My Other Half

A New Friend

Zara's POV

It took me probably 20 minutes to find the kitchen in this huge mansion... and will probably take me 30 other minutes to just find my room.  As I took in the kitchen, I noticed there were 4 large iron fridges, all next to each other.  Curiosity got the best of me and I opened them up one by one.  Two of them were filled with meat only, and the other twos were filled with the basic fridge stuff. 

"Jesus, they must be obese with such a diet," I muttered to myself.

"I mean.. I wouldn't call myself fat. More like enveloped," a deep voice answered from behind me.

I whirled around to find a tall man leaning on the entrance's frame.  He had dirty blond hair and green, amused eyes.  One look at him and anyone could confirm that he was "enveloped" not by fat, but by pure muscles.  He crossed his hands over his chest, involuntarily showing the huge size of his biceps and threw me a lazy smirk.

"I- uhm.. sorry, I didn't mean to―" I started.

His laughed echoed in the large kitchen.

"I'm Zachary but people around here calls me The Handsomest," he playfully said.

"Hello, I'm Zara." 

"I know. You're the talk of our entire pack right now."

"Oh.." I frowned.

"I mean.. it's not everyday a De Tarylius makes an appearance so far from the Castle." 

"I guess so..."

He stopped leaning against the framework and came to approach me.  His eyes were curiously scrutinising me from head to toe.

"How is such a little, tiny, adorable creature gonna train our warriors?" he asked.

"Do you want to see for yourself right here, right now?" I smirked cruelly.

He paused for a moment, all amusement gone from his face.  An awkward silence filled the room.  He then patted my head and smiled down at me with all his teeth.

"I like you."

I smiled back. "You're ok, I guess."

"You insult me. I am the greatest you will ever know."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh my dear, I'm so sorry," I pressed my hands to my heart. "Zachary, treasure of my life, you are so much more than 'ok'. You are a greatness blessed by the Goddess herself and no words could describe your perfectness―"

A pinch to my arm stopped me.  "Ok, ok.  Don't start sucking my d**k now. Wait 'till the second date at least," he huffed. 

"I don't think I need to start sucking you off. You do it great by yourself."

"A little help from a beautiful lady such as yourself wouldn't harm," he mused, a spark in his green eyes.

I c****d my head and sighed. "You're a fuckboy, aren't you?" 

"Such a vulgar way to say it. I prefer to call myself a handsome man who knows what he wants."

I snorted. "Well, let's make it clear. I'm off-market."

"Why? A mate waiting for your return somewhere?" 

"If that's the answer that'll make you back off, then sure."

He sighed. "Such a pity, we would have done great things, you and I."

I chuckled. "We could've started a pack."

"We could've claimed the greatest of lands."

"We could've travelled the world."

"We could've become billionaires."

"We could've built an empire."

"We could've conquered the world," he answered playfully. "This is the reason why the Goddess has refused to pair us up as mate.  We would be far too powerful together."

A genuine laugh escaped my lips.  

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Famished," I answered with a dramatic pose.

"Then let's get you something to eat, shall we?"

He then proceeded to start cooking me something.  For the next 30 minutes, we talked about everything and nothing.  He told me he grew up in a family of 5 siblings― all males except the youngest, and that he was the oldest.  He also revealed he was the Beta of this fancy pack and that Dominic was his childhood best friend.  As we were laughing while finishing our plates, a female entered the room.

"Training. You have 20 minutes. Training Grounds A," she stated in a monotone, bored voice.

"Well, hello to you too Kelly," cheerfully greeted Zach.

The female glanced at me, then looked back to Zach. "20 minutes tops. Bring her."  She then left the room without further words. 

"That's our Gamma, Kelly" Zach sighed. "She's a little bit on the emotionless side but she has your back no matter what and is one of our best."

I nodded. "So I'm guessing that training at...." I looked at the clock. "6:30 in the morning is routine?"

He smiled. "You'll get used to it.  Now, go get ready and I'll met you at the front doors in 15."

With his helpful directions, I went to my room.  Training clothes were already prepared and laid out on my bed.  I quickly changed into black and blue leggings and a matching sports bra.  I threw my auburn hair into a high ponytail, secured it with pins and finally, put on my training shoes.  I then headed downstairs.

***

"So this is our training grounds... well one part of it anyways," Zach stated, while showing me around.

"This is huge," I frowned. "I didn't think you were such a big pack."  Not that I could really know anything about their pack― it was one of the most mysterious.

He shrugged. "We aren't. We just are rigorous on our combat skills, so we invest a lot in our training equipment." 

I nodded. He was touring me around the grounds when someone shouted:

"HEY. DE TARYLIUS." 

I turned around to the voice who called my name.  My eyes landed on a group of werewolves, females and males alike.  The voice came from a tall figure in the middle of the group who continued his yelling.

"COME HERE. I HEARD THAT DE TARYLIUS WERE NATURAL FIGHTERS.  LET'S SEE HOW REAL THAT RUMOUR IS"

I glanced at Zach, who was just raising his brow at me.  He wouldn't offer me help― not that I needed it.  But it made me suddenly understood how it worked in this pack; you had to prove yourself on your own to earn respect.  I sighed and began walking towards the shouting werewolf.  As I approached, I took a good look at him; he was fit (as all of the warriors behind him were), and he dripped of arrogance.

'I don't think he's the strongest of the group,' interjected Cara, my wolf.

'I don't think either.  But he still holds the respect of those around him so I'm guessing he must be well-trained.'

As I arrived not 2 feet away from him, the group began backing away and circling us to draw the ring where the duel would happen.  The male in front of me stared at my forehead, where the Goddess' mark glowed.

"Are you really that special?" he frowned.

"I'll let you be the judge of that." 

A wicked grin appeared on his face.  "Then let's get started, shall we not?"  

Someone began the countdown. Three.. Two.. One.. As soon as the word "Fight!" ripped the air,  the male fell to his knees.  Everyone stopped talking as a loud "thud" was the only noise heard before his body felt limp on the ground. I withdrew the hand I used to knock him out.

"Did you even see her?" someone whispered.

"How the hell did she get behind him?" 

"What even happened..." someone else murmured.

"Did he really just get knocked out by a single hit on his neck?"

The whispers continued without end.  As I looked back to Zach, who was arms crossed and grinning at me, I grinned back and asked loudly: "Anyone else?"

Silence fell on the training grounds.  I sucked on my teeth, waiting.  After a minute, I only clapped my hand and declared with a cruel smile: 

"Then let's get back to training."