Asher's Beloved

Chapter 2

Chapter Two - This Gift

Both Ayla and Ivan are eighteen now.

"Focus, Ayla. You can't lose concentration." I hear my dad murmur, his voice firm.

Two months after we shifted and realized that we are hybrids, Ivan and I also received our vampire gifts. Ivan received the gift of power mimicry where he can use another person's powers like they are his own. I received the gift of teleportation which I have not yet mastered, much to my disappointment. It's like I'm taking baby steps when it comes to the amount of distance I can travel. When I first teleported, I could only manage to move to the middle of the training center.

Now that we've graduated from high school, Ivan and I have more free time to train to get our vampire and werewolf to work in harmony – which is easier said than done. One day we're working on that and the next, we train to control our gifts and learn how to use them properly. And the week continues with us switching between the two trainings daily.

We don't do any training to protect ourselves in a fight. Mom put a temporary stop to that the day Ivan and I lost control when we let our emotions get the better of us during a hand to hand combat training session. So, dad is training us to achieve a balance between our beasts and our gifts before we can move on to learning how to fight.

I concentrate harder, imagining a tunnel that I'm running through. The training warehouse that I'm in starts to blur, a blue portal appearing in front of me. Electric blue and silver light floods the room, wind whipping through my hair. I think of the back garden and immediately see it, my mom standing there waiting for me. Taking a deep breath, I force myself to focus harder and jump through. I land on the soft grass, my shocked expression matching my mother's.

"You did it, darling!" She yells excitedly, hugging me. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, mom." I grin, kissing her cheek.

"Well done, princess." I turn to see my dad walking up to us, a smile on his face. "We'll keep increasing the distance gradually before getting you to teleport to longer, but you're doing great."

I thank him, feeling both relieved and happy to finally be getting a handle on how to control my gift. That feeling is suddenly overtaken by shock when Ivan appears out of nowhere and smacks straight into me. I groan in pain as we land on the grass, his weight crushing me to death. He grins excitedly, hollering in my ear before my dad picks him up and throws him over his shoulder with a loud growl.

"What did I tell you about copying your sister's powers while she's learning boy?!" He yells, marching towards the training center.

"That was awesome!" He shouts, arms in the air.

"Twenty laps around the territory, now!" Dad puts him down, crossing his arms with a stern look.

"What?! No! Dad, please!" Ivan begs, frowning up at him.

"Now, Ivan!" Dad snarls, pointing at the treeline.

"Mom!"

"Love you, honey!" She yells from beside me, blowing him a kiss.

He growls in response, fists clenched as he stomps into the forest with a frustrated look. Dad shouts from behind, saying that he ordered him to run not pout. I giggle, turning and heading back into the house with my mom. I would love a warm, bubble bath right now to soothe my aching muscles. Dad had me training from six in the morning and it's two in the afternoon now.