The Golden Lycans (Ella) novel Chapter 22

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Combat Class-Part 1

*Ella***

The next four weeks sailed by.

The leaves left the trees, the evenings got darker, and autumn was very much upon us. I was surprisingly, fully at ease with my new reality, as if going to a school full of supernatural people was now completely normal.

I’d taken up a new pursuit in the past couple of weeks. I was now getting up a few times a week at six, for the early morning self defence and combat classes with Freya, and to my surprise, I was rea lly enjoying them. I felt stronger and with that I was feeling and being more confident, and I was meeting more people every week.

I was even more surprised to have been asked out by two guys, but I just wasn’t interested in them Freya also informed me they were Lycan, so I was skeptical anyway. I was still only interested in one person, one Lycan in particular…like many of the sixth form girls.

I was also going to the library during free periods to learn more about Lycans and the other ‘supes’ at the school. Thankfully – but also much to my disappointment – I didn’t bump into Austin again while I was there. I was always on the look out for anything that might give me some idea about my heritage. What was it about me that meant the enchantments on the school that were meant for the humans didn’t work on me?

Austin had clearly finally listened to Freya and had kept his distance from me, but that hadn’t stopped him from stealing subtle glances at meal times, a fact I only knew as I was regularly doing the same.

It was getting harder to keep my own distance from him and ignore how I felt about him, but absolutely nothing had changed. The situation was still the same, and I knew I needed to just move on….but something within me just couldn’t.

What really didn’t help matters was that he had clearly stepped up his workouts because even in four short weeks it was obvious he’d gained a lot more muscle, more than a run of the mill human teenage boy would’ve done, and he was looking so good.

Too good, much to Freya’s annoyance; more girls than ever were coming up to her trying to find out some hidden secret to getting Austin to pay them some attention. It made me feel even more awkward and confused since he’d only asked me out and didn’t seem at all interested in anyone else.

Another full moon had also been and gone and I had once again sat out on the flat corner of the roof, feeling as if I was taking part with my peers in some strange way, simply by sitting there and drinking in the atmosphere. Being under a full moon was now as warming and energising to me as he sun.

At six in the morning one Saturday in late October I enter the sports hall with Freya for our class.

We greeted a few regulars we had gotten to know a bit, before getting on one of the floor mats to do some stretches.

“Good morning everyone. I will now be running all Saturday morning combat classes from now on,” said a familiar voice. I stop stretching my calves and looked up to see Austin in grey sweat pants and a rather tight, white tank top. I shut my eyes and gulp; what was it with guys and grey sweats?

He looked insanely hot in such a simple outfit, and knowing him, he probably had no idea he looked that way either. I hoped I’d be able to concentrate on the class and not look like a total idiot.

“Pair up, I want to see where you’re all at with disarming an attacker,” he announces.

Everyone pairs up and we go through the various different ways that the previous teacher Elon had been teaching us about how to disarm opponents and getting out of difficult grips.

Austin approaches Freya and I as we practice and I am acutely aware of him watching us. I have to really concentrate.

“Move along bro, you know I’m good at this,” Freya says, making a shooing gesture with her hands.

“You might be, but would Ella be able to throw off a larger attacker?” he asks with a sly smile. I look back at him with an eyebrow raised. I was more than ready to prove to him how far I’d come in only a few weeks.

“You should know, I’m getting pretty good at this,” I reply, stepping to him toe to toe and jokingly squaring up to him, making Freya laugh. He doesn’t flinch or move, he just stands there with his green eyes boring down into mine. But within a second, he steps around and behind me, snaking his arm around the front of my upper chest and neck, holding me against him tight. I gasp in surprise and tried to ignore this new and immediately enjoyable feeling of being pressed up against his very warm, hard body. I begin to breathe deeply to try and keep my focus, particularly on trying to keep my heart rate in check, since I now knew that he could easily hear it.

“Escape me,” he says softly and deliberately, his warm breath on my ear, sending a strange tingly sensation, shooting down my neck. I feel a bit too out of my comfort zone and immediately grab hold of his forearm without thinking, trying to prise it away, but I have no such luck. He is incredibly strong.

“You’re overthinking it. I am far stronger than you are, but you can use my body to your advantage,” he murmurs next to my ear. I was trying my hardest not to think about his body at all, in all honesty. But I concentrate and regain my focus. I think about it… he is several inches taller than I am which ould put his centre of gravity a little higher than my own. I part my feet for more stability while I grab hold of his arm with both hands. In one fluid motion I lean forwards and down sharply, bending my knees a little as I pull down hard on Austin’s arm. With a satisfying crash, he hits the floor, as I had somehow managed to pull his much larger frame clean over my shoulder