Making her own path

Chapter 12 - Does he know?

When Aysha had been hit by the log, the force from it had sent her sprawling, she had lost her footing and rolled over the finishing line before she hit something. 

However, that something was surprisingly soft. She shook her head as she was a little disoriented, but as she opened her eyes, she was met with beautiful hazel eyes, that were looking at her curiously. It took her a moment to realize that she had crashed into Zayne, and was lying on top of him, and he was staring at her.

She could feel a tingling sensation from her chest where she lay on top of him, and she had to admit that she could get used to that feeling. But then she realized the position they were in, surrounded by other people. She quickly stood up, ignoring the fact that Mel whined in her head when they stopped touching, and walked towards her tent.

She quickly shifted back and put her clothes on but found herself hesitant to leave the tent.

“Did you feel it now?” Mel said, jumping around in her head. “Could you feel the bond as you touched mate?”

“I…” Aysha answered hesitantly. It was hard to argue that she did indeed feel a tingling sensation as they touched, but somehow, she was having a hard time believing that it was the mate bond.

“Why are you so stubborn?” Mel said disappointed. “Don’t you want mate?”

“Of course, I do! Or I think I do…” Aysha said, pacing around the tent. “It’s just…everything is happening so fast.” She said and sat down on a bench.

“I know this is freaking you out, I can feel it,” Mel said, “but trust me, we are meant to be with him. You know I’d never suggest something if I had even the slightest doubt about putting us in danger.”

“You mean like the time you suggested we could run over the old bridge that looked like it was seconds away from collapsing, which then collapsed as we were crossing it?” Aysha said and rolled her eyes at the memory.

“Alright, mistakes were made that day,” Mel said with a disapproving grunt. “But please trust me on this.”

Aysha got up, took a deep breath, and exited the tent. She could see the others watching the race between Matthew and Alpha Jian, but she was not really interested and looked over the crowd, searching for a certain someone. She found him standing next to Jeremy talking about something and did not know what she should do.

She was about to start walking over to them when Zayne looked up and noticed her. She gave him a small smile, but all she got in return was a slight nod before he continued his discussion with Jeremy again. A bit taken aback by the gesture, she decided not to interrupt them if they were discussing something private. She found herself thinking that maybe he did not feel the bond, or worse, he did feel it but did not want her or care.

“And this is why mate bonds are stupid,” Aysha sighed and muttered under her breath.

She watched the remaining runs, not paying any attention, trying to stop her mind from overthinking things.

“Alright, next up is sparring,” James said and gestured to the center of the field.

Everyone started walking in that direction, and Aysha could feel someone walking up behind her.

“You’ve been amazing out there today!” Lisa said as she started walking next to her.

“Thanks,” Aysha said, her mind still wandering.

“I only managed to win against beta Samuel in the obstacle course, but I had no chance against Alpha James or Beta Jeremy in the sprints,” she said and placed her hands behind her neck and looked up to the sky. “Those guys are something else.”

“That they are,” Aysha sighed.

“Is something wrong?” Lisa put her hands down and looked at her. “If it is because you lost against Alpha Zayne, don’t be. You almost had him, which is amazing since he’s probably the strongest alpha out of all three of them.”

“I guess I’m just disappointed with being hit by that log in the end,” Aysha lied, not wanting to go into the real reason why she was distracted.

“Yeah, that came out of nowhere. You might have won against him if it hadn’t hit you.” 

“Just bad luck I guess,” Aysha shrugged as they reached the center of the field.

There were three sparring tests left, one with bare hands, one with weapons, and finally one in wolf form. Alpha James read up the people paired together and Aysha and Beta Wang were the first ones up. He was a tough opponent, but Aysha managed to knock him out of the ring after a few minutes and claim victory. She left the platform and walked up to the weapons wall right next to it, which Matthew had raised from the ground with a similar device to the one in target practice. She glanced over the few weapons she was most comfortable with and was trying to decide which one she should go for. Alpha Jian and Alpha James were the only ones that she was yet to fight, and she knew that she would need to give it her all if she were to have a chance against them.

She turned around and saw Zayne standing close to her with an expressionless face as he examined the various types of short swords mounted on the wall. 

“Zayne…” She started.

“Sorry, I’m up next,” he said before she had a chance to continue as he walked towards the platform. 

“It’s like a switch went off,” Aysha whispered to herself. Trying her best not to feel hurt.

