An Intruder

With a go-ahead from the pack doctor, Emily was back in the ring. Now more than ever she knew the importance of being able to defend herself. She and her brother strolled to the arena with Rabid on their heels, without a leash.
“You held your own against the ghouls. I’m proud of you.” Aspen said with a smile. That blade came in handy.” Emily nodded feeling the familiar weight of the blade, now permanently strapped to her back.
“Today’s lesson should be how to not get knocked out during a fight.” The redhead joked.
“Shut up Simms.” Aspen countered but she was grinning.
“Maybe I could be of help?” a voice Emily found easy to identify called out. “Hello, Aspen.”
“yeah. Knock yourself out. Her brother could use a tougher sparring partner.”
“I think I’m good,” Sam called out. Emily grinned as the image of getting whooped by Aspen filled her head, but then it clicked. She whipped her head to face Logan
“you want to train me?”
“don’t worry I’ll be gentle.” He said as he rolled his shirtsleeve up. he was dressed in a button-down shirt and pressed pants, that wasn’t a man dressed to train.
“ the last time someone said that I ended up getting tossed around the ring like a rag doll,” Emily said drawing her gaze away from his exposed arms.
“yeah, but he also ended up with a knife at his throat, so watch out for that,” Sam called out, then got punched square in the face by Aspen.
“You’re not gonna hit me like that, right?”
“I don’t make any promises.” Emily couldn’t tell if he was kidding.


She deserved a medal, there was no other option. A full hour in the ring with Logan and her only scar was a possibly broken rib. Annoyingly Logan’s face was just as perfect as when he stepped into the rig. All her rolling and dusking meant she was covered in dust that stuck to her sweat and made her itch.
“That was terrible.” She said as she pressed into her ribs with her free hand. The other was clasped around a bottle of water.
“You did good. Managed to get a few hits in.”
“Yeah, that you let me.” She grumbled. There was more damage to her fists from her blows. Logan chuckled.
“You’re a sore loser.”
“Drink this.” Aspen extended a mug to her. it’ll help you heal faster, not wolf speed but better than nothing.”
Sam sat on several benches behind a mug in his hand. Emily burst out in laughter when she spotted the two wads of tissue dangling from his nostrils.
“Looks like you got your period Sammy!” she yelled and laughed harder when he flipped her off. Her ribs hurt but it was worth it. she took a sip of the brown juice and gagged.
“what is in this thing?”
Logan frowned, collected the cup, and took a sip. He spit it out. “What the fuck?” it was Aspen's turn to laugh.
“I added a little something extra to hers; A little motivation to force her wolf out. If you don’t shift fast, you’re going to be drinking a lot of that after every training. Welcome to your new life.”
She smiled sweetly and walked away.



“thanks for not killing me,” Emily said as they made their way to the main house.
“It was my pleasure” It was. When he had left the library that morning he’d gone straight to the arena, he refused to acknowledge his thoughts till he was there and offered to spend more time with Emily…training her. They walked in silence.
“I learned that werewolves aren’t the only type of werecreatures that exist.” Her arms were folded over her torso; the healing concoction had not taken effect yet. he felt guilty for cracking her ribs. “there are panthers and cheetahs- practically any big cat or dog you could think of.”
He nodded. “It’s true if you thought werewolves were secretive, the rest are almost nonexistent. Small secluded packs.” The older werewolves to tell themselves apart by smell, but the younger wolves, him included could not. You can’t identify what you’ve never met before. “There’s a lot of nonhuman beings roaming Em. Half ghouls, ghosts…the list is endless. It was our world before it became the world of humans.”
Emily blushed which amused him. He was starting to think the pink tint to her cheeks suited her perfectly.
“What are half ghouls?”
“they’re the ones that can pass off as humans. They are not quite undead but are just as poisoned. Most serial killers are half ghouls.”
“wow.”
“Since you asked two questions, I get to ask one, right?”
Emily looked surprised but played along. “What could you possibly want to ask?”
“When you woke up after the…accident, you said something about me in spandex. I’ve been trying to figure out what you meant by that.” Her color deepened, the red on her neck becoming visible, it was almost too easy. What else could he say to make talkative Emily speechless?
Bruce jogged towards him just as they passed the main entrance. “Been looking for you everywhere. We have a problem”
“When do we not have one.” He muttered following Bruce.
Lexi was kneeling by the Library fireplace, pulling ash and pieces of scorched paper. Frasier stood close by looking grim-faced. Besides that, everything seemed normal.
“Well?”
Lexi dragged herself up, her long white dress covered in soot, the papers she retrieved from the fireplace in one hand. “Someone got into the library while we were gone. And they help themselves to a nice warm fire, courtesy of the books we were supposed to read through.”