Chapter 133

Judy’s POV

Gavin was shirtless with only a pair of sweatpants on. I stared at his incredible body, my mouth nearly watering at the sight of his glistening abs. Glistening because he was coated in sweat, indicating that he’d been here for a while working out. When my eyes gazed up at his form, I saw that he had a towel wrapped around his shoulders, collecting the sweat off the back of his neck. My eyes found his and I saw the confusion and slight glitter of rage in his eyes.

“What are you doing in here?” He asked, his tone low and deadly. I wasn’t afraid of him though; I’m not sure if anything he did could make me truly fear him. But I was conscious that he was angry, and it was my presence that made him this way. It hurt; I wasn’t going to lie.

“I… I was going to work out,” I told him, staring at the ground, unable to look him in the eyes. All the pain and loneliness I faced these last few weeks of this man came rushing through my body and I was suddenly feeling smaller than I had in a long time.

What was wrong with me?

He looked at me as if he didn’t believe me; he looked annoyed. He stared down at the bag on the ground and pressed his lips in a thin line.

“Why isn’t that in a locker?” He asked. “It could get stolen.”

“Uh…” I said, glancing over my shoulder at the locker room. “There are no lockers left.”

He scowled as he grabbed my bag off the floor and started towards the men’s locker room.

“W... what are you doing?” I asked him.

“Putting it in my locker,” he muttered and then he was gone.

He wasn’t gone for long though; I waited outside the locker room until he returned a few minutes later.

“There, now it won’t get stolen,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

“I just wanted to get some working out in,” I told him, gesturing for the workout equipment.

He studied me for a moment longer and then he stepped back, allowing me to walk around him.

I started to weave through the people, keeping my head down as I walked past a few known gammas. I walked up the stairs and to the second floor where the treadmills and bikes were. I was glad to see there were quite a few treadmills available. I chose one that overlooked some of the gym; I figured if I could see them, they could see me and part of why I wanted to work out in the gym this morning was so I could be seen. I wanted the competition to see me and know that I wasn’t one to mess with.

I got on the treadmill and started off on a light jog.

I hadn’t noticed the person who got on the other treadmill beside me; at least not until I heard it beeping to life and the person beside me started at a fast sprint. I looked over, my mouth dropping when I saw Gavin on the treadmill.

Had he followed me?

I pressed my lips together, annoyed by the intrusion. Gavin glanced at me, his eyes dark and narrowed in a silent challenge. I knew he wanted to compete with me, and I wasn’t going down without a fight.

I sped up the treadmill, matching his speed and then I went one speed higher, so I was sprinting a little faster. I had gone faster than before, so this was nothing. He would have to try harder than that if he wanted to sike me out.

A smirk played on his lips as we ran side by side and then I heard his treadmill beeping again, soon, he was running even faster. I scowled at him, not wanting him to get the best of me, so I pressed an even higher speed.

Sweat was beading at the nape of my neck the longer we ran like this. I wasn’t going to give up though; I had done a lot faster in the past and a lot longer too. I went jogging almost every morning before school; I was in great shape, and he would soon realize that as well. I wasn’t one to back down, not when it came to training my body.

He stared at me, his eyes never leaving mine as he pressed another button, making himself run even faster.

Soon, we were both running so fast that a normal person wouldn’t be able to see our legs. They were nothing but blurs as the treadmill continued to work overtime. My lungs felt as if they were going to burst at any second. Gavin didn’t look phased though and I shouldn’t have been surprised; he had probably done a lot worse than this.

I didn’t want to back down though hand show him weakness; I wanted to prove that I was worthy of this… that I had what it takes. It was important to me.

I didn’t have time to comprehend what had happened before I fell off the treadmill and slammed into the ground, nearly flying toward the other side of the room. Gavin stopped his treadmill and mine at the same time before jumping off and running towards me.

A shooting pain coursed up my leg from my ankle, making tears burn in my eyes.

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked as he tried to assess the damage done to my ankle.

I swatted him away, hating the throbbing pain I felt in my ankle, but I couldn’t stop training now. It was too early, and I had too much to prepare for. Gavin grabbed my hands with one of his hands, keeping me from swatting him away again, and then he asked my ankle with his other hand.

“It’s sprained,” he told me with a frown. “What were you thinking competing with me? You should have been more careful.”

