Bab 13: Chapter Thirteen
"Come on! Let's talk about this!" Eli begged. His sweaty face was covered in dust from the dry earth. "I saved you from Atlas today!"
"I'm kidding, Eli." Serena smiled and helped him off the ground.
He dusted himself off, moved toward his wife, and threw a quick glare at her.
"Here's lesson two." He wrapped an arm around her lazily. She eyed him suspiciously as he trailed his hand down her arm. He stopped halfway down her bicep and slid his hand underneath her tricep. She let out a yelp and jerked away from him. "Use pressure points effectively." He ran after his wife and gave her a quick hug before steering her back toward a laughing Serena.
"That hurt!" She complained as she rubbed her arm gently.
"I know, Sweetie. But it's for education." He grinned, his nose crinkled slightly and his eyes glittered mischievously.
"Education my ass. You just wanted to pinch me. You pervert." She rolled her eyes and pushed him gently.
He threw his hands up in the air and smirked.
"Only when it comes to you, Darling." He said with a wink.
She rolled her eyes again and faced Serena. Her face flushed scarlet as she hid her face from Eli.
"There are several pressure points in the body. If you get the right spot, even the biggest people will cringe and flinch away, as demonstrated by yours truly." She huffed with a quick glare at her husband. "The best ones for if you're in a chokehold or maybe pinned to something, would be the underarm" she rubbed her tricep, "and upper thigh right under the ass." She rubbed her thigh. "You'll know you have the right spot when you feel a bit of a vein. If you pinch hard enough, they'll have a bruise for quite a long time."
Eli stepped forward and toward Venus, who squared her hips against him.
"This is a basic fighting stance. One foot forward, one foot back. But not too far, you need to keep a balance if someone shoves you. From there, you can twist, turn, pivot, shuffle, and anything else you need to do." He patted his thighs, and Venus took the same position. "A basic punch would be using your knuckles or the palm of your hand. For you, I recommend the palm until we build up your strength a bit more." He traced his palm and gave a basic swing, stopping a few inches from Venus' face.
"Make sure you use your hips. That's where most of your power is going to come from. How tall are you again?" He asked, rotating toward Serena.
"I'm pretty average. Right around 5 foot 6 ish."
"Yeah, there isn't a ton of muscle on you, so we need to use what you have now until you can use the muscle and handle other things. Those are going to be the three things we work on today, but we need to do a basic warm-up before we go all out training." He jogged toward the track. "We're going to do a few laps to get our heart up and blood flowing. Try to keep up." He took off into a steady run, leaving the two women behind. The two shot after him and soon caught up.
After a few laps, Eli came to a slow jog and led the two back toward the center.
"Let's just focus on what we were doing earlier for right now. We won't have Atlas today and I can just hover about, making sure that you have the right forms. I can tweak things once I see you in action a bit." Eli said as he pulled Serena by her shoulder to a better position opposing Venus. He released her and moved a few steps back to observe the two. "Let's begin with the basic sparing. Chances are this will be more helpful to you. Wolves and humans are probably stronger than you, and we would like to avoid your death. So practice makes perfect." He flashed a tight, teasing grin at Serena who bit a smile back and focused on Venus.
"Come at me." Venus twitched her fingers, begging Serena to come. Serena nudged forward, little by little. The dust kicked into the air and clouded her feet. With the slight coverage from the dust, she swept her foot out toward Venus' ankle. The sudden impact kicked Venus' foot out, but not enough to topple the sturdy woman to the ground. She used the chance to get a better footing before making a counter. She swung her right fist hard toward Serena's face, narrowly missing by some pure coincidence. Serena's eyes flashed wide and angry toward Venus' smug smile.
"Use your height, Serena!" Eli called, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"I'm trying here!" She yelled back, never taking her eyes off Venus.
"You're doing well." Venus encouraged as she dodged smoothly every flailing punch that was thrown her way.
"Stop! Stop!" Eli bellowed as he waved his hands madly in the air. "All wrong." He sighed and wiped a hand over his face. "Venus, Babe, please chill out. This is not Atlas or me. Let her get a feel without completely discouraging her. Serena," He clasped her shoulders and leaned down to her eye level. "Calm down. I want some good clean punches and kicks. This is casual and not a life-or-death situation. Use your height to your advantage. You have a few inches on her so please, I am begging you. Use them."
"I don't know how... I've never needed to fight anyone physically before..." She lowered her gaze, and Eli let out a heavy sigh.
"She is shorter and faster than you. So, one thing to work on would be timing. She has shorter arms than you by default, and that means that you can use your full arm. She won't be able to reach you in the amount of time and space it takes for you to reach her. For example," He released Serena and turned to Venus. "Extend your arm for me, please." She raised her arm toward his head as he did. His hand touched her forehead while her arm was only to his bicep. "Use your long arms. Use your distance." He lowered his arm and retreated a few steps.
