Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Mila watched the wolves roughhouse. She didn't mind very much doing menial tasks. She worked alongside Winnie, who was an Omega, the lowest ranking pack member.

Winnie didn't need to show her how to do things she just knew how to do them after years of working for the first-born. Jed showed he was more than willing to help though none of the wolves felt comfortable asking him to do anything. Being that he was a vampire, they all knew that he was incredibly strong and therefore had no need to prove himself in the pack hierarchy.

Mila on the other hand was not at all interested in fighting. Though she was plenty confident in her abilities, she felt no need to show off or seek out a position of further authority than tactical knowledge. She didn't think that this was a problem, at least not until she met Kiara.

Kiara had arrived the day before with her mother and the rest of their pack, it was the Blue Hill Pack. While most of the wolves were amiable, being at this was meant to be a meeting of peace and planning for the future, Kiara did not see why they felt the need to invite other species - particularly smelly vampires. Nor was she altogether accepting of an unknown like Mila who did not seem to have a problem with the smell of a vampire, even going as far as to share room with one.

Normally this would be none of Kiara's business - which Mila would have been happy to point out, but for reasons of her own, she had marked Mila.

Kiara being a single alpha female, had singled out the male that had brought Mila into the pack. Outside of the fact that he was quite visually attractive, Mila had very little opinion on him.

However, he had brought her here. He had sought her advice on accepting the vampire in front of Kiara’s pack. This, evidentially, was enough for Kiara to be alarmed.

Seeing as Mila wasn’t even entirely positive of his name yet, she didn’t realize that this was a potential issue until Kiara took an offensive move. She made excuses to walk past Mila, shoulder and hip-checking her as she went.

Mila, glut on water, hardly even noticed at first. When she shoved Mila hard enough for Mila to drop her bowl of freshly peeled potatoes on the ground, she played it off like she hadn’t meant to. Mila shrugged passively, scooping up the food to clean it off.

“She’s trying to goad you,” Willa whispered quietly to Mila a day later when she’d pushed an armful of laundry out of Mila’s hands before they could be hung on a clothesline.

Mila glanced over her shoulder at Kiara. Kiara was tall, curvaceous, and perfectly toned. Her skin was paler than Mila’s, but entirely flawless. She dressed better than most of the other wolves in order to better show off her figure and control.

“Puppies get excited when meeting new people,” she shrugged. “She will calm down.”

Winnie’s eyes widened in surprise, her lips twitching into a laugh. “Sure.”



But another day later, Mila was getting tired of the snubs. Jed was too.

With no chores being offered to him and any attempts to help turned down with poorly articulated excuses, he had to keep himself busy. He’d found a log in the forest and was carving out a bo staff.

It may have been meant as a walking stick, but it was taller than Mila and perfectly balanced. Mila took it from him to examine curiously after he looked like he might use it to whack Kiara as she walked away from another minor assault.

“This is really well made,” She remarked.

Of course, a vampire’s keen eyesight wouldn’t allow for imperfections. Mila spun it on her palm, feeling the perfect distribution of weight. He’d been working on it for less than a day and it was silky smooth even though she’d only witnessed him using his fingernails to carve it down.

“You like it?” His eyes glittered while she continued to play with it, spinning it from arm to arm and around her neck.

“Hmmm,” Mila hummed agreeably. She stamped it down on the ground, pulling herself up to the top of it and balanced upside down. It held perfectly under her weight.

Winnie’s eyes widened in surprise. “How are you doing that?”

Mila swung down and slipped her body into a split on the grass. “Gracefully.”

Dillon whistled. “I guess.”

Mila looked around, feeling gazes on her. “Want to spar with me, Dillon?”

Dillon balked in surprise. She was small as a child and he was a beta wolf. From his perspective, she was fragile. Then he looked at the bo staff.

“You’ll use that then?” He asked.

“If you’d like.” Her lips quirked; she was sure she could handle him without it.

Jed’s eyes flicked over Mila’s shoulder to Kiara. He could sense what Mila was up to. A mild show of strength might be enough to keep the she-wolf off her back.

He and Winnie followed Mila and Dillon to a section of the field set aside for spars. They sat around the edges with the children who spectated the play fights whenever they weren’t practicing themselves or otherwise playing in the meadow.

Mila stood several feet apart from Dillon and bowed at the waist. He did an awkward wobble in response, still not entirely sure about this. She looked so small, especially with a stick that was taller than her.

Mila didn’t wait for him to shift into his wolf form or make the first move. He wasn’t expecting her swiftness. The staff thwacked his shoulder with a loud ‘snap’. Before he could counter, she’d pulled it back, swept it around her body, and attacked his other side. ‘Thwack!’

“Easy there!” he yelled, rubbing his shoulders like he was trying to warm himself. “I wasn’t ready.”

Mila frowned. “In a fight, you don’t wait for your opponent to be ‘ready’.”

He growled a little, lunging forward to try to grab at her. But, she already gone. His hands grasped at empty air for a second before another thwack. This time, it was to the small of his back.

She wasn’t hitting him hard enough to do damage, but she could tell he was finding it annoying. He tossed his head the same way the unicorn did, twisting his body to grab for her again. Again, she hit him, raising the staff up to catch him under the chin.

“Fight back,” she snarled. “You’re not trying, just stumbling around. Is this how you spar with Winnie?”

He growled, but Winnie answered with a clear, ‘no’. He could do better than just reaching his arms out toward her. Looking fiercer than normal, he swung faster, punching.

Mila blocked, kicking up to catch him in the chest. He didn’t stumble, she was too small and not even trying to hurt him. It was just a play fight, but it didn’t have to be boring. He caught the staff and tried to shake it from her, lifting it high.

She held on until he’d lifted her feet off the ground. Using her body weight, she threw herself so the staff caught against his neck, choking him for a moment. She swung around, curling her legs around his middle to catch him in a headlock.

He threw his body backward, attempting to slam her against the ground. She let go to roll off to the side before the full impact could do her any harm. He swung his arm across his body to smack her with the staff, only for her two catch it, using his grip to twist his arm.

When he tried to pull out from the twist, his body instinctively trying to right itself, she put her foot to his head. It would have been horrible for a human, but as a wolf, he just looked irritated.

“Alright, I concede,” he growled out.

She took the staff, bouncing out of the sparring circle to balance like a monkey, frowning. “Are you serious? We barely started.”

Jed and the children watching laughed. Dillon got to his feet, shaking himself off. “It just doesn’t feel right.”

Mila glanced around disbelieving. “Alright then. Jed?”

Jed was up in a flash, stretching in mock preparation though it wasn’t at all necessary for a vampire. “Yes ma’am.”