I bite my lip as he steps away. “Try again,” he says as he creates more distance between us.
Not wasting a moment, I run at him again, but he easily maneuvers away. I huff and try again, this time taking a swing at him. He easily blocks with his forearm. “Remember, you’re faster and stronger now. Use that to your advantage. You could’ve put a lot more strength into that punch.”
“But what if I hurt you?”
He chuckles. “I promise you won’t.”
Taking a deep breath, I nod. “Okay. Do you think I have a special ability?” I ask, remembering how fast he is.
“I’m sure you do, but it can take years to figure it out or for it to show up.” He beckons me forward and I try a few more maneuvers against him, but nothing is landing and a growl forms in the back of my throat.
“Come on, little wolf, I know you can do better than that,” he says with a stupid, cute smile.
I try another swing with my fist. I land it, but only on his forearm once again. Another small growl passes my lips, and I aim for his stomach. But he side-steps away from my fist, grabs my wrist, and holds it captive. He moves behind me when I try to kick him, twisting my arm behind my back. Not hard enough to hurt, but also not comfortable. I throw my elbow back, jamming it into his stomach, but I’m pretty sure his abs are made out of steel. With a throbbing elbow I try to twist from his grip, but he simply grabs my other wrist and holds it together with my already captured arm.
He clicks his tongue. “Be careful, little wolf. I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself.”
Letting out a noise of frustration, I throw my head back, aiming to headbutt him, but it turns out—I’m short. I end up just hitting his chest.
A rumble rolls through his chest as he laughs. “Did you forget our height difference?”
“No,” I grumble, wishing I could fold my arms and pout.
He steps forwards, pressing his body against mine, my arms the only barrier between us. His mouth to my ear, his breath tickles my skin. “Don’t lie to me, Ellie darling.”
Turning my head, I bite his jaw.
In shock, he releases his hold on my wrists. I quickly dash away and resume my position with my arms in front of me.
But he doesn’t move. His face is in a state of shock with a hand pressed against his jaw where I bit him.
Then he starts laughing.
“I did not expect that,” he says with a grin and a shake of his head. “Maybe I should’ve said biting isn’t allowed.”
Frowning, I say, “You told me to come at you with everything I had.”
“I didn’t think you would bite me.” He chuckles. “No one bites in training.”
“Why?” I huff, dropping my arms and trying not to pout. Don’t people bite when they fight? I don’t think what I did was that ridiculous.
“Remember the mate bond I mentioned and the pack bond I gave you yesterday?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms as my body flushes at the memory, desire rushing through me. Even though there aren’t any physical signs left, I can still feel where he marked me.
Ash draws closer, stopping only a breath away. His hand brushes my ribs then rises to my shoulder, caressing my skin as he follows the curve to my neck.
His voice drops low when he leans in, placing his kiss to the crook of my neck. “This is where I’d bite you if I were to claim you as mine.” I swallow as his lips brush against my skin. “Biting is reserved for mates or in battle. For intimate moments or to cause harm.” He straightens, looking into my eyes. “And I have a feeling you weren’t trying to harm me just then.”
I shake my head.
“The only other time that it isn’t either of those is when an alpha forms a pack bond.”
My brows rise. “Pretty sure yesterday would’ve fallen under intimate.”
He gives me a cheeky grin. “That was on purpose. If it was anyone else, I would’ve done it differently.”
“Alright.” I give a curt nod and swallow. “Then I won’t bite you again.”
“Oh, no. Please do. Just not anyone else.” He winks and takes a step back.
For the next hour we spar, and he teaches me new moves, but mostly he overpowers me. “I’d like to teach you to partial-shift now. Think you’re up for it?”
I wipe the sweat off my brow. “Yeah, I want to learn.”
He moves closer, taking my hand in his. “It’ll be difficult at first to isolate the essence that links to parts of your wolf rather than a full shift. But once you do, it’ll come easily.” He lets go of my hand. “We’ll start with your canines first. Close your eyes for me.” He waits for me to oblige. “Now, open your mouth.”
