The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 151

JUNIPER

Asher paced back and forth in front of us with his hands clasped behind his back. He held his head high, like a true leader. "We will have training sessions every morning when the sun rises, so get prepared for early mornings for the rest of the semester."

"Or until all of this is solved?" Nathan suggested. "I do have wolfball practice most days still."

"No," Asher said firmly. "Even when this potential danger gets resolved, we will continue to have training sessions. You all need to know how to defend yourselves. Even when this threat is over, there's always the chance we'll face other dangers in the future. It's only natural from our bloodlines and positions we hold in the most important pack in the entire territory. We might always have an enemy ready to stab us in the back, and I never want anyone to feel like they can't defend themselves."

Asher looked at me and winked. I had asked him to help me with training once we were at school before the semester had started. The first week of school had thrown me through a loop, so training had slipped my mind. However, his words reminded me of the determination I had felt before. I stood straighter, more than ready to take on this challenge.

"In case you've forgotten, I already know how to defend myself," Axel said. "I fought by your side recently."

"And your technique was sloppy." Asher didn't hesitate to critique Axel's form.

Axel's jaw tightened, and the air grew tense.

"I have a different technique. It doesn't make it sloppy."

"If that's true, prove it." Asher smirked.

I stepped closer to Nathan, already knowing where this was going. The twins were notorious for either working together like a perfect machine, or fighting directly against each other, grinding gears in the process.

As I looked at Nathan, he shrugged, knowing just as well as I did that there was nothing we could do to stop this.

Axel raised his fists, ready to fight his brother. "This is going to be easy."

"Don't get too cocky."

"I'd say the same thing to you, but your cockiness is going to be your downfall."

Asher smirked and lunged at Axel. Axel dodged the first two swings and then countered with his own. He made contact with Asher's side, but Asher grabbed his arm and twisted, putting Axel into an elbow lock in the process. Axel tried to free himself, and when he couldn't, Asher chuckled.

"See? Sloppy."

Axel's eyes glimmered, but Asher wouldn't be able to see it from behind him. He bent forward, using Asher's hold against him. Asher flipped over Axel and landed with a thud on his back.

"See? Cocky."

Nathan and I held our breaths, fearing this was the beginning of a bigger fight. When Asher burst out laughing, we relaxed, relieved to hear the laughter. Axel offered Asher his hand and pulled his brother to his feet.

"All right, you're better than I gave you credit for. Maybe we can teach each other a thing or two," he said. Then he turned to us. "But these two need to be our priority."

I gulped, unable to imagine myself doing something like what the two of them had pulled off. I hadn't been very athletic growing up, especially with putting my entire focus on school. I wished I had at least played some sort of sport. If I had muscles like Nathan, then this would be more about learning specific moves and techniques. However, I knew I'd have to build muscle on top of learning the new moves.

"We can do this," Nathan said, giving me a smile filled with encouragement. Even though I still had my own levels of doubt, looking at Nathan and his bright face filled me with determination. Through training, I'd be able to grow stronger and wouldn't need my mates to worry about me as much.

"Then let's do this." I held out my hand, and Nathan squeezed it. Together, we were stronger, and we would work hard to show everyone we weren't helpless.

***

I lay on the grassy field, sweating through my sweatshirt, despite the air still chilly with morning dew. "I can't do this," I muttered. Two hours of training left my body aching, and we had barely done any real fighting.

Asher focused the majority of the first half of the training on working on building stamina and strength. The second half was about teaching us how to get out of someone's grasp if they tried to grab us. Nathan did decently at that. He had the strength to overthrow his brothers, and with corrections to the proper techniques and weight balance, he had been able to free himself. It looked clumsy, but it was a great start.

I, on the other hand, didn't free myself once. Asher and Axel claimed they were going easy on me, but I still couldn't free myself, which only made me feel worse.

"It's just the first day." Asher's shadow covered my face as he hovered over me.

Closing my eyes to take in the coolness of the grass, I said "I'm not strong enough. I don't know how I'll ever be able to overthrow someone like you. I don't even know if I'd be able to get away from someone with half of your strength."

