Children of Night and Snow

63. The Power And Struggle of a Mating Bond

We instantly regretted our little party the moment we woke up in the morning, after less than two hours of sleep, still feeling a little dizzy after all the alcohol. Just how many bottles did Connor manage to stash away? And how? Maybe it was better we didn't know. Not to mention I had a little different problem to deal with in the form of angry Nolan, growling in my general direction first thing in the morning. When we fell asleep, I was lying between him and Az, which didn't seem like a big deal to me, but when I woke up Nolan did not share the sentiment.

"Nolan, what's going on?" I asked, still drowsy from my sleep or lack of thereof, breaking his line of sight as he glared at Az, who woke up with what I could only call a smirk. Seriously, what was their problem?

I didn't get an answer. Instead, the two exchanged weird glances and then Devan hissed at all of us to get our asses into the dining room for whatever scraps were left for breakfast. We walked through the hallways like a group of exhausted zombies and after we managed to eat, we made a collective decision to take the morning off as we returned to our room and crawled into our respective beds, determined to not get up until after lunch.

"Freya will train with the rest of us today. It's time we saw what progress she's made," Nolan spoke as we were all getting ready for our training session later that afternoon, the aftermath of our little party thankfully long gone.

"I don't recall ever giving you the authority to say what's best for her training," Az replied, clearly annoyed.

"I don't recall you being ranked high enough to stop me," Nolan snapped back.

"And I don't recall being a piece of meat tossed around like a ball, but here we are," I stepped between them, fed up of this little pissing contest they seemed to have going on. I could tell the rest of the group was now watching us, likely amused at whatever was going on. While I stood between the two males who seemed to be hellbent on murdering each other with their stares.

"You're right," Nolan said finally, his voice strained. And thankfully, Az nodded. Good. Az was my teacher for now, and of course I listened to him in the sparring ring. Just like I listened to Nolan whenever he trained me. But I wasn't their toy. If they wanted one, they shouldn't have trained me and given me the confidence to begin with.

"I'll train with everyone tomorrow. Today we will all be useless anyway," I decided and left no room for argument. It was clear neither of them was happy about the arrangement, but they said nothing. And so back to the small gym I went, for another day of practice with Az. If I was to spar with all of them tomorrow, I wanted to be as ready as I could be. Show them that I would not hold our group back.

"Again," Az said as we both got back on our feet. We were now both dripping with sweat and I was panting heavily, but I said nothing as I charged again. We were training in the dark now. I was learning to rely on all of my senses as well as putting my stealth training to use.

"Focus Freya, you're letting anger get to you again," I heard him behind me before I could sense him.

"You're frustrating," I hissed trying to reign in my emotions and focus. I was getting better at it, but I was still far from perfect. There was no way I could surprise him with an attack of my own. It was something I had to come to terms with if I ever wanted to get myself in control of the situation. I was not stronger than him. Yet. I couldn't be. Where he had years of brutal training, I had cheerleader sessions. I couldn't simply surpass my teacher in the matter of months which we trained. But I didn't need to. I needed to best those who will face me in trials. Overpower or outsmart them. Az was a bar set very high. Much much higher than I could possibly achieve in just a few months. Once I realized this, it became slightly easier to control my frustration and helplessness and I slowly began to read his movements. I was now capable of standing my ground, of defending myself. And that was a huge step.