It was surreal to think that just last week I was at university, struggling to stay awake in a Management class, and here I am now getting ready for day two of Liet combat training with no idea if I'll live this excursion.

I decided to wear a hoodie with sweatpants to feel more comfortable about the mark being hidden.

Bayo had been getting increasingly touchy-feely with me, especially around other people. I couldn't stop him, given that we were 'mates' and he even made it look quite believable. It wasn't much for me to actually make him stop it, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable. Wearing the hoodie was also a meagre attempt to feel more hidden from him.

After a breakfast similar to yesterday's, Bayo and I had made our way to the training field where the students were already present.

They had done well for their individual training, so today I decided to start them off in pairs.

"Bayo," I called out to him. He was standing at a little distance with Gamma Fraser, Alpha Alfie and a woman who I assumed was Alfie's mate, judging by the way they held on to each other.

"Yes my pumpkin?" he said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I need you here, for a demo," I told him.

"She needs me," he replied, making his way to me with a wide smile on his face.

How many times is it acceptable to roll your eyes per minute?

He came to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Yes?" he said, his eyes almost daring me to get his hands off.

"What are you doing?" I asked him through the link. I could feel my ears burning again from the discomfort.

"Convincing," he said.

"You don't have to convince anybody right now," I said, irritated. I removed his arms from my body and stood at a little distance from him.

His smirk didn't leave his face, and I could tell he enjoyed seeing me flustered. "What are we doing?" he asked me.

"Pair training. I want you to help me do a demonstration," I told him.

I caught everyone else's attention and asked them to quickly form pairs. After explaining to Bayo what the drills would be like, we began the session for the day.

Gamma Fraser showed up occasionally to ask Diem for reports on how we were doing, while Alfie and his Luna stared at me in a weird way the entire time.

It was the same way Alfie was analyzing me yesterday, in the forest. They were noticing my movement very carefully, and I could only wonder why they'd want to do that.

Bayo and the others were of no interest to them, and everytime I chanced a glance, they were looking right back.

After a while, I decided to give everyone a short break and walked back with Bayo to where my consistent spectators were.

"I'm getting some water," Bayo said to me through the link, while I continued to walk towards the beckoning pair.

"Absolutely brilliant," said the woman, shaking my hand. She seemed to be a perfect fit for Alfie. Tall, slim, dark-skinned, with blonde afro curls that she pulled off beautifully. Although there was something about her smile that put me off.

"I'm Zula. Alfie's mate. You're such an amazing trainer. I mean, I'm not even training but I think I have learned something. Right Alfie?" she asked him, patting his arm.

"Yes absolutely. Quite captivating," he replied.

"Alfie told me you're quite the climber too," she said, laughing. "I didn't know that was a general Liet thing. I thought it was specific to the more Western forest wolves," she said, laughing a quiet laugh, but her eyes seemed to tease me.

"Of course it's not, Rayne is an Eastern wolf. If climbing was specific to western wolves, how could she possibly know it?" said Alfie.

"Oh yeah, right. You have to show me your wolf Rayne. Alfie tells me she's beautiful. I have never seen a grey wolf before!" she said, excited.

"You're kidding me, right?" said Ima. Their interaction caused me to internally cringe.

"They're really not that rare," I said, feeling a little taken aback by their invested interest in me.

"In the East they're not," she said.

I had no idea what they were trying to do. It was definitely more than 'making conversation'.

Just then, Gamma Fraser thankfully made his way to us.

"How's training going?" he asked me.

"Brilliant!" replied Zula, before I could.

Fraser seemed pleased. "Well that's good," he said, now turning towards Alfie and Zula.

"I must ask you two to join me. We have other guests coming in and our Alpha has requested for your presence," he said to them.

"I have to get back," I said, trying to leave with a simple smile. Fraser acknowledged me with a nod and I almost rushed my way back.

Bayo was waiting for me at the front of the training field.

"What did they want?" he asked me, looking at Alfie and Zula leaving.

"To see my wolf," I replied.

"And?"

"And nothing. I'm not shifting for them. Especially here."

"Why not?"

The mark. I don't want you to see it.

"Because, I don't want to rip my clothes."

"Seriously?" said Ima.

"Seriously?" asked Bayo.

"Yes. Seriously. Can we start now?" I asked him.

"I think you've got everything covered here. Mind if I go do some exploring again?" he asked me.

I nodded my head and he gave me a wide smile in response. He quickly kissed my cheek and was on his way before I could process his gesture.

"He's gone too far now," Ima said, her anger seeping through me.

I sighed and turned to face the students who were now ready for me.

Once the students were comfortable sparring in pairs, I reshuffled the groups to have three people instead, so that they could have a one-on-two fight.

Two boys walked my way.

"We don't have a third. Would you spar with us?" one of them asked. They were both taller than me, and well-built.

"Yeah sure," I said.

We found an empty spot in the crowded field and began fighting. We rotated the escapee between us, starting with the boys.

Each of them were good enough to maintain composure and leave our grasp quick enough to shift and escape.

That was exactly the objective, escape.

After a few rounds with the boys, it was my turn to be the escapee.

Both of them pounced on me at the same time, and I easily side-stepped from between them, before either of them could touch me.

They seemed a little aggressive in their stance, which was different from when they were fighting each other.

Perhaps it was because they considered me a difficult opponent. But my thoughts were proven wrong in the next second.

As we started another round, the boy behind me stabbed a knife into my right thigh, while the boy in the front punched me in the cheek. I could taste blood and felt a tooth almost completely dislodged from the side of my mouth.

I wasn't at all ready for such a dirty attack, and I guess it was my fault to have taken these boys too lightly.

I didn't move to fight back as I had noticed Diem rushing from his seat towards us before I fell to my knees.