Part 22. Caged by Ares

Rayly left for her medical camp early in the morning, leaving the omega all alone. Suddenly the shared room felt all too big and airy, silence making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Ava would much instead prefer her friend and roommates rambling she came to adore. With the beta gone, Ava had to do everything on her own, find the dry cleaning room, learn how to separate her clothes, find the right button for the geyser. Janet stayed on another floor, and she’s busy with her high school.





Ava had to train with Alpha Ares. That knowledge pretty much kept her occupied for the better part of the morning. She hurriedly descended the stairs only to find him sitting at the table closest to the wood burner, laptop open in front of him and notebook by his side. His hair was messily pulled to the side.





She couldn’t help but notice his patchy stubble; it’s barely there. A furrow formed in between his brows as he’s concentrated on something. He’s wearing a V-neck loose tee that hung low. Shaking her head, she snapped out of her thirsting after the Alpha.



“Hey,” Ava cleared her throat.



His head snapped up, allowing their gazes to meet, and her heart leapt in her chest. He appeared tired, she thought distractedly, a hint of purple like shadow below his eyes, his face just minimally pale. Although that might be due to the time of year and lack of sun on this side.




“Hey,” The Alpha echoed softly. “I was waiting for you. You are new around here, so I thought you would have trouble finding the training ground.”




It was a sweet gesture of his part still she pursed her lips. “I have a map.”




When he still appeared clueless, the omega clarified for him. “I managed to get a map of this place from…umm…Janet.”





“That sounds great,” Ares said and stood up on his feet, revealing denim-clad thighs that didn’t exactly clear her clouded head. “You can follow that from tomorrow. Now that I’m here, we can walk together.”





Ava gulped. That’s what she feared the most—being alone with him. According to the map, the training grounds were precisely seven minutes away. That’s four hundred and twenty seconds. She would have to maintain her ground, not slip up and remain calm.





“Sure!” The omega said in an over-enthusiastic tone. “I’ll get my stuff. Meet you out front in five?”




“Okay”, Ava continued to feel a tad breathless, especially when Ares brushed past her with a smile, faint whiff of cologne and his natural scent hitting her more intensely than she would have anticipated.





“Get ahold of yourself, Ava!” The omega muttered to herself under her breath as soon as he was out of earshot.




Ava refrained from whacking herself across the face before making a quick dash into the kitchen, where Rayly left her a packet of chocolate-covered digestives in a small backpack. A small note stated her to be safe, and a good luck wish for the training. Her lips curved in a smile at that; her beta friend was indeed something else. She’s going to miss her for the upcoming two weeks.





The omega stayed in the kitchen for a moment, just calmly taking in air through her nose until she could at least hear herself think again.



Closing the main door behind her, she immediately located Ares standing on the side, scrolling through his phone. He turned his head when he heard the door fall shut, gravel crunching beneath his trainers as he approached her.



“Ready?” The Alpha asked a quirk to his lips.



“Definitely,” The omega breathed out, her eyes shimmering, cheeks already rosy from the wind. A few strands were already coming loose from her ponytail, soft baby hair twitching in the timid breeze. As the Alpha inched towards her, she froze, holding her breath as he blew air on her face.




“You should have worn a cap.”




“I’ll be careful next time!” Her voice rose, wholly flustered and dizzy, hearing her heartbeat far too loudly in her ears, feeling it reverberating in her chest. When the sun broke through the clouds, it took her by surprise, and she had to blink against the light for a moment before adjusting to the sudden burst of brightness.





It caused her to stumble, and before she could flail around, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm to steady the omega.




“You okay?”




“All good,” Ava insisted, but the omega sounded mildly out of breath. It’s not because of the walking; she’s used to walking a few hours every day and at a quick pace. The reason she’s heaving was standing next to her, unaffected, walking breezily.




“So…” Ares cleared his throat. “Your fight was impressive. I didn’t get a chance to appreciate you properly or er…apologise for jumping to the conclusion with my brother in the clinic. Hope all can be forgiven, and we can start over?”




Right. It didn’t slip her mind how erratic both of them acted on that day. Why was he apologising? Was it one of his new tactic? She didn’t understand, but it’s better not to instigate him. Ava bobbed her head.




“That’s alright! I don’t hold grudges.” She scoffed to herself at the lie. “We can start over.”



A grin curved in the corner of his mouth, lips parting to say something, but they were interrupted by a group of guards. She was grateful for that, as Ares got distracted into talking with them while she quietly followed.
***
The training ground was a wide-open area, just as she expected but highly equipped. Of course, woodblocks were used as a resting spot in the corner with a water supply and two large vending machines stuck together. What caught her eye was the pack members in wolves form. They were all shifting behind the trees before entering the grounds.





Some of the wolves were slicing things aimed at them with their sharp sword-like claws, others leaping up the tree in one quick succession while few were duelling one on one. Omegas were also training along with the Alphas, which surprised her. That’s almost progressive. Back in her tribe, they were asked to stay back home, tend to their Alphas or, in case of unmated omegas, learn tactics of pleasing their Alphas. Ava was the exception, of course.





Just then, her eyes landed on Reeves, the Alpha she defeated hanging by the vending machine, his shoulders dropped. No one seemed to be lurking near him. What was that about?





Before she could find out about it, Ares stood in front of her. Shirtless. Her mouth parted as the shower scene came rushing back to her, abdomen clenching painfully. Why was he not wearing his shirt?




“W-Where is your shirt?”



He shrugged, pointing towards the duffle bag. “I don’t wear my shirt during training.”



Of course. He didn’t. She tried not to stare at those perfect washboard abs as if carved by God himself. Ares upper body glistened under the sunlight, his muscles flexing as he took a step forward.




“Anyways, I observed your fight, and you play defensively.”




“Duh,” The omega quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, apologising for her mistake. Seriously what was wrong with her?





Ares rolled his eyes. “You need to sharpen your defensive skills before learning to attack. I mean, it’s impressive you took on an Alpha, but the fight could have ended even in less time.”




“How?”



“Here” He came around her. “I’ll show you.”




This close, it’s impossible to ignore his thick scent, infiltrating every single one of her senses. It’s almost as distracting as the knowledge that she was currently bent over and held down with nowhere to go.




“What are you doing?” She hissed as Ares tightened his grip around her.




He didn’t loosen his grip. “You’re small.”




A scoff slipped out of her lips. Was that supposed to be a compliment? She patiently waited for him to continue.




“You’re small.” The Alpha repeated. “So the chances are if someone’s coming after you, they’re already going to have the advantage of being bigger than you.”




“What’s your point?”




“The point is you should not think about the size of your opponent. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t overpower someone. You have to find leverage and then use it.”




He breathed over her pulse point, the tip of his nose, cold and brushing along. She shivered under his touch, tilting her head, almost exposing more of her slender neck.





“Uhh,” Ava croaked thoughtfully, eyes rolling back as she tried to hold back a whine. She learned all of this when she’s merely a pup. “W-Why do you assume I don’t know this already?”





The heat of his body against her was distracting, especially since he’s shirtless. That’s all the omega could think about.




“Show me what you got then, Ava!” With that, his nose fully pressed into her scent gland, his veiny hands that were holding hers tightening.




The Alpha was trying to smell her!
***

Do you think Ares will be the first one to find her secret? Please comment and tell me what you think!
***