Making her own path

Chapter 13 - Putting people in their place

Aysha left the tent in full wolf form. Since the platform was too small for two wolves to fight, the fights were now taking place on a patch of grass next to the sparring area. The grass field was in the shape of a circle like most things on the training grounds and was about thirty meters in diameter. 

She could see the others gathering on one side of the area, and noticed Zayne staring at her with a worried look as she walked past him. 

“Be careful,” he said only for her to hear, and looked over to the field where Jian was already waiting in wolf form.

She gave him a small nod and walked onto the field. Jian’s wolf was charcoal gray, and not as big as Zayne’s, but he was still much larger than her, both in size and muscle. She could see him grinning, no doubt because he was looking forward to “put her in her place and show her how weak she was.” Aysha rolled her eyes at the memory, promising herself that she was not going to lose to someone like him.

“Alright, same rules apply like with the weapons,” James called. “Make the opponent submit or knock him out of the ring, and no attacks that could severely wound the other!” Aysha notice James shout the last part towards Jian, who rolled his eyes and shook his head.

As the bell rang to start the fight, Jian jumped straight at her. Knowing that he might try something like that, Aysha was quick to turn around and kick out her hindlegs, grinning to herself as she felt them connect with his head.

She turned to face him as he was getting back up on his legs after the kick, they started circling one another, and Jian growled threateningly at her and barred his teeth. She gave him a little wink as a taunt, which worked, and he charged at her again. He swung his paw at her face, but she dodged below it, but it managed to hit her left shoulder blade instead, drawing blood.

“So much for not trying to harm your opponent,” Aysha thought to herself, knowing that blow could have hurt her badly if it had hit her face.

She growled at him, but all she got from him was a wicked smile. He charged at her again, but this time Aysha charged at him as well. They crashed into each other and tumbled, clawing, and punching with their front legs, along with trying to make their teeth sink into something. 

Aysha landed with Jian on top of her, but before he could use that to his advantage, Aysha used her hind legs to kick him off her. She quickly got up, but he recovered faster and jumped on her back, and she could feel his claws pierce her shoulder blades. She howled in pain, but threw herself forward, making Jian land on the ground, and Aysha rolled on top of him. He lost his grip on her in the roll and she got on four feet and charged at him before he could recover. She swung her paw, hitting his muzzle, then followed by lowering her head and headbutting him in the throat, making him go sprawling backward. 

She did not want to give him even a second to recover, so she charged again, hoping to push him even further back and out of the ring. She jumped at him, but he quickly rolled to the side, making Aysha miss. Still laying on his side, he kicked his legs out, hitting Aysha in the side, and making her fall over. Before she could recover, he was on top of her with one paw on her throat. She swung her right paw, hoping to force him off her, but he grabbed it with his teeth and bit down hard. She howled in pain as she could feel his canine teeth go deep into her paw. She looked up at his grinning face and could feel anger coursing through her veins.

“That bastard bit us!” Mel growled in her head.

“Mel, I can feel you trying to take over, you can’t!” Aysha thought back with a harsh tone. “It’s what he wants. We are forbidden to use our wolf.” 

“But you are hurt!”  Mel practically roared in her head, and it was taking everything Aysha could to hold her back. Jian’s paw was pressing even harder on her throat, and he still had her right paw locked between his teeth, and she could tell he was waiting for her to submit to him.

“Mel, you remember what we do when we run?” Aysha said while doing her best not to pass out.

“Yeah?” Mel answered, not sure where Aysha was going with this.

“Help me with that and stop trying to take over,” Aysha said as she was trying to push Jian off him to no avail.

“Fine,” Mel growled back and stopped trying to take control.

Aysha focused on her hind legs, which was easier said than done since her front paw was hurting so much, but she finally found the strength in her legs. She raised them and kicked Jian with all the force she could muster. Jian’s eyes opened in surprise as he was sent flying three meters in the air, landing painfully on his shoulder next to her. Asha got up and coughed a little as she was getting her breath back. Her front paw was bleeding badly, and it hurt to put pressure on it, but she ignored it and looked back at Jian who was getting up on his feet.

She could feel the power vibrating in her hindlegs and charged at Jian before he got up on all fours. She closed their gap in two seconds and used her head to crash into him, sending him flying four meters backward. He growled as he tried to get up once again, but Aysha charged at him again and managed to make him roll another three meters back. She did that a few more times, Jian never having the time to recover, and soon he was right next to the edge of the field.

