Katana

Katana took Kieran’s threat seriously. She trained hard, even after everyone finished for the day and went to go take a shower. There were days when Troy would train with her and there would be days when Troy sat on the grass and watched her lazily, as she threw punches and kicks into the air.

Every time she wanted to give up, her father’s face appeared and she pushed just a little harder. When she finally rested, she was knocked out completely. Her body was exhausted from the strain she has placed on her body.

As a result of her crazy extra hours of training and her lack of sleep, she could feel her human body giving up on her. Her wolf was trying hard to heal them both, but it wasn’t enough if she wasn’t getting enough sleep.

She was fighting a soldier around her age along with everyone else. The grunts and heavy breathing can be heard in the air as everyone fought their opponents. The man in front of her threw a punch at her and she ducked under it before swinging her fist to his stomach. He grunted and took a few steps back. Sweating heavily now, she felt slightly dizzy.

“Robbie, you can rest.” Kieran ordered before moving to stand in front of Katana. His eyes flickered over her body and when they met hers, she saw a hint of lust behind it, before he blinked and it disappeared.

Katana wiped the sweat from her chin and forehead and took a deep breath.

“Do you need a break, Kenneth?” Kieran asked. Katana shook her head. She knew if she said yes, he would deem her unfit for the job. It was almost as if she could sense that he wanted her to fail and as stubborn as she was, she wasn’t going to allow it.

“No.” She breathed heavily.

His lips thinned slightly. “Fine. Let’s see what have you learned so far.”

He lifted his hands up in the air before coming at her. His fists, flying into the air, were unrelenting and fast. She had to really pay extra attention to him -removing anything that would distract her. She deflected all his moves.

When he finally stopped, she was struggling to stay awake. Her head was spinning a mile a minute. She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them. She distantly heard him commend her before her eyes rolled upwards and her body gave up. She fell forward, but before she could hit the ground, she felt Kieran’s arms around her. Warmth spread through her body at the contact of his body next to hers.

She heard him shouting for a medic and felt the ground moving underneath her, before she finally allowed darkness to take over her.

When she opened her eyes back up, she grimaced as pain shot through her head. Her hand moved to cover her forehead as she slowly opened her eyes and saw Troy sitting on the side of the bed with Isaac.

“He’s awake.” Troy said to someone at the foot of her bed. She glanced down and saw Kieran staring at her.

“What happened?” She croaked.

“You trained yourself to the point where your body couldn’t take it any longer. Your wolf was exhausted from healing your human body. You need to take care of yourself, Kenneth.” Katana turned toward the voice and saw a female looking at her. She wore a medic badge on her uniform. Her eyes glint with a knowing look and Katana knew right then, that she knew the truth regarding Katana’s gender.

“I’ve looked you over. It should be okay. I won’t press you further on why you decided to train this hard.” The clear indication that the medic was going to hide her secret made her sigh with relief.

“You are relieved?” Kieran growled. “You will take two days off. No training until Melody tells me you are fully healed.”

Instantly, Katana pushed off from the bed in protest, but groaned the moment her world started spinning. She fell back onto the bed with her eyes closed.

“Fine.” She whispered feeling a little defeated. She didn’t want to miss training. She needed the extra training to catch up, but what can she do when her body was weak.

“You fought well.” Isaac said with a grin.

“Troy and Isaac, why don’t you two go and do a quick border run?” Kieran nearly snarled his order. They both stood up and walked out, but not before they said their goodbyes to Katana.

Melody gave Katana some more vitamins and instructions before getting up and leaving.

Now, Kieran and Katana were alone and she glanced down at the foot of the bed at him. He was dressed in an army green shirt that was tight around his broad shoulders. Her gaze traveled lower, to where it was tucked into his army pants neatly, before dropping lower. She had never taken the time to really look him over until now. He was truly magnificently built. It was like the Gods took their extra time in crafting him up. Even the slight scar on his right eye was beautiful. She licked her lips before closing her eyes to stop her raging hormones.

A moment later, she felt the bed shift underneath her. She opened her eyes to see that Kieran had moved to sit on one side of the bed. He glanced down at her with his amber colored eyes - intense and watching.

Katana waited for him to say something, but he kept quiet as he looked her over. His eyebrows crinkled in between, as if he was trying to figure her out. After a moment he sighed and folded his hands on his lap. His eyes tore away from her as he looked straight ahead to the adjacent wall in the barracks.

“We are mates.” He said.

She didn’t know how to answer him. If she said yes, would he reject her? If she said no, would he get angry? She remained silent.

He turned his eyes back to her. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

That hurt and Katana felt her chest twist painfully. He saw the flash of hurt cross her face before he cleared his throat and scratched at his nose.

“I’m saying, I wasn’t expecting my mate to be a boy. I have always been attracted to girls.” He said quietly and awkwardly.

“Are you going to reject me?” Katana asked her voice still weak.

“I don’t know.” He admitted and she saw the hesitant look in his eyes. Although it hurt to not get a positive confirmation that he accepted her as his mate, she realized that it wasn’t fair of her to expect that from him as well. She was a girl dressed up as a boy. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t a boy, that she was a girl. She wanted to tell him the truth, but that would leave her father vulnerable.

“Do you want me to reject you?” She asked.

He growled loudly and his eyes glowed a fiery orange color.

“Do you want us to take it one step a time?” She asked.

He was quiet for a minute before he nodded. She smiled a little at him and watched as his hands came up to cup her cheeks. The warm electric tingles spread through her cheeks and she closed her eyes at the bond. It was euphoric, almost like a healing mechanism that took away all her pain and aches.

“Your skin is soft.” He murmured.

The corner of her lips lifted. If only he knew she wasn’t a boy. Her eyes opened to meet his and his eyes flickered up from where they were touching to hers.

“Thank you for not rejecting me right away. Thank you for giving me a second chance.” She said softly.

He removed his hand and sighed deeply. “I can’t find it in me to let you go. I waited for you all my life. I don’t want to reject you, but I also need time.”

She licked her dried lips before bringing her bottom lip between her teeth to bite gently. “I can give you time.”

A knock on the door had Kieran jumping out of his spot on her bed. They both glanced at the door as it opened and Xavier walked in. He glanced their way immediately. A slow sly grin crawling on his face as he sauntered over.

“Kenneth Richardson, you are amazing. I’ve never seen anyone fight that well. How you learned so much in such a little amount of time is beyond me, but you were amazing out there. I guess you prove the meaning true, to not judge a book by its cover.” Xavier moved to sit in the spot that Kieran had sat on a moment ago.

A growl came from behind Xavier and he turned to look at Kieran. “Something wrong?”

Kieran’s eyes were glowing, but he turned his head away from them. “No.”

Xavier chuckled and turned back to Katana. He moved to place a hand on Katana’s shoulder gently in a friendly manner.

Another growl came from Kieran. “Get your hands off him.”

Xavier seems to be even more amused by Kieran’s demands. He turned back to Katana. “I hope you heal quickly.”

“Thank you.” Katana replied before Xavier stood up and walked out of the room whistling. Kieran glanced back at Katana’s shoulder. Glaring at it as if she mysteriously grew wings on her shoulders. She cleared her throat and he looked back up at her.

“He was only being friendly.” Katana said.

Kieran scoffed. “He doesn’t need to touch you.”

“Are you jealous?” Katana asked honestly.

Kieran looked surprised for a moment before he growled and stalked out of the barracks, leaving her staring after him. He was definitely jealous. He looked like he was about to rip Xavier’s head off his shoulder. Sighing, she pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes. Sleep came easy for her as it was very much needed and wolf needed it as much as she did.