Chapter Twenty Four.

The air was once again knocked out of me as my back hit the mat that covered some of the floor in the massive gym that was situated a little walk away from the pack house.

I had been surprised when Logan had led me through the pack grounds after telling me to dress in gym clothing which consisted of a pair of shorts a large t-shirt belonging to Logan as well as his jumper for the short but cold walk to the gym. I had been expecting to leave the pack grounds and head to a gym in a human settlement close by but on our first walk to the gym Logan had explained that a gym had been built on the pack grounds so no one had to leave the safety of the pack grounds.

I wheezed and rolled onto my side closing my eyes as I breathed through the pain that to centre around many different parts of my body. Logan has been training me for the past few days now and I had yet to show any sign of improvement. I hadn't even been able to block any of Logan's hits and even though they had been gentle I was still covered in bruises.

Logan was holding back on the training. I had been told by one of the pack members in the gym that Logan trained the teenagers sometimes and train them to the point of exhaustion. I had been horrified but later found out that the training technique had worked. I was grateful that Logan was holding back but I also wanted him to test me and stop treating me as if I was going to break at any moment.

"Crap." I heard Logan mutter before his footsteps could be heard making their way towards me.

"I'm okay." I coughed.

I rolled back onto my back and looked up to see that Logan was standing over me with a worried expressed. I rolled my eyes and took the hand he had offered out and allowed him to gently pull me up onto my feet. My chest ached from the blow that Logan had moments ago delivered which had caused me to land on my back.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea." Logan murmured lightly as he tucked a stray strand of hair that had fallen lose from the messy bun on top of my head.

"No," I shook my head from side to side ignoring the dizzy feeling that over powered me for a moment, "I need to learn Logan. I want to protect the pack and myself. I need to do this."

"Fine." He huffed, "but we're taking a five minute break."

I nodded enthusiastically. Logan helped me limp slightly over to the benches that had been placed to the side of the large blue mats. Oliver and Jason were busy on the weights equipment on the other side of the gym. I was surprised to see so many pack members in the gym and training outside as well all in preparation for the oncoming attack. I had originally asked to join them but one of the conditions that Logan had set was that I had to agree to before training was that Logan was the one to train me.

I accepted the bottle of water that Logan held out to me once I was seat on the bench and greedily gulped down almost half of the bottle before taking it away from my lips. My wolf was slowly healing me whilst she silently grovelled at the fact that her mate was the one to hurt us but she understood that it was for our best interest and at my request.

If I was going to be the Luna of this pack a concept that Logan had also explained to me in full a few days ago. I wanted to be able to care for the pack not just emotionally but physically as well and that meant being able to fight. I needed to be strong not only for the pack but myself as well.

My wolf was angry at what my dad had done to us and my mum for the past few years. She wanted revenge just as much as I did and to prove to my dad that we weren't the weak and broken girl that he had made us into. I wasn't going to fear him no matter how much he scared me. I was stronger now and with Logan and the pack by my side I knew that I was strong enough to stand up to my dad, I had to be.

I placed the water bottle on the floor beside the bench and stood with a new found confidence and drive to do well, "let's go."

Logan sighed from my side but said nothing as he walked with me to the centre of the mat before turning to face me standing a foot or three away from me. I shook my head from side to side and rolled my shoulders before squaring them and placing my feet shoulder width apart. I nodded my head at Logan signalling to him that I was ready to begin.

The door to the gym opened catching my attention and I looked to see that Sam was walking into the gym. I smiled in greeting before finding myself once again with my back on the mat. Logan had only pushed my shoulders but it had been enough to knock me to the floor. I groaned loudly, frustrated with myself for getting distracted. It had been one of the very first things that Logan taught me, do not get distracted but also be alert of your surroundings.

"Esme," Logan groaned, "I told you to always be focused on your opponent."

"I know," I grunted. I got to my feet in a swift movement and nodded my head, "again."

Logan came towards me just like he had every other time and I tensed my entire body in preparation for his attack. He raised his left hand to strike a blow to the left side of my face which I was quick to block by raising my right hand and attack his side with my left. Logan was obviously more experienced. He'd predicted the move and grabbed my fist in his free hand and in one quick move he had my arm locked behind my back and his hand wrapped around my throat.

I growled loudly in frustration at the fact that Logan had been able to pin me once again. I knew that the training wouldn't work miracles overnight and I would wake up the next day with the sudden ability to block and fight. I had expected to see a little improvement the past few days as Logan and I spent all our free time training but the improvement had been slow and time wasn't something I could count on. My dad could attack any day now and I needed to be ready.