Tears burned in my eyes as I stared at my swollen red ankle. I knew that it would be healed before the competition started tomorrow. I needed to be careful on it for tonight though so it could heal properly.

“I need to get you to a doctor,” he told me as he was about to scoop me into his arms.

I was on fight and flight mode though and right now. I quickly wiggled out of his hold and pulled myself to my feet, biting my tongue through the searing pain in my ankle and trying hard to keep my pressure off it.

“I’m fine,” I told him quickly. “I wanted to work out, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

I started to hobble away, holding onto the wall for support. It looked like I was going to have to skip leg day and work out my arms instead. It was a setback, but I should be fine by tomorrow. As a wolf, I was a fast healer, so I wasn’t too worried about it. I just hoped I’d be prepared for the first round of competitions.

“I highly suggest you get that checked out. You’ll make it worse if you continue to use your leg,” Gavin said from behind me.

“You might be the boss of me back home because I tutor your son. But you aren’t the boss of me here,” I told him, putting my hands on my hips. “I am capable of making my own decisions. I know my body and what it can handle. I’ll get it looked at later, but for right now, I’m able to continue my workout session.”

I started to hobble away again but he grabbed my arm, halting me.

“You can barely walk,” he said through his teeth, his fury flashing across his eyes.

I pulled my arm away from him, surprising him with the amount of force I used.

“That’s not for you to be concerned about,” I nearly growled. “Just let me work out without you breathing down my neck.”

I turned away and once again, hobbled. This time though, he let me go.

I decided to work out with the weights. It would give me a chance to sit down, and I can still get a decent workout in.

I started with the smaller weights. I sat on the bench and grabbed a 30-pound dumbbell. After a few sets, I grabbed an even bigger size and started another set. Looking around me, I saw a ton of jacked men and a few jacked women working out their arms with giant weights that were bigger than my body.

It was pretty intimidating to watch. I shook my head and continued my own sets, grabbing bigger weights as I progressed. I wasn’t on my leg at all, but as time went on, it was getting difficult to ignore the pain in my ankle.

“You competing?” A voice asked from another bench nearby. It was a woman, and she was adding giant weights, getting ready to do some bench work. She glanced in my direction, waiting for my response.

Realizing she was talking to me, I nodded.

“Uh, yeah,” I told her.

“What pack you from?”

“Redmoon,” I replied.

She nodded, her eyes scanning me like she was sizing me up.

“Come spot for me,” she demanded. I was taken aback by the forcefulness in her tone; she wasn’t giving me a choice, that was a fact. I wanted to tell her that I could barely stand, let alone spot her. But I didn’t want to see weak; I would just have to fight through the pain.

I stood, trying not to look as though I was in a crazy amount of pain, and scurried over ot her. I didn’t want to hobble because then she would know.

I stood behind her, reaching out to grab the weights if necessary.

She laid down on the bench, grabbed each side of the weight, and lifted it up; her muscles protruding as she did so, making me realize she was a lot tougher than she looked initially.

“Are you competing too?” I asked, trying to keep my mind off the pain in my foot.

“Yup,” she murmured. “I’m Tabitha, but most call me Tabby.” As she said her name, she grunted as the weight came down on her. She pushed it back up with another loud grunt. “I’m from the Lakewood pack.”

I’ve heard of their pack; they were pretty large and tough competitors.

“I’m Judy,” I replied.

She grunted again as she lifted the weight in the air, but this time when it came back down it was a lot faster than she intended and I heard her gasp. I had always been a quick responder when it came to things like this; the second I realized she wasn’t in control and weights were slamming down on her, I grabbed the weights and stopped them from crushing her seconds before they actually did.

By doing so, I heard my ankle snapping and pain shoot up my leg once again, nearly paralyzing me. Tears stung my eyes, and I quickly linked them away as I placed the weight back on the hook.

Tabby sat up, her hand on her chest as she panted.

“You’re pretty good,” she said. “Thanks.”

I nodded, biting my lower lip until I tasted blood.

“Yeah, no worries,” I squeaked out. “I need to run. I’ll see you later. It was nice meeting you.”

I started to hobble away; each step was more painful than the last. I couldn’t imagine how much damage I did to my ankle and now I fear I might not be able to complete it because of it.

I started towards the exit, but then I felt a warm coat draping over my shoulders and before I knew what was happening, I was airborne.