"Again." Eli waved his arm, and Venus darted forward, closing the gap between her and Serena.
Serena dropped a step back and threw a wide punch toward Venus. It was slow enough that Venus ducked and thrust her fist up into Serena's exposed face. The two collided, and Serena fell backward, clutching her jaw.
"I'm so sorry," Venus said as she frantically tried to wipe the blood coming from Serena's gaping lip. "You were wide open, and I couldn't help myself."
"It's okay." Serena huffed lightly and spat in the dirt. "It was my fault."
"You okay?" Eli down and cupped Serena's face in his hands. He tilted it and examined the cut on her lip and chin. "What did I just say? You really had to hit her hard, didn't you?" He glared at Venus, who cowered slightly behind him.
"I'm sorry." She muttered.
"Serena, you are done for a while. Just watch us spar and you can join after you have a bit to watch a true spar." Eli stood and dusted his knees. The two werewolves stood opposite the other, edging along the drawn rim of the sparring circle. Hands out and knees bent, they examined each other playfully but continually. No movement was unseen and not acted upon.
Venus was first to move, again. She lunged toward Eli. He slid to the left, and Venus fell into the dirt. Flustered, she scrambled to her feet and lunged again. This time, catching his foot as he sidestepped again. She jerked it forward, and Eli fell hard on his back. She was on top of him in a second. Fist raised and hand against his neck, pinning him down.
"Sweetie..." He whispered seductively. "Not in front of the guest..." His eyes flicked back and forth between Venus and Serena. Heat flushed in Venus' face, but she remained steadfast.
"Submit." She commanded, forcing her hand further down on his throat.
He smirked, and her eyes widened at the recognition of what she had just said. The heat turned to a dark red, and her mouth gaped open slightly.
"That's not what I meant." She scrambled to her feet and placed her hands against her blushing face. Eli rose to his feet and wrapped an arm around his embarrassed wife.
"I know it wasn't." He smiled widely and turned toward Serena. "That's how it's done. More or less..." His hip bumped Venus gently. "You two can continue to spar. I need to discuss some things with Atlas. Don't be too long and stretch afterward." He planted a gentle kiss on Venus's forehead before waving goodbye to the two.
Venus and Serena danced a dangerous game until the light grew various shades of red and orange. The night was approaching, and there was little the two could do about it.
"That'll need to be enough for today," Venus said as she straightened herself. "Your face okay?" She tilted Serena's face about, examining the fresh bruises and cuts. "You'll be okay."
Serena chuckled and headed toward the door.
"Hey. I wanted to talk to you about brunch..." Venus muttered as she scratched her head. Her sweaty bob stuck in all directions and her gold eyes glinted in the evening light.
Serena stopped walking and stood rigid.
"What about brunch?"
Venus hesitated before continuing.
"Elder Lin was out of line." She took in a deep breath. "But so were you."
Serena whirled around and gaped at Venus. Completely baffled.
"I thought that you did a really good job telling her that your parents made you into the person you are today, but the rest wasn't necessary. My husband may agree with you, but that does not mean I need to. Atlas saved your ass today." She stopped, hesitating at her words and her thoughts.
"What did you expect me to do?" Serena fumed. "Walk all over me? I felt that I was being judged by a woman I had never met before because I started to tell her about my parents first. I just figured that starting at the beginning was a good idea! Was I wrong?" She threw her hands out and stared, confused, at Venus. Venus stood there, kicking the dirt for a while before she spoke again.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Elder Lin can just... She can just take things too far. She is a very smart woman, don't get me wrong, but she can also twist your words. She knows the reason you are here. I am sure of it, so you will be under her watch even more now. There are some here who do not want you to be. They have different plans for the future of this pack. One without you in it... by any means necessary..." Her words stumbled over the other. They frantically looked for the right order and the right tone to convey the concern that weighed heavily on her heart. But Serena stood there, unwavering and rigid.
"You don't understand." Serena began. "My whole life was a lie because of my parents. I need you to understand that. This whole world," She threw her arms out and glanced around at the pack houses and wooded area. "I never knew existed but should have. My dad lied to me for years about this and my mom's death. So forgive me for trying to get you, people, to understand that." Serena left without another word. Venus stood there as Serena stormed back to the house.
"I was only trying to help... If only you would talk to me..." She whispered into the summer breeze. The breeze took those words and faded them into nothing more than a murmur of the summer. Tears formed in her eyes, but with a quick wipe, they too, faded. After a quick blink and a shake of her head, Venus followed Serena's footsteps back to the house.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone