’t try straight away, let us spar for a minute or two before you try to stop us.”
He nodded, motioning for us to start.
Alex came at me first, attempting to knock me off balance so he could take my legs out. I jumped, flipping over him and kicking the bottom of his back, sending him flying. Jacob started throwing punches, but leaning down meant I could dodge all of them.
They glanced at each other, and I could see they mindlinked. I knew why when they ran at me at the same time, Alex going in to kick and Jacob to aim for my legs. I ran in between them, sliding along the ground and elbowing both of them in the backs of the knees, making them stumble.
I smirked at both of them. They were panting, already getting worn out. Alex came for me again, trying to knock me off balance, and this time I let him so I could drag him down with me.
Before I could hit the floor, I stopped, as if I was floating in the air.
I looked beneath me to see sparks that formed a cushion, stopping my fall.
Callum looked shocked, knocking his concentration. The sparks disappeared, dropping me on my backside.
“Shit, sorry!” he shouted, running over to help me up.
“It’s fine,” I chuckled. “One, that was awesome as a first attempt. Two, it will get easier for you and you won’t need to concentrate so hard soon.”
He gave me a small smile. “Can I try something?”
“Sure, what do you want me to do?”
“You, stand still and close your eyes,” he replied. “Dad, Jacob, I’ll mindlink you.”
They were all silent for a minute, before Alex started chuckling.
“Because laughing isn’t at all daunting, Alex,” I growled.
“Right, so. Ava, stand still, eyes closed, do not move. You two, ready whenever you are.”
I stood still, forcing myself not to react when I felt the whoosh of air and scent that said Alex was sprinting towards me. I winced when I heard the telltale sound of his foot moving through the air towards my head, forcing myself not to duck.
The hit never connected, and the next thing I heard was Alex swearing.
“I hope you all realise how difficult that was for me to not duck,” I growled.
“Wait, you could have ducked that?” Alex asked, his voice pained.
“I knew exactly where you were and what you were doing. I could have dodged that.”
“Have you always been able to do that, Ava?” Callum asked.
I thought about it for a moment. “Not with Alex. With the younger or newer wolves, absolutely. But Alex is more restrained when we spar than they are.”
“I think your senses have heightened too, Ava,” Alex finally sounded less pained. “There’s no way you should have known where I was there.”
“Interesting… that’s new too, then,” I chuckled. “Callum, can I open my eyes now?”
“Sure,” he replied, a smile evident on his face.
I looked towards where Alex’s voice had come from, noticing the skid mark in the mud. I raised one eyebrow in shock. “What happened…?”
“My son sent me flying is what happened.”