by brett hicks
I coughed several times and I kicked free of his legs and I stuttered to my feet. No real damage was done, just a slightly sore back and a bruised ego.
“I thought you said nothing flashy, mister. That move was most certainly flashy!”
I pointed an accusing finger in his direction and Jace looked wholly unapologetic as he nimbly hopped to his feet in one agile motion.
“I was not expecting to be fighting a second or third-degree black-belt. You read my body like a damn book and you move with such ease and grace that I would have thought you a trained Sidhe warrior. Your father’s reputation is hard won and he has clearly drilled more than just the basics into you.”
I shrugged and spread my hands widely.
“He started when I was like six. He told me he never wanted me to feel defenseless as a girl. I guess it should have registered at some point that my dad was a lot more than what he claimed to be.”
I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my tone. Jace gave me a look equal parts understanding and also fiercely chastising.
“Focus only on the here and now, Amelia. This is battle and you cannot split your focus. I will come at you with more speed and more intensity this time. I will not lie to you, this will not feel pleasant and I will not apologize for teaching you how to deflect a supernatural being bent on killing you. You have already seen how very real faerey games are around here.”
Furrowing deeply, I narrowed my eyes to near slits.
“Why do you care if I live or die, Jace? Why is this,” I waved my hands around me to indicate the entire training field, “What you asked of me in return for saving my life?”
Jace gave me a hard feral look of an alpha lupine.
“I have my own selfish reasons, rest assured, this benefits me in some way as much as it will keep you alive. Beyond this answer, I will not share my motives right now. Be satisfied to know that you drawing breath is in my best interest.”
Well, that certainly sounded sufficiently ominous!
I thought to myself and I decided that I wouldn’t look a gift lupine in the mouth. I would accept his training and hope it was enough to keep the icy bastards from stabbing me in a more fatal place next time. I had very little doubt that they would try again. It was now just a matter of time until that happened. Jace wasn’t my enemy but he wasn’t my ally per se. I at least knew his danger. He was not hiding behind the beautiful lie. Jace was unrepentantly honest about his interests and intentions. I was grateful for this and the honesty was probably the only reason he didn’t scare me at all. To avoid his wrath, one just needed not to threaten him or his pack, simple enough for me.
“Fine, let’s do this thing, I only have about two hours to kick your hairy butt until I need to shower and dress for school.”
Jace’s lips twitched into a ghost of a smile and he rushed forward and his shoulder never moved but is pivoting leg told me he was kicking. I spun back and away so I could observe his next move before formulating a plan of attack. I knew little about lupine martial-arts. I could tell that he was using a modified form of Taekwondo. He spun into a second kick so fast that his foot heel brushed right next to my left cheek. I caught his leg and jerked up and blocked a punch with his right hand.
I kicked the back of his right knee with my heel and he pulled me down as he fell. He had his arms banded around my upper body and my arms pinned back with his hands connected behind my neck. From this position, I couldn’t get much force into my kicks. I kneed him as hard as I could manage, but then I abandoned formal training and I slammed my head forward and smashed it across the bridge of his nose and crimson greeted me as I jumped back and away from him, already on my feet.
Jace didn’t make a single sound, he smiled like a lunatic and he rushed again and I blocked his strikes and I grunted as he ax- kicked my back. I had misread his second move and he swept my legs and barred an arm over my throat, but not harshly enough to really harm me. I could tell he was starting to try, but he was pulling his punches.
“We are a lot more evenly matched than I would ever care to let anyone know. You are raw right now and yet you are a natural fighter, just like your father. You will be a force of nature one day, my little faerey.”
Something in his voice made my insides heat up. He should sound crazy right now, but he just sounded hot to me!
“You’re not trying that hard wolf-boy. I know you are going easy on me.”
His lips twitched and he allowed a tiny smile to play on his lips.
“I am moving at full speed, little faerey. I assure you, I will not strike a female at full power for training purposes alone. I am alpha and I am a civilized lupine. We treasure females, even if they are not of our blood-kin. Perhaps, I should bring one of my strongest beta females to spar with you? If you are willing to take the beating, I assure you, she will not have my reservations. Besides, she has been asking for a more comprehensive training. She is very dominant and will soon be required to fight for her position inside the pack and to fight off any sour-lupines who want to force themselves on her. Such is uncommon in my pack, but our females are educated in the best fighting techniques to further discourage the ill behavior.”
I blinked up at him as he talked about this ruthless world like it was brunch conversation material.
“Will you get off me now? Or are you just happy to see me?”
He looked confounded for a moment and then my words seemed to hit home. Jace turned red and he stood up and pulled me to my feet in one lightning-fast motion. I could follow how fast he moved, but unlike Jace, I did not move that fast unless it was instinctive. I could not seem to move much faster than human fast while I was actively thinking about my body movements.
Jace kept attacking and then telling me the best methods of breaking or countering each move he landed. He was surprised that only about half of his best moves worked against my training. Jace clearly had much more experience than I did, but I was indeed a much better fighter than I had ever been consciously aware of. My father had drilled so much hand-to-hand combat into me that I could not help but marvel at how I had never recognized this fact.
