After taking a cold shower that did nothing to help my desperate state last night, then taking matters into my own hands, I’d finally fallen asleep later than I wanted. I have no idea what to expect today, but I want to be ready for anything.
I’m up early and when I go to get Cyra for breakfast, I see the flowers sitting at her door. I knock and pick them up just as she opens her door.
“You must have a secret admirer,” I tell her.
“Perhaps he’s a not–so–secret admirer,” she says, taking the vases from me and putting them in her room. I watch as she looks around finding the spot where she wants to put her new flowers. She replaces the ones she had by her bed with the fresh batch and sets the other two around the room in various places.
“Should I expect this every day, Yorick?” she asks, coming over and sliding her hands up my chest and around my neck.
Damn, if I’d known she liked flowers as much as my mother, I’d have ordered every flower in a ten–mile radius for her. I might still.
I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her against me. “Maybe.”
She smiles, shaking her head at me. Then she surprises me by lifting up on her toes and pressing her lips to mine. I deepen the kiss, taking my time and reacquainting myself with her taste.
When I pull back, I look at her. “What was that for?”
“For being so sweet,” she murmurs.
“Are you guys coming or what?” Zach says as he passes by.
“We’re coming,” I say, releasing Cyra and taking her hand as she closes and locks her door.
We find Piper and Landon in the cafeteria and across the room, I see Megan and her entourage. She winks at me, but I ignore her. Not interested, honey.
“Damn, persistent much?” Landon asks quietly, having seen her.
“Desperate is more like it,” Zach says as we take our trays to the check out area. I make sure to put Cyra’s on my tab and then we all find a table to sit at.
“So, Sparring is first this morning,” Piper says as we start to eat. “What do you think they’ll have us do today?”
“I’m guessing they’ll start assessing our skills, Hellfire. You’re not worried are you?” he asks her seriously.
“Not even a little,” she says.
We talk about our expectations for class today and when it’s time, we head out to our sparring class.
When we arrive, it looks like there are several instructors waiting for us. As we make our way to the field, there is one man standing front and center and four other people take places on either side of him. Three men, two women and every one of them looks like they eat steel for breakfast just because
they can.
At eight o’clock on the dot, the main guy begins talking.
“Warriors, welcome to the Warrior Academy,” he says and we all cheer.
He nods, waiting for us to quiet down. “Here at the Academy, we don’t care if you’re male or female, we don’t care if you’re an Alpha or not. This Academy is the great equalizer. Everyone is treated exactly the same,” he says, as he slowly begins walking back and forth in front of our small group. Then he stops looking at every one of us.
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Chapter 11
“You are the elite of the elite, the best of the best. We’re going to make you better. Over the next year, we will make you faster, stronger, and smarter than you ever thought possible. You will cry, your body will beg you to quit, your mind will scream that you can’t take anymore. But if you can survive what we put you through, there won’t be a pack on this planet that wouldn’t hand over their Alpha to have you. There will be special operative groups who will fall over themselves to try and get you to work for them, and be willing to pay quite a lot of money to have you. That’s what you’ve signed up for and I like to make sure you know ahead of time in case you decide to change your mind.”
He looks at all of us as if someone might actually change their mind. No one does.
“Alright then, let’s do some introductions. I am Alpha Leo. I am head instructor here at the Academy. On my left, we have Warrior Soren and Alpha Nevaeh. On my right we have Warrior Callie and Warrior Ronan.”
“Oh good, if I can’t find a job after this, maybe I can work here,” Piper murmurs quietly.
“We are your instructors for the year. Get used to our faces, you’re going to be seeing a lot of us,” Alpha Leo says.
“Today, we’re going to see just how good you really are. We’ve randomly selected pairs of you to spar with each other. You’ll have three minutes to take down your opponent. At the end if you neither of you has given a winning blow, it will be considered a draw. You will be called up two at a time. Warrior Callie has your names, Warrior Ronan will be our time–keeper, and Alpha Nevaeh will call the match if a winning blow is given.”
As he’s been talking, the three instructors who are warriors have started walking through our group, watching and assessing us. I make sure to keep my face as emotionless as possible.
“Warrior Callie, call your first group,” Alpha Leo says. His eyes never stop moving as if he’s making quick assessments of all of us and then moving on.
“Zachariah Mont and Helena Marks.”
Zach steps forward and so does the woman who was with Megan yesterday.
“A kick to the head that takes your opponent down or bringing your opponent to the ground then giving a punch to the chest are the two ways to win the battle,” Alpha Nevaeh says.
“You’ve got this, Zach!” I shout out encouragingly.
I notice that the instructors all look at me. Maybe they are assessing friendships and allegiances already as well. Let them. I know from experience that friendships and alliances make an individual and a pack stronger.
Two minutes in, Zach brings Helena to the ground and lands a punch on her chest.
“Winner!” Alpha Navaeh says, pointing to Zach.
They move back and our group congratulates him. They call two more names of people I haven’t met yet, and then they call Cyra.
“Cyra Teymoori and Chase Porter,” Warrior Callie calls out.
I lift my nose in the air and smell the Alpha on him.
“Come on, Cyra!” I call out to her.
“You’ve got this, girlfriend!” Piper adds.
I’m sure the instructors are watching us, but I don’t care. My girl needs to know that I’m supporting her.
“Come on, Cyra,” I murmur as the fight is called.
I get my first chance to see the incredible fighter that my mate is. Chase is strong and uses his strength to his advantage, but Cyra is fast and agile. Both of
them get hits in, but after three minutes, neither of them has been taken down and Alpha Nevaeh calls a draw.
In a gesture I respect, Chase reaches out to shake Cyra’s hand at the end. I add him to my list of people that I like here at the Academy.
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Chapter 11
Cyra just gets back to our group, and I give her a hug when I hear my name called.
“Yorick Hill and Spencer Callahan.”
“Kick ass, Shakespeare!” Zach says.
300%)
+16
“You’ve got this, Yorick,” Cyra says, making me feel warm inside. I push that away. I need to focus. This is my first impression with the instructors and intend to make it count.
When the fight is called, we both push forward. He’s not an Alpha, but damn is he fast. He knocks me down, but as he prepares to punch my chest, I swipe his legs out from underneath him. Both of us are back on our feet in an instant. He swings his leg at my feet and I leap over his leg, kicking out and hitting his back as he spins around with the strength of his kick. He stumbles forward and I get my feet underneath me just in time to give him the punch to the chest that knocks him back.
“Winner!” Alpha Nevaeh says, pointing at me.
I reach my hand out to help Spencer up, but he slaps my hand away.
I make a mental note that Spencer is a poor loser and I head back to our group. Cyra throws her arms around me.
“Well done, Alpha.”
“Thank you, Alpha,” I say. I’m just about to kiss her when I hear the next names called
“Piper Conley and Megan Alston.”
Well shit.
