“You heard me. You two wrestle and we’ll show her how to fight. And don’t worry about hurting each other. It’s not like you won’t heal from it.”
“Okay you two, get to it,” Dustin said as he rose back to his feet. “I’m getting hungry.”
Katey looked to Logan, dumbfounded. She didn’t want to fight him and didn’t know the first thing about combat. Logan didn’t want to fight her either, but an order was an order. He began to circle her and she did the same, not turning her back to him.
She leapt forward with a punch, but Logan dodged it and twisted her into an arm lock from behind. Normally, he would break his opponent’s shoulder, but he lightened his hold so it wouldn’t hurt her. He leaned his head down over her shoulder and breathed on her neck, sending chills down her spine.
Even in the midst of training, Logan found a way to tantalize her. It was the first bit of flirting they had exchanged since she turned and Katey bit her lips together to keep herself from smiling.
Darren stepped forward. “Your first mistake was attacking first. Never take an offensive stance in a fight unless you absolutely have to.”
Logan released Katey and she whipped around to face him, staggering back a bit to give herself room. They circled once more and Katey kept her eyes trained on him. Her attention on his body language constantly deviated to his dazzling blue eyes. So intense and hypnotizing. If it was Logan’s goal to catch her off guard, he was succeeding.
Suddenly, he leapt forward and tackled her around the waist, pinning her to the ground. Katey ineffectively struggled against him, but found she was no match for his strength just yet. Not only did he outweigh her in size and build, but he was able to channel his strength to do as he willed while Katey couldn’t figure out how to flip the switch and activate her loup-garou instincts for survival.
Katey managed to wiggle her knee up and pushed against his hip, rolling him over. Katey straddled over his tight abs and pinned his arms to the side. The sight of him beneath her made her deeply aware of her body and the way their pulses raced together. Logan smirked and countered her, rolling her onto her back.
Before she knew it, they were rolling all over the grass and she was laughing. It had turned into a game and neither of them made even a half-hearted attempt to battle.
Darren pinched at the corner of his eyes and Ben shook his head ruefully, but both of them couldn’t help but crack into a smile.
“What are you two doing?” Dustin yelled. “Wrestling or having a tea party?”
Darren laughed heartily. “Dustin’s right, let’s get serious here.”
The two stopped rolling as Logan pressed his full weight on top of Katey, their noses just inches from each other. They caught their breath together, but once they settled down and realized how close they were, their nerve endings stirred with the need to be closer.
Katey could feel Logan’s tense muscles against hers and the slight pressure from his rib cage rising and falling with each heavy breath. They were in the perfect position to kiss and Katey’s body ached for it. She could see the same desire in Logan’s eyes and wondered why he wouldn’t take the perfect chance he had been given.
The air in her lungs froze, refusing to let her take another breath until the need was fulfilled, but she didn’t mind. As they locked gazes, their irises began to slowly fade to red. Katey gasped and Logan blinked hard, willing the feeling away but it wouldn’t.
Insatiable passion roiled around them, filling their senses with the arousal of the other, which only fueled the longing. Katey, having never experienced such scintillating lust, couldn’t fight it. She gripped Logan’s arms and let out a sigh of pleasure as a shiver consumed her.
Logan, on the other hand, recognized the danger of their passion and quickly crawled off of her to distance himself from the temptation. Though, with every fiber of his being, he wanted to take her.
Katey, half dazed, sat up on her hands and looked at the teachers who had watched the whole scene unfolded.
“Oh, come on!” Dustin groaned. “None of that!”
Logan furiously rubbed at his eyes and Katey did the same, thinking that it would help to erase the fact that they had both been just a few seconds away from doing something they may have regretted. Now that Logan’s masculine scent wasn’t pounding the sense out of her, Katey was able to think clearly enough to realize how aroused a loup-garou could become. If this was how Logan felt that night they danced, she had a new appreciation for his self-control.
