My Soldier Mate

CHAPTER SIX:

CHAPTER SIX

NALA POV:

Once, I was inside my grandmother’s house. I just stood there. Jack said “Nala, you can sit anywhere. Or if you want, you can go to sleep in your room, take a hot shower, get food inside of you, anything you want to do, just go for it. This is your house as well.”

I replied “Thank you so much! Would I be able to make dinner for everyone?”

Jack said “How about I cook for you and your grandmother? We can have steaks if you like them, of course.”

I replied, “I have never had a steak. " I was never able to eat that much at my mother’s house because that was considered stealing in Caleb’s eyes.”

Jack replied, “Well, we will change that. So I guess we are having steak. So why don’t you go get settled and then take a shower? Relax or whatever you want to do. " And I will call you down for dinner, alright?” I just nodded my head yes, and went upstairs to my room for the time being. I put my stuff down on the bed and I grabbed out my necklace that my father gave me. I then sat on the bed and thought about how I had finally made it out of the hellhole. I will never have to go there ever again. I put my father’s necklace on the bed and I grab some clothes and my toiletries to go get into the shower. I then realized that I had an in-suite bathroom. Once I was in the bathroom, I looked around, and it was a pretty decent-sized bathroom. I stopped looking around and got the shower ready. As it was getting hot, I undressed myself and I finally looked at myself in the mirror. I know I don’t look that bad. I am skinny, but I am very toned. I don’t understand how Caleb never realized that, but it is whatever. At least now I can eat before I get the basic training. I stopped looking at myself in the mirror and got into the shower. I stood under the hot water for a few minutes because it felt perfect. I stood there for a good five minutes. I then started to get washed up. While I was in the shower, my phone was ringing. It wasn't one time. It has happened multiple times. I got out and got dressed. I went out of the bathroom. I went to bed where my phone was, and I had several missed calls. One was from Kayla. She also texted me to see if we had made it to my grandmother’s house. I immediately texted her back to tell her that we had made it, and I was going to bed because it had been a long day. I sent a smiley face with it. Then I looked at all the other messages, six of them were from my mother and two of them were from Caleb. I didn’t even respond to them. I just deleted them. I literally smiled because I didn’t have to worry about not answering them anymore. Once I finished getting dressed, I went downstairs. My grandmother said “Nala, come over here and sit down with me.” I did as she requested. My grandmother was watching a TV show. It was nice. I literally just sat there. My grandmother said, “Honey, can you please tell me everything you have been through living with your mother?” So I just ended up spilling everything that I have been through. Once I was done, I felt lighter. But my grandmother looked like she was going to cry because of what she just heard. I then said “You and Jack have saved me now. I am going to make that same difference in someone else’s life and I want to protect and make the world a better place.”

My grandmother replied “Of course you will, honey. You are very special, more than you know. But you will know soon enough when the time is right. But my one piece of advice: trust in your gut. " Your instincts will always steer you right.” When I was about to ask my grandmother what she meant, that is when Jack went into the living room to let us know that dinner was ready. We both got off the couch, and we headed to the dining room. We started to eat, and we had a pleasant conversation about Jack and me getting to know each other. It was nice to have people ask me stuff about me and not just want something from me. After dinner, I helped clean up and put away the dishes. I asked Jack if he would like to do some training with me before I leave tomorrow at 10am. He happily agreed to train with me. We then all decided it was time to go to bed. I set my alarm clock for 4am.

The next morning, my alarm clock rang. I got up and went to get changed into my workout gear. When I was ready, I went downstairs to realize that Jack was already up and ready to go. He said “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

I replied “Good morning" and I have slept a lot better than I have since my father was killed. I want to thank you and my grandmother for letting me into your home.”

Jack replied “You are family. I wasn’t going to keep allowing you to suffer because of your mother and her husband. You will always be welcomed here. Now are you ready to start?”

I replied “Yes, I was thinking of a ten-mile run, then can we spar?”

Jack replied, “sounds like a plan. " Let's stretch beforehand because we don’t want to get hurt and pull something.” I nodded and we started to stretch. I looked at Jack and he was somewhere else. I didn’t bother him. I asked “are you okay?”

Jack replied “Yeah, let’s go.” So we started to run. We ran towards it. It was a great obstacle course for training. We ran half of a ten-mile run. I heard movement, so I stopped. Jack asked me if something was wrong. I replied, “We are being followed.” I pulled out my flashlight and I shook it and I yelled “come out before you get shot.” That is when the two men came out with their hands held up and said “Easy, we are not going to hurt you. " We were just running.” I noticed they looked rough and they smelt terrible. I still pointed my gun at them and asked “who are you and where are you going?”

The man replied, “I am here because we smelt a pretty little thing. And it looks like you are that pretty little thing.”

Jack then stepped forward and said “I'm sorry, but you are not allowed in this territory. You need to leave.”

The other man said, “I will leave. I don't want to be a part of this. Tom, you need to leave her alone.”

Tom replied “Then leave Neko. " I will leave when I get what I want.” That is when I shot my gun and hit him in his leg. Neko said “Tom, you are stupid. I am sorry ma’am. I will not bother or touch you.”

Tom yelled “You shot me in my leg. I wasn’t really going to do anything. Neko helps me get away from this b***h before she kills me for something I didn’t even do.”

I yelled “Maybe next time you will learn not to threaten a female that you don’t know. Get up and leave now.” Neko helped him up, and they started to walk away. Jack waited until we were alone and asked “Are you okay?" And where did you hide the gun?”

I replied “I’m fine. And that is my secret. But let’s continue with our run and are you still okay with sparring with me?”

Jack replied “Yeah, come on, let’s go.” With that we continued running. About seven minutes later, we got back to the edge of the trees, and we got to where there was a field of nothing but training mats and an obstacle course. I smiled. Jack said “Okay, let’s see what you got.” He smiled and we began sparring. We were going at it for a while. Jack said “Damn, I didn’t realize that you are really strong.”

I replied “you know it.” That is when I heard another man’s voice behind me and said “May we attend your sparring session."