11. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
HARRISON
“Brad.”
He rips his eyes away from where Stephanie is playing volleyball with some other warriors. “Yeah?”
“I need you to do something for me.”
He sighs, throwing one more longing glance in Stephanie’s direction. “What?”
It’s Sunday. Not a training day for Emily and me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t run an impromptu surprise exercise. “I need you to sneak up on Emily.”
Brad’s eyebrows fly sky high. “You want me to do what now?”
“She needs to practice self-defense. She gets too in her head when we do it during training, and I’m always afraid I’ll end up hurting her.”
“So you want me to do it?” He peeks back over at the volleyball match, where Emily stands cheering for Stephanie on the sidelines. “What if I hurt her?”
“I’ll have to find a new beta.” I smile and clap him on the shoulder. “Good luck.”
Brad walks away, muttering something that sounds an awful lot like “fuck you” under his breath. I smirk and move into the lake, so the water comes up to my ankles.
Brad meanders around the grounds, pausing here and there to chat with pack members, keeping his mission guarded—secret.
Like a good beta should.
As he gets closer to Emily, he moves slower. He ensures his steps are as silent as possible. I watch as he takes a breath and holds it, eliminating any source of noise. When he’s right behind her, he slides his arm around her waist and—
Emily’s reaction is immediate. She shouts in surprise, but instead of panicking, she grabs his wrist, whirls around, and knees Brad right in the groin. I bark out a laugh as he doubles over in pain.
Emily’s eyes widen when she realizes who it is. “Oh Goddess, I am so sorry, Brad!”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Stephanie snaps, jogging over from her paused game.
The entire pack is almost in tears from their laughter, enjoying their future beta’s pain far too much, and I’m right there with them.
I knew Emily would get him, but I didn’t think she’d hit him that hard—or in the nuts.
“Harrison’s idea,” Brad chokes out. “Self-defense training,” he adds before collapsing on the grass.
Emily spins in place, searching for me. As soon as her eyes land on mine, she sprints towards me, but I’m ready for her. I launch myself into the lake, swimming as far out as I can to avoid her.
I toss my wet hair out of my eyes as I resurface, treading water in the lake’s center. “Hey Emily!” I wave at her with an exaggerated smile. “What’s up?”
“Not fair, Harrison!” she yells, crossing her arms. She’s glaring at me, but there’s laughter in her voice and a twinkle in her eye. “You know I can’t swim!”
Another skill I’ll have to teach her.
“That’s exactly why I came out here!”
She rolls her eyes and drops her arms. “I’ll let you off the hook. This time.”