He finally managed to get up on all fours and growled at her in a hostile manner. He charged at her, but Aysha dodged easily to the side, making him even angrier. He charged again and again, and Aysha dodged each attack he tried, and she noticed him starting to lose his patience as he got even more frustrated. Once she felt she had messed with him enough, she waited for him to charge at her once more, which did not take too long. As he charged, she stood perfectly still and waited for him to attack. As he lunged at her, claws and fangs bared, she ran below him. He landed on the spot she once stood in and as he turned around to face her, he was met with strong hindlegs under his jaw, sending him flying backward, and out of the ring.

Aysha could hear people gasp on the other side of the ring as they realized she beat an alpha. She watched Jian get up slowly, and the expression on his face as he realized that he was standing outside of the ring, was of utter horror. 

She waited to see how he would react, but he just glared at her and snorted. She turned to walk back, but as soon as she turned, she heard Jian running towards her. Expecting it, she quickly turned to face him, and as he crashed into her, she bit down hard, tasting blood. They went tumbling and she could feel his claws dig into her right shoulder. 

As they rolled on their grass, they both lost their grip. They quickly got up and faced one another, both growling, and Aysha noticed that his eyes had turned black, meaning that his wolf had taken over, making this even more dangerous than before.

Just as he was about to jump her again, four wolves jumped in between them, three facing him and one facing her. She could see his beta, along with Zayne and Alpha James growl at Alpha Jian, telling him to stand down. The one facing towards her was Matthew’s dark brown wolf.

Aysha growled at him, angry that they were interfering, but the look in his eyes told her that arguing was not going to work. He gestured with his head to the tent, and Aysha reluctantly started walking towards it. She glanced over her shoulder to Jian, his wolf was still in control by his black eyes, and he did not take his eyes off her, but with four wolves between them, two of them alphas, he knew that he could not do anything.

Aysha entered the tent, fuming with anger, and started shifting back. As soon as she was in her human form, the pain from her wounds became excruciating. She pushed the feeling to the side since all she could think about was giving that excuse for an alpha a piece of her mind. She paced around the tent trying to calm herself down when she heard someone enter the tent, and could smell Zayne’s scent.

He was wearing different types of pants, do doubt since he shifted while still in his clothes to interfere with Jian and her.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Aysha said pissed, still pacing around the tent.

“You mean to step in before his wolf attacked you with the intent to kill?” He said with a frown.

“I had it under control!” She finally stopped pacing and turned around to face him. 

 “It’s supposed to be training, not an all-out fight,” Zayne said and looked away. “We jumped in to stop you, just as much as him.”

“He’s the one that jumped me!” Aysha said practically shouting. “Don’t blame me because he is a sore loser!”

“Nobody is blaming you for defending yourself, and what he did was way out of line, especially for an alpha,” Zayne said with his head looking up to the ceiling of the tent. “Now, if you do not want me to lose control of my wolf, do you mind putting some clothes on?”

Aysha notice Zayne started to blush and looked down at her naked body. She had been so angry and distracted that she forgot to put some clothes on. She quickly turned around and walked over to the bench where her clothes were. 

“Could have mentioned it earlier,” Aysha said, feeling a little embarrassed as she put her clothes on.

“You were too busy shouting at me,“ Zayne said behind her.

She had put on her pants and was about to put her top on but winced as she moved her shoulder.

“You’re hurt,” Zayne said, and she could hear him walk over.

“I’m fine,” Aysha winced as she tried to put on her top again.

“Have you always been this stubborn?” Zayne sighed behind her. “Just let me look at it.”

Zayne gently touched her cuts on her right shoulder and Aysha expected it to hurt but instead felt a tingling sensation from where his fingers touched, and she let out an accidental sigh from the feeling. She could hear Zayne chuckle softly behind her, and the sound gave her a tingling sensation in her stomach.

“It’s not that bad, with the right ointment it will probably be healed in a day or two,” Zayne said and his fingers left her body. Aysha felt like protesting as the warm sensation left her shoulder, but she kept her mouth shut.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Zayne rummaging through the first aid cabinet that was in every tent, and then coming back with a jar of light green ointment.

“Can I put this on your shoulder? Or are you going to yell at me again?” He said with a raised eyebrow and held the jar up. 

Aysha sighed and turned her head, gesturing to him that he could put it on. She could put it on herself, but she did like the feeling of her fingers on her skin. Not that she would ever tell him that. He opened the jar and gently rubbed the contents on her wounds. She started to relax at his touch, and the ointment, made the pain disappear.

“There,” he said quietly, his hand still on her shoulder.

