Winter's Pup

Chapter Three

Riven

I didn’t even remember climbing into bed last night, but as the light came in the window and hit my eyes. I threw my arm over my face, trying to sleep in further, knowing that no one would miss me.

Sleep didn’t come, though, not again; my joints were too sore, and I felt a jolt of pain as I moved my limbs. Climbing out of bed continued the small jolts of pain that were coursing through me. I was hoping that Kayn would be satisfied with last night for now and started dressing for the day.

The long shower made my joints ache, but in a good way, as I cleaned off and catalogued all my pain from last night. The bruises were turning a deeper purple color, and due to a werewolf's fast healing, they would likely be gone by the morning if Kayn didn’t call for me.

He probably would. He was insatiable recently. When he thought I had left, he mentioned the war that was beginning in the Moon Stone Pack territory. He was using me as stress relief.

I dressed in my attire for training slowly, the pain from my bruises and sore limbs taking its toll on me. I made sure each bruise was fully covered before moving on to the next piece of attire. Bending over to put my shoes on had my thighs burning after the positions Kayn had used, nothing I couldn’t handle, though.

As I walked down the hallways, I couldn’t help but miss my wolf. She would have been arguing with me and calling me a w***e, but at least she couldn’t abandon me too.

The whispers reached me on the breeze as I stepped outside.

“All holes feel the same in the dark.”

“I bet that she thinks she is Luna.”

“Does he ever call her by her name?”

I ignored them, keeping my eyes low as I hurried along the path outside.

Like usual, I was late to training, and I watched as the pack went through the strict training regime that Kayn had laid out. Surrounded by fog, I slipped into the back of the training line, unnoticed, just how I liked it in the mornings.

I was unnoticed at first, but slowly, some of the crueler members of the pack began to notice that I had joined, late at that. The sneers that were pointed in my direction were almost enough to knock me off my feet. I thought nothing of them, trying to blend into the background up until I heard the voice of my former best friend in high school, June, speak to the head trainer in that haughty tone that I once thought was endearing.

“Derek, what is the standard punishment for being late to training?” I didn’t have to look at her; I knew she was batting her eyelashes at our handsome, gruff, single trainer. She was hoping that he would follow the Alpha’s lead and take a chosen mate. What June didn’t know is that no one in the pack wanted chosen mates, even Kayn was swaying away from the idea after seeing what Astrid and Atlas had.

Derek looked over at me, giving an apologetic look. He was one of the few who, while not my friend, wasn’t cruel like everyone else. He turned back to June, and his expression hardened. “Sparring against the top in the class.”

I winced at the idea, the top of the class was the Beta’s little brother, Kyle. He was large, though not as large as the Beta, Mason.

“Kyle, Riven,” Derek called, gesturing the two of us forward.

Kyle appeared from the middle of the pack, his muscles rippling as he moved towards June and Derek. The two of them shared a long look, and I realized that June was Derek’s mate by how they were looking at each other. The shock must have been written on my face, because June smirked in my direction. The cruelty in her eyes was painful.

I still remember her being insecure about her breasts in my living room during movie night on the weekends, before my parents died. Before everything turned out like this, before I became Kayn’s toy to play with.

“Come on, little whore.” Kyle smirked in my direction. “I could make you more sore than Alpha Graves ever could.”

Kyle was one of the few people who used the full Alpha title for Kayn. He was scary to everyone, but he wasn’t a big fan of official titles. Only a select few got away with calling him Alpha Graves, and they were the ranked members like Kyle.

I stepped up into the circle that our pack members were making, gulping slightly as I eyed Kyle. Derek had said this was the punishment for being late, so complaining wasn’t going to get me out of this. Putting my hands up, I got into a defensive position.

“Spar!” Derek yelled once I got into the defensive position, leaving me no room for adjustments.

Kyle came at me like a rock, slow at first, and I was able to block and dodge out of the way of his first few blows. It still hurt; my arms were already in pain as his fist connected with my forearm to block another blow.

The wind was suddenly knocked out of me as I blinked and looked at the sky, and the pain seared through my back. Kyle had moved faster than I expected him to, slamming me into the ground. I struggled to breathe as the pack laughed around me.

“I guess all those nights on your back for Alpha Graves didn’t help your training.” Kyle taunted, walking away from me. An honorable opponent would have helped me up, but I knew that no one saw me as honorable, or at least wouldn’t treat me like an honorable opponent.

I lay there while the pack moved on around me, and slowly managed to get to my feet after a few minutes of stillness. Training was over, for me. I was in too much pain to try to keep up with the training run that was starting any moment.

I didn’t see the warrior following me until their hand lay on my shoulder to stop me from getting closer to the packhouse.

“Riven?” The voice was unfamiliar and unsure.

I turned to see one of the newer female warriors behind me. I didn’t remember her name, but she was pretty, though I knew most men in the pack considered her features average. Her blonde hair shimmered silver in the light, and her gray eyes had flecks of green throughout her irises. The freckles across her nose and cheeks were cute, reminding me that this warrior hadn’t gained her wolf yet.

“Who… are you?” I asked quietly, not trusting that someone wanted to be my friend, or even associated with me.

“Iris… here, take this.” She was soft-spoken and acted with kindness as she handed me a bottle of cool water from the refrigerator. She pressed the cold bottle of water into my hand before she turned, heading to what I presumed was her home.

No one had handed me anything without a cost in years. Maybe, this time the price is silence about her act of kindness.

The rest of the day went by in a silent, uneventful manner. Kayn, for once, didn’t call on me. I was glad for that, allowing me to recover from my injuries he had given me before.

The water that Iris had given me still lingered, not that I had any remaining. It was the act of kindness that lingered. It tasted like nothing, like nothing was asked in return.

“I still don’t trust it, but maybe… not everyone wants something from me.” I whispered, hopefully that Senna or even Selene might answer.

Both were quiet.