The Alpha Trio’s Human Mate

Chapter Three

My shoulder slammed into the mat hard. "Ow," I rolled over, groaning.

"How did you pass the entrance exams?" Sira looked at me in disbelief.

"I don't know, honestly. I was surprised myself," I sat up, rubbing my aching shoulder. "Well, the good news is, you're getting better," she replied. "The bad news," she continued, "is that I don't think there's enough time for you to get good enough in the next week and a half if something doesn't change." She swung her arms stretching her muscles and rolling her joints.

"I can tell you the logistics of fighting, every stance, move, strategy...I just can't seem to get it right with my own body," I winced as I pushed myself up to a standing position.

"Are you...going over this in your head like a textbook?" She raised a brow at me.

"Yes? That's how I learn. You're a wolf. You have natural fighting instincts. I don't." I sighed.

"Well, we're going to create some. I want you to put everything out of your mind remotely related to textbooks and instructions. We're going to practice one maneuver at a time, over and over again, until it becomes second nature. Muscle memory, baby." She motioned for me to come back on the mat, but paused, looking over at the door of the training room. My eyes followed.

"Commander Jacobs," we said in unison, snapping our postures into place, until we were ramrod straight, with our right fist placed over our heart and eyes straight ahead. She finally came into view, with a stone cold expression, long blonde hair braided back tightly, and steel blue eyes, which looked over us judgingly. In my periphery, I glanced the myriad of patches that adorned her navy blue uniform, marking her as a decorated soldier, and the second-in-command of the Berserkers, of our militia.

"At ease, initiates," her voice didn't waver in the slightest. We returned to a relaxed posture, with hands at our sides.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Commander?" Sira said sarcastically, and I turned my head to gape at her for taking that tone.

"Get lost right now, Sira, or you're scrubbing the men's toilets for the next three months. Four if you take that tone with me again. I need a moment with Miss Mellora alone, please." She turned her steel blue gaze to Sira, who was clearly fighing an eye roll, but did as she was told.

"Commander?" I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning the interaction.

"She's my niece. She shouldn't be talking to me that way in front of anyone else, but she clearly considers you a friend and trusts you. Should she?" Commander Jacobs c****d her head at me, studying me like a predator does its prey.

"Y-yes, Commander. Your secret is safe with me." I forced a smile.

"Good. She's a good fighter, and will be a loyal soldier, but she acts just like my youngest sister--spoiled and sheltered from consequences. As a friend, do not let her act that way. It reflects poorly on me, and I don't want to have to punish her."

"You've got it, Commander. What did you want to talk to me about?" My voice wobbled a bit. I was nervous that my poor performace was drawing attention.

"To put it frankly, we've heard of your skill with technology. You very narrowly passed your entrance exams, and judging from what I just witnessed with you and Sira, you're not going to pass the initiate exams. We need you here. We need your skillset, but you still have to attend the Academy. No one gets to join the militia without completing the first two years here, and I can't make exceptions and lower the bar."

"Oh," I muttered. She just told me that I suck. Ouch.

"I'm changing the requirements for the combat portion of the exam. Initiates will not just be scored on successful offensive maneuvers, they will now we scored on successful defensive maneuvers as well. You aren't going to win a fight, clearly. But if you can defend yourself from a hit successfully enough times, you can still pass. We need you here, initiate. Practice your defensive maneuvers, and don't let me down. I'm counting on you." Without another word, she walked away, and I resumed my earlier posture until she left the room. What does she need my skills for? I wondered.

...

My hands shook as I tried to braid back my short hair into a secure style.

"Let me help you, Em." I dropped my hands and Sira shook out the braids I had started. She soon had my short, dirty blonde hair pulled into two tight French braids, with just enough hair at the base of my neck to secure with small ponytails. I wore a navy blue tactical bodysuit, which covered me from head to toe tightly.

The fabric was thick and tight, made primarily of spandex, and I hated the way my body looked in it. I wasn't curvy, but I wasn't lean and athletic, either. I had a little bit of an ass, just muscle from all the hard physical labor I'd done through harvest season back home, and the three weeks of training here. The sight of me in the bodysuit was nothing to write home about, but it was just like the hair. For function, not fashion. I had a tight tan vest buckled around my torso, with sheaths for daggers and other weaponry, though we didn't use any during our first year of training. It was just for show, but it was similar to the uniform we'd wear--I'd wear--if we passed our initiate exam.

