Chapter 12
After weighing my options I realized that no matter what I would have to find the meal so I focused on finishing my meal and I prayed that Ryker would forget about the training issue I don’t even know why I bothered praying because it seems that when I pray about stuff they always seem to blow up in my Face
The first time being when Lauren came into my room earlier despite me praying she wouldn’t and the second time being when Ryken told me that I would be training with Lauren commencing immediately
I knew he was just trying to help but in all honesty, I wish he wouldn’t. I don’t know what he’s trying to prove but being nice to me isn’t going to change everything I already know about him and how he treats his pack All I want right now is for him to reject me so I can leave
The last thing I want to do is to be tied down and mated to another Alpha who is cruel and horrible to his subjects. There could be someone just like me suffering under him right now and how terrible would I be if I allowed myself to freely mate
with him
I didn’t want to argue about it so I thanked him for the training opportunity and locked myself in the room. I didn’t step out until the next morning when I heard a subtle knock on the door. I opened it to reveal Eve and she handed me some folded clothes and shoes that I knew were for training.
I put them on and felt uncomfortable in them. The leggings were even tighter than the ones I usually wore and it felt like if I as much as bent over they would rip. I wasn’t to wear a corset under it because the top was as tight as the leggings. It stopped just below my belly button and when I stretched or bent over, a silver of skin was revealed.
Eve smiled when she saw me and helped me put on the new sneakers. They came from a box so I knew they were brand new and a part of me didn’t want to wear it because I knew it would get dirty but Lauren appeared at my door and I knew I didn’t have much time left.
I stood up and her eyes raked over my b*dy in a way that made my skin crawl and made me want to curl up into a ball and hide. Finally, she met my eyes and made a dismissive sound.
“Honestly you couldn’t look worse if you worse a trash bag.” She laughed to herself at her own joke.
1 looked over at her, “You’re wearing the same thing.”
“Yes, but I don’t look like a pregnant sea urchin,” she spat, “We don’t have all day.”
She turned on her heels and I was left to follow her.
I thought we would be training with the other guards and soldiers but instead she led me to a secluded spot behind the house. It was the field that my window overlooked and I saw that someone had arranged training equipment for us. There were makeshift weights, a ball and some other things that I did not recognize.
“Give me two laps around the house now,” The command in Lauren’s voice was not to be mistaken and I quickly took off because I didn’t want to annoy her.
I have had a lot of practice running considering I ran for almost a full day so the lap was relatively easy for me.
Her eyes narrowed when she saw I hadn’t broken a sweat, “Did you really think that was it? Give me another ten laps now.” I swallowed deeply and realized I was in for it.
By the forth lap, I was exhausted and it was a chore to even get through to the fifth one. I had just finished it when I tripped on a root and fell down. Lauren blew on a whistle to tell me to get up but I couldn’t bring myself to rise, my lungs and my limbs burned.
“I should have known you would be weak,” she spat, “Fine then; let us do some core work. Let’s see how many pushups you
can do.”
“I can’t move my hands,” I whispered and she made her way over to me.
She squatted until she was eye level with me, “Get up or I will make you get up.”
The threat was clear and I forced myself to rise. “You see, there was a little more energy left in you. Now start the pushups”
I did three before I fell on my face and couldn’t rise again.
The rest of my morning was basically the same thing. She would push me past my limits and I would crash and fall on my face. By the time she said we were done, I was fairly certain that my face got more training from hitting the floor repeatedly than I did with everything she made me do.
Even arrived with two glasses of water and I watched Lauren reach out for them. I expected her to hand one to me but 1 watched her drink everything even though she didn’t do anything today. When she was done, she gave the glasses to Eve and dismissed her but Eve cast a wary glance at me.
“She’s fine.” Lauren spat. “Now go inside and do your job before I tell Ryker that you were being a hindrance to our training”
Eve gave her a curt nod and shot me a sympathetic look before walking back into the house. I let out a small groan which brought Lauren’s attention back to me.
“Your final workout for the day,” she grabbed a towel and wrapped it over her neck, “Make it into the house by yourself and if you don’t pass out then you can have a drink of water and your breakfast. I’ll be waiting inside.”
Without another word, she walked away leaving me lying face flat on the grass.
I was too exhausted to be insulted or annoyed so I just stayed there. I was willing to risk a heat stroke if it meant relaxing my limbs for a few seconds.
I buried my head back into the grass when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Eve offering me a glass with a soft smile.
“Hurry so she doesn’t realize that I’m here.”
I gratefully took the glass from her and downed the contents. When I was done, she handed me another one and I drank half of it then poured the other half over my face.
She took the cup from me and hooked her hands under my pits to assist me in standing to my feet. I wobbled a little and she reached out to stabilize me.
“Thank you.” I whispered to her and she shrugged.
“You said you were just like me,” she whispered, “We help each other out.”
When she was sure I was able to stand on my own without falling over, she hurried back into the house. I stood there watching her and for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of solidarity with someone.
It was that newfound knowledge that gave me the courage to lean against the wall and lead myself into the house. My limbs. ached and burned and I wanted nothing more than to fall over but I made my way into the living room where Lauren was. She was smiling but when she saw me her smile fell.
“I did it,” I said with a deep exhale, “Can I have my breakfast now?”
My newfound energy left me the moment I was done speaking. My knees wobbled and I had to hold onto a table to prevent myself from falling. Even rushed over to help me into the dining room chair and she served me breakfast.
For the first time ever, I didn’t notice the portion or even complain about it being too much. I ate like a person starved and it wasn’t until I was done that I realized just how much I had eaten.
“If you’re going to eat like a pig then training would be a waste,” Lauren said with her nose upturned then she faced Eve who had arrived to take my plate away, “I want to put her on a diet.”
“I’m
sorry
but I can’t do that.” I was shocked to hear Eve speak back to her and apparently so was Lauren because her eyes narrowed into slits.
“Did you just say no to me?”
“The Alpha gave me strict orders regarding her feeding and he said I shouldn’t adjust it for anything.”
“I will be having a word with Ryker about this,” Lauren spat then she scribbled some words on a paper and threw it at Eve. “Hold onto that because he will be agreeing to this.”
She strutted out of the room, presumably to try and implement her way and I dropped my head onto the table harder than I should have in frustration.
“Don’t worry,” Eve whispered to me, “Alpha Caine will never agree to it.” I hoped she was right, I really did.
I stayed at the table long after I had eaten not because I didn’t feel dirty- I did- but because I needed to give my limbs a few minutes to regain their strength. I knew if I got up immediately I would fall over and the last thing I wanted, was for someone to have to peel me off the floor.
I must have been there for a while because I heard the main door open and Lauren stormed in looking very angry and frustrated. I realized that Eve was right and Ryker had refused to approve the diet plan.
She saw me looking at her and her eyes narrowed into violent slits, “Take a bath; you smell like a dump.”
She stormed out of the room and I let out a small chuckle to myself. I will take her venom and anger as long as it means that she has one less thing to lord over me.
