3. Noah
NOAH
I shuffled through the stack of applications on my desk. “This is nuts,” I muttered, glancing up at the clock that read just past noon. We’d only been open for a week, and the response was overwhelming. We were receiving more applications every day.
“Tell me about it,” Kyler said from across the desk, his brows raised as he flipped through another batch. “You’re a hot commodity, Noah.”
“Seems like it,” I said a bit incredulously.
We had expected interest, sure, but the frenzy?
That was something else. I tapped a finger on one of the applications.
“Look at these. Trainers from all over want to work here. And clients... half of them just want to say they’ve been trained by the retired boxer who came back home.
The other half have never set foot in a gym in their life. They just want to say they met me.”
Kyler chuckled. “Can’t blame them. You’ve got quite the rep. How many titles do you hold? Not to mention an Olympic gold medal. There aren’t many trainers of your caliber out there.”
“Yeah, well.” I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “We’ll need to sort them out soon. Some are going to be disappointed. I can’t train everyone myself.”
“Definitely not,” Kyler agreed. “But this is a good problem to have. If we’d opened and had nobody…” He trailed off, then nodded to the front desk. “Shelly’s waving you over.”
“Why me?” I asked. “My back’s to her. You’re the one who saw her.”
“It’s your name above the door,” Ky retorted, his focus shifting to the paperwork in front of him.
I stood and stretched, feeling my muscles protest. Shelly beckoned me over.
“Noah, there are some women here asking about the self-defense classes,” she said as I approached.
“All right, thanks.” I scanned the lobby.
My gaze landed on Heather Crew, her familiar grin stretching across her face when she met my eyes.
Although I hadn’t lived in Boldercrest for years, I remembered when Heather and her father Sam moved to town and pledged their loyalty to the pack.
Heather had been about ten, I’d been sixteen.
She was a feisty little thing. She’d followed Nate and me around town, peppering us with all sorts of questions.
Very different from her father’s calm and collected demeanor as an estate lawyer.
“Hey, Noah!” Heather greeted me. “How are you? I heard you were back. Didn’t expect to see you running this place.” Heather still brimmed with the same curiosity and fiery spirit she’d had as a kid.
“Heather.” I gave her a warm smile. “What brings you in? Shelly mentioned you were interested in the classes?”
“Trying to sign up with my sister,” she answered with a nod.
I raised my eyebrows. Shifters usually didn’t need much training in self-defense.
Our fighting skills came naturally. Still, I understood that women of all species experienced challenges from the opposite sex.
And Boldercrest had a mix of shifters and humans, so it appeared the class would be a varied group.
Something to consider when partnering them up for sparring work.
“Your sister?” I asked in surprise. I didn’t know she had a sister.
“Stepsister,” she said, then quietly added. “She’s human.”
“Understood.” I nodded. “We’re still sorting out instructors, but we’ll get those classes up and running soon.”
“Appreciate it,” she replied, tilting her head towards the entrance.
“Can you add us to the list, please? Let me know when it starts?” Heather gestured towards the woman standing behind her.
“Zoey doesn’t have a phone yet, so if you just let me know, I can keep her in the loop. Let me introduce you.”
The world seemed to tilt on its axis and throw me off balance—something my competitors in the ring rarely accomplished.
Heather, the gym, and everything around me became a dull hum, my singular focus drawn to the woman standing in the doorway.
The sunlight streaming in cast a hazy aura around her. Ebony hair cascaded down her back in loose waves. The delicate strands framing her face caressed her cheek.
Her restless gaze darted around the gym, scanning faces but never landing on any, her body tense and poised to run.
Waves of trepidation pulsed off her, from her tense body language to the acrid odor of fear.
It stirred my wolf, and I had to exert tight control on him as his need to protect surged through me.
A rising heat consumed my body, and my heart thumped an erratic, unsustainable rhythm. I had to consciously remind myself to take deep breaths, to inhale slowly and exhale fully, and to repeat the process.
What. The. Fuck.
I’d only ever heard whispers of the phenomena I was experiencing. It was rare. Rarer still when I factored in that she was human. There was no doubt she was mine, the person destiny had chosen for me.
My fated mate.
