She looked up at Jake and frowned before gently pulling away. Now it was that moment when she heard a loud growl. She turned her head and her heart fell from what she saw from afar.
Zach.
He stood there, with a stern look drawn upon his face. His devilish eyes were dark. Dilated. Burning. Furious.
Before she knew it, she was pulled away from Jake as Zach slammed him against the lockers. Anna gasped. Eyes burning, both glared at each other.
“Zach, please, stop,” she begged while tugging at his shirt. His body was shaking and she wasn’t sure if she should worry about it.
Hearing her pleading voice, Zach pushed Jake against the lockers and turned around to face Anna. In one swift movement, he swept her off her feet and brought her on his shoulder. A soft gasp escaped her lips.
Ignoring her pleads to put her down, he went straight out of the building and towards the training grounds. After a few minutes, Anna was brought down on her feet. She looked around and realized she was inside a locker room. She jumped a little when she heard the door close behind her.
“Zach?”
Silence.
Anna turned. Zach stood at the dark corner of the room. His lips was formed in a tight line. He was angry. She knew that. But she wanted to tell him that there wasn’t anything to worry about. Jackson Anderson was her friend.
“Go change,” he said, his voice so deep and calm that it made her want to shake in fear.
“Fo-For what?” she stuttered.
“I’m training you.”
She frowned. “Y-You are?”
“Yes.”
He opened a locker and took some workout clothes and shoes inside. He handed the clothes and shoes to her and she hesitantly accepted it. Feeling his eyes watching her every movement, she walked towards the bathroom and quickly changed. She wore a tight tank top, tight shorts, and shoes with her size. It showed off her legs and arms. Something she wasn’t comfortable showing around. Nevertheless, she tied her hair in a bun and took a deep breath.
Once she walked out, Zach was standing there, arms crossed over his chest. His face was emotionless yet she flushed a little with the way his eyes devoured her body.
She cleared her throat.
Getting out of his trance, Zach walked out and gestured for her to follow him. They entered a room where there were training equipment for almost everything. Men and women were grunting and sweating everywhere. The air smelled of a mixed fragrance of odor and perfume. She scrunched her nose.
“Get down on the ground,” Zach’s deep voice spoke behind her.
Anna looked at him. “What?”
“Now, Kitten.”
She slowly got down to her knees and sat down on the ground, legs pressed together and feet touching the floor. Zach knelt before her and laid his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her down to lay her back on the floor.
Running his fingers upon her soft skin, he caressed her smooth legs to her thighs then to her knees and held them, his warm hands burning her skin. He held her knees together and looked at her position appreciatively.
“Now,” he said, “put your hands crossed on your chest and do sit-ups. One hundred times.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “But–”
“No buts,” he stated firmly.
She sighed and started doing sit-ups. All the while, Zach was there, counting and murmuring encouraging words to her as she groaned and grunted.
Soon, she collapsed on the floor breathless looking so much like a dying pig.
“I can’t..” she gasped.
Zach stood up and stretched his arm to hold her up. She reached for his hand and weakly stood up on her feet. Guiding her on her feet, he looked at her for a moment before giving her a white clean towel. By the time she had wiped away the wetness off her face and neck and arms, she looked at Zach hopefully.
He caught that look on her eyes and quickly pulled a stern look upon his face. “No, Kitten,” he said. “We’re not done yet.”
The rest of the day, Zach trained Anna until she was dripping wet from head to toe. By the time darkness was about to crawl upon the skies, Anna was beyond exhausted.
She locked herself inside the locker room and took a fresh warm bath. She didn’t realize it would end up to this. Zach was mad at her. He didn’t even kiss her nor flirt with her in any way. Unlike what he always did. He just seemed.. emotionless and serious. She thought it was strange.
After cleansing herself, she changed into new clothes and walked out of the bathroom while drying her hair. How could she apologize to him? How could she comfort him? She sighed. There was just something with the way he looked at her while they were training. Even though she was so exhausted, she saw the way he looked at her with a dark look drawn upon his eyes. It was uncanny and at the same time, scary.
She was pulled out of her thoughts once Keira, Victoria, and Bea entered the locker room.
Smirking, “Hey. How’s the training.. with Mr. Greek Hotness?” Keira asked and winked at Anna.
The girls giggled while Anna flushed a slight pink shade. Everyone had practically watched Anna and Zach while they were training. Zach had been a very dominatingly strict man throughout the exhausting hours. Anna could hardly even keep up with his stance. Anyone would have seen the way he looked at her that time. The way his eyes were darker than usual. But not Anna. She would never notice that. So she had no idea why everyone was looking at them with strange looks and gazes.
“I know. I know,” Anna said, groaning to herself. “I’m too weak. I can’t even keep up with him. Neither with you guys.”
The girls laughed.
“I just think.. he’s mad or something,” Anna muttered under her breath.
“Oh, girl,” Bea said, smiling. “I don’t think he’s mad. He looked very entertained actually.”
“No,” Anna said. “I think it’s sort of a punishment. He kept me going on for hours. I was almost dying out there! How can that be amusing to him?”
“Maybe the way your breasts were almost popping out of your tight top?” Victoria asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“What?!” Anna exclaimed, blushing.
“And the way you blush like a tomato,” Bea said.
“And the way you sweat like a pig,” Keira laughed.
“And why would he be mad at you anyway?” Victoria questioned, rising one brow.
Anna took a deep breath. “I was hugging Jake and he saw us,” she admitted. “Is it such a bad thing now to hug a friend?”
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.”
“Anna, maybe you don’t understand this as much as we do. But I think–we think–Jake really likes you. A lot. And maybe Zach knew that, too. So maybe that’s why he’s angry. Alphas don’t like to share, you know? I mean, that’s what all the books say.”
Anna frowned. “Well, I like Jake, too. We won’t be friends if we don’t like each other, right? So what’s wrong with that?”
“Anna, it’s beyond wrong,” Victoria said.
“In so many levels,” Bea added.
Anna slumped down on the floor, leaning her back on the lockers and hugging her legs. She covered her face with her hands and groaned. “I feel bad,” she said. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Look,” Keira said, “do you really want to make it up to him? It wouldn’t be that hard. Trust me.”
Anna peeked between her fingers and looked up at Keira hopefully. “Really?”
“Yes. Really. We’ll help you deal with that little problem of yours, Sweetheart.”
Anna stood up. “Thank you very much, you guys! I’ll do anything!”
“Anything?” Victoria asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Yes, anything. It won’t be that hard… Right?”
“Trust me.” Keira winked. “It won’t be.”