He had raised me to be willing to use my fists when needed, hence why I did not hesitate to punch Francesca Dory four times in the face. I have always been a member of this savage world; I just did not recognize this fact before now, because I mainly used human levels of strength, speed, and skill against human opponents in elementary and middle school. Come to think of it, I had never lost a fight after school. No matter how big and bad the bully was, I had always won. No one really knew because none of the boys were willing to admit they picked a fight with a girl and lost!
After about an hour-and-a-half of training, Jace rumbled lowly and said, “That’s about it for today. You performed far above my expectations, however, do not become prideful, because you are sloppy and still green. You might best a mid-beta right now, but you are still a pup. Never, ever, underestimate your opponent. Not here and certainly not outside this safe training arena.”
I nibbled on my lip and nodded my comprehension.
“I don’t do arrogant, Jace.”
His lips twitched yet again, the boy just refused to smile! It’s like he was afraid his whole big-bad-alpha vibe would vanish into smoke if he showed a bright cheerful smile!
“You really need to let yourself smile, tough-guy. That’s just a little friendly advice from a girl.”
Jace snorted and nodded.
“Noted.”
He said that single word in such a thundering manner. He was the apex predator and he could only barely allow himself to accept the helpful tip.
Silly wolf!
Twenty:
“What in the name of all the faerey clans did you do with him?! Did you just go off to make puppies?! You reek of wolf, sweat, and arousal!”
Casey proclaimed animatedly with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She looked me over from head to toe as if she could see if I was still a virgin with my clothes covering me.
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I rolled my eyes and mock-glared at her as I paced to our bathroom.
“His deal was training to defend myself as repayment for him saving my life. Don’t ask, because he will not explain himself to me. We spent the past two hours trying to kill each other.”
Casey blinked about half a dozen times and looked shocked. I sat the box of food I had snatched from the autumn dining hall on our little kitchenette table. I pointed to it.
“Go, feed thyself, I am just going to rinse this wolf, sweat, and not-arousal off my body!”
The vampire snorted and rolled her eyes, unconvinced of my purity of thoughts while being so close to the hot alpha lupine.
“Thanks for breakfast, but Amy, please hear me. Jace is alpha, meaning he will be required to marry a lupine girl to ascend to his future throne. Most lupines do not date outside their breed, but it is not illegal or anything. However, as alpha, he is not the typical lupine. Do you follow me? I am not trying to be mean or cruel. To not tell you would be mean and cruel.”
I smiled and I nodded my understanding.
“Casey, you rock. I hear you girl and duly noted. I am not looking for a supernatural man any time soon. Heck, I even turned Dylan down when he tried to wheedle a date out of me last night.”
“You what!”
She dropped the box back to the table and rushed over and clapped her arms on my shoulders and shook me lightly.
“AND this is the first I am hearing of it!?”
She sounded like every hurt BFF to ever miss a huge moment in the teen drama that is the days of our lives in high school.
“I… well I was tired when I got in and it just sort of slipped my mind after all the reading I was doing!”
That brought my mind back to the books tucked away in my army-green backpack. I made a new mental note to self to find some time to read through them today, or more likely tonight after practice. This was day-three of soccer—football—tryouts and I was up to my ears in physical training now!
“Fine, you will get a pass on this one, but I will be hurt next time!”
Casey sulkily stated and I smiled and gave her an awkward hug. She gagged and smacked my butt playfully.
“Good lord woman! Go wash that dog smell off your body! The entire grade will think Jace bent you over one of those trees in the autumn field!”
I muttered, “You are painting a very graphic picture. I will blame you when this turns into a very disturbing series of nightmares!”
Casey huffed and rolled her eyes at me.
“Pa-lease! You would love those dreams. Shit, if he did not hate my species, I would totally love to take that wolf for a ride!”
Why the hell do I suddenly feel like punching her?! I have no claim, less than no claim, on Jace!
As if she read my mind, Casey smiled a beaming triumphant smile.
“Oh honey, you really do have a big wolf-crush on that boy!”
I shrugged and I slipped out of her embrace.
“I’m going to wash the morning training off myself and you are going to promise not to eat my portion of the breakfast, or there will be hell to pay and maybe a few stakes!”
Casey laughed vibrantly as she retreated to the small kitchen cove and dug into the box.
“No prob, but I will totally eat your food if you hold out on me again!”
With that threat left hanging over my head, I retreated to the shower and thoroughly lathered myself and washed the essence of wolf off my body. If my vampire roomie was so easily able to smell that I was, in fact, turned on while Jace was handling me in training, then I was pretty sure most the supernatural species would be able to as well.
If I was being completely honest, I barely even knew that turned-on was what I was feeling. I had felt something with Dylan, but with Jace, there were zero doubts that my maiden body was awakening to my womanly desires. That, of course, made me extremely confused now. I longed to have a mother to share all of these confusing and turbulent emotions with. Not to mention, he would never be able to date me. He might want to get me naked as any teen boy would, but Jace would never ever be allowed to date a Moch Sidhe. I would not ask him to either since I saw how much his pack seemed to rely on his role.