I do and wait for more instructions, but he’s silent. Peeking an eye open, I find him staring at my mouth. My eyes pop open, and I quickly shut my mouth, becoming self-conscious.
“Is something wrong?” I ask tentatively after I swipe my tongue around my mouth—nothing seeming amiss. I even made sure to brush my teeth before coming out here.
His eyes move away from my lips, his heated gaze meeting mine. He blinks then clears his throat. “Nope.”
My heart rate spikes as a blush flames across my cheeks. I wipe my sweaty hands on my leggings.
“Sorry.” He smiles. “Let’s try this again. I promise I’ll try not to get distracted.”
I hesitate, but when he arches a brow I quickly close my eyes. I inhale deeply and exhale slowly through my nose. I open my mouth again.
“Perfect,” he says. “Now, my little wolf.” I shiver at the nickname. “Think of how your canines first formed before you completely shifted. How did that feel?” He pauses. “Try envisioning it again.”
I concentrate for a few moments, but nothing happens.
“Ash—”
“Uh-uh,” he says, “keep that mouth open and those eyes closed.”
I grumble, but oblige.
He seems closer than he was before when he hums. “Just relax.”
I jerk a bit when his hands touch my arms. He moves them up and down in a soothing motion.
Relaxing my shoulders, I try to calm my emotions and imagine how my teeth felt when I shifted. It burned. That I can remember well. But what else did it feel like? It felt heavier, and they cut into my bottom lip when they lengthened.
“It’s not working, Ash,” I say. It shouldn’t be so hard to just lengthen my teeth.
Never thought I’d ever think that.
Ash is silent for a moment, but his hands continue their movement up and down my arms. “Think of how it felt internally.”
My brows scrunch together. How it felt inside?
It’s hard to remember anything but the pain. And Ash’s searing kisses.
Digging a little deeper, I think of the pack bond and the warmth I felt. Ash had linked with my essence. That must be what essence feels like inside. A gasp passes my lips. With just the thought, the warmth explodes. I focus on the warmth in my teeth and try to will it to form into my wolf canines. I think of the process and picture my teeth changing into wolf canines. The burning happens almost instantaneously. My eyes pop open to see pride in Ash’s gaze.
“Good job, Ellie darling.”
I beam at his praise.
“Let’s try your hands next. I want you to do what you just did, but instead of your pretty little mouth, focus on your hand. This may be a bit more difficult because you don’t want to completely shift your hand into a paw. You still want the function of a hand, but a hand that you can also use as a weapon.”
Taking a deep breath, I nod once and close my eyes. I try to calm my emotions again, getting rid of the anxiety that bubbles up from thinking about the impending pain. I just need to focus on what happened within myself.
After concentrating—for who knows how long—my bones shift. I cry out and sense Ash’s presence move. He’s behind me and wraps his arms around my waist to keep me up.
“You’ve got this,” he murmurs in my ear.
Opening my eyes and focusing on
Ash’s warmth at my back, I try to push through the pain. It’s strange watching my bones move underneath my skin just to reform the same as before.
My gaze doesn’t waver as my nails elongate and fur erupts on my hand and up my forearm. When the partial-shift finishes, I move my fingers and flip my hand back and forth in fascination. My teeth went back to normal during the shift. The transformation was painful, but not nearly as much as the first time.
“I did it…I did it!” I spin around and jump into Ash’s arms, my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist.
He grins as he catches me. “You did, my little wolf. I’m so proud of you.” His gaze burns into mine. “Ellie.” His voice has grown husky. “I’m going to kiss you now.” He leans in, capturing my lips with his. He nips at my lip then takes the kiss deeper, his tongue dancing with mine as we taste one another. Our bodies pressing together sends a buzz through me.
Ash breaks off with a growl. My breath catches as he slowly lets me down, sliding me down his body. He pulls his phone out. Foster’s name flashes across the screen.