As we approached the training hall, I silently prayed to whatever god there was that I would get an easy partner. I'd clung to Sira these past few weeks in every class, including combat training, and worked with her outside of class time, too. Maybe I should have tried taking different partners to practice with during class, so I could learn how they fight...but it was too late now. My fate was locked in, and all I had to do was defend myself. Hopefully, I would get someone big, beefy, and slow, so I could dodge their attacks, using my speed to my advantage. They didn't go easy on humans at the Academy; if we couldn't cut it as a human, we wouldn't cut it as a wolf. Commander Jacobs had been right--I wasn't going to best any of my wolf comrades. Defense was the only chance I had.

I watched as hundreds of us fought on a grid of six mats across what used to be the university Fieldhouse--each mat with its own instructor, scorekeeping, and a referee, moderating the combat. A cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck as I watched. Everyone was so good. There were only a few other humans aside from me, and all of them were far better than I was. I was honestly the bottom of the class where combat was concerned, but I refused to be embarassed. Well, until I saw who my opponent was.

My cheeks burned with unwelcome embarassment as I finally stared at the opponent across from me--Jackson's mate. Penelope. The girl he'd chosen over me. I'd ignored both of them as much as I could the past few weeks, and in such a large class, it wasn't hard to avoid them. But I'd seen the whispering, the sneering, the attempted bullying. I'd never done anything to the girl besides date her mate before he'd even met her. Nevertheless, she seemed to want to take out her insecurities on me. She had Jackson, and I was no longer her competition at all, but that seemed to spur her on mor--that I wasn't pining for him.

"They couldn't have picked a better opponent for me. I can't wait to slam your face into this mat," the redhead sneered at me as we circled one another. I could hear Sira cheering me on in the background, probably loving the drama of Penelope being my opponent.

"Girl, I don't know why," I said nonchalantly, even as my guts turned to slush and panic rose in my throat. "I've never done anything to you."

"You f****d my mate," she grunted, throwing a punch that I easily dodged.

"Correction--I was in love with your mate, and we dated for two years. We've been friends since we were kids. And I gave him up, no fight, no questions asked when he found you. I don't know what more you want from me." She threw another punch at my head, and I blocked it with my forearms.

"But you're still in love with him. You might be fine now, but you'll be a threat later. And I'll protect what's mine from filthy human whores." This time, of its own free will, my right fist swung, landing in the middle of her face. I heard Sira scream, shrill and excited, and I looked at my bloody fist in disbelief, before looking back up at Penelope's nose, which was indeed bleeding. The sight lit a small fire in me.

"How are you going to protect Jackson from filthy human whores when you just let one break your nose?" I smiled, far too pleased with myself. I knew that I shouldn't be, of course, because she could take me out any moment, but making her angry seemed to leave her wide open and distracted.

"I was just seeing what you've got, what your skills are," she spit out a glob of blood onto the mat. "If that's the best you can do, then this should be easy." Her slightly beady eyes squinted as she grinned, her teeth coated in blood. She began a flurry of blows, and I dodged, blocked, and countered most of them. Commander Jacobs hadn't said how many defensive maneuvers I'd have to come up with, only that they'd be included in scoring.

I taunted her more and more, enticing her to swing. The more shots she took, the more defensive maneuvers I could perform. I noticed when I had begun to wear her down. I wasn't expecting to win a match, but Penelope had let her emotions get the best of her. I glanced into the crowd that was now gathered around us, watching intently, and I met Jackson's eyes briefly. Then I threw my left fist, knowing she had favored her right hand most of this fight, and she would be slower to react on that side from the fatigue. The force of the impact when I landed the punch, right where her kidney should be, jolted up my arm.

She staggered, bending over to clutch her side, and this time, I took the opportunity all the way. I let go of my textbook ideas about fighting, and I let my instincts take over. Like Sira had taught me. It wasn't graceful, but I went low, throwing my shoulder into her, and tucking my foot behind her knee, which buckled easily. I soon sat on top of her, where I had her pinned. Her face told me I had just made a new enemy, but I didn't care. I had won my fight. Unless I failed my physical fitness or written test, which wasn't likely, I was staying. I was no longer going to be an initiate, but a student at the Academy. I smiled down at her like I had just climbed Mount Everest, and I shook my head in disbelief. I had done it.