Marking Territory: An Awakened Novel (The Rising Storm Book 1)

by N. L. Paradox

  “And that’s the key,” Gunny said, placing a large and surprisingly comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You need to treat you power just like any other weapon. It’ll take a lot of time, practice, and mistakes to master it, but it will happen.”

  Kitty nodded and allowed herself to be led towards the door of the combat training room. Just as they headed through the doors, she glanced up at Gunny and smirked. “You’re still an asshole.”

  Without missing a beat, the ex-Ranger simply replied, “How do you think I got this job in the first place?”

  Tearmann Institute, Newfoundland, behind Mhiotel Shop

  “I woulda’ decked the motherfucker.”

  Kitty looked over at me from where she had been leaning against the storage shed looking out over the woodland. “I have no doubt, and I came pretty close to doing a lot worse myself.”

  “Knife to the brain?” Ashley suggested, though it was pretty clear by the quietness of her voice she wasn’t exactly thrilled by the idea.

  “Eyeball, actually,” our friend corrected, pushing off the shed and strolling over to where I was meticulously bringing my hammer down on the glowing steel in steady, rhythmic strikes.

  I considered making a quip about how it would have been interesting to see what happened to an eyeball when it superheated in a split second, but restrained my snark since Ashley was a touch… sensitive when it came to topics like that. “I’m guessing you’re still not pissed, though,” I said, noting how calm she was at the moment, even smiling slightly.

  “No, because he was actually dead on,” she replied, causing me to pause in mid-swing before both Ashley and I looked over at her in surprise.

  “How do you figure that?” Ashley demanded, clearly offended at her defense of the man, since it had been her own image the teacher had used to instill the rather horrific lesson.

  “Because I don’t have nearly as much control as I thought I did,” the brunette bombshell said as she settled onto the soft grass next to Ashley just beyond the perimeter I’d established for my forge site. Before going on with her explanation, she reached over and slipped an arm around Ashley’s shoulders, snugging the smaller girl against her side. “What I can do?” she continued. “What I have, is one of the most dangerous powers in the world. I can literally kill anything with this,” she said, generating an energy blade in her free hand and holding it up in display, “even you Aiden.”

  Despite all of my power and attitude, I was more than aware that what Kitty said was absolutely true. The fact is, I’d known it for a very long time, almost from the time we’d first met and she’d given us a few examples of her power. I might be a big, badass werewolf who could heal from practically anything anyone could throw at me, but Kitty’s energy blades could easily lop my head off with one swipe. There would be no healing that kind of wound.

  “Which is why you’ve always been so careful,” Ashley pointed out, resting her head on Kitty’s shoulder in a companionably gesture. “You’ve known from the very start how dangerous your blades can be.”

  “Which is why I never really cut loose,” she agreed with a nod before resting her head against our diminutive friend’s. You didn’t need to have wolf instincts like I did to recognize that Kitty was in serious need of physical comfort as well as emotional. Thankfully, there was no one better at providing both than Ashley.

  For several moments, none of us said anything. We only enjoyed a comfortable silence amongst friends with Ashley and I simply being there for our friend and Kitty collecting her thoughts. “When I was in the training hall,” she eventually continued, “I lost control so easily. It wasn’t until I’d already decapitated the training dummy keyed to look like Ashley that I realized what I’d done.”

  “But that wasn’t you losing control of your power,” the redheaded beauty pointed out. “It wasn’t like you started suddenly creating or shooting out energy blades without wanting to.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about,” the brunette said with a shake of her head.

  “She means she went berserk,” I said when it was clear Kitty was struggling to find the right words. When my friends looked over at me, one bearing a look of surprise and the other of confusion, I set my hammer down next to the anvil and walked over to sit cross-legged in front of them. “When you really got into it, you didn’t really think, did you,” I said, making it a statement instead of a question. “You only saw targets and just went after them with everything you had because you knew there was no way they could stop you.”

  “Yeah,” Kitty said quietly, her eyes widening slightly at how close of an insight I had into this particular topic.

  “That’s what it’s like for you in your rage form,” Ashley whispered in sudden understanding.

  “On a much bigger scale, yeah,” I agreed. “When I’m in rage form, I don’t really have much in the way of human thought anymore. My brain’s pretty much taken over by primal instinct, but that instinct knows that I’m the baddest bitch around, and there isn’t all that much that can stand up to me. I’m guessing to a lesser degree that’s how you felt,” I directed at Kitty.

  “Pretty much,” she agreed with a nod. “I felt… I guess invincible is the right word, since I knew my knives can cut through nearly anything. I was also kind of pissed because the first dummy caught me flat-footed and gave me a good whack. Because of that, I guess I just had this urge to carve up everything in sight as fast as I could. I didn’t even realize Gunny had digitally superimposed Ashley onto that last dummy until I’d already chopped its head off and saw said head falling to the ground.”

  “You lost focus,” I concluded with a nod. “From what Dad’s told me before when it comes to new recruits, that’s not all that uncommon. When a soldier first gets his hands on some of the latest killing weapons made, they can get a bit out of control when it comes to trying to mow down targets. That’s where training comes in.”