After a few moments passed, the lustful crimson faded from their eyes.
“Forget who you’re fighting,” Darren scolded.
Katey looked to Logan and his whole attitude seemed to shift suddenly. He hunched his shoulders and crouched down like he was about to pounce at her. Katey mimicked the stance and waited, willing her strength to return.
Once she ducked into that stance, she felt her wolf side reemerge. This time, it wasn’t hungry, but bent on defending itself against Logan by whatever means necessary. Katey didn’t fight it this time, because she needed all the help she could get when going up against a wrestling champion.
Logan came running at her and tried to tackle her as before, but Katey rolled out of the way and leapt upon his back, wrapping her legs and arms around him in an effort to grapple him to the ground. He gripped her around her shoulders and threw her over to pin her down onto her back.
Katey raised her hand, claws suddenly extended and slashed at his throat. Logan pulled back just in time before she managed to snag on his skin. In doing so, he sacrificed the upper hand of the fight. Katey pushed him off and pinned him down, digging her forearm into his throat.
Logan choked for a bit, but then grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off. She turned her head, shrieked, and bit viciously at his wrist, drawing blood. Logan kicked her in the stomach to tear her off and wiped the blood on his shirt.
This was no longer a wrestling match, but a knock-down, drag-out fight to disability. They recoiled and glared each other down, wolf against wolf.
“Wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Dustin commented to Ben, watching them carefully to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. They all knew too well that a training fight like this could turn sour in an instant. Wolves play-fought as puppies, but even then, blood could be shed by one false move. One accident between loups-garous could prove fatal.
Katey pounced on Logan, but he grabbed her around the waist and flipped her around to pin her again. His hand went quickly for her shoulder nerve and squeezed. Katey cried out as fire shot through her blood vessels. She could barely think past the arresting pain and each breath was a gasp for oxygen.
“Not too hard, Logan,” Darren warned from the sidelines.
Katey’s eyes went wide as they began to glow their loup-garou gold. Tawny claws slashed at Logan’s throat again. This time, she didn’t miss.
Bleeding, Logan staggered up and held his neck, giving it time to heal. Katey, however, wouldn’t give him the luxury of a break. She roared in her inhuman voice, fangs bared and claws extended, and charged at Logan, swiping and snapping at him with wild savagery.
Logan dodged and ducked through each of her strikes and slipped behind her. With his neck wound healed, he hooked his arms around hers and positioned his hands just behind her neck. Katey kicked and struggled madly against him, her heels beating against his shins, causing them to crack and bruise but he refused to let go until she admitted defeat.
Katey suddenly dropped down, loosening Logan’s hold on her, then forced herself upwards and back to throw him off balance. Logan stumbled and let go of Katey. As she was beginning to fall back with him, she twisted and pushed herself away before spinning to kick him in the face. Logan fell backwards and held his bloody, broken nose.
“A little help here would be nice!” he shouted as Katey fell upon all fours, readying herself for another attack.
Just like in the gym earlier that day, Katey had lost control of herself and succumbed to the mig
ht of her inner wolf. At the sight of Logan’s busted face, Katey grappled with her subconscious, begging for her human side to be released again and take the place of the beast that fought for her protection. But, just as before, the wolf wouldn’t listen and gave a deep, gruff growl at the one she considered to be the immediate threat.
Darren and Dustin didn’t need to be asked twice.
They dashed forward to assist. Dustin lifted her to her feet, wrapping his arms around hers to keep her claws out of the way and Logan enveloped his arms around her legs to restrain them. Darren sandwiched her head between his two powerful hands and forced her to look him in the eyes.
She struggled and thrashed against her detractors, but they held her tight. Unlike her, they could control their strength and utilize it better than she could.
“Katey! Katey, look at me!” Through the haze, Katey slowly came back to herself and looked deep into Darren’s sweet, chocolate brown eyes. “Calm down! You’re okay.”
