The Wrong Bond

9

“Woah, woah, woah. Take it easy, man,” Ethan said from behind the bag.

“It’s infuriating,” I said as I stepped back from the bag, panting hard. “All of this is infuriating.”

“Yeah, I can tell by the way you’re going ham on this bag.”

I groaned and ran my hands through my hair. “We should spar instead. It’s been a while.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow at me. “From what I felt behind that bag, it seems like a bad idea to spar with you right now.”

“Come on, don’t be a p***y,” was all I needed to say for Ethan to quickly get into position, circling me like a lion would its prey.

As much as he liked being the logical one among us, he didn’t let anything slide. We’d met when we were kids, and our friendship had just naturally blossomed since then.

From the outside, our friendship seemed like it would never work because we were too different, but our differences had only made us closer. And it was even more perfect that I’d chosen him to be my beta. Somehow, we’d always been unstoppable.

Ethan moved closer to me and threw the first punch, but I moved to the side, dodging it quickly.

I chuckled. “Too slow, as usual.”

“You won’t be saying that in a couple of minutes.”

I didn’t wait for him to lower his fist before throwing a quick punch at him and grazing his shoulder. Ethan was always quick on his feet, but so was I.

“So, what else are you thinking about?” he inquired, his eyes sharp as he tracked every single movement I made.

“I’m not thinking about anything else.”

He swung at me, and I barely dodged it.

“Nope, I can tell there’s something on your mind,” Ethan said.

I shrugged at his words. “And what makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you always spend your Saturdays playing tennis at the country club, but today you called me at seven in the morning to train with you,” he said.

He was right, as always. I was a sucker for a pretty strict schedule, and weekends were my time to just forget about work and relax. It was also the time when I humored my parents and went on one of the numerous blind dates they set up for me.

Most of the time, I didn’t completely hate it, but recently, I hadn’t been able to stand the fake conversation and insipid pleasantries that were always exchanged.

But that had been the perfect weekend plan for years until my father decided to mess up my mood, and then Arlene had crept into my life.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I responded, moving to the side to get better aim at Ethan.

“It’s Arlene, right? The girl from the bar.”

“What about her?”

Ethan swung at me with a right hook, but I was too slow and his fist connected with my ribcage, knocking the air out of me.

“f**k!” I cursed under my breath, my side throbbing from the impact.

“Is she your latest conquest, or…?” Ethan trailed off, dodging my punch.

I laughed. “Conquest? What are you, a jester from the medieval era?”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re so hilarious.”

“I am,” I agreed.

“So be serious. What’s your deal with her?”

“There’s no deal.”

And that was a lie because there was a lot of “deal,” and I was terrified of how she was making me feel. I’d barely known the woman for two weeks, and suddenly, my feelings were getting tangled up in the mix.

I always loved to pretend that I had everything under control—which most of the time wasn’t a pretense because I usually did have everything under control—but Ethan could see right through me. And with his raised eyebrows and the tinge of amusement in his voice, I could tell that he didn’t believe anything I was saying.

“You obviously like her. I can see that.”

I landed another hit on his shoulder, and a smirk spread across my face.

“Okay, and what if I do?”

“That’s dangerous,” Ethan warned.

“And when have I ever been scared of a little danger?”

I knew Arlene was dangerous, and if I wasn’t careful, she’d be the end of me. Our worlds were too different for me to be thinking about more than taking her to bed. I knew that, and I could tell she knew that too. But she calmed my inner wolf, and that was saying a lot.

“Have your fun and get it over with. We don’t associate with downtown wolves, especially hybrid downtown wolves. ”

I started circling him again. “Wow, I didn’t peg you for the classist type.”

“She’s cute, but I’m just being realistic.”

I stopped and wiped the sweat from my brow. And stood still as Ethan’s fist connected with my jaw.

“Damn! I thought we were having a serious conversation.”

His eyes danced, and a small smile perched on his lips. “Oh, were we?”

I retaliated instantly with a punch to his stomach, and he doubled over onto the ground, making me the winner of our little sparring session.

“I always win.” I chuckled.

“Because I always let you win,” Ethan said from the ground.

I crossed my vast gym to the fridge, where I pulled out two cold water bottles. I grabbed two towels, too, and headed to Ethan, dabbing my face with one. Handing him the water and towel, I sat down beside him, the anger I’d felt ten minutes ago subsiding.

“Feel better now?” Ethan asked.

I massaged my ribcage with my fingers. “Slightly. I would feel much better if my father wasn’t such an asshole.”

“But he is, and you have to deal with it,” Ethan reminded me.

I took another swig of water, completely lost in thought.

“You’ll figure it out, man,” Ethan said, tapping me on the shoulder as he packed a bag and got ready to leave.

“Definitely,” I agreed. “No more overthinking the whole Arlene situation.”

Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the hallway, their rhythm quickening as they approached. Then came the voice, sharp and urgent, slicing through the silence. “Who’s Arlene?”

I looked up to find my father standing there, his brows furrowed in intense confusion, eyes searching mine for an answer.