"Wow! That is just awesome." This are the words Mariana used to describe what she was seeing. All the bruises she got from the fall were gone,all that was left was dirt. She wiped herself and with the help of Branden , got up.
She did not feel any pain,her body was as rejuvenated as it was before the fall. This definitely boosted her confidence,she wasn't scared to go again.
" Let me go again,"she said and marked a spot on the road about a hundred meters away. She pushed herself from where she stood not even waiting for Branden to give her the go ahead.
This time around she did not fall,instead she ran into an electric pole. The crush was so hard that the pole almost broke in two. Well the pole was safe but she wasn't. Her hand was almost shattered at the shoulder.
She was in so much pain but instead of crying or screaming out,she was laughing. Branden who had zoomed to her like before,looked at her puzzled. It was the first time he had seen her laugh this hard,and disregarding the reason behind her laugh,he loved it.
Her laugh was so enticing that he started laughing too. She looked at him still laughing and it's like he was seeing her for the first time. Her eyes were sparkling from unshead tears,he was not sure if it was from the laughter or she almost cried because of the pain ,but didn't.
"Oh my! That was exhilarating!" Now how do I fix my shoulder, feels like it has been unplugged from it's socket." Mariana said after her laugh had died down.
"Mariana don't tell me you are turning into a pain junky,coz I won't help you if you are." Branden said even though he did not really mean it.
"Help me first please,it hurts." Mariana cried out pouting her lips. Branden shook his head and took Mariana's hand,he knew she was acting cute so that he doesn't act on his words.
When she was better, Mariana turned to Branden and said," Sorry if I seem to enjoy this a little too much. I have spent my life afraid of almost everything. The fact that I never got sick was not reassuring enough for me to take risks. So now...Its like this wall..has gone down and I feel like I can do anything."
"It's okay love. I am loving every bit of you right now. That confidence is what is needed in a queen. I won't lie to you,there might be challenges ahead and we need to be prepared. So you have to learn and muster your abilities for when the need arises to use them."
"What challenges?" Mariana asked.
"Whatever it is that broke the clans,we might have to face it. But don't dwell on that,learning how to use you abilities should lean more on control than defense.
Controling what you hear for example will help you concentrate even in class. Come let me show you."
Branden took her hand and within seconds they were in the middle of a forest. Mariana looked around and if she was being honest with herself,she was a bit scared. She had no clue where she was,if anything happened she knew it would be hard to get herself out of here.
Maybe because of the mate bond or perhaps the fact that she was getting more comfortable with Branden by her side,she calmed herself and reassured herself that she was ok.
Branden feeling her conflicted emotions,assured her "Trust me,by now am sure you can tell I would not do anything to hurt you." Mariana just nodded.
"Each and every sense depends entirely on your will. Whatever you want to do,you have to picture it in your mind first then allow your body to act on it. You have seen that with the running,if you concentrate enough you can do it..." Mariana interrupted him by saying, "I hurt myself both times."
"Yes you did,but you also achieved what you wanted didn't you? Let's start with hearing,you won't hurt yourself learning how to control that." Branden circled her and settled himself behind her. He was standing so close Mariana could feel his chest against her back.
This was affecting her more than she wanted to admit,but she did her best to control it. " Close your eyes Mariana,I want you to focus on the sounds around us. Branden said this in a whisper close to Mariana's ear, his hands were on her waist.
"Branden...i..i.. can't concentrate...unless the lesson is on touch..." Mariana blurted out and Branden chuckled. He had been very intentional with what he was doing and loved the reaction he got.
Teaching his mate was proving to be more enjoyable than he thought it would be. "Uuh..what do you mean..do you not want me to touch you? He asked trying to sound oblivious to what Mariana meant.
"Is.. it possible.. for you to not touch me..your touch is..." Mariana did not know how to finish that statement.
"Okay." Branden decided not to tease her anymore as it was disrupting the lesson.
He removed his hands from her waist and stepped back just a little. "Now concentrate on the sounds..what do you hear?" He asked.
" For one I can hear your heart beat." Mariana said confidently.
"That is very sweet,now what else,away from us." Branden said and the word 'us' sounded so nice to him.
"I can hear...the trees.. the branches swaying, I hear a bird chirping....there is a...an animal...is that a..a deer?" Mariana tried to discern the sounds she was hearing.
"Very good,now focus on the deer. Block every other sound concentrate on the sound the deer is making."
Mariana tried to do as she was told, she focused on the deer alone and to her surprise,she had a mental picture of it. It was beautiful, it was feeding on the shrubs and grass around it. Mariana smiled,this was so interesting.
She opened her eyes and tried to look for it but she did not see anything. "Wow,I can see it...and yet it's not even close?" She asked.
"I told you you can do it. Take my hand, now picture it clearly and run to it." Branden told her. "Wait what..how? Mariana was perplexed at his request.
"You can do it,we will zoom to it with the help of your imagination. Just feel yourself doing it." Mariana looked at him worried, "don't worry I got you. I won't let you fall or hurt yourself." Branden assured her.
Mariana closed her eyes and as soon as she could clearly see the deer,she pushed herself with all her strength and within seconds,she and Branden were standing in front of a gorgeous brown and white deer. It's antlers were so big they looked like branched out daggers.
"I did it! Can't believe I just did that!" Mariana was so happy she jumped and hugged Branden. It startled the animal which ran away as fast as possible. But that animal wasn't as startled as the one that was receiving the show of affection.
"Oh..uh.. sorry,I was just excited." Mariana said as she tried to get off him. But Branden held her tight,releasing her just enough to look into her eyes.
"It's okay,I should let you get excited more often if this is the thanks I get. How about we go to our third lesson of the day, Scent.."
"Uh..okay,will you first let me go?"
"No I won't,this time I want to hold onto you like this." His hands were holding her by the waist encircling her completely.
"I want to see if you can concentrate even if you are distracted." Branden said,though he sounded serious there was a hint of mischief in his voice.
"Close your eyes as you did before, focus on what you can smell. Scent is very important as it can help you track anything." Mariana did it and tried to focus as much as she could, despite what she was feeling from Branden holding her.
"I can smell mint,cloves.. cinnamon...wait I can only smell spices..!" She opened her eyes to find Branden smiling.
"You did it again,you focused on what is close to you,which is me. That's how you perceive my sent to be. Is it bad or good."
"It's really good..it makes me feel hungry..!" Mariana blurted out without thinking.
The lesson seemed to have diverted back to sound, because in the next few seconds,all they could both hear was the sound of each other's heart beat.
Branden leaned forward and placed his forehead on Mariana's,he let their noses brush together and said in a whisper,"You smell like..flowers..your sent is so sweet it calms me." He then leaned in close as if going for her lips.
Mariana closed her eyes in anticipation she never new she had. But then he did not kiss her like she expected,instead he just brushed their lips together then pulled back and said in a hoarse voice, "A mates sent is unique, I am the only one who can smell flowers on you, does not matter whether you are sweaty or have fallen in a sewer.
And you on the other hand are the only one who can tell what I smell like." Mariana opened her eyes and stared at him. This lessons were becoming more intense by the minute.
Branden let her go slowly and asked, "You must be hungry,can we eat first then I will take you home and we can continue the lessons some other time?"
Mariana just nodded, the previous closeness had left her feeling all manner of things. Branden made a call and by the time they got to the main road,a car was waiting for them.
The perks of being a king.