"You'll get stronger. Besides, it's not all about strength. It's about using your opponent's weaknesses against them."

I cracked my eyes open, wondering how true that statement was. "And how does one go about doing that?"

Asher crouched down next to me and lightly knocked on my head. "You're smart. You'll figure it out. It's a mix of being able to read people and using instincts."

"I have no instincts when it comes to fighting."

Asher chuckled. "You have more than you realize. Listen to your wolf. She was born with instincts. It may be hard to hear them now, since you've spent most of your life ignoring them, but with practice, it'll get easier to sense."

I took a slow breath, focusing on tuning into my wolf. She was there. I felt her, but Asher was right. My bond with my wolf had weakened from years of trying not to stand out and then months of ignoring her. When I first met the Burrell brothers, she tried to tell me they were my mates, even though my memories of them were gone. I didn't understand her then, and I still felt a gap in our connection.

"Don't think too hard about it, though. I know you're used to overthinking everything, but sometimes you just have to feel things. Come on. I think that's enough training for today," Asher said.

I held out my hand. "Help me up? I don't think my muscles know how to work any more."

Asher smirked and grabbed my hand, pulling me up as if I was as light as a feather. Even after hours of training, he didn't seem phased. I wondered if I'd ever reach that point.

"Someone's being a little dramatic." Asher didn't let go of my hand, even when I was properly on my feet.

I shrugged with a smile. "It's my first day of training."

Grunts pulled my attention away. I glanced at Axel and Nathan, who were still practicing with each other.

"Again," Nathan said. Sweat poured down his face, but his eyes were bright with determination. He was focused, and there was a clarity in his eyes I didn't recognize. Whatever was going through his mind currently could only be a good thing. Asher touched my back, following my line of sight. "I think this will help him a lot. If he feels stronger, he won't feel as hopeless."

"I sure hope so," I said. "I just don't want him to over do it."

I grabbed water and walked over to Axel and Nathan. "I don't know about you two, but I'm beat."

"One more time," Nathan said. "And then we can head home."

"You've said that five times already," Axel said, raising his eyebrows.

"Are you scared?" Nathan taunted.

Axel's lips tugged into a smile. He was having as much fun as his brother. "I'm not going to go easy on you, and if you lose, then you have to call it tonight."

"Deal," Nathan said.

Axel waited for Nathan to get into position before grabbing him. Nathan leaned forward, lifting Axel off the ground, but before he could flip him, Axel hooked his foot around Nathan's knee. They both fell to the ground, and I squeaked, worried they were hurt. Axel was the first one to laugh, and then Nathan smiled. "I nearly got you that time!"

"You did," Axel agreed. "Your progress is pretty incredible."

"Next time I'll take you down and stay standing."

"I'm looking forward to you trying."

I stepped in as they sat up and offered the water to Nathan. "Are you guys ready to head home? I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Me too!" Axel agreed, jumping to his feet. He rushed over to Asher to help him with the supplies he had brought.

Nathan didn't move as quickly. He rested his arms on his knees, and there was a lightness to his face that made me smile. His expression was natural. It wasn't a mask to prove to everyone that he was okay. For the moment, his worries were gone. From personal experience, I knew the chances of it lasting were slim, but it was progress, and that was the most important part.

I offered him my hand. "Come on. If we don't hurry, they may leave us behind."

Nathan took my hand, but he pulled me down into his lap. "Twiddle dee and twidle dumb aren't going anywhere. They have to babysit us, remember?"

I settled into Nathan's lap, no longer as eager to head home. "Not for much longer. If you keep this up, you can go anywhere unchaperoned. In fact, maybe you could be my chaperone." I smiled to hide the daunting fact that I was nowhere near the point of being able to protect myself.

Nathan tucked a piece of loose, sweaty hair behind my ear. "Speaking of which, I was hoping we could go somewhere on a date. Just the two of us. We never did get the chance to have a first date."

I hooked my hands over his shoulders. "I think that sounds wonderful. Although, I'm not sure how we are supposed to go on a date when we're not allowed to go anywhere unescorted." Nathan smiled. "Leave that to me. I'll figure it all out."