Chapter 9 - Brandon
I chewed on a piece of jerky while I stared at the plans for the next couple of days. I couldn’t get the conversation I had with Jade out of my head. The argument and the information that just came out so easily. She looked shocked after she stated that she’d done everything alone.
For three years, she’d taken care of Ilsa without help, while our parents continued living their lives.
I had thought that they would have at least helped to make sure Ilsa was taken care of, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The thought made me sick, trying to think of everything that she had to do to keep things going.
“Oy.” Kaleb waved a hand in front of my face. “Are you listening?”
I looked away from the papers and looked at him. Kaleb raised an eyebrow at me. “What are you thinking about so hard?”
“I ran into your sister in the woods yesterday.”
Kaleb shrugged. “And?”
“She was foraging and planning to sell it to make ends meet. Apparently, she’s been doing that for a while.”
Kaleb scowled. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. He shook his head. “Of course she does. And I’m guessing she lied when I asked how things between dad and her were.” Kaleb shook his head and sighed. “That sounds about right.”
“I was thinking about how easily she was taken off guard, too. She was just out there searching without a care in the world, and I realized that we shouldn’t just be training the men.
The women have just as much of a right to learn.
Anything could happen, and we don’t know if the men would be able to protect everyone. ”
Kaleb nodded in agreement. “I don’t disagree with that, but I have a feeling you’ll get some push back on that.”
“I’m sure, but I still want to open it up to them.” I waved my hand over the papers. “Starting tomorrow, it’s open for everyone. The women need to know how to protect themselves just as much, if not more than the men.”
Kaleb nodded. “And how do you think your father will react?”
“I don’t care,” I said with a shrug. “He’s not Alpha anymore. I am. We need change, and this is the way.” I tapped my finger on the paper. “Starting with them.”
I went home and found Jade was in the kitchen cooking dinner. She was wiping the stove after setting a casserole on the counter. I stared at her, watching each movement she made.
And I thought of how frail and vulnerable she was. It wouldn’t be hard for someone to take the upper hand on her. She’d spent so much time focusing on Ilsa, working on her health, that she’d let hers go to the side. And I wasn’t going to let that continue.
“Hey.” I stepped into the kitchen, and she turned. She offered me a tight smile. We were both still trying to get our footing in this, and we’d had moments, but it was still new and uncomfortable.
“Where is Ilsa?” I asked, scanning the room.
She pointed toward the stairs. “She’s upstairs playing with her Barbies.”
I nodded, deciding maybe it was better that Ilsa wasn’t down here for this conversation. “So, we have training tomorrow.”
Jade raised an eyebrow at me. “You talking about your training program you started with the pack?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and we’re opening it up to the females to join.”
Her eyebrows raised higher. “Wow, that’s… I’m a little surprised by that.”
“And I want you to join.”
She started to laugh. At first, it was a chuckle.. She giggled for a moment before it grew, and she started to laugh really hard. She held onto her belly, and her shoulders shook. I stared at her as she tried to collect herself. “That’s funny.”
“I wasn’t kidding,” I said, as I crossed my arms.
She stopped laughing and frowned. She made a disgusted look. “That’s a terrible idea, Brandon. Do you have any idea how stupid that is?”
“It’s really not. You need to work on building up muscle and learning how to protect yourself.”
She grumbled as she turned and opened a drawer. “I can protect myself just fine.”
“It wasn’t up for debate.”
She turned to me, crossing her arms. “And what if I refuse?”
I smirked. “Do you want to find out what happens?”
She huffed and turned back to digging into the drawer, pulling out a large serving spoon. She grabbed a few plates and started to dish up. “I don’t want to be the only female there.”
“You won’t be.”
She turned, sliding a plate to an empty chair next to me. “Ilsa, dinner.”
I suddenly got nervous. I’d gotten used to Ilsa being in the house, but every time I saw her, I was always unsure of what to do, what to say. Every time Ilsa said my name, my heart seemed to stop beating, and my mind short-circuited.
A moment later, Ilsa came walking down the stairs. She smiled as she moved, jumping off the last step with a bounce in her step. “What is it?”
“Tater top hot dish.”
I watched as Ilsa’s eyes sparked as she got into her chair, her legs swinging as she sat eagerly. She picked up her spoon, eagerly digging into her food. Jade slid a plate toward me. “Fine.”
I looked at her, surprised she had agreed so easily. “But if you make me miserable, I’ll leave.” I took the win and smiled.
The following morning, I headed to the training and found Jade talking with another woman. I couldn’t help but stare at her, taking in the stretchy pants and the loose tank top. I stared at her exposed skin, feeling it stir something up inside me.
“You have quite a bit of a turnout,” Kaleb said next to me. “I’m impressed.”
I nodded, taking in the various women who joined. I was happy to see that they were willing, and I wanted this to be a turning point for the pack. I tilted my head as I took in the woman next to Jade. “Who’s with Jade?”
“That’s Nora. Her best friend since senior year.”
I nodded, taking in the way Jade smiled at her. I could see it was genuine, like when she smiled at Ilsa. She seemed to be more open as she spoke with Nora, and I wondered when I would see that side of her.
We started the training with a workup. Stretching our muscles and basic movements. Once everyone was warmed up, we started with defense. I had them punching and kicking. I had people sweating as I showed them how to block and the correct way to catch a punch.
