Hell Hound

Chapter Six

Chapter Six.

After a long hot shower Kiara wandered down to the dinning room where dinner was being served. It was all buffet style again with a variety of foods ranging all the way from healthy herbivore salads to super rare steaks. Shifters weren’t required to stick to any specific diet regardless of their animal halves, but those same animals felt appreciated when they were catered to. Besides, everyone had their own individual preferences anyway. As long as they were getting enough protein, fat and carbs, they’d stay healthy. Kiara loaded her plate with pork, vegetables and a delicious smelling cheesy potato bake, before finding an empty table. Kiara had thought about just ordering room service again so she wouldn’t have to interact with anyone after such a long day. But she knew Silver wouldn’t be impressed if she kept charging it to the pack’s tab. She had only just sat down when another girl approached her table. It was the red-haired bear girl she had rescued from Connor that afternoon. “Can we sit here?” she asked with a big smile that stretched her freckled cheeks. The spider girl was with her. Looking just as uncomfortable as Kiara. She was so surprised that she didn’t know how to refuse.

“Sure.” The bear sat down while the spider pushed a chair aside and sat on the floor. She was still the same head height. Kiara wondered if she ever took a fully human form.

“Thanks for the save today.” The bear said. “I would have run straight into that snare trap if you hadn’t shown up. Then that jerk would have caught me for sure.”

“No problem.” Kiara said, still a little confused. The girl kept talking as though she hadn’t spoken.

“Of course, Terra ended up catching me in her webs. You should have seen them, they were so cool.” Kiara could have sworn she saw Terra blush a little. She got the impression that Terra was just as unused to complements as Kiara was. “Oh, I’m Lilly, by the way.”

“Kiara.”

Malachi watched Kiara from a few tables over. He’d been about to head over to her and ask about her first day of camp when she was unexpectedly joined by some other kids. He was a little taken aback by the spider, but he was glad that his best friend’s cub was finally making friends.

The twins sat at a table on the other side of the room with several other Rising Moon juveniles. They were all chatting about their first day, when a sour looking Connor plonked down with them. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Dash asked.

“The freak pushed me into a snare trap today.” Connor complained loudly. “Why is she even here anyway? She never trains with us at home.”

“Kiara? Kiara pushed you into a trap?” Sienna asked sceptically. Her cousin was a submissive weakling. So was Connor, but even he was stronger than Kiara. He watched his fork as he used it to push beans around on his plate. For all his big-mouthed talk, Connor was still a non-dominant wolf. He couldn’t look many of them in the eye.

"Well, she might as well have. The point is she cheated.”

“Or you just suck?” Dash laughed.

“Where is Kiara anyway? I haven’t seen her since we got here.” They all looked around.

“Of course.” Sienna scoffed. “She’s over there with that creepy spider. Must be the freak table.”

“What is that thing even doing here?” Dash asked, supressing the shiver that wanted to run down his spine. Dash had a serious phobia of spiders that he didn’t want the others to know about.

“At least they’re not over here bothering us.” Helena said, turning back to her sushi lunch. The others turned back to their own meals too as conversation turned back to training.

Day two started with a workout in the gym. Kiara’s packmates had taken to calling her Rabbit, thanks to Connor. She could hear him snickering as she “struggled” to climb a thirty foot rock climbing wall. Since the cat was already out of the bag, Kiara stopped hiding her speed. She raced past the others in her group as they did laps of the field. Her uncle Silver had heard about the wolf and rabbit game and was both proud and concerned about it. He asked her to be careful and try not to let the others know exactly how fast she was. She pulled her punches and hid her physical strength just as Silver had asked, but the speed was a hard one. She just couldn’t help it. Her wolf was competitive, and it was loving every second they got to run. It almost made up for having to play weak submissive all the time. She was even beginning to like Lilly and was getting along pretty well with Terra. The spider was a bit of a loner but didn’t mind when Lilly dragged them around. Lilly had two other bear pack mates that had started talking to them too. Oscar, a dominant who liked Lilly but hadn’t actually asked her out yet, and a non-dominant girl named Poppy. Poppy was Oscar’s twin sister but the only thing they had in common were their looks. Deep brown skin and even darker almond eyes. Their black hair curled beautifully, but Oscar’s piled on top of his head were as Poppy’s hung down her back. They were both stunningly beautiful. Poppy loved to chat and gossip with Lilly, where as Oscar was the strong silent type. The three bears were always together. Kiara was even starting to feel like she had friends. Even her living situation had improved. Mika had moved into another room, she didn’t know who’s, so Kiara now had a room to herself. She was actually surprised by how much she was enjoying herself. She had to know that it wouldn’t last.

By the Thursday afternoon, Kiara’s good mood was beginning to sour. Her group had been paired up with the twins for sparing lessons. Sienna and Helena were just itching to put Kiara on her back. But to her dismay, Kiara was paired up with Dash. The one wolf she couldn’t stand to be around and who couldn’t stand to be around her. “Great.” He muttered. “The rabbit.” She didn’t respond. Dash had crushed her heart three years previously. He had pretended to like her, even want her, then turned on her so fast, she was still reeling. She had almost lost her virginity to that creep. Nick, who was covering the afternoon sparing with Jem, noticed the hostility between the two.

“Is there a problem?” he asked them. The dominant male, met his gaze. He was cool and self-assured.

