Reclaiming Herself—Completed

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Patrick.

Offering her a tissue, she took it and blew her nose several times, wiping the snot off her face. She giggled suddenly, which drew his gaze to her slightly reddened face. It was cute, and he smiled lovingly at her, knowing that she already had his heart if she wanted it.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Just, I mean…I must look so silly right now. My face all red, snot everywhere. And yet, you don’t seem repulsed in the slightest.”

“I’m not,” he replied. “Not even in the slightest.”

Her cheeks flushed and she quickly shifted so that she was looking at the ground. Patrick surmised that she wasn’t used to compliments, much less able to receive them well.

“Do you want to continue? We can stop. Whatever you need.”

Danielle turned her head to look out at the greenery and makeshift trail they had been following. She turned to face him, and he saw determination flash through her eyes.

“They died because I wasn’t strong enough. I want to be strong again. I can’t quit every time it gets difficult. If I stay in that mindset, then I’ll be crippled for the rest of my life. I won’t allow that to happen. I won’t let them die in vain. I won’t let d**k win.”

Patrick helped her up and couldn’t stop beaming at her. She was amazing without even realizing it. He knew his mate was strong and would return to her former glory; he only hoped to be there on her journey to support her.

“Then let’s keep going. If you want, we can attempt to finish our walk before they finish their run!”

“Yes! I know I can do that,” she laughed.

Once again, Patrick let her take the lead and was surprised by how quickly she could charge forward in their walk. He was steadily learning that once she put her mind to something, there was no turning back.

By the end of the walk, in which they had beaten the 40 minute time limit Patrick had given his warriors, he could tell that she was hurting. They walked the mile in just over 35 minutes, and though he praised Danielle for her stamina, she was distraught at just how slowly that truly was in the grand scheme of things.

“Tomorrow I’ll walk it in under 35 minutes,” she stated.

“Let’s see how you feel tomorrow first, alright?”

“I’ll be fine!” she argued.

However, Patrick saw the strain in her body. She was breathing heavily and favored her right foot, showing him unbeknownst to her, to her left foot was causing her pain. She would feel the mild exercise the next day simply due to her weakened state.

“Let’s just see, that’s all I’m asking.”

Danielle crossed her arms over her chest and opened her mouth to continue the discussion, but several warriors approached loudly and laughing.

“Alpha! I’m ready to burn some calories and stretch my muscles! What’s taking so long? Usually we’re doing drills by now!”

Danielle immediately covered behind him. Her hands clutched his sides.

“Gentlemen, do you not know when to address your Luna? Have you lost all decorum?” he barked.

The sudden outburst had frightened her, and it was obvious to Patrick that she was still trying to get used to males milling about without believing they’d harm her. He had learned that although Richard had been strict about no one touching her, all bets had been off when he left the pack to conduct illegal deals. Caleb had only slightly discussed what happened to her while he was gone, and it made him want to tear them all apart as slowly and painfully as possible.

Both of his warriors looked bashful as they quickly dropped to the ground on their knees. “Forgive us, Luna. We weren’t using our heads. We meant no disrespect.”

Patrick looked toward her, silently asking her how she wanted to proceed. She then nodded once and cleared her throat.

“I-it’s okay. It wasn’t on purpose, and I’m glad to see you both have such a good relationship with the Alpha. Please, don’t let me interrupt.”

“Oh Luna, you could never interrupt. In fact, you being here has been a huge blessing!”

“Yeah,” the other chimed in. “You’ve turned our Alpha into a real puppy as of late.”

They both chuckled as Patrick’s face darkened a shade.

“Okay, you two,” he yelled. “Off you go. Two extra miles and then 100 push-ups, squats, and lunges. All in a row.”

The two hopped up from their kneeled stance, gave Danielle a small head bow and cheeky grin and then trotted off to begin their punishment.

“Puppy, huh?” she teased.

Patrick covered his mouth with his hand, his body suddenly overheating. “I have no idea what they’re talking about.”

“Sure, sure,” she teased, giving him a genuine smile.

