“Now, tell me about your vacation,”
she said as she took a bite of her sandwich.
We spent the rest of lunch talking and catching up. I told her about my vacation and about how Enzo marked me, and she told me about her summer painting class.
When lunch ended, I thanked her for the conversation and headed to my next class, Werewolf Sociology.
By the end of class, I was exhausted, but I still had one more class and this was the class I was dreading the most.
Combat and Shifting with Professor Xander.
I haven’t seen him since last week; he had given me a protein mix and told me to mix it with a cup of water and drink it every morning. I drank it all last week and it made me feel incredibly weak. It made Val feel weak as well and I nearly lost her from the exhaustion she felt.
As far as Xander knows, I’m still drinking that stuff. But in reality, Enzo took it and is having it tested. The only thing is, there seems to be some magic tied to it and it’s blocking what’s actually in it. The only witch Enzo trusted to help has been beaten so badly that she still hasn’t woken.
So, the mystery protein mix remains just that… a mystery.
Becca waved at me when I entered and I waved back, but my eyes never left Professor Xander. He stood in the front of the arena in the very spot that Enzo used to stand in and his eyes were fixed on the clipboard he held.
Per usual, he had no shirt on which revealed his body of tattoos and pure muscle. A shift crept up my spine. I decided to run into the locker room so I could take a breath but as soon as I stepped inside, I immediately regretted my decision.
Sarah sat on one of the wooden benches with her head held downward and she was breathing heavily. It looked as if she was trying not to throw up.
“Are you okay?”
I found myself asking. “Do you need to go to the nurse?”
Sarah glanced up at me and that’s how I noticed how red her eyes were; they were filled with unshed tears, and I was shocked to see this kind of emotion coming from her. Typically, Sarah didn’t show any real emotions. She always wore a hardened look and walked with her head held high.
As annoying and mean as she is, I did admire that part about her But looking at her now, the pained look on her face, the tears in her eyes, hunched over like she might vomit, it was a sad sight to see.
“What do you care?”
She muttered, turning away from me.
Despite how pained she looked, she still sounded like her normal bitchy self.
“You just look like you’re going to throw up—”
“I’m fine,”
she said, cutting off my words.
She stood up and for a moment, I thought she was going to fall over. She grabbed the locker in front of her before she fell completely forehead. Her head swooped downward again, and she took a steady deep breath.
I didn’t bother saying anything this time, I just watched as she struggled to recover herself. Once she finally managed to get her footing on the ground, she stood straight up, squared her shoulders, and turned to me.
“Don’t tell anyone about this,”
she said, and it didn’t sound like a demand, but a plead.
Her eyes were locked on mine, and they were still filled with unshed tears. She didn’t look angry or anything, but she did look desperate, and it made me want to ask more about what was happening to her.
But I refrained from doing so knowing she wouldn’t tell me anyway.
“I won’t,”
I finally agreed.
She said nothing as she turned and left the locker room. I stood there for a few more minutes before leaving the locker room myself and joining the cluster of students that stood in front of Xander. `
He explained what today’s lesson was going to be which I knew didn’t include me because their lessons consisted of shifting. Xander didn’t like it when I shifted.
Our morning training session started with typical workouts, such as running 5 laps, sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups. Stuff that I could do easily and in my sleep.
Then we got into the real combat training.
As usual, he went semi-easy on me during class. Though he wouldn’t let me shift, I was able to get a few strikes in and even landed him on the ground. Of course, I fell way more than he did. But in front of the class, it appeared to be an equal match.
But during our private session after class, it was a whole new game.
He made me run around the largest track outside for what felt like hours. My lungs were on fire and my face was so hot I thought I was going to pass out. After about 100 laps, I felt my stomach beginning to betray me.
I wasn’t going to be able to hold the little food I had eaten earlier down much longer. I hunched my body over and released the contents of my stomach all over the ground. Thank goddess we were outside.
Because of the shameful mess I made, he made me drop and give him 50 pushups. My arms felt like they were going to fall off.
The worst part was that he told me it was only a warmup.
We soon went back inside so we could practice real combat training and I lost track of how many times he slammed me on the ground. Everything ached so bad that I couldn’t get any punches in like I did earlier. I could hardly even move my body.
I was punched, kicked, smacked, body slammed, and ridiculed. By the time he was finished with me, I was a bruised mess.
Professor Xander left me on the ground to recover on my own. He went into the locker room to shower and change. I could feel my wolf healing me already and I was thankful to her for that.
I lifted my head once I finally found enough strength to move and I noticed that he left most of his stuff in the corner of the room, scattered across the ground. Enzo used to leave his things in the same spot and at one point I even snooped through his things.
I got to my feet and went over to the locker room where I could hear the light sounds of water. I took a deep breath; I had a little bit of time before he came out of here. I’d like to be gone before he returns.
I quickly went toward his things and knelt in front of them.
Okay, Professor Xander. It’s time to figure out what the hell you want.
There were a few different pieces of paper that were falling out of his bag along with a lunchbox, a water bottle, and a notebook. I frowned at the notebook; it was most likely his lessons for each day, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek anyway.
I opened it, seeing his handwriting scrawled out in neat cursive.
I was right for the most part, it seemed to be lessons for each day.
As I flipped through the notebook, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.
Then, the word Volana appeared in neat cursive toward the back of the book and my heart fell deep into my stomach.
Weaken the Volana and weaken her odds.
What the hell did that mean?
There was more writing underneath it that I was about to read until I heard a low and threatening voice behind me.
“Can I help you with something?”
Lila’s POV
I spun around quickly to see Professor Xander standing over me with a deep frown. He was shirtless and he was now wearing a pair of jeans as opposed to the combat pants he wore before his shower. He had beads of water still dripping down his neck and across his tattooed torso.
I still held onto his notebook, but my eyes never left his.
“I asked you a question,”
he said through his teeth. “Can I help you with something?”
“Uh…”
I stammered lamely. “No…”
“Then why… might I ask… are you reading my notebook?”
I finally pulled my gaze from his and looked down at the notebook, closing it before I was able to read anything more. I had no excuses for him, I was caught red-handed, and I was completely mortified.
Before I could say anything, he grabbed the notebook from my hand and ripped it away. My hands fell to my lap and my gaze remained on the ground, ashamed to even look at him.
“Have you been taught no manners?”
He growled.
I said nothing, which only seemed to piss him off that much more.
Before I knew what was happening, he grabbed hold of my ponytail and yanked my head back so I was looking up at him. I’m sure he could see the pure terror in my eyes as he glared at me; he was breathing heavily and oddly reminded me of a bull.
“Have you been drinking the protein shake I’ve given you?”
He asked through his teeth.
I nodded my head once, which was a complete lie, but he didn’t need to know that.
“You’re lying.”
Shit.