Her body went limp and all will to fight left her at the prompting of her alpha. His dominance was the only thing the wolf would listen to, but it was a grudging submission.
The men slowly loosened their grip on her and Katey collapsed into Logan’s embrace. He cradled her in his lap and held her close as she became frantic and confused. The wolf had slunk back into its hole, leaving Katey to deal with the mess.
“I’m sorry, Logan. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I couldn’t control it.” She became hysterical, looking him over for any other signs of harm she had caused him besides the blood that was beginning to dry on his face and neck.
“I know. It’s all right.” Logan smoothed back her hair that was dampened with sweat.
Katey leaned her head onto his chest as if to hide from the world, while Logan shushed her whimpering and rocked her gently back and forth, treating her like the frightened child that she was.
She didn’t mind as Logan enclosed his legs around her. Cuddling in closer to him, she felt safe, whole, and like nothing could harm her, not even what was still lurking inside. Her eyes returned to their normal green and her fangs and claws reduced down to a safe length, but she couldn’t stop herself from trembling, remembering the complete vulnerability of knowing that she was not in command of her own body.
Darren and Dustin took a few steps back to assess what they just witnessed. The alpha stroked his beard, deep in thought.
“We’re going to have to watch out for that,” he mused.
“I never remember getting set off that easy,” Dustin said, bewildered how she managed to break free of Logan’s tight shoulder lock even though she was in pain.
Katey heard their words and cringed, disappointed in herself.
“I don’t think any of us did, not even Ben. She seems to have a stronger wolf than the rest of us do.”
Dustin sighed and looked to Darren wearily. “Are we going to have to teach her that meditation and Zen crap that you learned?”
The alpha shook his head, still mulling over his thoughts. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll wait until after she changes for the first time and see how she is after that.”
Katey could hear their low voices, deep in conversation about what they would do with her. If she was good enough, if she had more control, they wouldn’t have had to waste so much time and effort in training her. Her body felt heavy under the realization that she wasn’t perfect or a prodigy among loups-garous as she yearned to be. At this point, she knew she either needed to try harder or simply give up trying all together.
“Logan, I’m scared,” she whispered.
If she had a stronger wolf side, would it mean that she would have to be constantly on guard like Logan always talked about? If the wolf was stronger than her, would it overtake her human side and be lost forever? How long would it take for her to be good enough for them?
“Don’t be,” Logan said softly, “we’re going to take care of you.” He squeezed her tighter and kissed the top of her head.
Katey moaned and kicked at the comforter that constricted around her legs. Dustin was there, his scent unmistakable through the haze of adrenaline that sent her body into fits.
Her powerful loup-garou heart pounded against her rib cage, rapidly beating like a sledgehammer against an anvil. A cold sweat broke out over every inch of her skin and even the wolf within panicked with her.
Opening her golden eyes, she looked around and saw that she wasn’t in the ransacked cabin of her dreams. The familiar sight of her blue canopy bed and cozy room, brilliantly lit by the early morning sun streaming through the windows, set her a little more at ease.
It was with a heavy mind that she realized that one thing had not changed since Logan bit her. The dreams about the woman in white still came to visit her at night. This was the first time she had dreamed exclusively about the woman since she was bitten, but everything had been magnified by her new senses.
Even in her nightmares, she could smell, hear, and sense everything with a heightened intensity. Not only could she hear the woman calling to her, but she could hear her soft breathing. She could smell the musty scent of wood and torn upholstery. The stench of blood was even more prevalent, wrapping around her mind in a vice grip. Even more startling was the odor of sulfur in the air and she couldn’t find where it was coming from.
As vivid as her dream was, she wasn’t able to see it through to the end. Katey had taken one step outside the cabin to run after the woman when Dustin rushed in and shook her awake.
Katey looked to Dustin, who bore a look of confusion and worry. After taking a few deep, soothing breaths, she sat up and ran her fingers through her slept-in hair.
