Betrayed by the Beta, Loved by the Alpha

16. Bully

Eden’s pov:

“Th… This is…” I wheezed, barely able to keep it together, only managing to remain standing by the power of Selene. “Insane.”

“You can keep up,” Hunter shot, his words digging into me like knives. “You will learn to keep up, Eden.”

Hunter wasn’t sparing me in the least, not for being new to training after such a long time away, and definitely not for being wolfless.

Peter, sensing I might collapse, or maybe just taking pity on me, handed me a bottle of water. I gulped down greedily, noisily, uncaring of the mess the water left in its wake.

“I don’t have your stamina,” I let out in a whining tone of voice after a beat.

One look at me, and Hunter growled, his eyes darkening, “Go change, and come back here in 5.”

I allowed my gaze down at long last, and saw that my blue bra was mostly visible through the thin white top I was wearing.

“It’ll dry off,” I rolled my eyes at him, shrugging as I did so.

“Go. Change.”

The way he articulated every word, and the tightening of his jaw, told me that he meant business. Hunter wasn’t going to drop it.

Heavens, he was so handsome… even while he seethed!

“Fine,” I heaved a sigh, and was about to take a few steps away, when a fellow senior stepped forward.

“Here,” he thrust a jacket into my hands. “Take this. This way, you won’t have to change.”

“Miles Blunt!” Hunter growled, ripping the jacket away from my hands before I could even inspect it, much less thank the guy for his generosity. “Since you’re in such great shape, 3 laps around the perimeter.”

“Around the perimeter?” Miles paled at once, his eyes bulging.

Indeed, if Hunter meant the pack perimeter, he would have to spend a solid 2 hours at it.

“Did I stutter?” Was all the answer he received. “And make it quick, unless you want to miss dinner, and go without.”

I gulped down my dread for the sweet classmate, who had only tried to help, and glared at Hunter.

“And you, you’d better not make me repeat myself again,” his words had the knack to make me eat back the words I had been ready to fire at him.

Miles grabbed the jacket, put it back on, and then patted my shoulder in a reassuring way of sorts, “I’ll be on my way.”

Why was he even telling me this? I squinted but didn’t have the time to ponder it.

Hunter’s glares followed me up till I disappeared from his sight. But instead of making haste, I took my time, oh so relieved to be away from that sh*it-hole they called training grounds. This past week had been crazy, from us having to train collectively to us getting to work on our shortcomings at times, it felt like my sore muscles could get no break.

Despite everything going on, I still managed to bake a cake for Susie’s birthday celebration yesterday. It was now in the fridge, ready for tonight's celebration.

Being a natural at baking, the Luna trusted me with it each year. Hell, I realized on my walk to the pack house that she didn’t only trust me with her precious daughter as a babysitter, but also as a baker, and sometimes as a server at some events.

Though the pack provided food, lodging, and even school tuition for orphans like me, one had to earn their way to college.

I soon made it to my room, and got changed into a black tank top, thinking that even if it got wet, it wouldn’t require changing.

Recalling the way Hunter had looked beyond himself, I wondered if I had done something to upset him – if I just wasn’t meeting his expectations – or if he thought I had done this on purpose.

Distracting anyone had never been on my agenda. Surely, he wouldn’t think that of me, would he?

By the time I returned to the training grounds, Hunter had visibly calmed down a little… or so it seemed to me. Despite the ever-present scowl on his face, he was no longer barking orders like earlier, and his shoulders weren’t as stiff either.

“7 minutes instead of 5,” he drawled the moment I reached him at long last. “Give me 5 sets of 15 push-ups. Pronto.”

Looks like I saw wrong, I scoffed to myself in a dejected manner, even as I tried hard not to give him the stink eye.

“Yes, coach,” I offered him a fake smile, which didn’t reach my eyes, and then got to it, even though he and I both knew I couldn’t go past 3 sets yet.

Before long, I was nearly done with the second set when he came to stand next to me, “Wrong posture. You should be widening your feet some more, and your upper body is to remain straight. Start over.”

“What?” I could have cried.

“You heard me,” he told me dispassionately.

I bit on my bottom lip, and did my best not to growl every damned obscenity I knew, working myself tirelessly.

“There,” he almost cooed at me, once I was almost collapsing, “You’ve done it. 5 sets complete.”

“5?” I echoed after him. “I thought my posture was wrong.”

“It was,” he nodded, “But + 10 for effort.”

“We’re not at Hogwarts,” I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me at that point, even as I dropped flat on my tummy, exhaustion winning.

“Nah, but you wish we would be, huh?”

“Ain’t no point in being a bad wizard too,” I heaved a sigh.

“Eden Summers,” he drawled in earnest, his beast coach mode giving way to a sweeter and softer side, “Have more faith in yourself. I know I believe in you.”

The words, albeit simple and matter-of-fact in nature, had the knack to bring a smile and a blush to my face.

By the time I straightened up, I realized that everyone had dispersed, their hours of training done, and only Hunter and I stayed back.

“Thank you,” was all I could offer after a beat.

He was slowly but surely helping me restore my faith in myself, and he might not even be aware of what his words meant to me.

“You understand instructions on the go, and you’re hard-working, Eden,” he praised me again to my utter and complete surprise. “Keep it up, and you will catch up.”

I was taken aback to say the least. From just keeping up to catching up, it felt like such a big leap, and yet if he thought I could do it, I just actually might… Who knew?

“Thank you, Alpha!”

“For the last time, call me Hunter, or so help me, you won’t like the consequences,” he ruffled my hair in an affectionate manner that had me blushing yet again.

I shouldn’t have been eager to plead in his favor before. Susie was right. He was indeed a bully… and he probably knew it too.