Chapter 057
HANNAH
"Ugh," I grunted, feeling my stomach do one of it's nervous somersaults.
I felt a strong, warm hand slip into mine and squeeze. Then I was reminded of Jace right beside me. Smiling, I gently returned the pressure. I had completely forgotten that as one of my mates, he could feel my emotions too.
"This is nothing," he said so quietly that only both of us could hear. I felt my anxiety slowly melt away. "You're going to kill it."
Before I could murmur a 'thank you' the crowd of men parted for a big, beefy man, heavily tattooed and pierced, who walked up to us. He gave a nod to Jace and stood sizing me up. When he crossed his arms around his chest, his arm muscles, exposed by the cut off tees he wore, bulged.
"Um.. hi," I eventually said, temporarily giving up on counting the number of earrings and studs he had on his ears and eyebrows.
"Hello Hannah," he said. His voice was a low, deep rumble. "My name is Pierce. Logan Pierce."
Pierce. Looking at his face, the name was very apt.
"He's going to be your training instructor," Jace explained.
"Yes," said Logan. "I am going to be teaching you self defense. The basics and the more advanced forms of it, of course."
"I'm not here to learn only self defense. I need to learn how to shift too."
Logan looked at me for a long time.
It seemed like he was assessing me, trying to find out if I had the drive to go on with this training. He looked like the kind of man who was not easily impressed by anything. I made up my mind then to sweep him and everyone else off their feet. I would be strong, fast and better than anyone else, I promised myself. So I stared at right back at him, unblinking.
"I will train your body," he finally said. "But shifting is where my training abilities end. Shifting is not a skill. It is more a thing of the mind." With a finger on which sat a silver ring shaped like a skull, he tapped the side of his head. "But mostly, it is something you can only hope to be blessed with by the moon goddess."
"I'll shift," I told myself.
Logan glanced at Jace who nodded. Then he turned to face everyone.
In a loud booming voice, he said, "Everyone, this is Hannah Baker come to join us for training. I'll say one thing. We are all equals here on the training field, so take it easy on no one."
The men nodded and grunted in agreement.
"You still up for it?" Jace asked me.
"Yes," I said forcefully. "I'm not chickening out now. Or ever."
"Right," Logan continued. "So we'll start with some warm up exercise." He clapped both hands sharply. The sound echoed across the vast space. "First, give me several laps around the place. Come on! Put your backs into it!"
Thirty minutes later, we had run around the place several times, and were still doing exercises which showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. I felt so frustrated I wanted to punch something. This was not the training I had envisaged. This was turning out to be a complete waste of time.
Eventually, I found myself lagging behind when they began to run to and from the training ground again. I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"What's up?" Cade asked when I turned. "You don't look too happy. Tired already?"
"No." I sighed. "This is not what I signed up for. I wanted to get trained, not do some health club stuff. This is not helping me in anyway. Cade, I want to learn how to shift. I need to learn how to shift. If I'm the... white wolf or whatever it is you people say, I'll have to shift to fully harness my powers, right? Even if I'm not, I still have to become my wolf. I need to sort out this... glitch in my makeup if I'm ever going to move forward."
Cade placed his hand on my shoulder and just like Jace's his touch was soothing. The voices and faces of the shouting, sweaty men all around us faded into the background.
"It will happen, Hannah," he said. "You will be able to shift, but if you have a negative mindset about the training, it's going to delay your progress. Logan knows what he's doing. Believe me, every stage, even this one is very essential even if you don't see it that way right now."
Chase ran past us, waved cheerfully.
I shrugged. "Well, if you're really sure..."
"I am sure. Trust me. The hard stuff comes soon. Now are you ready to give it another try?"
"I'm ready," I said.
"Good. Now let's go."