Chapter 6 And So, The Training Begins

Morning light cut through the stained glass of the high tower room, throwing bands of red and blue across the stone floor. Evangeline hadn't slept a wink all night.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her knuckles raw from where she’d been slamming at the door all night, and where she had picked at it in anger when she realized no one was coming to get her out.

It’s while she’s formulating a plan on how she’d butcher Lucian that the door to her room flies open and said man walks in.

He wasn't wearing his formal enforcer coat or his armor, but instead today, he wore low-slung dark trousers held up by a leather belt, leaving his broad chest entirely bare. Along his massive chest, thick, jagged scars crisscrossed his golden skin, tributes to old claw marks, blade slices, and war wounds that had healed over years of brutal combat and wars.

Evangeline’s eyes locked onto his chest for a fraction of a second before she snapped her gaze up to meet his dark eyes, that looked oddly happy to see that his chest had been the first thing that grabbed her attention when she walked in.

So she snap her head away from him, refusing to give him that satisfaction.

“Knocking is a polite custom,” she said, throwing her arms over her chest. “Or do Alphas not get thought basic manners?”

Lucian ignored her question entirely. He stepped forward and tossed a bundle of leather combat gear straight at her feet, causing her to startle back in surprise.

“Get dressed,” Lucian said coldly. Evangeline looked down at the dark colored leather vest, stiff pants, and reinforced boots, then looked back up at him.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I have no use for weak, weeping pets in my household,” Lucian said matter of factly, as if talking to her was physically draining and annoying all on its own. “You merely survived the Hunt by sheer luck and a rusty iron nail. But up here, luck runs out rather quickly. Your survival training starts immediately.”

Evangeline let out a short, incredulous laugh. She reached down, picked up the thick leather vest, and hurled it straight at his face.

Lucian caught the vest inches from his nose with one quick move, his fingers crushing the leather as soon as he touched it.

“Tell me, Lucian,” Evangeline gritted through clenched teeth as she stepped closer to him. “Does your delicate ego require kidnapping defenseless women just so you can feel like a real Alpha, huh?”

She shoved him back a step and he let her. “What’s this? What’s the point of all this shit you’re pulling?”

Before she could take another step towards him and strike him one more time, he caught both her wrists in a single hand.

His once stoic expression immediately twisted into a mask of barely controlled irritation.

He spun her around and pushed her up against the closest wall he could find, his Alpha aura flaring up dramatically around them both in a suffocating pressure that felt like she was actively chocking on him.

She tried to move but the weight of his body pressing down unto hers did not help her situation in the slightest. His body was completely caging her against the rough wall.

Evangeline’s heart hammered against her ribs, but she tilted her chin up, refusing to back down. He was so close she could feel the intense, furnace-like heat radiating off his bare skin. His chest almost brushed hers with every staggering breath he took.

“Defenseless?” Lucian purred, leaning down until his lips hovered a fraction of an inch from hers. His breath warm and smelling of dark coffee and pine. “A defenseless woman doesn't stab an enforcer in the arm and vow to burn a whole pack down to the ground. Don't play fragile now, little rabbit. It doesn't suit you. Not in the slightest.”

“Let me go,” she whispered, her eyes burning with hatred.

“You think you're unbreakable,” Lucian murmured, his eyes dropping to her mouth before snapping back to her eyes. “You think that sharp little tongue of yours that you think protects you from the world, can’t be caught clean off? I'm going to take that arrogant spirit of yours and break it step by step until there's nothing left but obedience.”

“Try it,” she hissed. “What’s the worst you can do to a girl you spent so much time trying to keep alive.”

Lucian’s lips curved into a hard smile. “I guess we’ll find out.”

He grabbed her arm by the wrist that was still bound to the iron chains he refused to take off her, and yanked her forward out of her stance. “Put the gear on. You have two minutes before I drag you down to the yard in what you're wearing.”

He shoved the leather clothes back into her hands and stepped toward the door. Evangeline gritted her teeth, knowing she couldn't fight an entire garrison in a dirty nightgown. She threw on the dark leather pants with much difficult due to the chains, pulled the vest over her linen shirt, and shoved her feet into the tough riding boots.

The moment she finished, Lucian seized her by the elbow and dragged her out of the room. He hauled her down the winding stone stairs, down through the wide main corridors, and out into the frosty morning air.

The estate's back courtyard was a massive, churned field of mud, worn out wooden posts, and iron weapons racks. Dozens of heavily built warriors were already sparring, the sound of wooden swords and fists clashing against bone and flesh ringing through the air.

At the edge of the pit stood a towering warrior with a scarred jaw and a what looked to be the most horrid broken nose that was never really taken care of..

“Commander Vincent,” Lucian barked, shoving Evangeline forward so hard she nearly stumbled into the mud.

The scarred commander turned, his sharp eyes taking in Evangeline’s small frame and the iron bindings around her wrists. A cruel sneer stretched across his face. “What's this, Chief? A new servant girl for the laundry?”

“This is our newest recruit,” Lucian said coldly, stepping back with his arms crossed over his bare chest. “She thinks she's a fighter. Treat her like any other new overly confident arrogant recruit who needs to learn her place. Do not hold back against her.”

Vincent grinned, pulling a wooden training broadsword from a nearby rack. “My pleasure, Chief.”

Evangeline looked at the massive warrior, then turned her head to glare at Lucian. “You really are a coward.”

Lucian’s eyes narrowed, but he merely gestured toward the muddy pit. “Welcome to the guard, little rabbit. Let's see how long it takes for you to come back crawling to me on your knees.”