Feeling like the world was on my shoulders wasn't enough for this vampire; he was intent on making something out of me, even if he knew I didn't think I could.
"Now take a proper stance." Leonard began, tapping my legs with his stick.
Huh? What?
Lycans never needed to use weapons to fight, as we excelled in close combat. We had claws and fangs to fight with, yet vampires and normal humans used metal weapons. However, for these blood-feasting races, it was more of a sport than anything else.
"The sword you'll use is a long, thin sword. So, you must correct your stance to guide the weight of the blade to where you want it to go, or you won't cut a thing with it." He continued.
At that moment, I felt my brain fry from the overload of information being poured, though the vampire was passionate about what he was trying to teach me. It took me hours to stand correctly and even more to learn how to swing without hurting myself.
One would think it would be easy, but most of the time, I would break the sword's hilt because I held it too hard or slip out of my hands because I was clasping it too loosely. One of my attempts almost hit Caden, who had tumbled onto the floor thanks to Alijah.
I struggled to keep up with what Leonard was saying for a while, but he never once lost his cool with me. No matter how often I messed up or sent the poor sword flying into oblivion. Luckily, there were no windows in the stadium for me to shatter.
However, after failing constantly for a while, I felt frustrated, which showed, making Leonard shake his head when he noticed I wasn't dealing well with failure. Then again, it was all I knew for the past week.
"Believe it or not, you aren't the worst I've seen. This is the first day, and you're catching on already." He chuckled.
"Woot, give me a trophy for not being the worst at something," I growled, slightly winded.
Noticing my fatigue, Alijah threw me a water bottle from the cooler nearby. Aiden and Caden were taking a break on the floor like usual. Taking only a small sip, I wiped my face with a towel. Everything was getting so complicated that I didn't know when I would have some free time.
I would have to balance training with Leonard, Alijah, and Vera while somehow mastering all of them by the next blood moon.
This… isn't how I wanted to spend my time. If… the blood moon is my last day here… Is this really okay?
This was an impossible task that everyone was asking me to do, even if I were a luma who could handle more than the usual bashing. I felt like I could crumble under the mass of everything, yet I couldn't afford to.
Giving up is never my style, but would anyone… No… I can't stop now.
After all, I somehow made the most dangerous Lycan fall for me—something I thought would never be possible.
So, I have some outstanding qualities besides having the gods' favor. Maybe I can't master them all in time, but at least I can be a workable opponent to anyone who comes my way. Yes… That will have to be enough.
While in the breather, Alijah sat beside me, studying Leonard, who was reading a book. There, I noticed the vampire was a graceful little thing with an adorable side, since his bookmark was a picture of his son. That alone made me realize he wasn't an evil man, which was why Dad fought to get him on our side.
My brothers, who lay on the floor, were getting ready to get up for a rematch when Vera entered the room. Suddenly, everything changed from calm to chaotic once the little witch spotted the vampire.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" She snapped, staring down at him.
A soft sigh left his lips as he closed his book, turning to her with a relatively gentle expression.
"Oh, here you are. I was wondering if I would see you today." Leonard smiled.
Vera's eyes twitched as her mood soured even more.
Do they know each other? You never act this way with strangers.
"No one likes a creeper, Leon!" she growled.
Although I couldn't understand why she acted this way, Leonard didn't seem like an offender. It appeared there was something else going on that everyone in the room would find out soon enough, thanks to the lack of filters they both possessed.
Oi… Did you even realize we're here?
"Hah… Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm not here for you, sweetheart, even though you warmed my bed not too long ago," He breathed, narrowing his eyes as she threw the first thing she found at him.
Warmed his bed? Uh... oh...
"Shut up!" she yelled, flushed red.
He caught what she had thrown at him, chuckling.
Are you a recent fling? Wait, what happened to Ryker's son?
"I'm your sister's sword instructor, dearie. I hope we can still get along just like before, even if we had—" Leonard tried to keep the peace.
Vera, who usually would never be like this unless it was me or Alijah, continued to rage.
"I told you to shut up, Leon!" she warned him.
"You need to relax, or you'll pop a vein, darling," He noted as practice swords floated around us.
This is rare… Oh... you're losing control.
I grabbed onto Alijah's shirt, noticing he stared at Ruzgard intently. If Vera lost it, her familiar would also snap. He had already grown a few sizes too.
"I said, get out of my home!" Vera snarled.
In her fury, she hadn't noticed us there as magic started to make everything float up into the air. This could mean trouble since Caden and Aiden could barely move thanks to the thrashing they had endured.
But I think their current state is more because their other baby sister also had a man in her life.
"I already told you, I'm your sister's instructor," Leonard repeated, shaking his head before shrugging.
"She can get another one! It doesn't need to be you!" She pointed out that Leonard pushed all the wrong buttons.
"Come on, I don't know why you're so angry. It was you who left me that night. I'm sure I treated you like a princess. I mean, you and I were both—" He tried to speak only for Vera to shut him down yet again.
However, this time she was determined to push him out, no matter what.
"Shut up!" she yelled, suddenly unleashing an energy pulse that caused Alijah to interrupt their argument.
Suddenly, all her magic was gone as swords dropped onto the floor free of her influence. She glared at the wolf who had stopped her rampage. Even if her anger wasn't directed at us, it involved us when she lost control.
"Oi, I don't give a fuck about who you decide to screw, witch, but keep your energy under control. You could hurt your brothers or Rem, which at that point will mean I might hurt you. So, chill before you blow up and everyone else around." He glowered at her.
Her eyes darted from him towards us as she covered her mouth. Tears formed on the corners of your eyes before she bolted away. Instinctively, after seeing her in distress, I ran towards the door.
"Vera!" I shouted only for her to disappear into one of her portals.
"She's harmless, mutt." Leonard rolled his eyes.
My wolf shrugged at the vampire. "Harmless, until the familiar gets involved."
Leonard sighed, "Ah... Right. The Shadow beast…"
However, they were unaware of the sin they had committed. Before they knew it, I turned to them, furious that they had made my sister cry. Darkness radiated from me, marking the awakening of the beast within. Even if Vera lost control, there was no doubt in my mind that she would only have tried to push Leonard out.
Unlike me, she hasn't hurt anyone else in her life! Even when I attacked her, Ruzgard yanked me off her and did nothing more!
The only time she ever hit me was when I came back to her.
"You both are idiots! I won't forgive either of you if you make her cry like that again!" I snapped as they seemed like two children who had been caught.
They both seemed a bit wary of me as I didn't know what expression I had on my face, but it probably wasn't friendly. Unlike Vera, if fired up enough, I would hurt everyone in this room without a second thought.
"Sorry, love." Alijah apologized, focusing his gaze on me.
Though I knew he wasn't sorry for calling her out. No, he was only saying that because I got angry. Tearing my gaze away, I glared at Leonard, who seemed ready for anything if it came from me. He wasn't defenseless against me, but surely my speed would overwhelm him since I did have some resistance to his magic, and it was still daylight.
"You better apologize to her when I get her back here. I don't care if you are a one-night stand gone wrong," I growled at the vampire, who chuckled in return.
"Yes, yes, very sorry, dear. I can't help but tease her." He shrugged.
"Oh? Then don't tease her." I scowled before turning away and running toward my sister's place of comfort.
This was a place I knew very well since she had kicked me out a billion times because I was noisy. However, there was no way she was taking me out this time.