looked away
1269 Words
The following morning, I woke up to a restless Luna.
She had been pacing since the early hours, back and forth in that quiet corner of my mind she had claimed since she started coming back to me.
She didn't say anything, just moving around like something was unsettling her that she couldn't name.
I laid there for a while trying to ignore it and realized that I couldn't.
I got up, pulled on a pair of training pants and a loose top from the wardrobe and headed out before the pack house had fully woken up.
The training ground was quiet at this hour save for the early morning birds and the soft sound of dew settling on the grass…or so I thought.
Kiara was already there.
She had her hair pulled back and was working through a series of stretches with the focused energy of someone who did this every morning without fail. She looked up when she heard me approaching.
"You couldn't sleep either?" She asked.
"Tossed and turned around for the better part of the night.” I confessed.
Kiara nodded like that made complete sense. "Come. Train with me." She offered.
It wasn't really a question but an offer so I joined her.
We started slow…stretches, basic movements…it was nothing demanding. My body was still finding its strength again and Kiara seemed to understand that without being told.
She kept adjusting her pace naturally without making it obvious she was doing it.
"I'll go easy on you since you are still recovering." She said casually. "Don't let it bruise your ego."
"My ego is fine." I replied, a smile painting my lips.
"Good because I am not going easy forever." She informed me.
After a while she turned to face me with a look I recognized immediately.
"Spar with me." She said and I raised a brow. "You sure?"
"I have been training since I was eight." She said simply. "Whenever you are ready."
I stared at her.
Kiara rolled her shoulders and waited.
I launched at her before she finished the motion.
She was good. Fast and light on her feet with instincts that came from years of proper training. She slipped my first attempt cleanly and came back with a combination that nearly took me off balance… nearly.
I recovered, dropped low and caught her ankle in a sweep that sent her sideways.
She hit the grass.
A moment of silence passed then she started laughing — genuine, delighted laughter that startled two birds out of a nearby tree.
"Okay." She said from the ground, staring up at the sky. "I did not see that coming."
I stood over her breathing hard and felt something loosen in my chest.
It was something that had been wound tight since the night before.
Luna had gone completely still inside me.
Whatever she had been restless about, this had helped.
I reached down and pulled Kiara to her feet.
She brushed the grass off her clothes still grinning.
"Again?" She asked.
"Again." I agreed.
We went three more rounds.
She won two and I won one. The last round ended in a draw when we both lost our footing on the dewy grass at the same time and went down together.
We laid there for a moment catching our breath and staring at the sky.
"You are good." Kiara finally said.
As an omega, I didn't need to be serious about training but after I was paired with Hunter, I started to train aggressively.
I wanted to be strong and be able to stand by his side and protect the pack.
Although that didn't happen, it still benefitted me somehow because I can protect myself now.
"You are better." I admitted.
"I had a head start." She said. "Give it a few weeks and you'll have me."
I said nothing but the words sat warmly somewhere unexpected.
A few weeks. She said it so casually, like staying was already assumed and already decided.
Or maybe it was?
I pushed the thought aside before Luna could comment on it and stood up.
We arrived at the dining table sweaty and still arguing about whose footwork had been better in the second round.
Leon looked up from his food.
"I don't want to know." He said immediately.
"She swept me." Kiara announced, dropping into her seat like the chair had been waiting specifically for her.
"I said I don't want to know."
"First round." I clarified, sitting down. "She got me back in the second."
"It was a good second round." Kiara agreed generously.
"It really was." I said.
Leon pointed his fork between the two of us. "I am eating."
I reached for the water and that's when I noticed Asher at the head of the table.
He looked completely normal and we'll rested.
He had his sleeves rolled and food in front of him like yesterday had not happened at all.
He looked up when I sat down.
"You trained this morning." He observed.
"Kiara's idea." I said.
"It was a gentle warmup." Kiara said. "She turned it into a sparring session."
"You suggested it." I replied.
"After you looked at me like you wanted to hit something." She said pleasantly.
Leon put his fork down. "I genuinely don't want to know. I don't want to be filled with so many details. I'll start recreating the scene.” He added and Kiara chuckled.
“ You are too cinematic. You have a twisted brain.” Kiara joked.
Asher said nothing but something moved at the corner of his mouth.
"If you want to train every morning, you are welcome to join the others on the ground." He said, looking at me. "You don't have to wait for Kiara."
"The warriors train at six." Leon added. "It's open."
I nodded. "I'll think about it."
"At this rate," Kiara said, reaching for her cup with a completely straight face, "my brother might even offer to train you himself."
I looked at her and she looked back innocently.
"I don't mind doing that." Asher said simply. "I'll be gentle."
The table went quiet for exactly one second.
Leon cleared his throat loudly and deliberately.
Kiara pressed her lips together so hard I almost thought they would split.
I felt heat crawl up the back of my neck and picked up my fork like the food in front of me had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the room.
"The eastern patrol reported in this morning." Leon announced to no one in particular, his voice carrying the specific energy of a man steering a conversation away from a cliff edge. "There is nothing unusual."
I knew he was changing the subject. He succeeded.
"Good." Asher said, completely unbothered.
I did not look at him.
Luna was doing something in the back of my mind that I refused to acknowledge.
The table settled back into its usual rhythm after that with Leon talking about patrol rotations, Kiara stealing food from his plate when he wasn't looking, the morning light coming through the window at that particular angle that made everything feel temporarily simple.
I ate and said little and told myself the warmth sitting in my chest was just from training.
It was a convincing argument…Almost until I stole a glance at Asher without meaning to.
He was listening to Leon, nodding occasionally, looking every bit the Alpha King who had a hundred things demanding his attention.
But his eyes cut to mine for just a second.
It was a brief and quiet and completely deliberate.
I looked away first.
- Writer