It was difficult, every time I thought that I had actually succeed in blocking Logan a few times as well as delivering a blow to some part of his body he would pin me or block me, showing just what he was capable of. It told me just how useless I actually was at fighting with the fact that Logan was not putting much effort in at all and I still wasn't able to successfully knock him to the floor let alone pin him.

"This is useless," I threw my hands up in the air. I could feel tears of frustration build up in my eyes but I quickly blinked them away. I hadn't cried in so long and I wasn't about to start now.

"Esme," Logan sighed stepping towards me but I shook my head, "maybe we should stop training for today."

I was about to reply but Sam interrupted me, "you're holding yourself back."

"I'm trying." I stated with a frown, a little insulted that he couldn't see the effort I was putting in nor could he see that I was trying my hardest.

"May I?" Sam asked looking towards Logan to ask permission.

I looked between the two and saw that they were having a silent conversation with each other through the pack link. I knew that it was about me which was why the two weren't talking out loud. I sighed loudly; my wolf was tired and frustrated. We hadn't even started training in our wolf form yet because Logan wanted to improve my fights skills as human before even thinking about my wolf. My wolf form was only as strong as my human form.

"Fine." Logan stated out loud causing me to look up at him from where I had been starring at the mats to see him walking away and to the benches. He didn't look happy and my wolf and I wanted to go to his side immediately and comfort him.

"What's going on?" I asked, my frown depending as I looked between the Alpha and the Beta in front of me. I saw out of the corned of my way that Jason and Oliver were slowly making their way to Logan's side, a cautious look on both of their faces.

"You're pathetic." Sam sneered at me.

My head turned to look at him so fast I was surprised that I didn't get whiplash. I starred wide eyed at the Beta whose face was twisted into an ugly scowl of disgust. My heart seemed to beat impossibly fast and it was a feeling that I was all too familiar with. I closed my eyes tightly only to see my dad's face mirroring a similar expression to Sam's.

"You're pathetic," my dad hissed at me, I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he grabbed my hair and forced me to look up at him. My scalp burned from his touch and I swallowed the whimper, "incredibly pathetic."

"No," I cried out loud.

I opened my eyes to see that Sam was now looking at me from head to toe, his upper lip curled in an unattractive sneer and I couldn't help but flinch back a little. My wolf growled at the disrespect and the memory of my dad. She wanted to take control so that we could show Sam just how pathetic we really were. I wanted to be strong like my wolf and fight Sam back but I couldn't. I was lost in the insults and the memories of my dad.

"You're worthless." Sam's voice rang throughout the gym that had now fallen silent.

I dared to look around to see that everyone now crowded around the mats looking unhappy and slightly shocked but no one dared to step in a defend me. My eyes found Logan who stood to the side with his arms folded across his chest, his muscles bunched and tensed as he glared at me from where he stood, Jason and Oliver doing the same. I whimpered out loud unable to hide how hurt I felt.

I thought that Logan loved me, both me and my wolf did. I was beginning to see Jason and Oliver as brothers and Sam a close friend. I had thought that I'd finally belonged somewhere surround by people I loved and who loved me in return. My wolf wouldn't let me think any further as she growled.

My wolf was angry. She didn't understand the sudden behaviour change in every in the room. She was confused which only fuelled her anger and slowly began to take hold of my emotions as well. I was beginning to feel my own anger arise as well as hers and together we were soon becoming furious.

"You're embarrassing." Sam growled. He was now circling me, looking me up and down from head to toe.

I was suddenly drawn back into a memory, a memory that I wished to forget more than others. It was the last memory that I had of my dad before me and my mum had run away and it was when my dad had almost killed me.

"I don't appreciate you waltzing in late and looking like some sort of wild animal," he sneered in my face as I desperately tried to breathe, I could feel my lungs begin to burn from the lack of oxygen, "you've embarrassed me in front of my friends as well as your mother and yourself."

My dad's cruel, sinister smirk was all I could suddenly see. I blinked multiple times desperate to get rid of his face but with each blink a new image would appear all of my dad and the many terrifying face's that he had pulled over the years.

"You're weak, you're not fit enough to be our Luna or Logan's mate." Sam hissed.

It was the last straw for my wolf and I. We were together more than we ever had been before in that moment and we were angry. She wanted to prove to everyone around us that we were no longer weak. She was strong and she made me strong, she was the crutch that I had needed all of my life.

Sam was walking to the side of me momentarily pausing in slight hesitation which allowed me to strike with my wolf behind my movements and guiding me. I growled out loud and stepped forward so that I could deliver blow to the side of his face catching him off guard as he stumbled and clutched the side his face that I had just struck.