Oh, so the buzzing wasn’t from our touch.
“Yes?” he answers, his gaze lingering on my lips. His free hand moves to the back of my neck, his thumb on my jaw, pushing my face up to him.
His brows scrunch together. “That’s unfortunate. I’ll talk to Ellie about it.” He hums a few more times before a frown forms. “Yes, you can bring her over. We’ll see you in a few.”
Ash sighs once he hangs up, but he keeps my head in place, tilting up toward him. Bringing his other hand up, he brushes the side of my cheek, stopping just as his fingertips tangle in my hair. Nudging me closer, he leans down and brushes his lips against mine.
“Ash,” I say against his lips.
Instead of answering, he slides his tongue across my bottom lip before diving between them and inside, forcing a moan out of me.
Although I hate to stop this, I place a hand on his chest and push. “Ash, what did Foster want?”
He groans before leaning away. Rubbing my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, he says, “He was updating me on the search for Marcus and Zac. Marcus seems to have disappeared into thin air. The bastard. There’s more signs of Zac, but he’s been moving around a lot. We don’t think they’re together.”
I nod. “And the thing you need to talk to me about?”
He bites his lip. I shouldn’t find that so attractive, but desire rises as I watch him. “I also got word about your parents’ old pack. Turns out their pack—your old pack technically—dissolved after their death and joined into another pack. They refuse to give us anything over the internet. They’re a bit old-fashioned and have everything in files, nothing digital.”
“Okay. So what does that mean for us?”
“I was thinking of traveling there myself for a few days. Ask around about your parents and get your files.”
My heart sinks. “Without me?”
“I want to bring you, but Foster is bringing someone over soon because he needs to go somewhere to deal with some family issues.”
“Who is he bringing over?”
“Alice.”
Just a few hours later, Foster arrives with Alice. I understand now why someone needs to stay with Alice. She has lost what little weight she had. Her cheekbones are sharp against her hollowed-out face. Her skin is a sickly white with dark circles prominent under her blue eyes, and her blonde hair is greasy and unkept.
Foster looks miserable. Not in the same way Alice does, but in the disheveled, helpless kind of way.
Ash and I share a look, both full of concern. This is worse than we thought.
She’s given up.
Ash ushers us all to the family room. I sit beside Alice.
“Alice.” I take her hand, but she flinches, and I jerk my hand away. “Sorry.”
I’m more shocked that I initiated the touch than I am at her refusal. Am I getting better? I know I’ve hugged Jane and Emma before, and Ash has always been the exception, but that ended my short list of those I was comfortable with. It seems my list may be growing.
She looks at me, then blinks and looks around slowly. As if just noticing where she is for the first time. She’s been on auto-pilot. I know that feeling all too well.
Her gaze lands on Foster, who immediately goes into defense mode. “I’m not leaving you alone,” he says, glaring at her.
Alice sighs and turns away. She grabs the remote and turns on the TV. Ash frowns, then tilts his head to the kitchen before standing.
Foster and I stand and follow him to the island counter. “How long has she been like this?” I ask Foster.
“Since the funeral,” he says. “She stopped eating the day he died. After the funeral, she refused to take care of herself, refused to even do the bare minimum. She showers, but I’m not even sure she washes herself.” He looks over at her, and I can tell he isn’t disgusted by what he says, but rather states the facts and is deeply concerned. “I’ve been staying with her because I’m afraid...I’m afraid she’ll take her own life. I’d rather not leave, but I have to go deal with some family drama. But I can’t leave her alone.”
Briefly closing my eyes, I nod before following his gaze to Alice. We watch as Alice mindlessly flips through the channels. She’s had a lot thrown at her in a short amount of time. I don’t know exactly what passed between her and her brother, but he seemed to have deeply hurt her.
Then her father was killed.
“Does she have any family?” I ask, but I pretty much already know the answer.
When neither respond, I look up to see Ash shake his head.
“So she’s all alone,” I say, my heart aching. I know what that feels like.
