I was first in the training hall, as usual. So I set my water bottle in my usual corner and started warming up.
Today, I was in my navy Capri sweatpants, navy sports bra, and a loose white T‑shirt with the words Make a Wish in loopy letters across it.
The three goons came in next. They put down their stuff and sat around the benches chatting.
Flynn was next; he was just in time. He whistled at the goons, who dragged themselves up to get to him. They warmed up with Flynn leading.
I finished my warm-ups. Flynn called over his shoulder, "Sam, run ten around the hall."
So I started running.
Dean entered. "Sorry I'm late, Fl—Sir."
Flynn nodded tersely in acknowledgment, but yelled out to me, "How many have you run, Sam?"
"Three, sir!" I shouted back without slowing.
"Three Musketeers, finish ten laps before Sam!" he instructed the goons.
If I had known he'd do this, I'd have run a lot faster.
The goons whined a bit, but Flynn snarled at them, and they were quickly running around the hall.
I sped up just a bit, because I still didn't like goons—but not too much, because that seemed cruel.
I didn't have to hold back, though; they passed me in no time at all. I realized belatedly that I was so used to training with Dean, I'd forgotten that most guys our age would be faster and stronger. I sped up more.
The goons noticed.
"Hey! Hey!" they protested.
A deep growl behind me said, "Slow down, bitch."
I sped up. "That's not how you ask a favor!" I shouted back.
Nix hit Marlow over the back of his head.
"He's an idiot—don't mind him!" he shouted at me.
They howled with laughter.
Seriously, that would only slow them down. I kept my new pace. I would overtake them soon.
"F***!" I don't know which one swore.
Wow, the stuff that came out of their mouths.
"Hey!" Nix tried again. "Sam, right?" He dropped back to run beside me.
The third one—what's his name? Oh yeah, Ethan—dropped back too.
"Have mercy!" he begged in jest.
"How about you help us out here, eh? You help us, we help you?" Nix gave me a well-practiced smile.
After seeing Liam's many practiced smiles, I was not only well acquainted with them, but also rather immune.
But the deal sounded good to me.
I slowed down so we could talk. "Yeah? How can you help me?"
Nix smiled again. "Whatever you want, Princess."
I clenched my fist not to hit him.
"First, don't call me princess. And second…" I thought about it for a while. How do I deal with these bad boys?
If I asked them for too much—e.g., "Do what I tell you"—they would rebel and the deal would fall through.
I needed to ask them for something they were willing to give but that would be beneficial for me.
"Well? What do you want from us, Princess?" Nix asked.
"Laugh at all my jokes," I finally decided.
"What?" Nix certainly hadn't been expecting that.
"I'm laughing! I'm laughing!" Ethan howled.
I laughed at that.
"Okay," I agreed. "I'll let you catch up with me. But the moment you do, I'll run as fast as I want."
I wasn't about to let the bad boys win so easily.
Marlow had caught up, so now he was a lap ahead of his friends.
"So, you gonna play nice?" he growled at me. I guessed he was the serious bad-boy type.
"If you call me Princess and laugh at all my jokes," I decided to attempt reverse psychology.
"Hahaha, Princess. Happy now?" Marlow growled.
That so didn't work.
"So only Marlow gets to call you Princess?" Nix asked. Flirty bad-boy type.
"That kind of backfired on me," I admitted.
Ethan made a desperate laugh, sounding like a hyena. "I'm laughing, Princess, see!"
Funny bad-boy type? Was there such a category?
"Hurry up and run," I told them.
I heard Marlow snarl, and Nix and Ethan quickly moved ahead of me.
"Why are you giving them slack, Sam?" Flynn yelled.
"They promised to laugh at my jokes, sir!" I yelled back.
The three goons obliged with a demonstration while still running. "HAHAHAHAHA!"
I saw Flynn suppress a smile and shake his head. "What lap are you at?" he asked.
"Lap four, sir."
"Dean, run six faster than Sam. You can owe me the other four later." Flynn patted Dean on the shoulder.
Dean looked miserable but started running. I suddenly felt my plan to race the last few laps crumble.
"Run faster, Dean!" I told him.
"I can't, Sam!" he said. He ran next to me, at the speed of a leisurely jog.
The three goons passed me.
"Princess and the omega, sittin' in a tree…" they called out, because they were so mature.
So very mature.
I kept count on Marlow, since he was one lap ahead of the others.
Nix and Ethan seemed to realize they were behind and doubled their efforts.
By lap five, all three hyenas had caught up with each other. All the easier for me to keep count.
By lap six, they had caught up with me.
Oh! I wanted to run and make them all eat my dust—but Dean would be left behind. I picked up my pace just to match the goons. Nothing crazy, but Dean quickly lagged behind, so I slowed again.
Nix breezed by with a, "Take your time, Princess."
Marlow growled, "Too busy pacing your boyfriend?"
"Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" Ethan sang as he ran ahead, still laughing like a hyena.
"Tell me you're not a hyena in disguise," I muttered.
"HAHAHAHA! Princess is the funniest!" Ethan screamed from the other end of the hall.
The other two laughed at that.
Lap seven for them, lap six for me, lap one for Dean.
Goons, bad boys, hyenas—whatever the label, my wolf was cheesed at me for dropping behind.
"Sorry, Dean. I need to teach these hyenas a lesson," I said.
"Whatcha gonna teach us, Princess?" Nix challenged. He wasn't smiling anymore; there was a warning in his tone.
I decided then—despite hating them for intruding on my pack training session, despite them being disrespectful and annoying, despite them beating up Dean in school—I was going to let bygones be bygones.
I was going to accept them as part of this training group.
