Matenapped

Chapter Thirteen.

Chapter Thirteen

Jem

I watched Greg flip a man twice his side onto a blue mat.

His arm literally snapped and he howled painfully.

Greg nudged him with his foot. "Shake it off, Riley. Get up."

I'd seen enough. "I am not doing this," I said, wide eyed.

I tried to take a step back and walked right into Michel's chest. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and kissed the top of my head.

"Greg will go easy on you," he insisted. "Don't worry, he's fought humans before. I won't let him hurt you."

"Why do I have to do this again?" I asked, my voice strangely high. Greg flipped another guy in front of me.

"I'll feel safer knowing you can protect yourself," Michel said for the third time. He rubbed my arm comfortingly. "Jem, I promise that it looks scarier than it is. Come on."

We walked up to Greg and the guy on the mat. When they saw us approaching, both stood up and bowed their heads respectfully.

"Alpha. Luna," the guy said. His eyes lingered on me for a moment.

Michel growled, gritting his teeth. "Get out of here."

The poor guy blushed furiously and sprinted away.

Greg was grinning when I turned to look at him. "Luna Jem," he acknowledged, nodding at me.

"Greg," I sighed, frowning.

He raised an eyebrow. "Someone clearly isn't excited about this."

Michel kissed my shoulder reassuringly. "She's a little scared. Of course, I've told her a million times that you won't hurt her." When he said this, his eyes narrowed at Greg as a reminder.

Greg nodded. "Of course. This is just basic defensive training. You're going to be hitting me, not the other way around."

I groaned. "This is going to be so embarrassing." I looked at Michel accusingly. "You're going to laugh at me."

He chuckled. "I'm not going to be staying, anyways. I have some work to do. Will you be okay by yourself?"

I nodded. "This won't take long, though, right?"

Michel rolled his eyes. "Have fun with her, Greg." He gave me a kiss and quickly left, clearly needing to be somewhere.

I turned towards Greg. "Okay. I'm ready to die."

He snorted. "You're kind of dramatic, you know that?"

I glared at him. "You're a freaking werewolf. Which basically means you have, like, super-strength or something. Meanwhile, I tripped getting out of bed this morning."

Greg grinned. "You're psyching yourself out before you've even started. Calm down, take a few deep breaths."

I glared at him but followed the suggestion.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah, whatever," I grumbled. "What's first?"

"Stretching," Greg said. "Stretch for ten minutes. When you're done, we'll take a quick lap around the house."

My mouth dropped open. "This house? Your yard is, like, ten acres!"

Greg shrugged. "Start stretching."

Three hours later, I was so sore I literally couldn't move. I'd landed flat on my ass so many times it was numb, and I'd definitely sprained my neck, ankle, and both wrists.