“I thought it was Ben having the bad dream,” Dustin said. “Imagine my surprise when it was you.”
She blinked back the grogginess that her restless sleep had left behind. “What are you talking about?”
Dustin sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “Ben has nightmares about the wars and he doesn’t trust anyone else to wake him.”
Katey had heard somewhere about soldiers who came back from wars with psychological problems. If they were startled in the wrong way, it could snap them into combat mode. If Ben trusted Dustin enough to wake him from a nightmare, they must have had a closer relationship than she originally presumed.
Silence reigned between them as Katey began to unwind from dreamland and Dustin watched her with expectant eyes.
“Are you going to tell me what the dream was about?” he asked with an expectant lilt.
She turned a pair of dazed eyes on him, trying to process what he asked. The dreams she had were an intimate thing for her. She’d never told anyone about the woman in white or the relentless repetitiveness of the nightmare. In the back of her mind, she believed that if she told anyone, they would try to analyze its meaning. But now, she wondered if she told Dustin, would she somehow become like Ben, keeping everyone on pins and needles, waiting for her to scream out in the middle of the night and have to be awoken before it became too unbearable?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she croaked out, her voice still a little hoarse from sleep.
“Talking about it might help you cope with what you saw.”
“I didn’t see anything,” she said with a shake of her head. Captain Jack lay at the foot of her bed, one leg twisted to the side as if he had been carelessly tossed aside.
“Did you have a nightmare at all?”
Katey passed a hand over her face and then through her hair in frustration. “I did, but I’m telling you I don’t want to talk about it. I’m fine.”
Dustin leveled a look at her and then nodded in surrender. “All right. If you want to talk about it, let us know.”
Katey waited until he left her bedroom before snatching up her stuffed dog toy and falling back into bed, landing hard on her pillows. Closing her eyes, she reached out beyond her bedroom with her senses.
They were all awake and stirring from their beds. Katey hoped that she hadn’t distu
rb them. She would have hated to be the cause of their lack of sleep. She listened closely as they all migrated down the stairs to fix breakfast. Their voices were low in conversation, but she could hear much of what they were saying. Some phrases were unintelligible or in that foreign language the teachers sometimes conversed in.
She could smell the savory aromas of bacon and sausage wafting down the hall, tempting her to rise out of bed and face the world.
But this morning, she would be anything but cheery. She spent her second night as a loup-garou in wakeful sleep, just like the first, and the dream didn’t help. Thankfully, she completed the last of her semester exams through the madness and all that was left were two days until winter break. After that, two weeks of blissful rest and hopefully by then, she would be a little more used to her condition.
She snoozed for what seemed only moments before she heard the slow procession of footfalls back up the stairs and down the hallway. Checking the clock on her nightstand, they would be leaving soon.
Katey scooted herself out of bed and dressed for the day, wearing a rather small, tight-fitted shirt that she had never worn before because of her crippling self-doubt about her body. The decision was made not only because of Logan’s speech, but also for her new trim loup-garou figure. She grabbed her bag and retreated to the bathroom to freshen up as the teachers were just finishing up their own routines.
They all greeted her in turn, but asked no questions apart from the polite “How did you sleep?” and “How are you feeling? Any trouble?” Katey wondered if she should expect such a custom every morning or if there would be some variety.
After quickly brushing out her hair and gazing at her new green eyes for a little longer than what would have been considered normal, she ventured downstairs. The teachers were already in the midst of packing their things together when she came in and set her bag down on one of the sofas. She didn’t have to look to know that Logan was in the kitchen.
When she walked in, she found him leaning up against the counter, holding a bowl of “cereal” and gingerly sipping up the lasts of the contents. He was wearing drawstring flannel pants that were hanging dangerously low on his hips and no shirt, as usual. She thought it rather pleasing that the teachers changed their pajama habits to accommodate her, but Logan didn’t.
Becoming the Enigma (The Loup-Garou Series Book 2) Page 9