He was fighting against Matthew. Aysha watched as they tried to grab or punch each other, but both managing to skillfully get out of, or dodge each hold and punch the other tried. They made it seem like an intricate dance. She still noticed that for every two holds Zayne tried, Matthew only managed to try one, and she could tell that he was trying to be careful since he no doubt knew that Zayne was stronger. In the end, Matthew miscalculated a punch, resulting in Zayne managing to grab his arm, pull him closer, and put him in a chokehold which resulted in Matthew needing to tap out. They shook hands and jumped off the platform.

With only two matches left, Aysha knew she had to focus on deciding on a weapon for the next spar.

“That kid is something else,” Matthew groaned as he walked to her.

“So I’ve seen. But you managed to hold him off for quite a while,” Aysha shrugged. Not looking away from the weapons in front of her.

“Can’t decide on a weapon?”

“I have, just not sure if it’s the right choice.”

“You are the only one on our team with three wins out of four, I think you can trust your instincts.”

“Well, I’m up against one of the alphas next, so I better make the right decision,” Aysha shrugged.

“You do have a point,” Matthew said and picked up twin dual axes.

“I guess you’re going with your favorite,” Aysha smiled.

“No need to change something that has been working so far.” 

Matthew walked away to watch the final fight that was starting, and it was between Alpha James and Alex. Aysha looked back at the weapons and decided on the same approach as Matthew and reached for her favorite. She took down twin sais with a simple design and gave them a little spin in her hands, liking their balance. The middle spike was as long as her forearm, while the two curved spikes at each side only reached about seven centimeters from the handle. Although they were blunt weapons, they were good for both defensive and offensive fighting, and therefore she deemed they were the best choice against an alpha. 

She could hear a yelp and looked up as James threw Alex over him and out of the ring. Alex landed with a thud and as he got up, he slammed one fist to the ground. Being the son of a beta, he was not used to losing so much, and she could tell that he was beating himself up since he had only won the obstacle course today.

“Alright, that concludes this part,” James said and brushed off imaginary dust from his arm. “Next up is sparring with weapons, and I sure hope that I do not have to emphasize that this is training, so you are forbidden to use any moves that could result in serious injuries or worse.”

Everybody nodded their head and James read up who would be facing who. Aysha could hear her name being read and learned she was paired against Alpha James. None of the alphas had lost any of their matches, and Aysha could tell that James was close to Zayne in skill. 

The sparring began and the first three matches went to the guests. Zayne had competed against Lisa in the third match. He used a couple of short swords while Lisa used a spear, the difference in their skills was clear, as Lisa was only on the defense until Zayne managed to disarm her, resulting in her loss.

Aysha was next up, taking a deep breath before walking up on the platform. James was already standing there with a longsword in his right hand. She pressed her sais close against her forearms as they both took their stance and waited for the bell to ring. 

As soon as the bell went off, James swung his sword so quickly that Aysha could barely see him move. Her reflexes making her raise her left arm just in time to use her sai to shield herself. She noticed him grin.

“There are not many that can defend this fast, I’m impressed,” he said as he took one step back. 

“I thought you said no kill shots?” Aysha said as they circled one another. “That swing could have taken my head off.”

“I had a feeling you could handle it,” James shrugged.

“That’s a pretty big gamble,” Aysha said and raised an eyebrow.

James leaped forward and swung his sword. Aysha turned to the right and used her sai to push his sword out of the way. He recovered quickly and swung again, making her lean back to dodge the blade. He swung again, but this time she raised both her sais and trapped his sword between them.

“You sure know how to use those,” he said with an impressive look.

Aysha tried to use her sais to disarm him, but he was too strong. He started to push at her sais with his sword, making her not have any other choice but to take a few steps back. She finally managed to raise her hands, taking him off balance, and ducking below him. As she did so, she elbowed him in the side, making him grunt. He turned around to face her again while she took her stance.

They traded blows like this back and forth, but she had a feeling that he was not going all out, and was testing her abilities instead. She tried various strategies, but nothing worked. Finally, she took two steps forward and lept in the air, trying to take him off balance as she brought her sais downwards. He raised his sword to block, and as their weapons clashed, he took one step backward.

Before she could use it to her advantage, he kicked her legs out from under her, and before she knew it, she was laying on her back with a sword pointed at her throat.

“You’ve got skills,” James said panting, taking his sword away from her throat, and held out his arm. “Maybe you’ll be able to catch up in a few years.”

Aysha sighed and grabbed his arm, allowing him to pull her up to her feet. They shook hands and left the platform, and Aysha went to return her weapons.

“I guess I’m the next one that gets to show you your place,” someone whispered in her ear, making her stand up straight when she recognized the voice.