I am not a selfish girl and I would not become one just because the hottest boy I had ever laid my eyes on might possibly be attracted to me, too. Jace would not follow through and neither would I! I had a full plate as everything was. I had winter Sidhe who seemed to want me dead and a faerey coach who wanted to see me sweat my butt off to prove I was not a slacker!
This whole situation was still insane to me! The Headmistress practically let the students roam free and set the territorial laws of the land in each segment of the supernatural populace. This was neutral land for the faereys. The lupines controlled Cambridge proper, so everyone else was technically a guest on this land. This is why my father is tolerated as a teacher here. Apparently, the Blood Queen didn’t own the lupines. They were much too indomitable to bow to her. I didn’t know exactly why, besides their crazy large teeth and claws, but somehow they seemed to keep the faereys at bay.
Jace was supposed to step into the role of lupine defender and champion one day. Apparently, his grandfather was tiring of his long reign as the King of Canines. He had lived for over a thousand years, or so the history books all seemed to claim. While the bulk of the literature available in the books I read last night was greatly biased towards the Blood Queen, all of them agreed that Darius Pratt was over a thousand years old.
There was a part of my brain that seemed to just seem to struggle with all of this surreal information.
***
I brushed out my hair and worked out the tangles forming since my back-to-back training seasons over the past twenty-four hours. I loved my long dirty-blonde hair, but I was considering cutting it about eight inches or so, just to make it easier to maintain and keep up during physical activities.
I pulled out my favorite The Clash t-shirt with the iconic image from “London Calling.” I put on a pair of green cargo pants and I completed the look with my steel-toed black leather boots. I slipped my pen-sized blade into the right pouch pocket on the side of my cargo pants. This outfit was as much a statement as it was just practical to fight in if I needed to.
I noted that the steel didn’t burn to the touch. Though I have touched iron since my birthday, let’s just say I would prefer not to if at all possible. The stuff burns like acid—or what I imagine acid would feel like!
Part of me was still shocked and wondering why my life had become so crazy. The “human” part of me rebelled against the very violent and grizzly world I was now a part of. What could I do, just ask everyone to treat me nicely because this world is shocking? Yeah, I highly doubt that would go over very well! If an alpha-to-be was insisting on training a Moch Sidhe, then I should really pay close attention to my surroundings.
On that thought, I began to ponder Jace and his motives. I still had no clue why he was investing himself in my wellbeing. I had several theories but nothing concrete to base any of them on. Jace’s strange behavior towards me was noted by many. A girl would have to be blind to miss all the subtle looks and behavioral cues his presence around me was causing. Like ripples in a pond causing schools of fish to change course.
I really needed more information, and now!
***
My first class of the day was Faerey History, so I was thumbing through my textbook. Like the library, these texts were vague and biased. I was never a conspiracy theorist nut, but I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to believe the Imperium was everything that the people around me painted it to be.
Today, Professor Cline was discussing the rise of the witch covens in ancient Germania. How the resulting unrest and instability of the magical humans had ripple effects in all the ancient clans. Again, no actual mention of clan names, just a quick notation that they existed.
From what I was able to piece together thus far, the many faerey and supernatural clans wer
e run by the most powerful bloodlines of each area their clans were indigenous to. Faerey and supernatural kind had been more spread out and their borders much more fiercely protected in the old days. Not dissimilar to human countries. The Imperium had now smashed all the borders and boundaries from the old divisions.
The Lupines were indigenous to England and had lived in extreme harmony with the order of the druids. With Viking raids, came faerey sects and demi-gods from the Nordic homeland trying to prevail and attain glory.
So, nutshell, a lot of barbarians came down to the UK isles in the hopes of garnering more attention from their perspective pantheon of parent gods.
Apparently, faereys had their own creation sources. For the four seasonal lords and the high lord of the Arcanum, the Arcanum was lost through the treachery of the other lords throughout the ages. All beings of the fifth branch of faerey were hunted to extinction to ensure that no High Lord would ever rise again.
This was all conjecture, but it sounded to me like faereys wanted more power and wealth, so they shattered their own ancient governing body. They went into a very tribal type of governing for many generations until the multitude of wars made way for the Blood Queen to consolidate power and ascend to the throne.
My impression so far was that she was an opportunistic megalomaniac and I have never met her in the flesh. For some reason, I just couldn’t believe my father was such a low-life that he had just decided to turn traitor with no powerful motivator. I sadly did not trust my father any more than I did the many other beings circling my orbit. I felt relatively sure of my choice in friends with Casey; vampires seem to have had the raw end of the deal throughout time. They are the least likely to betray friends, even the Imperium history books say as much.
Vampire clans have been hunted and persecuted throughout time. They have a tenuous truce with the Imperium now, but none of the vampire clans are a part of the Imperium. The Lupines are similar, most packs are separate entities from the Imperium, but some have crossed over and joined her ranks now. Jace’s pack holds the cornerstone of the old-world, the English Throne. This makes him very unlikely to ever be an ally to the Imperium, but if he is ambitious, he could seek to garner support with them.