Foster bangs his fist on the table. “She’s not alone.” He growls low, his forest-green eyes blazing. “She has me, and the rest of us.”
I blink. He’s so different from the laughing, happy-go-lucky guy he was at Thanksgiving.
“It’s not the same as having family. Her father and brother were there since the beginning, and now both are gone. Family is someone who’s supposed to be there for the long haul and always love you.”
“Key words: ‘supposed to’. Not all families do. Family doesn’t always have to be blood. She could choose us as her family.”
I never thought of it like that. I glance over at Ash to find his eyes already locked on me. He wraps an arm around me and places a kiss on my forehead.
“You’re my family,” he murmurs in my ear.
I lean in to him. “You’re my family, too.”
“I’m family, too,” Foster adds gruffly.
Ash looks down at me with concern, his hands on my hips as we stand in the foyer. “I can delay my trip.”
I shake my head. “You’re only going to be gone for a few days. I’ll be okay. Maybe the different scenery and having another girl around will help her.” I shrug because I really have no idea. I was only able to cope in the past because I had my drawings. But to be honest, I don’t really think I coped well. I was kind of just thrust into the foster care system and had to mourn in private, and I always made sure to put on a brave face for whichever family I was with. I wanted to be wanted, not a burden.
“If you’re sure…”
Reaching up on my tiptoes, I plant a kiss on his lips. “I’m sure. I want to know about my parents. I’ll be fine here. Besides, you’re giving us guards.”
“I’ve always had guards,” he says.
“Well, you gave us an extra one. And this mysterious Sophie is coming to train me as well. Just be warned, I’m gonna be hard to defeat when you get back. So go, before I really do change my mind.”
His lips curl into a half-smile as he leans down for another peck. Instead, he tilts my head up, deepening the kiss with the thrust of his tongue, leaving me breathless and wanting.
He pulls away, grinning in pure male satisfaction and plants another kiss. “Remember if you want to leave, just let Russell or someone else on duty know. Oh—�
� He pulls out his wallet and flips it open before pulling out a card. “This is for you.” He hands it to me and I find my name on it.
“What is it?”
“It’s a debit card.”
I blink then hold it in the air, slightly shaking it at him. “I know that, but why are you giving me this? And why does it have my name on it?”
He shrugs. “It’s yours. I had you added to my accounts. Feel free to purchase anything online or in person. Just sign the back.”
“I can’t take this. You already got me a new phone.” This is too much. I didn’t even want to accept the cell. I try to hand the card back, but he steps back, raising his arms in mock surrender.
“Ash.”
“Just keep it. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. But it’s there if you need it.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
He smiles. “I’ll see you in a few days.” He places a kiss on my lips one more time before leaving.
After watching him leave in his truck, my eyes travel to the stairs. Alice hasn’t left her room since she was shown to it yesterday. Not to eat, not to pee, nothing. I mean, maybe she peed in the middle of the night, but since I’ve been awake she hasn’t. Perks of super hearing.
I walk to the kitchen to make some toast and grab a bottle of water. With both in hand, I head up the stairs. If she hasn’t eaten anything since her father’s death then she needs to start small. How long can lycans survive without food?
Holding the bottle in the crook of my arm and the plate in my hand, I knock on her door while eyeing the food we left her on the ground last night—untouched.
“I’m not hungry,” she says with a muffled voice, sounding like she’s still in bed.
“Alice, you need to eat.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Please, just open the door. At least take the water.”
She’s silent for a moment. “Alright. But not until you’re back downstairs.”
I frown, then let out a sigh. Gotta choose my battles. “Okay.” I set the plate and water on the ground and grab the old dishes.
I take one last look at her door before going back downstairs to clean the dishes. Ash has a dishwasher, but I’ve always enjoyed taking the time to hand wash them. Oddly, it brings me satisfaction to scrub off food until it’s shining and bright.
Saving Ellie (Lycans Book 1) Page 26