Wildling

~~~Ember’s POV~~~

It’s been a month since I arrived in Jaxson’s pack. Things were going well but the dread in my stomach had yet to go away. It twisted in my gut like a knife wrenching through my muscle. I’m on edge. It’s only a matter of time before Dimitri comes. I know he was watching me at the cabin so it wouldn’t surprise me if he tries something. I’m not supposed to be happy.

But I am. Jaxson has been amazing. He’s been patient with me and very loving. He’s made it his mission to show me how romantic he can be. We haven’t had any more fights, but I have told him a bit more of my past. I decided it would be worse if I left it for him to see when he marks me. That would just overload him.

We have been making steady progress and I’ve gotten more confident in my ability to be a good mate. It doesn’t seem to take much with him. Cook him dinner, cuddle in bed, a surprise make out session, and he’s a big melted pile of mush. It’s quite adorable.

I’ve been honest with him and we talk about the mating process. He knows I’m nervous about having no experience and he surprised me by saying he didn’t either. We would learn together and that somewhat eased my mind.

I think I’m closer to being ready for him to mark me. Most of my past is out in the open. The biggest thing I’ve kept from him is that I had been pregnant. I couldn’t say the words. He will have to see and feel my pain for himself.

Edward has been like the father I miss so much. He has always been an ear I could talk to about things. He has been making plans and strategies to take down Dimitri. Every new plan he came up with he would tell me, and we would act it out to find any flaws. Inez has warmed up to me over our common love of baking. We can be found making breakfast every morning in the pack house. She tells me all about Jaxson has a child, much to his horror. I did admit to her I could never have children after the grandchildren topic came up again and she was heartbroken, of course. We had a heartfelt chat, and she was determined that adoption would be our best option. They did have an orphanage here although, thankfully, not many kids were without families. I haven’t dared to go there yet. I’m not sure how I could handle it. There was a woman in the pack who had just given birth. Every time I hear that baby cry, my heart would twist with grief. I would never have that. What might have my child looked like had she been born. Would she look like me? Would Jaxson love her as his own?

The biggest obstacle I faced came from the warriors and one certain blonde tramp. The warriors were angry when they heard a human woman would be training them, even if some of them did see me fight Trent. Unluckily for them, our first training session was the day after I had tortured him, and I had some pent-up stress. They learned not to take me lightly after that.

“Okay men. You have all met my mate. She will be helping train you lot.”

Murmurs spread through the assembled men as they glanced at one another. One hulking man with dirty blonde hair stepped forward. A mocking smile twisting on his face.

“All due respect sir, but she can’t possibly take us on.” He glanced back at the men and smirked as he talked gaining a sarcastic laugh from a few of them. The others who had seen me fight, tried to hide their smiles.

I raised my eyebrow as I stepped towards him. My cowl hid my sinister smile. God how I love to embarrass grown men in front of their friends.

Jaxson chuckled at the man, though his fists were clenched. He motioned towards me, walking over to a standing rack of weapons before tossing me and the warrior a bo staff.

“Okay Mark. Fight her.” The look of disbelief and uncertainty flashed over Mark’s face.

“I’m not going to fight a g-.” I cut off his sexist remark by lunging toward him, aiming an overhead blow to his shoulder. He noticed in the nick of time and dodged. His eyes narrowed on my form before he moved, spinning the staff and advancing on me.

We traded blow after blow. Dancing and twirling around one another as our staffs knocked together.

He was a tough opponent, I’ll give him that, but he was slow. His large, muscular figure no match for my small size. Several times, I had knocked his staff away and immediately flicked my arm to deliver another blow to his side that he wasn’t fast enough to block.

I could hear the oohs and ouches from the men whenever I would land a blow on him. Mark’s face would turn a furious shade of red as he realized he was being made a fool of. I took delight in prolonging his suffering.

He was the one who made his smart-ass remark. Maybe next time he will think twice.

Deciding that muscle would win in the end, he dealt a powerful overhead cut, making me raise the staff overhead to block it. I fell to my knees at the force of the blow, and my staff splintered in two. The warriors gasped at my predicament. I could see Jaxson tense slightly from the corner of my eye.

I jumped to my feet, twirling the two pieces in either hand. I descended on Mark in a rapid flurry of blows. As he would block one of my blows, the other would hit him.

Having enough of this foolishness, I crouched and swept my leg, knocking his out from under him. He came crashing to the ground, with me standing over him, one foot on either side, as I held part of my staff against his neck.

“Looks like the girl won.” I growled out, getting off him and moving to stand by Jaxson. He gazed at me in pride before turning to Mark who still laying on the ground in shock.

“Maybe it’s best to keep your thoughts to yourself next time Mark. Before you have another accident.” The men around snickered.

Mark slowly got to his feet; eyes cast down in embarrassment. He looked towards me and nodded his head in respect, a sign I relayed back to him.

With that settled we were able to begin training with me teaching them new techniques in weaponry and tactics.

Since that first day, the men have looked at me with newfound respect. They accepted me and we all became friends. We joked and laughed and made fun of each other’s mistakes. It was so nice to have friends and be in a pack again. Mark especially had become a good friend since I humiliated him. He had apologized for his behavior and even asked for help with his speed.

Things were looking up. I was accepted despite being human. Well mostly. A certain blonde decided to try and make my life interesting.

Constantly catching me in the hall, trying to anger me with little taunts. She would tell me that Jaxson was really hers and that I was just a tramp he was trying to bed. She would go on and on about how she was a far superior female specimen than I was. She was getting really annoying. One day she had caught me when Mark and I were headed to the training grounds. She caught my arm and yanked me to face her.

“Ashley what the hell are you doing?” Mark’s incredulous voice sounded.

Ashley just sneered at him. “Stay out of this orphan boy.” Mark instantly averted his gaze and stepped back. I was furious. How dare she use anyone’s past against them. I grabbed her wrist with my opposite hand she wasn’t gripping and snapped it back.

She screamed in pain and fell to her knees while I kept a grip on her wrist. “Don’t you ever talk to me or my friends like that again. I don’t know why you keep persisting this. Jaxson is mine! He doesn’t even like you! He puts up with you, that’s it! Now if you be a good little bitch, I might think about letting go

and not telling Sean about your little tantrum.” Ashley whimpered as my grip against her shattered bones tightened. The crunch of her bones rubbing against each other reverberated against the flesh of my hand.

“Sean already witnessed it.” Ashley’s eyes widened and her face paled as Sean’s deep rumble came from behind her. I released her arm and stepped back. Sean looked absolutely furious.

“Come with me. I think Jaxson would love to have a little chat.” Ashley whimpered again as Sean dragged her to her feet and pulled her away, not caring about her injury.

Mark and I glanced at each other and snickered. No one likes that girl. And she made fun of my friend. He had confided in me about how he was an orphan. He grew up in the orphanage until he came of age to leave. No one had adopted him, and he had felt worthless and an outcast. Ashley always found ways of bringing it up and taunting him. Even though he was a great warrior, he was still of lower status than her since no one knew his parents. He could never retaliate. That’s part of pack life I never missed. There shouldn’t be rankings. Everyone should be equal. Though once Sean took over, Mark said things got much better. He treated everyone with respect and tried to resolve any issues peacefully. But Ashley has always felt superior to everyone. If I see her again, I might just get a little violent.