Chapter 4
The house was dead quiet as Sienna smick up the rickety stairs, keeping her steps fight and soundlessly opening the door to the basement. The lights were all off, and she was fairly certain the household was fast asleep. While Alpha Kent tended to stay up until at least one in the morning, it was a quarter in three when Sienna slipped out the back door.
The night air was refreshing. The scent of autumn in the air filled her lungs. She paused for a brief second to savor it before she hurried on her way. sticking to the shadows despite knowing only a few wolves would be out on patrol this time of night. Knowing exactly where they’d be at any given time because of their established routes helped make sure she didn’t get caught.
It was a live–minute jog to the gym, a place Sienna wasn’t allowed to visit. The door was propped open. A sliver of light leaked through, letting her know it was safe for her to enter at the moment. If Alpha Kent or any of the other leaders found out she was here, she’d be severely punished, so she had to trust that sliver of light and the man who’d propped the door for her.
Sienu entered and closed the doar behind her, breathing a sigh of relief that she’s made it this far without getting caught. The hundreds of previous times she’d done this, she had managed to make it to and from the gym without the Alpha’s family being the wiser, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t always a chance of her being caught.
As Sienna stepped into the gym, a form emerged from the shadows next to a row of punching bags. A smile came over her face as she peered at the one person in the world she considered a friend. Even that was probably a bit of a stretch since Joel Campos would be just as quick to spit at her and call her names in public as anyone else. But he was here now, mostly because, as he said, he liked a challenge, and also because his father, Beta Manuel would’ve hated it if he knew that Joel was working with Sienna. Since Joel and Manny didn’t get along, this was one way that Joel could stick it to his old man.
Sienna didn’t care what his reasoning was. When he’d offered to help her train for an hour every night, she’d taken him up on the offer. It meant Jess sleep for her, but it was worth it. If it wasn’t for Joel, she’d be stuck in this hellhole forever.
“You ready?” Joel asked. He never said more than a few words to Sienna, and she tried not to speak at all. She just wanted to work, get out of Thundering Moon as fast as she could.
get stronger,
and
Sienna nodded that she was ready. Joel held the bag for her as she began her punching jabbing, and kicking routine. She never wasted time putting on gloves. Most of the time, her knuckles healed fast enough that they wouldn’t even have marks on them by the time she started her chores in a few hours, thanks to her wolf shifter blood. Not that she was allowed to shift, but that was another matter entirely.
Striking out with her right hand, she hit the punching bag hard and followed up with a left hook before she unleashed a series of jabs and then landed a few kicks with each leg. Joel encouraged her, telling her when she was doing a good job, and then helped her work on her form when she needed it. When he was barking suggestions at her, he tended to forget who he was talking to and treated Sienna like he would any other wolf he was training, which was good. It was nice to seem normal for a little while and not be an outcast.
started this
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Once she was done with the punching bag, they moved on to sparing. Joel was at least a foot taller than her, with bulging muscles. When they’d first of her training, Sienna had ended up flat on her back every time. Now, she was able to use her speed and agility to evade his moves most of the time. He was stronger, but she was light on her feet and fast. Her heart hammered in her chest as his foot came flying at her face, getting so close she could see the track marks on the bottom. She dodged out of the way and swept her foot around, knocking his plant leg from beneath him. Joel hit the ground with a thud.
“Damn, little girl, you’re getting faster,” he said, jumping up and rubbing his hip. He always called her something other than her name, just in case someone wandered by and overheard.
He came at her again, this time with a right cross. Sienna dodged to the side and swung out with a lef, catching him in the gut before he could block her blow. The breath left him, and Joel staggered back.
Instinct told her to go in for another blow, but Sienna held back, remembering that he was her trainer, and there was no reason to hurt him. She was proud of herself for getting two shots in a row.
“You’ve come a long way, kid,” he said, taking a second to recover. “I’m not sure there’s much else I can do to help you”
Saetana stared at him wide–eyed for a moment as he ran a hand through his dark hair and sucked in a deep breath. The idea of Joel refusing to help her anymore was unsettling. “Please,” she said, her voice just a whisper. “I need you to keep helping me.”
“You’re so strong now though. You don’t look like it. You still have sticks for arms and legs, but you’re getting there. And your speed. Damn you’re
“Har… being a lone wolf is hard, Joel. F’ll be out there all by myself? Thoughts of what might wait for her out in the forest once she left the pack. made her frightened. Sienu knew it had to be better than the life she was living now, but it would still be difficult. She might be able to find another park to take her in, but most Alphas would treat her the same way that Alpha Kent did since she didn’t belong to their pack.
She didn’t belong anywhere.
For a
mel
ca spark of hope came to mind as she wondered if it might be possible for her to find her dad. He’d been sent out as a lone wolf the night she was born and forbidden to me back. No one had heard from him since. On the rare occasion when she let herself daydream, she thought about him, wondering what it would be like to be reunited with him.
n oder fare oprasion, she found herself daydreaming about the man in front of her, but that never lasted more than a few seconds until she
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Chapter 4
shook those thoughts out of her head. Joel was kind enough to train her, but he was not interested in her romantically. No one was. No one ever would be
“All right, let’s do some weights, and then you better hit the showers and get back to your house before the Alphia wakes up,” Joel said, vtill rubläng
Niemna nodded, hoping that the fact that he’d dropped the subject meant he’d keep training her. As Sienna started on the leg press, she realized it might not matter if he refused to train her much longer anyway. Soon, she’d be leaving with Jenna to go to the hall. When she came back, she’d
ready decided that was when she’d make her break for it. So her time with Joel was limited
He spotted her as she moved to the barbells, and his masculine scent hit ber lungs. She did her best to avoid inhaling him. She’d already asked to much of him so asking him to give up his life here, as the Beta’s son, for her would be ridiculous. Besides, he hung around with Jenna and her friends. In public. Sienna was the same as a dog that lived on the street to him, just like she was to everyone else.
Someday, she’d be more like a wild wolf in the forest, As she squatted to lift the weights that totaled more than three times that of her own body, she had to pray to the Moon Goddess that she’d be ready for all of the challenges such a life would entail. It would definitely be a difficult existence, but she’d rather take her chances with the grizzly animals of the forest than continue to live with the vicious snakes who occupied the place she currently called home. At least the animals acted on instincts and couldn’t help themselves. The Alpha and his family were just downright evil
