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"Where are you going?" Father demanded as I opened the front door. "You're supposed to be meeting with Alpha Jonas today to arrange your betrothal."
I rolled my eyes. "YOU are meeting with Alpha Jonas today to arrange my betrothal," I said. "It's a pointless exercise, by the way. I'm not marrying him. He's old enough to be my father - meaning he's as old as you are - and I don't like him."
"You will watch your tongue," Father warned me. "This is an arrangement that's been in the making ever since you were born. I will not have you be absent and disgrace this pack any more than you have already done."
I picked up my gym bag. "Try and stop me," I snapped, throwing the door open and slamming it firmly behind me. I heard Father angrily stomp away, and I knew there'd be hell to pay when I got back. But I wasn't interested in family drama, and he couldn't force me to marry against my will. Even so, he'd probably make my life miserable when I got home, but I was used to it. 128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zAjgPa6wA
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Ten minutes later, I was in the pool. It was quiet today, which meant I had it almost all to myself, and I swam several laps before taking a break. At least here, I had no one in my ear about giving my parents grandcubs to raise, which was something they'd been trying to push on me ever since I turned sixteen. But I wasn't interested in marrying and having cubs. I wanted to be a ballerina - specifically, an underwater ballerina. Twice a week I did various exercises to increase my breathholding capabilities underwater, and my coach was very impressed with my progress. I could now hold my breath for two and a half minutes, but today, I was going to try for three.
Elise, my best - and only - friend, soon arrived with a stopwatch. "You ready for this?" she said, setting her things down on the deck next to mine.
"You bet," I said, taking calming breaths. I was a bit nervous about breaking my current record, but Coach Jasper had assured me I was more than ready, and likely capable of going past three minutes. "Don't push yourself, though," he'd advised me. "If you can't go past three, don't stress. You've got more than enough time to improve on whatever you achieve today."
"Right," I said aloud, putting my goggles on. Elise would be timekeeping, to ensure I didn't send myself into a panic by looking at my own watch. "Tap the ladder when the stopwatch hits three minutes."
Elise nodded. "3...2...1..." When she reached one, I took a deep breath and submerged myself, holding onto the ladder as I got comfortable. My world was now blue and silent, and I relaxed, letting myself drift. To distract myself, I watched the other swimmers as they made their laps, observing them as they reached my end of the pool, turned, and swam off for another lap. Occasionally I looked up, watching the lights ripple on the surface in never ending patterns as swimmers came and went. Eventually, the ripples steadied as each swimmer left, until it was just me and Elise. I could sense her on the surface, and idly I wondered how much time had passed. I chided myself immediately; I didn't want to worry about how much longer I had.
I did, however, recognise the first signs of depleting air; a mind tremor went through me as the first convulsion came. It was minor, but my training told me I had at least a good minute or so in me before I'd need to get to the surface. So I held onto the ladder, willing myself to relax and not panic, even as the contractions grew stronger and my lungs began to burn, warning me I was running out of air. But I didn't fret, counting to twenty in my head, and starting over with each contraction. It proved just the distraction I needed; a tap on the ladder told me I'd reached the three minute mark. By now the contractions were growing ever more painful, so I took the hint and surfaced, breathing deeply to flush the excess carbon dioxide from my system. "How'd it go?" Elise asked me.
"Well enough," I said. "I didn't think I'd go past three, to be honest. Thanks for tapping me out."
"At least you got there," Elise said, smiling as she helped me out of the pool. "Don't forget, though, you've still got to practice dynamic apnea, and when you're doing all your fancy moves underwater, you're going to be using a lot of oxygen."
I groaned, but I wasn't as peeved as I sounded. "Just the encouragement I needed," I complained, laughing. "Thanks for being my spotter."
"All for my best friend," Elise said, and I had to smile at that.
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