The next week continued the exact same way. I woke up, ate breakfast, and started training with Alex. After a lot of arguing, I finally convinced him to let other people come into to kitchen area again, so I was able to see Sophie and the gang every now and then.

Instead of going to school, Sophie and Sienna would just bring Alex and my homework to us. I'm pretty sure Alex used some Alpha pull to get our absences excused, but I wasn't going to fight it, since I knew everything that was being taught currently. The only thing that made me sad was the fact that I hadn't seen Nate the entire week.

Alex had been intent on teaching me to use multiple powers simultaneously while also fighting and protecting myself. Everyday he barked out various scenarios and attacks and required that I respond accordingly.

"Two opponents, one in front, one behind. Both shifters, go"

I mentally erected a temporary barrier to protect my back while I threw a flaming jab-cross, jab-hook at my fake opponent. I then dropped my shield and lashed out with a powerful roundhouse kick to my reverse opponent.

"Good" Alex commented, then he began to take off his jacket and sweats.

"What are you... what are you doing?" I asked in confusion.

"You're going to fight me" he said.

"No" I was not going to torch him alive again, that was awful.

"Yes" he said and dropped into a lethal looking ready stance.

"No, you can't make me-" I stubbornly persisted until I fell face first into the grass. He had swept my legs from under me, then pushed my to the ground with a quick elbow to the back of my neck.

"Seriously?!" I yelled and hopped up to my feet.

"I'm not going to go easy on you because they're not going to go easy on you and you're not dying on me" he said, then threw a left hook at my face. I ducked under his arm, but barely managed to block the kick that followed. I stumbled backwards onto the ground with the force of the blow. He jumped into the air and came hurdling at me, fist poised to pound me into the ground.

"No!" I yelled, throwing my hands up and creating a barrier around myself. Alex hit the wall and jumped backwards. He began pacing, like a wild animal, trying to figure out a way to get to me.

"Drop the shield and fight me! You can't kill someone if you're on the defensive" he growled.

"What the heck?! What the-" I mumbled to myself breathlessly. " How am I supposed to fight you without hurting you?!" I yelled at him.

"Figure it out" he responded.

"Figure it out, oh yeah, thanks" I mocked him, slowly standing up and dusting myself off. I placed my hands on my hips and sighed. "How do I fight him without torching him?" I murmured.

"Hey!" he yelled at me.

"Be quiet!" I snarled back. Think. Think!

....

Wait... I stared at Alex intently. What if I... what if I formed a shield around Alex's body? Something that contoured to the shape of his body. I tried to create it, but couldn't while also keeping the barrier that protected me from his attacks. I huffed out a breath and squatted into my ready stance. I dropped the shield and immediately set myself to creating his defense. I could see the bluish hue of the shield trying to cover his body, but it kept popping like a bubble. He was squaring up to me, readying himself to attack, so I knew I had to hurry. With one last push, I was able to create an Alex shaped shield that moved with his movements. I just had to hope it would stay up when I wasn't focusing on it one hundred percent of the time. Alex came at me then, springing forward with a blow aimed at my stomach. I blocked him with my forearm the pushed my palm against his chest, letting loose a jettison of flame. Alex went flying back fifty feet, sprawled on his back. He hopped up and ran his hands over his chest in a rushed panic. He was shocked to find that he couldn't touch his own body because of my shield.

"Very nice" he said with a malicious smile, then sprinted at me again. I lit my arms and braced myself for his attack. He jumped into the air and came at me first first. I grabbed his wrist and placed my feet on his stomach, flipping him over me. He hit the ground running and was approaching me quickly. I scrambled off the ground and squatted low, placing my palms on to the ground. Flames shot ten feet to my left and right along the ground. I stood up, using an unimaginable amount of force to pull the fire upward, making a huge wall of flame. The last image I had of Alex was him skidding to a halt on the other side. I took three steps backward and prepared for Alex's next attack. I kept glancing to the left and right, listening for footsteps that weren't there.

"Where did he-" but I never finished my statement as Alex came hurdling through the fire. He landed on me and we went flying backwards. We bounced on the ground hard but that didn't stop Alex. When we stopped moving, he had me pinned to the ground. I tried to push him off me, but only succeeded in getting a few inches of space. I tried to crawl away, but I felt his large hand grasp my ankle and pull me back.

"No!" I yelled and pushed him backwards with a blast of telekinetic energy. He went summersaulting away, like a lowly tumble weed. I did a quick jump up and blasted him with six successive fire balls, knocking him to the ground every time he tried to stand up. I felt my heart racing and my fear escalating. I was breathing heavily and I felt like everything was closing in on me. Now I know what a cornered animal feels like.

"Whoa! Ok, calm. We're done" Alex held, slowly coming out of a cloud of smoke. I took huge gulps of air and slowly put out the fires in the grass as well as the ones inside of me.
"Is everything ok?" he asked, finally standing in front of me.

"Yeah... I'm fine" I muttered.

"Are you sure? I'm pretty positive you just tried to annihilate me with fire" he responded.

"I'm pretty sure you just tried to beat me to a pulp!" I yelled back.

"You were fine. Nothing happened. I attacked and you held your own." he said nonchalantly.

"You're ok because I figured out how to protect you!"

"Nuance. The wall of fire was nice" he commented while walking away from me.

"Are you kidding me? Why do you sound so happy? How did you know I would be able to shield you?"

"I didn't"

I stopped walking and stared at him open mouthed. "You are insane. He's insane. Certifiably" I ranted to myself more so than him, since he wasn't listening.

"I think..." he started, sounding as if he was talking to himself, "I think that you just resorted to your instincts in panic".

"Well... sort of... My heart was racing, like I honestly thought you were going to hurt me. And I just... did stuff..."

"Instincts. Your instincts are a little sporadic but they're good" he said pensively.

I stared up at him as we walked side by side, but he looked straight ahead the whole time. He was so much taller than me, it was strange. To feel... normal sized. Human boys were always so much smaller than me. I continued to look at his profile in the setting sunlight.

"You're creepy" he said suddenly.

"Wow, thanks. Why do you say that?" I asked with a bland face.

"You always stare... blatantly... If you're going to check someone out, do it subtly. So they don't know" he explained.

"What!? I'm not checking you... wait, you check people out?" I asked, a little wounded.

"No!! Not... not 'people'... just..." he said, then rubbed the back of his neck and sighed to the sky. "I'm hungry, you cook food".

"That's not... we're not done talking about this!" Only he would be cocky enough to end the conversation when he felt ready.

"Yes, we are. But if you think we're not, have fun talking to yourself" he mumbled.

"You are the devil's incarnate" I whispered as we walked into the pack house.