Where There's a Wolf There's a Way [1]

Peanut

Nathan POV

"Come on, Peanut! You can do it," I tell her for the millionth time. She shakes her head again. I sigh shaking my head slightly. What am I going to do with this girl? We've been outside for hours now and she refuses to participate. I close the space between us leaning down to look her in the eyes. "What's wrong, Peanut? I thought you wanted to learn how to protect yourself."

I don't want to hurt you. She states flushing slightly. I throwback my head laughing hard. Once I calm down I notice she looks confused.

"Peanut, I've studied martial arts for years. You won't hurt me. But you have to practice the maneuvers we just went through on a real person in order to fully master them," I try to explain to her. Her heart is too big for her own good. "Besides, I'm use to bruises." She tilts her head and narrows her eyes at that. Ugh, why did I say that?

What do you mean? She asks me. I wince internally not wanting to have this conversation right now. I glance back at the house but don't see any of my brothers. I'm on my own for this one, I guess.

"You want to sit down for a sec?" I ask motioning to the grass. She nods reluctantly and sits down next to me. We sit like that for a second before I finally sigh. Better to just get it over with I suppose. "When I was younger, my father was not a nice man."

Father? She asks looking very confused. Sometimes I forget how much she has missed out on.

"Yeah, your mother and father are the ones who are supposed to raise you and love you. But sometimes it doesn't work out that way." She visibly flinches at the word mother. "Sang, Peanut, are you okay?"

Bad woman....mother.

"She was your mother?" I ask shocked.

Think so. She looks so lost. I pull her into my side and smile when she snuggles her face into my chest.

"My father was bad as well. He use to get so angry and hurt me," I try to explain. She grips my shirt tightly and pulls back looking at me with so much concern.

Hurt? Okay?

"Yeah, Peanut, I'm fine. I found my brothers, my pack. I know how to defend myself so that it will never happen again. Now I want you to learn how to defend yourself so that if anyone like that idiot at the mall tries to come at you again you can protect yourself from getting hurt." Waiting a moment, she finally nods her head. We stand back up and get into position. "Okay Peanut, let's start with the first move we practiced."

It was well into the afternoon before we stopped. She has the basics down and is a surprisingly fast learner. It's like once she sees it, she can do it. I am very impressed. A few more months of training and she'll be able to give a lot of the guys a run for their money. It will take a little longer than that for her to take me on but I have no doubt she'll get there. She is amazing.

As we head back to the house an idea pops into my head.

"Hey Peanut, want to go swimming?" I ask. She tilts her head adorably. Breathing hard and covered in sweat she still looks amazing. Maybe Silas is right and she really is an angel.

Swimming?

"Come on," I say grabbing her hand pulling her towards the forest. "I'll show you."

I follow the familiar path pulling her along behind me. Soon I hear the running water just as we break through the trees. I hear her gasp behind me at the sight. I found this place when we initially were discussing properties. It's one of the reasons I voted for this patch of land over the others. I stare at the wonder of nature in our backyard. A small waterfall runs off into a small circular water hole before traveling farther downstream. Sang looks at it eyes wide before turning to look at me. I glance down at our clothes. They do need to be washed to.

"Come on, Peanut!" I cheer playfully pulling her along into the water. She laughs with me carefully making her way into the cool liquid.

It feels amazing after that workout. We are almost chest deep when I feel her stop. I look back taking in her scared expression.

"Do you trust me?" I ask her earnestly. She meets my eyes and nod automatically. I pull her closer to me wrapping my arms around her body. Instinctively she wraps her arms around my neck. I glide back farther into the water supporting her weight. Suddenly she leans back unwrapping her hands to lay her back and head on top of the water. I can feel her sigh. I chuckle slightly at the sight. She whips her head up splashing me with water. She freezes for a second before bursting with laughter. I don't care what I have to do. I will be made a fool of every day for the rest for my life if I can get her to laugh like that.

We stayed at the pool for a while splashing around and having fun but I knew I needed to get her back. I couldn't hog all of her time unfortunately. By the time we made it back to the house we were no longer dripping but still wet. Gabriel immediately stole her away muttering about how I ruined her hair or her outfit. I wasn't really listening. I headed up to my room to change before dinner. I pull my shirt over my head and start to pull my short off when something catches my eye. I move my shorts so that I can see it clearly. There on my left thigh is the exact same tattoo that everyone else seems to be getting. I trace the heart hidden in the vines of the gray design wondering what on earth it could mean. 

***Only Owen left! I had a bit of a hard time with chapter but I hope you guys like it. I'm sorry it's kind of short. As always please vote, comment, etc. and tell me what you think! Happy Reading!!