Making her own path

Chapter 11 - Silver wolf

“Woah…”

Zayne’s breath got stuck in his throat as he took in Aysha’s wolf as she walked out of the tent, and to say that she was unique was an understatement. 

At first glance, she appeared to have a coat of white fur, but on further inspection one could see that the tips of her hair were in a silver color, giving the whole coat a silver shine. 

“A silver wolf,” Zayne finally let out his breath and figured it was her unique appearance that he was so drawn to, silver hair and eyes, were connected to her wolf.

“Have you ever seen one before?” Jeremy asked.

“Never. I’ve never even heard of one,” Zayne said as he tried to think back to the old stories he had once read.

Zayne watched as Aysha walked to the starting line, where Samuel, James’s beta was waiting in his wolf form. He was not sure she was ignoring the stares or not aware of them, but he figured that she was used to the attention that her distinctive wolf form got.

---

Aysha was aware of the stares she got, and she was no stranger to them, but that did not make her hate them any less. No one had ever seen a silver wolf, and it was one of the reasons that her father did not like her training, especially while in wolf form. She got ready on the starting line, Samuel’s light gray wolf still staring at her. She gave him a stern glance and it seemed to do the trick and readied himself on the line. The bell rang and Aysha took off. 

She loved running while in wolf form and she could feel Mel enjoying it as well. To keep the competition fair, and since wolves tended to be more emotional, it was not allowed to let your wolf take over. Mel did not like that she did not have full control, especially since it had been almost a week since she last shifted, but she understood.

Before long she was passing the finish line and looking back, she noticed that Samuel was way behind her. When he finally arrived, he was panting like crazy, obviously giving it all to try to catch her. She gave him a little shrug and started trotting back, while he watched her dumbfounded.

She got back and ignored the shocked glances of the alphas and betas since the people on her team already knew about her abilities. She walked to the tent, went in, and shifted. She got out after she had put her clothes back on and people were still lost for words. But she allowed herself to laugh at the shocked expression of Alpha Jian.

“How’s that for a woman that should not fight,” she thought to herself.

“Alright then,” James said and cleared his throat. “I guess the obstacle course is next. Let me see what the pairing is this time.” James took out his paper and started reading off it who will be facing each other next. “Eric will face me, Samuel against Lisa, Aysha against Zayne…”

“Looks like you’re up against me next,” Zayne said, and Aysha wondered when he walked up to her. “Got any more surprises in store?” He said and raised his eyebrow.

“I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not,” Aysha said and shrugged.

The competition started and the first two pairs got ready. The obstacle course was both a competition in speed and agility, where both wolves run the same course, and the problem with that was that Aysha did not want to touch him and know if she was his mate or not. Aysha knew that she was fast, but Zayne’s wolf was one of the fastest she had ever seen, and she wondered if she was fast enough to beat him. If she got an early lead, she could win without risking touching him, but that might prove difficult.

The first two matches ended with a victory for James against Eric, and Lisa winning Beta Samuel.

“I guess we’re up,” Zayne said and walked towards a tent.

Aysha walked to another tent and once again took her clothes off and shifted.

She got out of the tent and noticed Zayne already on the starting line. She walked towards him and made sure that there was enough space between them. She noticed Zayne looking questionably at her as she tried to keep him at a certain distance, but she ignored it and tried to focus on the course ahead of her.

When the bell went off, she took off, hoping to get an early lead, but unfortunately, Zayne bolted right past her.

“Damn, he’s fast,” Aysha thought to herself, doing her best to keep up.

The obstacle course was built with all kinds of hindrances, along with different surfaces. At the start of the track, they had to run through a field of swinging logs, then over a large sand mountain, followed by jumping over moving platforms floating on water, diving four meters under an underwater wall, through a mud field, and ending with a narrow path through the jungle at the end of the field. The jungle path took a U-turn and then you had to run the obstacle course again but in reverse order.

They both managed to clear the moving logs fast, but Zayne manages to stay a little ahead. Aysha did her best to keep up, and as they started running over the sand mountain, they were neck to neck. Aysha has a little problem with her footing in the sand, so Zayne managed to get a little lead again. 

“Does this guy not have any flaws?” Aysha thought as she did her best to catch up to him as they got close to the floating platforms. 

Zayne had already gotten on platform number two as Aysha jumped on the first, and she was doing her best in keeping up with him. He reached the end and dove into the water for the underground wall, and Aysha was just a few seconds behind him. She swam as fast as she could under the wall, and once on the bottom, used it to propel herself upwards. She broke through the surface of the water and continued running after Zayne’s black wolf.

Next up was the mud track and Aysha jumped, trying to take as much length off it. The mud reached her belly as she landed and she tried her best to keep up her speed, but the mud was thick and was slowing her down. Thankfully, she noticed that Zayne was also having a bit of trouble and had slowed down considerably. She guessed that having such a big, and strong wolf made him sink even further into the mud. 

Much to her enjoyment, she was the first out of the mud. She knew that she had to use this advantage as much as she could and bolted for the U-turn in the forest. The forest path was narrow, and she had to both jump and dodge branches that were in the way. She reached the turn and grinned when she did not notice Zayne behind her. She got out of the forest and jumped back into the mud.

She noticed Zayne jump into the mud track as she was reaching the end of it and thought to herself that she might win this if she just kept up her pace. She reached the diving obstacle again and jumped in, feeling the water cleaning off the mud, and dirt from her fur. She broke through the surface on the other side and climbed up on one of the moving platforms. She jumped over them as fast as she could, and noticed Zayne starting to catch up.

With just two obstacles remaining, Aysha ran as fast as she could over the mountain of sand. She got to the other side and turned her head quickly as Zayne landed beside her, and she saw him give her a small smirk. He had caught up to her, his fur wet and shining from the water, and now the only obstacle remaining was the moving logs which they were both running towards at full speed. They entered at the same time and both dodged oncoming logs as quickly as they could. 

She notices a log coming her way and knew she was going too fast, reluctantly she slowed down just a bit so she would not get hit, and Zayne used the chance to get ahead. As the log passed, she increased her speed, giving it her all. She was gaining on him, and just needed a little bit more.

That is when a log came out of nowhere and hit her side, sending her sprawling. 

---

Zayne crossed the finish line, exhausted, and tried to think back to when he had to put so much effort into winning a race. He had enjoyed this race and looked back so he could see Aysha cross the finish line, but just as he turned his body, something crashed into him. He rolled backward and landed on his back with something on top of him. He grunted, opened his eyes, and was met with those beautiful silver eyes, that he had not been able to stop thinking about.