Logan Chapter 139

-Emory-

So there’s no denying I’ve been robbed. I was thinking that I would get this svelte wolf shifter body if I managed to “activate” my genes and go full fur. Not only did I not wake up skinny from my first time shifting like some kind of extreme Werewolf in London diet, but I’m still freaking slow!

Hammer didn’t care one iota that I managed to shift with Logan. No “congrats, rookie” or even “I knew you could do it.” I got flared nostrils and a nod. A nod! That’s all! Then he had the rocky mountain oysters to tell me that we’d be doing push ups before running today. Like I’m in some kind of boot camp! “Hammer, I thought you were going to help me with self-defense, not bikini season. Why do I need to do push ups?”

Hammer is already on the ground, getting ready to start his own push ups. He has this pathological need to do whatever he asks me to do, but better and faster for my peak embarrassment. “Because your punches land like feathers when you need bricks. Get down here.” He’s not even breathing hard and he’s already like ten push ups in. At least he brought me around to the side of the house the guards can’t see from their posts. Actually, that might be a security concern. I’ll have to bring it up-

My thoughts slam to a halt when Hammer casually- without pausing his exercise- lifts one leg from the ground and uses it to sweep mine out from under me. I tumble to the ground in an ungainly heap and kick back out at him when I’m organized enough to know which directions my limbs should be going in. “Hey! What in Sam Hell?” I like to play up my Southernisms with Hammer, because they seem to confuse and then annoy him, which is more fun for me.

His scoff soothes my wounded pride when he doesn’t flinch at all from my kick to his side. “I said get down here. Now start pushing, you’ve got ground to move. I already have thirty-seven push ups on you and you’re going to have to catch up at the end.” My jaw drops.

“Hammer, I can’t even do thirty-seven push ups, let alone additional ones. I’d have to add them to negative twenty.”

“-nine, forty” Damn it.

“Hammer, this is crazy talk. I can’t do that many. You’ll get like ten outta me, maybe.”

He’s not listening. “Forty-four, forty-five.”

I suspect he’s going more slowly than he would otherwise, probably for some kind of additional muscular benefit of some kind. There’s a tiny, hopeful voice in my head that thinks it’s maybe so I don’t have as much to catch up to, but it honestly doesn’t matter. I couldn’t do fifty push ups in a week, let alone a day, so I just resign myself to sucking dirt and roll so I’m on my knees with my hands shoulder width apart, and I start to lower myself to do the probably ten push ups I’m capable of. Hammer finally stops his workout to look over to me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He’s just hovering with his elbows bent, about two inches from the ground. Show-off.

“Push… ups.” I grunt out.

“Get your knees up, your ass down, and actually move your damned body then, rookie. You look like a demented hen pecking the dirt like that.” He tilts his head further. “Or an inch worm.” That’s great.

I sit up and rest on my knees. “Thanks for the visual. Appreciate it.” Then, I have a brilliant idea. “Actually, I want to go somewhere today.”

Hammer smirks, apparently already onto me. “Where do you want to go, rookie? Forget an ice cream social you had an invite to?”

That sounds way better than my idea. Mostly because I didn’t have any ideas. “Somewhere. It doesn’t matter. We need party supplies for the full moon party and I need to make sure that people recognize me for the right reasons and not for the wolfy ones.” I look at Hammer hopefully.

“Problem one, that’s not a concrete plan. I need a schedule to work with. Problem two, we agreed to have schedules in the night before any travel at the latest. We are already riding close to noon the day of. I think not, rookie. Give me some push ups. Whatever you were just doing doesn’t count.” Ugh. We did agree to that.

“Fine. Then I want to go shopping tomorrow. Add it to the schedule.” At least I can save myself then, if not today.

“Get me a list of destinations and I’ll set it up with Silverson. Now push, rookie!” I’d take a thousand grocery store panic attacks over this inevitable heart failure. I end up surprising myself, though. I manage fifteen push ups before my arms give out, and Hammer finally lets me do the rest throughout the day. Between laps. I’m so lucky.