"What's going on here!"
Ryker appeared at the scene just about time, Mara had gotten so close to me with the arrow stretched out.
Mara and everyone that had come with her adjusted themselves, Bowing their head in shame.
"I said what's going on here? Are you all deaf?!" He shouted
"Nothing" Mara blurted out
"Oh, I don't think this is nothing; I know what I saw earlier, Mara", Ryker said heading towards me.
As he got to where I was, he made a brief stop in front of Mara. He looked at her from head to toe.
"What is this for?" He asked pointing at the arrow
"I am sorry Alpha Ryker, we just thought that we would come around to have a little bit of fun with Kira "
"A little bit of fun you say?" He scoffed "with an arrow directed towards her?"
Mara went on her knees, head bowed, and the rest of the crew followed suit.
Ryker gave her the death stare; I knew that he wasn't believing what she said, and I was careful enough not to speak a word about what was going on before he came.
"You all are dismissed," He said angrily
Mara stood up, dropped the bow, and left; just as she was about to go, she turned to look at me, and I understood what the look meant.
It was the 'you wouldn't be so lucky next time' Kinda look
I didn't know I had been holding my breath for long until I released it.
"Are you okay, Kira?" Ryker asked
"I think I am now" I replied
"What was happening here... no.. why did you choose to come here to train out of all the places you could choose," he said his voice sounding worried
'How did he know I was training here? Was he following me' I asked myself
Ryker moved around me, inspecting my body to see if there were injuries or scratches.
He kept on ranting and ranting about how something could have happened to me, saying that I should have left the moment emillia left, how was I supposed to know that someone was watching my moves and following me waiting for the right time to attack me.
Okay scrap that the truth is I suspected that she might be planning something I just didn't think that it would be that soon or in a place like that.
I looked at him, surprise evident in my eyes "Were you watching me? Have you been following me" I asked boldly
"Uhm, no," he scoffed "follow you? Why would I follow you?"
"Then how did you know I was here with Emilia?" I asked
"It was just an intelligent guess" he said avoiding my eyes
"Hmm, intelligent guess?" I chuckled "Ryker I am not a kid, I know you followed me here"
"Okay, okay, I am sorry, you are right. I followed you here, but it isn't anything you are thinking."
"What do you think I am thinking" I laughed
"I don't know, but you know you could be thinking I was a pervert or something worse." He said Bowing his face
I noticed he was trying too hard to avoid eye contact. Honestly, I didn't want eye contact, but it was hard not to notice his effort.
I felt happy that he avoided my eyes; it made me see him from a different angle. Beneath the hard, fearless and tough alpha was a caring soul.
I assured him that nothing he was thinking or worried about came across my mind, he asked if I was sure. I gave him my assurance.
"Yes I am sure, but I am curious about one thing...."
"What's that"
I asked him if he had been watching Mara all along.
"Actually...." he took in a deep breath. "I left to go attend to something, hence why I didn't know Mara had come with such a crew. I got here about thirty minutes ago; I just stood to watch what she was going to do."
"Well.... I am glad you came out to save me" I said smiling
"I am glad you are fine now." He walked up to where the arrows were, picked them up, and started to arrange them back in their casing.
"I never knew there were people who didn't want you here" he blurted out
"It's fine, Ryker; I don't blame them for hating me."
"I have been watching you for a while now and I have noticed your resilience, you've been trying to become stronger..." he paused "I can teach you if you would let me" he added
My eyes widened; my joy knew no bounds; this was an opportunity of a lifetime to be mentored by the great Ryker; without thinking twice, I accepted the offer, and immediately, we started training.
He started by teaching me about endurance and patience
"In combat, patience and endurance are key to winning, Kira. You must be able to endure the pain, and you must be patient, not act rashly." He said
He showed me exercises and tests that would help build my patience and endurance; immediately, he was satisfied, and we moved forward.
He told me that in combat, defence was very vital; you need to be able to protect yourself from your enemy's attack using any means necessary; he told me that there were so many ways i could defend myself from the enemy's attack, depending on the enemy and the kind of attack."
Ryker began to show me ways to defend myself and how to dodge my enemy's attacks, and he taught me how to throw a good punch while still protecting myself.
We trained every single day; we kept meeting in the woods, where I was learning archery.
Ryker taught me so many survival skills, and finally, I became good at archery, too; a few times, Emilia joined us in the woods, too.
"You can't afford to be weak Kira" Ryker said
I looked at him with a smile; everything he had taught me, I wasn't feeling weak anymore; I felt renewed, I felt strengthened.
On one of the days of our training, Ryker challenged me to a duel.
At first, I hesitated, but Ryker wouldn't let me go, so I agreed to the duel. We fought for a while. I was able to defend myself from most of his attacks, but he still ended up winning me.
I wasn't surprised; he had his wolf, but I didn't have mine.