“Nope.” He answered Nick. “I was just hoping for a challenge is all.” Nick looked at the shy dark haired wolf girl. It was the same one who had won the game of wolf and rabbit on their first day. She turned her head to look away from him, avoiding eye contact again. “We’ll be changing partners throughout the lesson. Just pay attention and try not to hurt her.” He could have sworn he saw the girl’s fist clench. Interesting. “Gather around.” He called to the juveniles joining Jem in the middle of the group. Jem was a fellow pack mate. She was a tiny woman at five foot four. She had short blond hair that she had pulled into pigtails. At first look, she seemed harmless. But the maternal female was anything but. At six- two Nick dwarfed her.

“We’re going to keep this simple.” Jem began. “Just the basics today. How to throw and dodge a punch.”

“But we already know how to punch.” Connor complained. He was beginning to stand out to his trainers for all the wrong reasons. Jem pinned him with her gaze.

“Okay big guy. Give me your best shot.” He hesitated for a second blushing, before stepping up to her. He was also taller and broader than she was. But he wasn’t stupid enough to mistake her for a weakling. To his credit, Connor’s left-handed punch came fast and without warning. However, Jem had spent her entire life training in marital arts. She shifted her weight onto her right foot and twisted her body. Connor’s fist sailed right past her as she brought her arms down onto his and threw him to the ground, using his own momentum against him. Jem went to the floor with him, her knee pressed into his back and his left wrist twisting up towards her. If she had wanted to, Jem could have yanked and dislocated his shoulder. But it was only a demonstration. “Your strike was good. But you didn’t adjust your feet correctly before striking out and that left you unbalanced. The entire weight of your body was already tipping. All I did was take advantage.” Jem helped the boy up and began demonstrating where he went wrong and what he needed to change. Kiara paid close attention. She had only ever spared with members of her own pack and, more often than not, her uncle Silver was her partner. Occasionally she would spar with Malachi or other adults under her uncle’s command. But while she was at the camp, she would have plenty of opportunity to learn something new. Yet another reason why she was unhappy having Dash as a partner. Jem instructed them to start with a basic punch and catch exercise so that she and Nick could go around checking everyone’s technique. Terra’s technique wasn’t quite right, and it took them both a while to figure out why and how to fix it. Having six legs to deal with didn’t make it easy for them. Meanwhile, Dash wasn’t holding back. He threw quick hard punches at Kiara’s hands. She was wearing catching mitts, but it still sent painful vibrations down both her arms. With each hit he was grunting with exertion, and she found her anger rising. Her wolf couldn’t wait until it was their turn to hit him. Nick blew a whistle and Kiara ripped the pads of her hands, shoving them at Dash. He smirked at her as she planed her feet and readied to strike.

“Try not to hurt yourself rabbit.” He mocked, holding up his hands to catch her punches. In that split second, Kiara forgot all about her promise to Silver about playing weak. She threw her right fist out, putting her entire body behind it. Smack! She struck Dash’s padded hand. The force of it knocking him back. Dash looked at her with confusion. His hand was stinging. Kiara smiled.

“Whoops.” She shrugged. “Try to be ready for the next one, okay?” inside her wolf was laughing. She rolled around inside Kiara greatly enjoying their little revenge. Readying herself again, Kiara watched as Dash braced himself for another hit. This time Kiara didn’t put nearly as much strength behind her punch. She barely moved Dash’s hand. Her wolf laughed again at the puzzled look on his face. She spotted one of the trainers, Nick, watching them. She quickly looked away and continued giving Dash a light pummelling.

Her next partner wasn’t any better. At least Sienna wasn’t trying to break her hands. “The Scarlett River Alpha was asking about you.” She told Kiara casually. Kiara’s heartbeat sped up in panic. “We told him you were super submissive and he seemed to lose interest.” Relief flooded Kiara.

“Thank you.” They were words she rarely spoke to her cousin.

“So he hasn’t been to see you or anything?”

“No. He hated my parents. The longer I can avoid him, the better.” Sienna seemed somehow satisfied with Kiara’s answer.

“You hit like a wet fish.” And just like that the lovely family moment was over.

Malachi crossed his arms over his chest. Silver had failed to mention that he would need to participate as well. Wasn’t he meant to be just a chaperone? Cindy had dragged him down the field with the other chaperones to spar. “Why should the kids get to have all the fun?” she’d said. But unlike the kids, they were all fully trained adults and going at each other full force. It was less like b sparing match and more like a free for all. Cindy jumped right in, randomly attacking an Eagle shifter that crossed her path. It was mayhem. Malachi had no intension of actually joining in before someone jumped onto his back. He reacted instinctively, throwing the female off over his shoulder. She rolled to the ground and sprang up to come at him again. He dodged her claws. Absently admiring her quick, graceful movements. She smelled like some kind of cat. He grabbed her wrist and pulled. She gracefully spun in his arms and suddenly her back was pinned to his front. His big hand around her throat. She purred, pressing against him. Malachi released her. She turned to him. Bright golden cat like eyes met his icy blue. His wolf reacted to her cat’s challenge. He wanted to show her what it meant to challenge a dominant wolf. He moved towards her and she spun out of his grasp again. Fine claws raked his chest. She purred again. Mal growled playfully back. He was starting to enjoy her game. The next time he caught hold of her, he took them both to the ground, pinning her body beneath his. To his complete surprise, she lent up and licked the shell of his ear. His c**k twitched. What. The. f**k?