The world snapped back into motion when I heard Heather call out, “Zoey!”
Heather went to the door, extending her hand towards her. They clasped hands, and I saw Zoey’s fingers tighten on her sister’s as Heather guided her forward.
When the woman raised her head and our gazes locked, my heart damn near stood still.
Her cheeks and nose were graced with a scattering of freckles.
Rich hazel eyes, the color of a forest floor dappled with sunlight, drew me in.
They stood out against her pale complexion, but something had robbed them of their sparkle.
If eyes were the windows to the soul, hers was haunted.
She took a hesitant step forward, and my breathing quickened, my palms suddenly slick with sweat.
“Hi.” Her hushed greeting carved a path through the cacophony of clanging weights and grunting males.
Her fear unsettled me more than I cared to admit. The urge to extend a reassuring hand, to offer her comfort, overwhelmed me, but I held back. She was so skittish, one wrong move would send her running.
“Nice to meet you,” I managed, keeping my tone even, my stance non-threatening.The connection that had formed in the depths of my soul responded to her vulnerability, and I knew, without understanding how or why, that I would make her feel safe again, no matter what it took.
Heather and I exchanged a meaningful look. The sadness etched on her face reflected the melancholy building up inside me.
I gave her an imperceptible nod, acknowledging the unspoken conversation that had passed between us. Zoey’s tense posture and hesitant movements ignited a fiery anger within me, a burning desire to seek out the person responsible for her suffering and make them pay for it.
“Listen.” Heather’s voice pulled me back from the edge of my brewing storm. “I really hope these classes can help.”
“Me too,” I replied, my tone matching hers. My attention remained fixed on Zoey. The idea of someone else leading her through the motions of self-defense, someone who might not understand the depths of her scars, didn’t sit right with me.
“Actually, Heather,” I said, “I’ll be teaching the class myself.”
“Really?” Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I thought you said you were waiting for instructors.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’ll be doing it.” I sounded more confident than I felt, but there was no turning back now.
The pull in my soul moved as Zoey retreated from us. My gaze shifted to follow her to the doorway.
“Zoey?” I walked closer to her, my voice steady and warm despite the chaos ricocheting through me. “It’ll be great to have you in the self-defense class. I’ll be instructing it.”
Zoey flinched, revealing her unease. My wolf growled softly, eager to close the distance between us, but I kept him leashed, focusing instead on projecting calm and safety.
“We’re just waiting for a few more sign-ups before we kick things off,” I continued, meeting Zoey’s gaze with a smile that I hoped was both comforting and sincere. “I’ll make sure to send out a text when we’ve got the dates set.”
“Thank you,” Zoey murmured.
I didn’t want to push much and have her not return, so I backed away. “Sure thing,” I said, nodding toward the reception desk. “Shelly can help you two with the membership forms.”
As they turned to leave, I watched Zoey’s retreating form.
She moved with an unsettling blend of grace and caution.
She was unlike anyone I’d ever met, her vulnerability wrapped in a shroud of strength that only those who had been through hell and back could possess.
And though she was unaware, I couldn’t deny the gravity of what stood before me.
She was my fated mate. My future.
“Zoey,” I whispered under my breath, her name a vow. I wasn’t looking for this, for her. But fate had a funny way of laughing at plans, and there was no turning away from the truth that pulsed between us, invisible yet undeniable.
Over the coming days, word had gotten out that I would be the one instructing the women’s self-defense classes, and we’d been inundated with applications. Shelly was constantly calling me over to the reception desk.
When another bunch of hopefuls arrived, Kyler snickered, amused that I had the patience to keep answering their ridiculous questions.
“Are you sure you can teach me moves that’ll take down a guy your size?” one of the new women asked, batting her eyelashes at me with a smile that was more come-hither than curious about self-defense techniques.
“Absolutely,” I said, keeping my tone professional. “Leverage is key, not brute strength.”
Another chimed in, leaning over the sign-up sheet.
If I tripped, I was fairly sure I’d get lost in her cleavage.
“Maybe after class, you could give me some private lessons?” she asked in a husky whisper that sounded more like she smoked forty a day rather than the sexy breathlessness she was going for.