Chapter 36

Olivia

I had so many questions. Was I going to become a vampire? Would I still be a werewolf if I did? Was I doomed to become some kind of half-vampire, half-werewolf abomination? Or would the vampire blood wipe out everything I had ever been, leaving a monster in my place?

I needed answers, but I was afraid to find them. I was terrified that I was going to become something else.

I did not want to be a monster. And I knew, absolutely, that every vampire was a monster.

I needed a distraction. I needed to focus on something else. Training always helped clear my mind.

So, I returned to the clearing. It was empty as usual. I did my warm up exercises. Then, I started training.

Partway through my first exercise, I felt eyes on the back of my neck. My skin crawled. I turned to look, and saw Sofia glaring at me from an archway.

What did she want? I was allowed to train. Damien had said I could train. Sofia couldn’t stop me.

I turned my back on her and tried to focus on my exercises. It was hard to concentrate, knowing she was right there watching me.

I made it through another exercise before I heard several people approach me. I twisted around to see several guards approach me.

I tensed. I was allowed to train, by the Duke’s order. But the Duke wasn’t here to enforce his orders. And I was not sure he would care enough to punish the guards for interfering with my training.

It was difficult to predict what Damien might care about.

“Well, if it isn’t a little mongrel pretending to be a warrior,” one of the guards scoffed.

I glared at the guard. I was not a mongrel! I knew better than to say anything, though. As far as these vampires were concerned, I was just an animal.

The Duke had ordered them not to touch me, but he wasn’t there. He would almost certainly punish anyone who dared to hurt me later, but I would still be hurt.

And being injured would set back my training. I needed to train and grow stronger. I had to get over that wall. I might not have much time left.

“Be careful,” a second guard warned the rest. “This is the Duke’s personal pet.”

I nodded. I wanted to argue that I was not a pet. But belonging to the Duke kept me safe. It was better to swallow my pride.

“Why is the Duke’s pet pretending to be a warrior?” another guard asked.

“Who cares?” the first one asked. “We should show her what it really means to train as a warrior.”

“Yeah!” yet another guard said. “Show this pampered pet how real warriors work out!”

I looked around. There were too many of them for me to just run away. I was surrounded.

I saw Sofia still standing in the archway. She was smiling. I knew she had arranged this confrontation. I just couldn’t figure out why.

“Well, mutt, aren’t you going to thank us?” the first guard demanded.

“For what?” I asked, honestly confused. All they had done was stand around and talk about me like I wasn’t there. They’d barely spoken to me. Was I supposed to thank them for not attacking me?

“For helping you train,” the eager guard said.

They were going to help? Seriously?

“Um, thank you?” I squeaked.

“That’ll have to do,” the first guard said. “Now, I saw you doing push ups when we showed up. Drop back down and do fifty more. Now, mutt!”

I hesitated. Why did this guard want me to do more push ups?

“What are you waiting for?” the eager guard asked. “An engraved invitation?”

Well, I had been doing push ups before they interrupted me. Fifty was a little bit more than I’d planned to do, but it wasn’t too many. There was no real reason not to do it.

I dropped to the ground and got into position. I only managed about ten push ups before one of the guards took a step closer and interrupted me.

“What is that?” the guard demanded.

“Push ups,” I said, looking up at him. Wasn’t that what they wanted?

“That is the most pathetic excuse for a push up that I’ve ever seen,” the first guard announced.

“Spread your hands farther apart,” the eager guard said.

I obeyed. It made it harder to hold myself up. Maybe that was a good thing. Harder exercises were better training.

“Hold your back straight,” another guard ordered. “And don’t stick your butt so high in the air.”

I expected some foul remark about my ass being in the air, but the guard just nodded when I corrected my position.

“Now start again. Fifty push ups,” the first guard ordered.

I finished fifty push ups. They were harder in the new posture, but I could tell that I was engaging more muscles. So that was good.

The guards made me do another fifty push ups after I finished the first fifty, because I still did them wrong. They said I rushed them.

I did the next fifty push ups. I glared up at the guards when I finished and silently dared them to try and make me do more.

“Great. Now show me some sit ups,” the first guard ordered.

I turned over onto my back and curled my hands behind my neck. I hated sit ups. They made my stomach ache for hours afterward. But I would need the core strength to make it over that wall.

The eager guard dropped to a crouch and pressed down on my feet. I stared at him in shock.

“We’re not supposed to touch her,” the second guard warned.

“I’m not touching, I’m assisting,” the eager guard said. “She’ll only waste energy if she does sit ups without someone holding her feet down.”

The other guards discussed that for a moment before agreeing.

“Fifty,” the first guard ordered.

I was surprised to find that it did actually help to have my feet held in place. I was not going to thank the eager guard, though. I didn’t want them here while I trained. I wished they would just leave me to exercise in peace.

They did not. The guards directed me through several more exercises. If I didn’t know an exercise, one of them showed me. Then they made me try it, and corrected my form until they were satisfied.

I didn’t know why they were pushing me so hard. It didn’t make sense. But I met every single challenge they raised and kept going.

Honestly, I surprised myself. I had already trained harder than I ever had before. And I felt like I could just keep going. I could keep training all day if I wanted to. Maybe I would.

Finally, the guards became bored or tired. The first guard shook his head.

“I guess that’s enough for today,” he declared. “We’re done.”

“Okay,” I said, honestly confused as the group wandered off.

What had that been all about?

I looked around after they left. I saw Sofia standing under the same archway. Her arms were crossed. She glared at me.

This had clearly all been some plan of hers. From the look on her face, whatever she planned had failed.

I gave her a bright smile and went inside to wash up and find someplace quiet to draw. Whatever her game was, I had won this round.