As he gazed into her eyes, his breath was stolen by her beauty. He was struck by the way her curls framed her face and bounced when she walked. He noticed how her eyelashes fluttered and how her eyes glistened with mischief. Her smile was inviting and made him feel special and seen. Her mocha kissed skin was smooth and soft, and–

“Anyway,” he coughed, moving towards the training grounds.

“Yes, anyway,” she continued to laugh. “What can I do while the rest of you train?”

Patrick thought for a moment before leading her into the training gym. Several people were already doing exercises and using the facilities. Most of them were younger, too young to join the warriors, and Patrick hoped that she wouldn’t be offended and feel like he was putting her aside. He parked her in front of a group of weight lifting machines and barbells.

“I want you to take it easy. Use each of these machines 3 times, and do 15 reps each at the lowest weight setting. Go slow, and don’t rush. I’ll either come back here when I finish or you can come out to watch once you’re done. Whatever you’d like.”

“I can do this,” she said, though he wasn’t sure if it was meant for him or herself.

Tentatively, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before practically running from her back outside. Patrick didn’t even look behind him to see her reaction. He’d had the urge to do so much more from the moment he saw her almost a week ago. Well, really from the Alpha’s Sumit, but that was neither here nor there.

He sighed as he gathered his warriors around him, starting without the other two, since they were still suffering from their punishment.

A puppy. Really? That can’t be true.

It is true. Just embrace it. As long as I'm her puppy, I don’t care.

Patrick rolled his eyes. He then set up his fighters into small groups to begin practice. One-on-one fighting was best, but more often than nought, it was several against one. There were four to a group, and they would each take turns attacking the designated one, until either the one fell or the three did.

“You never mentioned to me that you met her wolf. How is that even possible? I mean, we’re not connected or mated in any way yet,” he asked.

“If I told ya, I’d have to kill ya.”

“Come on, now. Be serious. How did you talk to her wolf?”

“Honestly? I have no clue. I was very happily living in this vessel with you, and then one night, I saw this gorgeous she-wolf sitting in front of me. And I mean, jaw-dropping, drool hanging off the tongue kind of beauty. She introduced herself to me as our mate, Halla. She said she was really worried about her human, and asked me some questions to get to know us. She wants us for herself and for her human. Halla was forced to watch everything that happened to her human while being trapped in a fog-like trance. Just thinking about some of the things she said makes my blood boil.”

“Yeah, I can feel it. Calm down, would ya? I don’t want to scare Dani.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, we met like that a couple of times. She says she’s still too weak to shift, but she’s dying to come out and show us her form. She wants to make her human proud and smile again like she used to.”

Patrick nodded to himself. He didn’t understand how any of that had happened, but he was grateful to Halla for helping Danielle stay with him. He’d do anything to keep her by his side.

As Patrick walked around, he corrected their form, joined a few groups, and chatted with his people. It wasn’t until some time later that he noticed Danielle staring at him that he realized how much time had passed. He dismissed the groups and told them to rest up befor jogging over to her. His pack acknowledged her as Luna when they passed by, and it warmed his heart.

“How did it go?”

“I can’t wait until I can join,” she mused.

Patrick smiled at her. “I’m sure it’ll take no time at all.”

She shook her head. “I felt so weak, even doing the simple exercises you told me to. For the weights, I couldn’t curl more than five pounds without feeling pain.”

Feeling anxious, he blurted out, “You didn’t overdo it, did you?”

Danielle gave him a sad smile. “No, I didn’t. I used the two pounders. But, I felt stupid and like a laughing stock. How can I be the Luna when I’m so weak? I know nothing about them, and it’s not like I could even protect them!”

Patrick felt torn. He wanted to encourage her without feeling fake. He wanted her to believe him.

“My people will be lucky to have you. They have been waiting for their Luna, and they, along with myself, believe it’s you. You can personally relate to a lot of their stories. You can get down on their level unlike me. You can be a sensitive, listening ear for them. My greatest hope is for my people to become our people.”

Danielle turned to look up at him with a soft smile. She placed a hand on his cheek, the first sign of genuine affection he’d ever gotten from her, and said, “Thank you.”