  “Gunny said pretty much the same thing,” Kitty said with a nod. “I need to work more on my actual fighting ability than my power itself, though he did say there are several things to work on with it as well.”

  “Is that something you really want though?” Ashley asked, lifting her head to look up into our friend’s crystal blue eyes. “I mean, you’re a scientist. When you finish here, I’m guessing you’ll continue with that through college and then a career. I don’t know many scientists who are experts in knife fighting.”

  “It’s not going to be so much about being an expert in knife fighting,” Kitty corrected, “it’s about being in control of myself. I don’t want one of you guys accidentally surprising me and end up having a blade shoved through your head.”

  “Yeah, I’d prefer to avoid that,” I quipped, earning a couple of hesitant but honest smiles from my friends. “And besides, learning how to defend yourself is always a good skill to have, even for a scientist.”

  “Don’t forget about doctors too,” Ashley chimed in, “I’m going to learn Aikido… as soon as I find someone that can actually teach me,” she finished softly.

  “I’ll talk to Gunny,” Kitty assured her. “If anyone can find you the right combat teacher, he can.”

  While Ashley nodded, I stood back up to go put my steel back in the forge to re-heat. With all of the kumbaya’ing we’d been doing, the steel had cooled to the point that I wouldn’t be able to work it without risking damage. Okay, that was a bit snippy on my part. I never had any complaints about the three of us having a moment of togetherness, especially when one of us was in need. After all, that was what being part of a pack was all about.

  “So, why didn’t Link get the same kind of lesson?” I asked as I carefully moved the steel in the forge so it would heat evenly.

  “He didn’t need it,” Kitty said, though I detected… something… in her voice. “He’s been bow hunting since he was a kid and practiced with his… I guess fey bow is the best label for it… for a few years.”

  “More like dragon bow,” I said v
aguely since most of my attention was on the glowing steel.

  There was a moment or two of silence before Ashley spoke up, “Why would you say that?”

  “Say what?” I asked, looking over at my shoulder and looking at them with my brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Call Link’s weapon a ‘dragon bow’,” Kitty explained.

  I shrugged a little and returned my attention to the hollow rectangle of jetting flame. “Just a feeling I got when I first saw it. The thing looks like it’s made of bone and it’s too big and… ancient-looking I guess to label it as some other mundane animal. Why?”

  “Because that’s exactly what I thought it looked like,” Ashley said, “I just couldn’t find quite the right description until you just said it.” She was quiet for a few moments before hesitantly asking, “Do you think…”

  The rest didn’t need to be said since more than likely Kitty and I were sharing the same thought on the matter. “That dragons actually exist, or at least existed at some point?” I finished for her. “I honestly have no idea. We’ve been told that contrary to public knowledge, fey have existed for… well, a millennia I guess. Who’s to say the concept of dragons and all sorts of other ‘mythical’ creatures don’t exist either?”

  “It’s an interesting idea,” Kitty mused, lightly rubbing her chin, “and not wholly without merit. After all, you’re not merely a shape shifter, you’re a werewolf, just without that pesky allergy to silver and relying upon the moon to shift. That alone makes it possible other creatures spoken about in fairly tales and legends might exist as well. Unfortunately,” she sighed, “as near as I can tell, there’s been no evidence to support that theory. And yes,” she said, eyeing me as I turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, “I checked. I had to do something to keep from being bored out of my mind on the trip to Wolf Springs.”

  “So you researched mythical creatures to see if they actually existed?” Ashley asked with clear skepticism in her voice matching the really cute way her nose scrunched up and the corner of her mouth tucked in.

  “Of course,” our resident genius said, as though doing so was a perfectly natural thing to do on a long road trip. “After all, being essentially a creature of legend myself, I was curious if there were recent incidents of non-humanoid fey sightings. Needless to say, I came up with nothing,” she finished with a disappointed sigh.

  Now it was Ashley’s turn to look thoughtful. “Well, if we’re talking ancient creatures, it would make sense that they would be pretty adept at staying hidden from humans. I mean, people’s first reaction to pretty much anything they didn’t understand was to try to kill it back in ancient times. These days, it’s pretty much the same, only you have to throw in dissection for personal and material gain.” She shivered at the last part since it was a topic that hit way to close to home.

  “Well,” I said as Kitty slipped her arm back around Ashley’s shoulders and drew her in close for a cuddle, “regardless if dragons and everything else exist or not, unless they plan on giving a press conference I doubt we’ll ever see one.”

  “True enough,” Kitty agreed as I took the steel out of the forge, carefully laid it on the anvil, and started wailing away on it with my hammer.”

  “And if you really practice,” I said, taking a very brief moment to glance over at Kitty and grin, “you’ll get just as good as Link and can stop pouting about it.”

  Ashley giggled as Kitty’s eyes popped open wide and her mouth fell open in shock. It opened and closed uselessly a few times before she finally managed to sputter, “What? I never said…”

  “Oh come on Kit,” I said with a roll of my eyes before bringing the hammer down on the steel a couple of times, “do you really think I didn’t catch that whimsical way you talked about how good he was with his bow?”