Alpha Jian was standing behind her with a smug look on his face. He had taken his top off like most of the other males, showing off his toned body, to no doubt try to intimidate her. 

“Nice speech, you use that one often?” Aysha said and rolled her eyes. 

She turned away from him, not really in the mood for his misogynistic views, but as she turned, he grabbed her arm, spun her around, and pulled her to his chest.

“I’m going to show you just how weak you truly are,” he whispered in her ear, using his threatening alpha tone, which made a chill go down her spine. “Who knows, maybe I’ll talk to your father and tell him that we might be the best match. Since you clearly need someone to keep you in check.”

“I’m only going to tell you this once,” Aysha said in the most threatening tone she could. “Take your hand off me.” She looked him straight in the eyes, showing him that his tone and threats did not work on her. “And we will see who the weak one is once I kick your ass.”

“Big words coming from such a tiny body,” he chuckled, still holding her arm tightly. “I’m going to love breaking your spirit once I claim you as mine.” 

“Not in my lifetime, asshole,” Aysha practically spit in his face and pulled her arm out of his grasp, making his eyes flash with anger.

“You just don’t know when to quit,” he said through gritted teeth and Aysha noticed his fists clench.

“That’s enough Alpha Jian,” someone said with a stern voice.

Aysha looked over to see Alpha James and Zayne, standing behind her, both giving Jian a look that could kill, and she could feel their alpha presence radiating off them.

“I was just giving Aysha here some pointers for our upcoming spar,” Jian said with a shrug before walking away.

“No honor,” James mumbled as he watched Jian walk away.

“I really dislike that guy,” Zayne grunted.

“I didn’t need a rescue,” Aysha said with a frown.

“Never said you did,” James raised his hands in defense. “He’s just known to be quite a hothead, and if he were to start a fight, it might be hard for us to finish our training.”

“But I did want to warn you to be careful in your duel against him,” James said with a serious voice. “I’m not saying you can’t handle yourself, but he’s known to be brutal.”

“I can take him,” Aysha said and walked away from them. Angry that they had thought she needed a rescue, making Jian doubt her even more.

“Are you alright?” Zayne asked after catching up and stepping in front of her.

“I’m fine,” Aysha said while looking away, not really in the mood to deal with this.

“Your arm,” Zayne said and gestured to the arm Jian had grabbed.

Aysha could see a bruise forming where he had held her, making her even angrier.

“It’s fine,” Aysha said while shaking her head.

“Are you sure you want to fight him?” Zayne asked with a worried look on his face.

“You think I can’t defeat him?” Aysha exhaled in disappointment that he thought that she could not defeat him.

“That's not what I'm saying,” Zayne said and shook his head.

“Please, just go back into ignoring me,” Aysha sighed and looked away. “After all, that’s what you’ve been doing since the obstacle course, right?” She could see that her words hurt Zayne, and she could feel regret building up in her stomach.

“At least I didn’t hide something from you that affects both our lives,” he snapped back which made Aysha stare at him in shock.

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. Aysha could see that James was telling them that the final spar in wolf form was about to begin, but Aysha was too distracted to hear who was up first.

“How did you know that I already knew?” Aysha said with a sour taste in her mouth.

“I told you. You should have told him immediately,” Mel suddenly chimed in, but Aysha ignored her, even though she knew she was right.

“My wolf suspected it, and frankly you have been trying to keep me at arm’s length since we met. I guess you did not want me touching you and figuring it out,” Zayne said, and Aysha saw the hurt look in his eyes. 

“It’s complicated,” Aysha said quietly and looked away. “

“Of course, it is,” Zayn said with a sigh. “Look, I ignored you because I didn’t want to distract you since we both had to keep our heads in the game for the fights.”

“Zayne, I…” Aysha began but was interrupted as she heard someone call her name.

“Aysha hurry up, you’re the first one up,” Matthew called over to them.

“Please, can we talk later?” Aysha asked Zayne.

“Fine,” he shrugged and Aysha turned to walk to one of the tents next to the sparring field to shift.

Entering the tent, Aysha let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. Out of every possible outcome, this was not even remotely close to what she thought might happen.

“Mel, I can feel you’re angry at me right now, but can you please put that on hold until after our fight,” Aysha sighed as she started taking off her clothes.

“Fine,” Mel groaned in her head, “but only because I want to kick alpha Jian’s ass more than I want to fight with you right now.”

“Glad we agree on something,” Aysha closed her eyes and started shifting.

“Let’s show that guy who he’s dealing with.”