Aysha could feel the heat radiating from his chest behind her, even though they were not touching. His fingers traveled from her shoulder to the spot on her neck where werewolves marked their mates, and the gesture made Aysha let out a small moan. Zayne lowered his head, and she could feel his nose brush against her neck, taking in her scent. 

“I’m still half-naked, Zayne,” Aysha said, her voice barely a whisper. 

Even though she loved the feeling his touch gave her, she took two steps forward and reached for her top and could hear Zayne sigh behind her. She put it on and remembered the other wound on her hand, as it stung when she put her top on. It was a nasty bite mark from the time Jian bit her.

“That might need a bit more than a salve,” Zayne said and walked back to the first aid box.

Aysha sat down, still feeling Zayne’s lingering touch on her shoulder. She watched him pick some stuff out of the first aid kit, and found herself staring at his toned body, she could feel her body longing for his and cursed under her breath at the stupid mate bond, and the emotions it was causing. He noticed her staring, and she quickly looked back at the wound on her hand. She could hear him exhale before walking back to her with some bandages and other items and sat next to her on the bench.

“Can I see your hand?” Zayne asked gently and held his hand out.

Aysha nodded her head gently and gave him her wounded hand. She could feel sparks in her hand where their skin touched, like the feeling she got in her shoulder earlier. He started disinfecting it to get a clearer look, one of Jian’s canines had gone clean through her hand, and there were other small holes next to it.

“That bastard…” Zayne growled under his breath as he continued cleaning her hand.

“It’s not as bad as he looks,” Aysha shrugged. 

“Why didn’t you submit to him back there? Zayne asked, and Aysha could tell that he was genuinely curious.

“Before the fight, he told me that he was going to put me in my place and break my spirit…” Aysha said quietly. “I guess I had something to prove to him.”

“So, you let him get to your head. I thought you were smarter than that.” Zayne said while using medical tape to close the biggest wound.

“I’ll admit, not my finest moment.” 

“I guess you fight against everything that you don’t like.” Zayne continued, and Aysha could hear that he was no longer talking about Jian.

“Zayne…” Aysha sighed.

Not knowing what she should say, she watched as Zayne expertly finished bandaging her hand.

“There, if you keep it clean it shouldn’t scar,” Zayne said and stood up to leave.

“Zayne, wait.” Aysha stood up and grabbed his arm before he left. “I never said that I don’t like the mate bond.”

“Then why do you fight it?” Zayne asked with his back still turned.

“Because I don’t like not being in control. I don’t like not knowing what’s going to happen. I don’t like that I have these feelings and that I can’t stop thinking about you because I just met you, and I don’t even know the first thing about you. I have fought so hard to let my father allow me to train, to allow me to fight, and be more than just some obnoxious princess.” Aysha sighed and crossed her arms, not used to spilling her emotions like this. “I guess I don’t like the idea of losing my freedom with an arranged marriage, mate or no mate.

Zayne turned around to face her and put one finger under her chin, raising her head to meet his eyes.

“First off, I would never expect you to be, or pretend to be someone you’re not. I was drawn to you from the moment I met you and it was not because you were a princess, it was because you are a fighter and not afraid to speak your mind or fight for what you believe in. Second, I understand your view on a mate bond. Werewolves rarely find their mates in our time, but if you need to take things slow and get to know me first, I’ll respect that. All I ask is that you give me a chance.”

“I guess I can do that,” Aysha muttered, enjoying the touch of his hands under her chin.

Zayne chuckled and was aware of the effect his touch had on her.

“So, you can’t stop thinking about me?” Zayne said with a smirk.

“Out of everything I said, of course, you caught that.” Aysha rolled her eyes.

Zayne laughed softly and moved a strand of hair out of her face. Aysha could see the want in his eyes and knew that the mate bond was having the same effects on him. She raised her hand and gently ran her finger down the side of his face, continuing down the neck. She stopped for a moment on the spot the mark, if she were to accept the mate bond, would be and made her fingers circle the spot a few times and grinned when Zayne let out a small moan. She gently grabbed his neck and pulled him towards her face, making their lips almost touch. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to his chest and she could feel her skin tingling all over from his touch. She allowed her lips to linger a bit before moving them to his left ear.

“That’s for walking in on me naked,” Aysha whispered in his ear.

She let go of his neck and walked to the exit, glancing over her shoulder, and giving him a grin while he stood there in shock.

“She’s so going to be the death of me,” Zayne muttered under his breath as he watched her leave the tent.