I continued to watch, but my eyes continued to drift back to Jade. She wasn’t the worst person in the ground, but I could tell Jade didn’t have the stamina or the muscles for half of what I was asking. She and Nora were working together, both shaking as they tried to do each movement.
“Jade, your punches need to be harder,” I stated, standing at the front. I watched as heads turned to her, and her entire face went red.
Kaleb was walking around and reached over to correct her placement. He said something to Nora, who started to laugh.
I continued to make everyone work, making even the guys groan in pain. I was surprised by how much the woman kept up and how they didn’t complain as much. There were comments here and there that I heard, but the longer we went, the quieter it became.
I walked around, adjusting people as needed. I continued to go back to Jade, though, wanting her to put more power behind each hit. I told her to lift her leg higher when she kicked and to correct her stance when it was wrong. Each time Jade threw me a look, her face red with embarrassment.
After feeling that everyone had had enough, I called the training to a close.
I watched a few of the guys drop exhausted onto the ground.
Some of the woman laughed as they moved to gather their items. I looked at Jade, who was bent over, her hands on her knees, as she tried to take deep breaths.
Nora had her hands on her back, saying something to her.
I cleared my throat. “Jade, stay a moment.”
Her head popped up, and her eyes were glued to me right away.
She scowled, looking like she was ready to rip me a new one.
Nora spoke to her, but Jade shook her head, offering her friend a smile before pulling herself up.
As people cleared out, she stood waiting.
Her arms were crossed as she stared at me, tapping her left foot as she waited.
As soon as the area around us was clear, she spoke, pissed. “You purposely singled me out for everything I did.”
“I did not.”
“You did,” she snapped furiously. “You hardly said anything to everyone else, yet you constantly ridiculed everything I did.”
“I corrected you,” I countered. “Because I want you to be strong. I want you to be good at this.”
“For what reason!?” she asked, throwing her arms out. “I have no real reason to learn any of this, Brandon.”
I had to give her a good reason, besides just saying so. I couldn’t tell her about the hybrid or what was out there. So, I went with something else. “Do it for Ilsa.”
Her mouth snapped together, and her hands curled into fists. “You didn’t have to be an ass about it.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. I hadn’t been trying to, but every time I looked at her, the words just seemed to slip out. I suddenly found myself wanting to see her get angry. People put more power behind things they did when they were angry.
“You improved when I did.”
“Because I was embarrassed that everyone was looking at me.”
“How about some extra training then?”
She snorted and shook her head. “No. I’m not doing this anymore after today.”
“You are because you need it. You, much like everyone else in this pack, need to know how to protect yourself.”
“Why does it matter so badly to you? What exactly is the point here?”
I wanted to tell her, but I couldn’t. So, I went with something else that was true.
“You never know what’s out there, Jade. Just because our pack gets along with the other surrounding ones doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen.
What if something happened to Ilsa? You do realize that being the father of an Alpha is not going to be easy. People will come after her.”
That seemed to catch her attention, and she frowned. “I know how to protect her.”
“Not with any stamina you won’t.”
She looked uncomfortable as I watched her nostrils flare. She crossed her arms. “You’re a real asshole, you know that.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “I’m going to take it you’ll agree to more training.”
“Only because you put a lovely vision of our daughter getting kidnapped into my head. Thanks for that. I’ll have nightmares now.”
I knew it was wrong, but it worked. If protecting Ilsa was the motivation I needed to use, I’d use it.
“We start tomorrow.”
She scowled. “Are you shitting me? I’m going to be sore as fuck. Can’t you let me adjust?”
“Exactly. You have to keep training, don’t let your muscles rest.”
“I hate you,” she snipped.
I walked closer, inhaling her scent. She stiffened at the closeness. “That’s okay. I’ll live with that for now.”
I had Jade doing personal training with me starting the next day. Jade bitched and grumbled at each session but continued to come. Each day we worked on something new, and each day I watched her slowly improve.
I had Jade punching a bag while I held it. She was panting, but her punches were hard. I could feel them vibrating down my arm with the power she was putting behind it. I couldn’t help but smirk, impressed by how much she was already improving.
Her arms fell as she sighed. “Thirty… I’m done.”
I shook my head. “Not quite.” I tossed the bag aside and stepped in front of her. “Now do it again.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Punch at you?”
I nodded. “You can’t say you haven’t been dreaming about it.”
She cackled. “Oh, I’ve been dreaming of doing much more than punching you.” I thought she was going to argue, but instead, Jade swung. I stepped out of the way as she took a step forward, throwing her left arm. I caught it and grabbed her elbow, yanking her toward me.
Jade twirled and threw her right elbow back, aiming for my face. I caught her arm, elbow, and yanked her back against me. She panted, and I could feel her body against mine.
A shiver rolled over my body at the close contact, and I found myself wanting more. Watching her grow had stirred something in me.
We tumbled back, and Jade landed on me, but she fought. Her left arm hooked me in the side, and I caught it just a second too late. I could see happiness sparkle in her eyes as I grabbed both of her arms and pulled them up.
“I hit you,” she said with happiness.
“You did because you’re improving.”
She smiled, proud of herself, and I stared at her lips. I remembered how they felt against my mouth all those years ago. We were both eager, both seeming in a hurry to do it. As much as she claimed I wanted it, I knew she did too.
But things were different now. We weren’t kids anymore.