HUNTED

The following day, the pair woke up and got ready for their morning training session. Aila was quiet as she pulled her sports bra over her chest and put her hair into two French braids that still nearly fell to her waist. She hoped, if anything, her body may be able to distract him from completely attacking her. Although, her shorts and sports bra did attract a lot of attention from the men, who hid their gazes the moment Alpha Damon snapped his eyes at them. 

They walked to the grounds, where the mats were scattered across the field. Instead of going to the area where Chiara stood already stretching on the floor, they continued to a group further back. This was the group she recognised as the elite warriors; she had watched them train a few times and was always in awe at their skills. 

She knew without a doubt that Chiara trained with them when she was done teaching others. Aila felt slightly out of place among them; for one thing, she was the only female there, and secondly, she was also the smallest. They were all giants, bulked out, rough-looking, with scars on different parts of their body. 

Although she felt apprehensive, her appearance did not look fazed at all. Crossing her arms, she watched as Damon walked to the front of the group; everything about him, his demeanour, and the power emanating from him demanded respect. As he stood in front of them, she could see how the men would follow him anywhere. Hell, she would follow him anywhere.

"I feel like we are fangirling at the moment," Malia squealed. Aila could feel the excitement rolling off her from looking at Damon also. Sighing, she focused on what Damon was actually saying. 

"As you can see, Aila is joining us today, making the numbers uneven. So, I will be her partner today." He looked across at his men, his biceps bulging, crossed against his chest. Aila saw a few nervous glances sent her way at the mention of Damon being her partner. She kept her eyes trained on Damon, ignoring the nervousness sprouting in her stomach.

"As usual, you will spar with your partner for 30 minutes, then rotate. We will finish at noon today."

Aila expected a few moans or murmurs by the extra hour added to their session, but she heard none. Was this what it was like to obey? Even if they didn't want to train for that long, they did anyway, no questions asked, no complaints. Damon clapped his hands once, a signal for everyone to begin. Without another word said, the group dispersed into their pairs.

Damon walked to the centre of the pairs who spread out, making way for their Alpha and future Luna. Luckily there were many mats on the grounds; otherwise, their wrestling and slams to the ground would hurt even more. Aila stopped across from him and surveyed the size of him. He stood there in only his shorts, baring his chiselled chest, eight pack and 'v' lines. 

For once, she was not checking out the ripped muscles on him appreciatively, more so, in alarm. But again, she kept her trepidation to herself. It seemed Damon was doing the same; she watched as his eyes trailed across her body calculatedly. Unlike most of the females in the pack, she was on the smaller side, but this did not make Damon look down at her or show any signs that he thought she was weak. 

They stalked towards each other, and without missing a beat, Damon charged at her with incredible speed, swinging a right hook towards her. Aila blocked it and grimaced at the impact, her arm almost swung away from the force, and her planted feet skidded back slightly on the mat. He was that powerful.

He threw a couple more hits to her face and body, which she managed to dodge. He was fast, she didn't expect him to be for a big guy, but she was quicker and used that to her advantage. Aila landed two rapid blows, one to his face, and then she spun and side kicked him in the ribs. Damon grunted and grabbed her foot before she could drop it and twisted it. 

Aila let herself fling over and fall onto the mat; she kicked with her other foot, making him release her ankle and rolled out of the way just in time as he slammed his knee to the ground. 

Malia winced at the sound, "He's not holding back." She muttered breathlessly, noticing that if she hadn't rolled out of the way, his knee probably would have cracked her ribs.

Since her two hits, Aila defended herself for the remainder of the session, blocking and dodging his blows. Any time she made the decision to strike out, he would beat her to it and made her tactfully change her mind and avoid his hits and kicks. When he finally stopped his onslaught of attacks, he called it time. 

Aila placed her hands on her hips, wholly exhausted with her body complaining from the aches and pains. Her bruises had bruises on top of them, and she wondered if her skin would always be a row of brown and green blotches now from her training. She moved her head to the side and didn't realise, some of the pack members who finished earlier came and sat down to watch the warrior's train. 

But as she looked, she saw a lot of eyes were on her and Damon with wide grins on their faces. Ajax and Finn also stood among them, arms crossed in their workout gear and talking excitedly. She smiled at them but heard a low possessive growl that made her roll her eyes.

Her eyes then landed on Damon, who was already watching her with a proud glint shining in his eyes. Her lips pulled up into a small smile as he stalked towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. Standing in front of her, he cupped her cheek and brushed her smooth skin with his thumb, admiring her. 

"If we didn't have a point to prove, I would take you here and now," Damon growled through her mind; his eyes wandered from her lips and down her body. Making a shiver run through her at his words and lustful look. 

A smile played on his lips as he watched her lean into his hand and bite his thumb playfully, "Maybe we should have our own private sparring session later," She purred back to him. Damon's eyes darkened at her suggestion; the pair unknowingly had leaned closer together after feeling the bond tug at them. Damon blinked his silver orbs and snapped out of it, pulling away.

"Pack meeting today at 5. DON'T be late." Damon's authoritative growl filtered through the pack mind-link. Even with his command to hundreds of werewolves, he didn't once move his eyes away from hers.