My wolf didn't waste any time as she guided me to drop to my knees and to spin on my heel with my leg stuck out so that Sam's legs were taken out from underneath him. The sound of Sam's back hitting the floor echoed through the room. I lurched forward so that I sat on top of him, his hand twisted awkwardly in one of my hands and the other, his left that my wolf had taken a second to realise it was his weakest pinned above his head. My shin rested on his chest with my knee resting tightly under his chin and the littlest of pressure would make it difficult for him to breathe.

Sam starred back at me in nothing but shock, his eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly a jar. He seemed to me unable to make coherent words apart from the funny sounds that were coming from his throat.

"We are not pathetic." My wolf growled out loud as she suddenly withdrew allowing me full control of my body back.

I gasped out loud and quickly scrambled off of Sam and onto my back side, using my hands to move myself further away from Sam, "I'm sorry."

I had enjoyed my wolf and I coming together as one. It had been one of the best feelings I had ever had the pleasure to experience. I felt powerful, I felt strong and for once I felt brave and it was a feeling that I could see myself getting used to.

"Wow." I heard Jason whilst from behind me and I resisted the urge to turn around a look at the reactions of those that had stopped what they were doing to crowd the mats and look at the commotion.

"Yeah, wow." Sam agreed and looked at me where I still sat frozen with a huge smile on his face, "That was amazing."

I frowned at Sam's smile, "are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I? I'm sorry."

"Esme," Logan called softly from my side and I turn to see that he was crouched down next to me with a smile on his face, "you're amazing."

"I don't understand." I whispered hurt.

The names that Sam had thrown at me a few minutes ago were still on my mind. I was hurt and upset and now I was confused as well. Everyone's behaviour had suddenly changed from what it had been a few moments ago. The room no longer felt cold but warm with a slight buzz in the air. My wolf was quiet and listening to everything around us, especially to Logan who now held my hand in his.

"Sam had an idea." He began to explain with a soft squeeze of my hand, "He suggested that for you and your wolf to come together and fight as one you had to be pushed hard enough and the only way, was well you know."

"You could have told me," I muttered.

"It wouldn't have worked so well," Sam spoke no standing and stretching out his arms, "would you have gotten that angry and upset if we'd of told you what we were going to do?"

I shook my head, "I thought you were serious."

Logan growled at my side and was quick to take my head in his hands so that I was forced to look him in the eyes.

"We would never, ever say such cruel things to you and mean them. You're my mate, my Luna and I love you. The entire time that Sam was throwing insults at you I had to restrain myself and my wolf from attacking him and I'm sure that every pack member here also had the same problem." He stated, "it goes against every wolves being to be hurtful towards there Luna as it is there job to love and protect her. Sam's wolf was ready to roll over on his tummy and beg for forgiveness if you hadn't of snapped when you did."

"Oh," I blushed.

I felt a little bit embarrassed for some unknown reason. I should have known that Sam didn't mean everything that he was saying nor should I have believed the actions of everyone around us. I knew that the pack would never do anything to hurt me intentionally ever since I had been here they had tried to show me nothing but love, protect ion and care for me. The pack had still yet to meet me formally as Logan wanted to wait till everything was over but even so; they still treated me as their own and guessed who I was.

The pack meant everything to me and I now realised that I should have had more faith in them. This pack was nothing like my dad's and would never treat anyone so cruelly. This not only was Logan's pack but now my own as well.

"You can really kick ass little Luna," Sam teased.

I looked away from Logan briefly to Sam who was grinning now at me, pride evident in his facial expression and I couldn't help but smile back, "thanks."

"I feel like a proud mother," Jason spoke from beside Sam with a grinning Oliver to his left.

I laughed happily at Jason's comment and turned to see Logan grinning at me. I felt an overwhelming feeling of happiness, those in the gym now surrounded Logan and I on the mats, all grinning and pride shinning in their eyes, warmth radiating from them all. The smile on my face was so wide my cheeks began to ache. My heart swelled with love for those that stood around us and I was sure that my eyes were shinning with unshed tears.

"Thank you." I whispered to Logan.

"For what?" He question, a brief kiss was placed on the corner of my mouth.

"For everything.. for saving me."

AN: Hello my lovely readers. Thank you all so much for you support so far. I'm moving house on monday and I found out that I wont have internet until the 8th October which means I wont be able to update until then (I'll update on the day if I can). Although I will continue to write and hopefully finish the book in that time as there is only a few chapters left. Thank you all so much!