(But that didn't mean I was going to let them win.)
At this point, it would be cool if I had a one-liner to shove it in their faces.
Wolfie helped.
"You wanna run with my pack, you gotta keep up."
And then I shot forward, alpha mode all the way. I passed Ethan, who promptly stopped laughing. Then Marlow, who cursed something I won't write down in my innocent, pure diary. Then I heard Nix—his voice like a whip to the other two wolves.
"Run!"
The guys picked up their pace fast. They were actually good runners, and even my alpha speed was pressured.
"Run for your lives!" Ethan screamed on the last lap.
I sped past him, laughing.
Of course, I won.
Flynn had an evil glint in his eyes as he watched the guys cross the finish line after me. "Nice job, Sam."
I was panting too hard to answer. Those guys could run.
I was only aware they'd crossed a few seconds later, when one by one they were suddenly near me—the sound of their panting, the smell of deodorant, and the wave of collective body heat too close for comfort. I stepped away.
I saw Flynn had moved our water bottles over. I gratefully picked up mine for a drink.
"You're not a princess—you're a monster!" Ethan gasped.
Of the three goons, I liked him best.
Then Nix surprised me with just three words.
"Well played, Sam," Nix said.
"Yeah," Marlow agreed.
Seriously? They submitted? That was too easy.
"Where Sam stands for Super Atomic Monster," Ethan informed everyone.
"Aww… that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever called me," I joked back.
The guys immediately broke out into loud, sarcastic laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA!"
They weren't going to let it go, were they?
They did stop—but only to drink their water.
Evelyn came in then. Flynn went over to her. She was telling him something while he frowned. It looked like she wouldn't be able to join us for training tonight. She certainly wasn't in her training gear. I looked away. None of my business.
"Princess, you're not funny," Marlow growled to inform me. Ouch.
"Just leave the funny stuff to the pros," Ethan advised.
"Yeah, you just stand there and look pretty, or whatever you princesses do," Nix said, all cocky smiles again.
"I want more water." I held up my empty bottle to him defiantly. If he wanted a princess, I'd show him a princess.
Then Nix surprised me again. He took my bottle and emptied some of his own water into it. "Your wish is my command, Princess."
"I wish you'd never call me princess again," I tried.
"HAHAHAHA!"
It seemed that when they said "HAHAHAHA," they didn't always mean you're not funny. Sometimes it also meant we don't care.
Something didn't click. They obviously didn't like me, so why were they making an effort to get along—at least in their own way?
"What are you guys up to?" I narrowed my eyes at them.
Marlow growled and shrugged.
Ethan gave me his widest innocent look.
Nix raised his hands in surrender. "We just want to get along."
"Why?" I asked.
"Are you always so suspicious?" Nix asked.
Wolfie raised her head in warning. I growled a little at Nix.
"Hey, all right. Harvey told us to watch out for you," Nix said finally.
Oh, the Good Beta did?
"As in watch out for her—she's a fragile princess—or watch out for her—she's a monster?" I asked.
"We thought the princess," Ethan admitted, "but now I think the monster interpretation makes more sense."
Uh-huh.
Flynn stepped up then, and we all quieted. I wanted to know the reason behind Flynn's evil glint. They wanted to know how their lives were about to end.
"You Three Musketeers—go carry Dean to finish his laps. Sam gets a break."
The goons looked at him in horror. Flynn growled.
"Yes, sir!" The acknowledgment was swift. They were truly afraid of Flynn.
I drank my water while I watched.
The goons were tired. They'd really run for their lives earlier. They struggled to carry Dean through the rest of his laps.
"My legs are made of jelly," Ethan sang as he wobbled behind. He wasn't helping.
"Shut up," Nix told him sharply. He wasn't helping either.
Marlow just grunted under Dean's full weight.
Such weird dynamics. I didn't understand them—but that was the nice thing about dealing with guys. They didn't need you to understand them.
My legs were also going to hurt tomorrow. I stretched them out. Please, Wolfie, speed up healing, or I'd be singing Ethan's new song too.
But despite Wolfie's best efforts, Flynn was a demon tonight.
After the run, we had to set up the obstacle course, run it, take it down again, and drag everything back to the storeroom—all with useless jelly legs.
"Should've let us win, am I right, Princess?" Nix smiled and took the heavy poles off me.
"What would be the fun in that?" I asked, taking the poles back.
Ethan walked past us. "Hahahaha."
"Shut up," Marlow growled.
Flynn was training Dean separately. That was good. It gave Dean a real chance to grow stronger.
Once we were dismissed, I managed to get myself to the front porch without tripping over my jelly legs.
The goons were climbing into a black pickup truck outside the pack house. Ethan fell when his legs crumpled under him. I stopped to laugh. The other two pulled him up, then they shouted loudly, "Good night, Princess!!!"
The truck pulled into the street, and they threw their heads back laughing like hyenas from the back.
For some inexplicable reason, embarrassment flooded through me, and I fled through the safety of my front door.
Once inside, in the comfort of home, I smiled to myself. "I'm home," I called to the empty living room.
Something smelled good—like chocolate, and something baking…
"You're home," Mum came out of the kitchen. "How was training?"
"It was fun," I said.
Then Savy came out of the kitchen with the source of that incredible smell. "Sam, meet Mr. Triple Chocolate Muffin!"
"You baked! Yay!" I accepted Mr. Muffin with open arms—and mouth.
"I just got really hungry," Savy said.
Melted chocolate filled my mouth, so I couldn't talk. I just nodded.
If my mate had a scent, I hoped it was chocolate muffin. True, I might accidentally eat him—or purposely eat him—but it would be a risk I was willing to take.