  “Well,” she huffed, folding her arms petulantly, “he’s had more experience than I do. It’s perfectly reasonable that he would have far more combat skill than I would.”

  “And since when is jealousy ‘reasonable’?” Ashley asked with a knowing smile.

  “Why on Earth would I be jealous?”

  “Because you figured your natural athletic ability would translate into being some kind of natural combat expert like Aiden when she’s in wolf or rage form.”

  Even as she opened her mouth to deny it, I caught the look of defeat in her eyes, as I continued to work the steel into the shape I wanted for it. “Maybe,” she mumbled dejectedly. “I mean, Aiden doesn’t have a whole bunch of combat training, but she’s absolutely lethal in one of her forms.”

  “That’s because I have been trained,” I corrected her, returning the steel to the fire for a warm up. “There’s a wolf pack territory around fifty miles or so from Wolf Springs that have been working with me on combat and tactics as a wolf. Plus, I have an actual wolf spirit pretty much bonded to me,” I added, “who already knows pretty much everything there is to know about being a wolf.”

  “Basically, I got real lucky with my Awakening in that my natural wolf instincts include combat as a wolf. But only as a wolf,” I pointed out. “When I’m in human form, I just know a few things Dad taught me from his time as a Ranger. Beyond that, I know how to punch and kick and that’s really it. When it comes to combat as a human, you’ve definitely got a few legs up on me, especially with your acrobatics.”

  Yes, I freely admit I was playing up to her sense of vanity… or superiority in Kitty’s case… but the girl had had a tough day, so I didn’t mind bumping up her ego a little. And clearly, it worked because a slow, superior (big shock) smile appeared on her lips before she nodded firmly in agreement with me.

  “Just don’t get cocky,” Ashley warned her. “That’s what caused you to screw up in training in the first place, and I like my head right where it is thank you very much.”

  Needless to say, we were all in agreement about that.

  Westlake Industries, Reading, Pennsylvania

  The sharp click of Mallory’s heels echoed off the walls of the hallway as she strode further into the heart of the large industrial complex. Every individual she passed gazed at her with a combination of well-earned respect and obvious desire. More than once she had heard some employees of Westlake Industries remark on how lucky Harold Westlake was to have someone as sensually beautiful as Mallory at his side. It was a not-so-subtle hint that she had slept her way into her position of power, one she could care less about. These peons knew nothing about the kind of power and authority her master possessed, but if they were lucky they just might find out.

  Reaching a door secured by a combination key card, biometric scan, and retina scan, Mallory went through each step before the door obediently hissed open to admit her inside. As the door slid closed behind her, she saw the three men within the large chamber look up from what they were doing with traces of annoyance on their faces. Considering what these men were currently working on and the level of demand that had been placed on them by Westlake himself, some grumpiness at being disturbed was understandable. All around, filling the chamber almost completely, were some of the most cutting edge pieces of technology when it came to the area of neuroscience. They were a good match for the three genius-level scientists currently working in this chamber. While certainly not as good as the progenitor of this particular project, at least according to Mallory’s master, the combination of three high-level intellects would hopefully balance out the genius the company no longer possessed.

  “Gentlemen,” Mallory greeted as she strode towards them across the chamber, “Mr. Westlake would like an update on your progress.”

  “We’ve been able to duplicate the digital mapping process of the cerebral cortex,” a gaunt man with sandy brown hair in jeans and a flannel shirt said impatiently, “and we expect to be able to adapt the rudimentary methodology used to transfer this data so the process is far more streamlined and reliable. If we don’t run into any serious complications, which we don’t anticipate, the system should be ready for testing in approximate
ly one week.”

  Nodding with approval, Mallory looked over to a younger man dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. “And what about the secondary part of the project?”

  “I’m still working on trying to come up with a standardized code, but right now, we’re limited to requiring the digital mapping of the cerebral cortex and then making the necessary adjustments to the existing code. That usually takes around four days.”

  “That timeline is unacceptable,” the woman informed the man flatly, not bothering to hide her disapproval of this news.

  “For right now, it’s the best we can do,” the man said, unperturbed by the assistant’s displeasure. “Rushing through it can destabilize the established code. If that happens, you’re basically shoving a bunch of gibberish into someone’s head that might not even allow for their autonomic nervous system to function properly.”

  “Ms. Thompson,” the third man, an elderly gentleman who clearly was in charge of this project, said as he stepped over to the woman. A single look had his subordinates turning back to their work. “I understand Mr. Westlake wishes to have this project completed and operational as soon as possible, and we are making every effort to do so. However,” he continued, taking her arm and guiding her back towards the door, “what he needs to understand is that if he wishes our efforts to be as successful as our predecessor then we simply cannot rush things. We should be able to begin live testing of stage one within a week, no sooner. As far as stage two, we are making every effort to integrate it into the stage one process.”

  Upon reaching the door, the man glanced back at the more casually dressed individual currently working at his computer terminal with a look of determination on his face. “It may take some time, but I have little doubt we will eventually be successful.” Turning back to the statuesque blonde, he offered her a warm, encouraging smile.