Heartless Angels

Chapter 43 – Oakley

Chapter 43 – Oakley

It’s the first day of week two. This week, we’re focusing on hand to hand combat. A variety of different styles, since every one of us already knows how to fight. We’re to learn the basics of Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing, and Krav Maga. We’ll train even harder on it later, if we’re accepted as part of the Elite 10. But for now, our job is to learn the basics, incorporate them into our fighting, and basically beat the s hit out of each other.

First things first, though. We have to go to the rank list. Ray and Bard pull out the bulletin board, turning it around and we all crowd around to look. There’s a huge red line under the 36th trainee. All those underneath that line are asked to pack up their stuff and leave.

I hang back with Harry, Cassie, and Je rry. Lisa seems to be stuck in between her two mates. Bard stares at her longingly from the other side of field, while Harry tries hard to keep his wolf in check as he watches his mate moon over another wolf. He’s having a lot of trouble with it, which I get. If Ray was doing that to me, I’d freak the f uck out. He’s mine. No one else’s.

Trying to take his thoughts off of Lisa and occupy us while we wait for the line in front of the list to die down, I ask Cassie, “Did you talk to Mary?”

Her face goes somewhat whiter, but at the same time a small smile pulls at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, I did.”

We all stare at her, waiting for her to continue, but she doesn’t say anything. Just gets this far off look in her eyes and that ghost of a smile plays on her l*ps.

“And?” Je rry asks. “How’s my sister?”

“Oh, she’s good!” Cassie says, snapping out of her daydream. “She’s staying at a Best Western near the castle. She’s signing. up to be a part of the military training force. She starts next week.”

Je rry nods. At least he knows where she is. At least she’s safe.

“What are you going to do?” Harry asks Cassie.

“About what?” Cassie asks.

Harry rolls his eyes. “Are you taking her as your mate or not?”

Well that was subtle. Good one, Harry.

Cassie seems to reel back a bit, her thoughts not able to keep up with w

with the conversation.

“Come on, Cassie. You knows she’s your mate. You know that you can’t have a mate and be part of the Elite 10. Either you reject her or you leave here. You gotta pick. What are you gonna do?” Harry’s delivery is abrupt, angry.

Cassie just stares at him, tears in her eyes. “I don’t. I don’t know. I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Harry. Don’t you think that’s just a little bit personal? They’ve gotta figure out what they both want out of this. It’s not just up to Cassie,” I say, trying to smooth things over.

“You’re one to talk, Oakley. You’re f ucking stringing Ray along, leading him around by his nose. What are you going to do, keep him around until you get picked as one of the Elite 10 and decide to throw him away?” Harry’s face is in an ugly sneer, his words taunting and full of anger.

I don’t stop to think. I don’t stop to ask him what his issue is. I just punch him in the face. My movements are so fast, that he doesn’t see it coming. I also don’t think that he thought I would hit him. But I’m done being put down because of someone

dopsylee

Chapter 43 – Oakley

else’s feelings. I know that he’s hurting because of Lisa, but that doesn’t give him the right to make Cassie and I feel like sh it.

And I’m not gonna take it.

Harry falls to the ground and I put my foot on his windpipe. I don’t push down so that he can’t breathe, just enough so that he doesn’t get up. His nose is blo ody and the glare that he gives me would make a lesser wolf back down. I’m not a lesser wolf.

Trainers and other recruits run up to us, Lisa pushing to the front, crying out Harry’s name. Ethan runs between Harry and *me and the rest of the wolves, holding everyone back, letting us handle it.

“I get that you’re hurting. I get that it’s hard to have your mate split between you and another wolf. That’s a pain that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But that doesn’t give you the right to hurt your friends. It doesn’t give you the right to treat us like sh it. When you’re ready to apologize, I’ll be around. Until then, f uck off.” I move away from him and walk up to the board to check my rank. After seeing I’m ranked second, one under Jer ry, I walk off, heading to the training field. I don’t need breakfast right now. I need to work off some of my anger.

Ethan tells us that this “week” will actually consist of 8 days of training: two days for each discipline. Since we all have had the basics of training in hand-to-hand combat, this is to teach us different techniques that we can use to take down an enemy. These first two days, we’re focusing on Jiu-Jitsu.

We watch two trainers demonstrate fluid use of the martial art while Trainer Ethan describes the style.

“Jiu-Jitsu is a fighting style specifically designed to defeat an attacker that is armed and armored. It mostly consists of takedowns and holds designed to disarm and knock out your attacker. While there are kicks and strikes, they are delivered quickly with the goal of overwhelming your opponent so that you can disarm them and take them down. And once they’re

down….

Trainer Marcus takes down Trainer Curtis before straddling him and beginning to beat the shi t out of Curtis.

“You can beat them into submission.” Ethan says, before calling off Marcus. “Team up and start practicing.”

I end up being grouped with Lisa, Harry, and Jaiden, one of the guys that I haven’t really had a lot of interactions with. guess I’m just lucky like that.

We are taught a variety of strikes and kicks. They’re not that much different than what my father taught me, just faster, more focused, more concentrated. The speed with which we land blow after blow is aided by our wolves and that’s what makes

it so deadly.

Harry keeps looking at me with painfilled glances and facial expressions full of regret. But he hasn’t apologized much too pis sed to forgive him just yet. So, I just ignore him,

and I’m

a still

By lunch time, we’re ready for pair fighting. And my luck holds out even more so that I’m paired with

the world. Lisa. And she is pis sed about how I treated her mate.

my

favorite

person in

She doesn’t say a word to me. Doesn’t have to. Her expression says it all.

The whistle sounds and she is all over me, her fists and feet flying at me. It’s only because I’m a wolf that I’m able to keep

up with her. The fight continues fast and furious, both of us hitting each other with brutal force. I can feel bruises form almost immediately once we collide. I hear the snapping of bones, blood drips from my knuckles, and pain oozes from almost every pore. But I can’t slow down. I can’t stop. Because I know if I do, she’ll beat me to a pulp.

I’m keeping up pretty easily when I stumble on a rock in the dirt. It doesn’t cause a huge issue, but it’s enough that Lisa grabs my arm. She fl*ps me over, pulling my arm out of it’s socket.

ghbours through my b*dy and I scream. But I don’t let it stop me. I can’t. Because she will beat the ever-loving sh it out

Chapter 43 – Oakley

of me if I allow her to get me down.

I fl*p as I’m pulled to the ground, twisting under her and fl*pping her onto her back. I land a solid elbow into her gut. The air is knocked out of her lungs and she gasps loudly. While she’s still gasping for air, I straddle her, pinning her arms under my knees.

My arm is hanging loosely at my side in a sickening way that I can’t handle looking at for too long. Blood pours from a cut over my brow, obscuring my vision in my left eye and the right one is starting to swell shut. And the fact that I couldn’t take a deep breath without a pain twisting in my side isn’t that great of a thing.

The whistle is blown and Trainer Bard declares me the winner, though he isn’t super happy about it. Guess he was really counting on his mate winning.

I try to get up off of Lisa, but I only manage to fall off to the side. It doesn’t help that I can’t catch myself because I fall towards the side with the arm out of socket. I fall to the dirt. Ray is immediately there, but the pain is too much at this point. I pass out.

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