Page 107 of Pack: Posy 3

Thank you,I told her, even though I knew she was laughing at me.

"It's nice to meet you, Landry. I appreciate you working with me today."

He nodded sharply once, and that was that.

"All right, Wyatt, shoo." I flapped my hand at him and pointed across the room to where Angelo was stretching. "Go do your thing so we can do ours."

"As you wish, cutie." He dropped a kiss on my cheek. "I'm right over there, okay? Say the word and I'll be here in a heartbeat."

"I know." I smiled up at him, gracing him with the dimples that he loved. "Thank you."

Pecking my lips, he swatted my bum, then ran away before I could retaliate.

Only cowards run away, I linked him with a scowl.

And wise men make tactical retreats,he replied, and I could hear his giggles all the way over here.

25: Self-Defense

Posy

"Luna, have a seat." Rio gestured to the edge of the thick mat.

I sat next to Thoreau with Emerson standing behind us, and the gammas arranged themselves on the mat, too.

"First, let's start with an explanation of why we react the way we do to threats." Adam sat criss-cross applesauce with his hands palm up on his knees. "Once your brain is triggered by a conditioned psychological fear, your body goes into flight-or-fight mode. It's very difficult to change your specific physiological reaction, since it's an automatic stress response."

Glancing at Thoreau, I knew he didn't understand anymore than I did what the gamma was talking about. Nick must have picked up our confusion because he rolled his eyes and cut Adam off.

"We ain't in a science class at school, dude," he laughed.

"What? I'm just explaining so they understand—"

"Understand? Do those blank faces look like theyunderstand?"

Thoreau leaned closer to me.

"Is this what school is like?" he asked.

Making a face, I shrugged.

"Every time you got hurt in the past, your brain remembered it," Landry said, taking me by surprise. He didn't look at me at all, just kept his eyes on Thoreau. "When your brain thinks your body is going to get hurt like that again, it makes you react. Some people flee, or run away, and others fight. When you freeze, your brain can't decide which one to do and you're stuck."

"Nicely put, Lan," Reuben said. "With that being said, luna, Reau, we can show you how to flee and how to fight, but you still might freeze in a real situation. Hopefully, a lot of practice will help you not to, but nobody can predict how you'll react until you're in a bad situation."

"Makes sense," I agreed.

After weeks of my mates' love and support, I felt more confident than I ever had in my life. In the past, I froze every time Kendall Briggs beat me. Now, though, I hoped I was strong enough to do more than that. I didn't want to fight or hurt anyone, but I wanted to know how to keep myself safe.

"One thing we want you both to remember is that you need to do everything you can to protect yourself and get away," Rio chimed in next. "That means you have to overcome your fear of hurting the other person."

"That's going to be hard to do," I murmured, then bit my bottom lip.

"We'll only be practicing," he said with a little shrug, "not hurting each other for real. Now, sometimes, you might feel threatened even if there's no real danger, so we're going to start with some basics that don't involve physical contact. That way, if you misread the situation, you won't hurt yourself or the other person."

"All right," Thoreau and I said at the same time, which made us both giggle.

"But still, if you even feel uncomfortable, do something rather than nothing," Nick said. "Your gut instinct is usually right, and your wolf can sense if it's a real threat. Besides, being alive and safe is more important than having a red face because you were wrong and created drama for no reason."

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