Chapter 99 - Oomph

Adea

The stench of a large group of sweaty people packed together made my nose wrinkle. The field was filled with the sounds of people trying to catch their breath both sitting and standing.

Leo glared down at me and I saw a hint of amusement in his eye as he definitely judged me fighting to catch my breath.

“I don’t like him, I don’t like him one bit,” Korra growled. All the pride in her voice had disappeared and been replaced with annoyance.

He leaned down and held his hand out to me, I’m guessing he wanted to help me up. I eyed his outstretched hand for a moment or two before I reached up and grabbed hold of it. I started to push myself up when I felt him pull me upwards. His hand shoved me back down and gravity won since I had nothing holding me up.

I landed against the grass and I let out an “Oomph,” as my head hit the ground. Everyone was busy focusing on breathing to notice his pettiness.

I pulled myself up and hurried to my feet as anger bubbled and my chest burned. I leaned forward on the tips of my toes and set my eyes on Leo as I gave him the meanest glare I could muster.

“Training is over!” Darci yelled over the crowd. I didn’t move an inch as some of the people around us started to move. His eyes dropped down to my neck and paused for a second over my mark before making their way back up.

“Pathetic,” I murmured loud enough for him to hear. I leaned forward, slightly shifting back and forth as I looked up at him, wondering what the hell was his problem. Ignoring the urge to ask him, I shifted away, more than ready to get off this field.

Leo caught my bad arm and tugged me back to face him, his eyes wild with anger from turning my back on him. I winced away from the pain shooting up my arm and his eyes lit up. He knew full well what he was doing, the asshole.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“I just wanted to make sure you don’t get comfortable in Tier 1. Wouldn’t want you to think you’d hold that rank for long,” he said with a shrug, his grip tightening on my arm.

A few of the others around us started to notice us and started to watch us expectantly while they waited to find out what would happen next.

“Unlike you, I haven’t put too much thought into it, Tier 3,” I said, pulling on my arm for him to release it.

“Oh, I think you should put some thought into it Tiny. I want you to think about me, I want you to wonder where I am and look over your shoulder.”

I narrowed my eyes on him, wondering why it was taking him so long to get to the point and let go of my arm. Leo twisted my arm and I grimaced as the pain only grew.

“Can I go now? I have somewhere to be.” I looked up at him like he was boring me and his jaw clenched.

His eyes flickered to my mark before he released my arm and stepped back. I ignore the eyes on me and move to walk off the field. I can’t wait to get back to my room. A warm bath is calling me.

Once I was off the field and a good distance away from any of the new members, I swerved around the corner and started making my way back to the packhouse.

I bit my lip and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had a message I wanted to send Ethan and I started tapping out a message. I hoped he wasn’t too angry about my being at the training grounds.

Adea:

Meet me in the room.

I waited until the message changed to read and the bubbles pop up next to his name letting me know he was responding.

Ethan:

I’ll be there as soon as I can.

I grinned as I put my phone away. He’s going to be a few minutes so, I’ll get back and freshen up first. My first day of training went well and I felt accomplished. My grin threatened to break out into an all-out toothy grin as I pranced back to the packhouse.

After a little over thirty minutes of self-care and a bath, I dried my hair and wrapped myself in a towel. I would make the first move tonight and I’d make him feel as good as he makes me. I made my way to the bed and note even a few minutes later Ethan swept into the room with a serious look on his face.

“Why?” He demanded, closing the door behind him without even looking.

I smiled up at him nervously. “I wanted to learn how to fight,” I replied honestly, his gaze fixed on me where I sat.

“From the looks of it, you don’t need to learn anything Ms. Tier 1,” he teased.

I shrugged as I tried to play off the embarrassment I felt from his praise. “I decided I didn’t want to stay in this room all day and not contribute. I had to do something… I thought about my dream and how defenseless I always was.”

Ethan paused, his brows creased and his eyes softened as he looked down at me on the edge of the bed. “You are never defenseless and you were never weak,” he says, his finger lifting my chin up. “You were in a situation where you were mentally, emotionally, and physically abused. He made you feel that way.”

We’ve never openly talked about what I went through and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to.. Hell, I didn’t know if I ever would be but I knew for sure this man in front of me was everything I ever needed.