Nico took his seat beside me again. “Look, I think you’ll go through the same adolescent stages most shifters have to experience. Your wolf was dormant for so long that it’s no surprise that it’s weird. The pills your parents gave you probably messed up your hormones or something. That’s probably why you’re having trouble shifting. Like I said before, be patient and give it time.”
It still made me angry that they’d done that to me. The fact that my parents had hidden so much from me wasn’t something I could easily forget or forgive. The only thing that worked as consolation was the fact that I truly did believe they gave me the pills because they thought it was for my own good. Besides, Kenneth had told them I needed the pills to stay alive. It also weighed on me that the last time I spoke to my parents, I’d yelled at them. My rage at being lied to had spilled out of my mouth in furious words. I tried not to imagine that being the last thing I’d ever say to them. The thought was too much to bear.
“I think it’s time to start your training,” Nico said.
“What training?”
“For when you have full control of your wolf. You can’t shift yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get you ready for when it does happen. You need to be around other wolves, to understand how we fight when we’ve shifted, to learn what our movements are like. I don’t know whether we’ll ever be in a full-on brawl with the royals, but we have to train for that possibility.”
That actually sounded fun. I grinned at him. “When do we start?”
“Tonight, when Javi and his pack come over. We need to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
“Javi?” Even the sound of his name filled me with apprehension. The guys who’d attacked me weren’t in his pack anymore, but he’d still been the one to send them after me. He’d also killed Nurse Cleo’s husband-a totally innocent man.
Nico sighed and nodded. “I know. I get it, but we’ve got a bit of a truce going on right now. We need the backup. We’ve got a common enemy.”
“Can you really trust him?” I asked.
“I have to believe so. Javi’s conscience wouldn’t let him kill innocent babies. That put a target on his back. He’s in just as much danger as we are. His family swore a blood oath to the royals centuries ago. They won’t take kindly to the fact that one of their purebred attack dogs has now turned and bitten them on the hand.”
I sighed, still not convinced we could trust Javi or anyone in his family. “If you think it’s necessary, I’ll go along with it.”
“I do, Maddy. I think we’ll really need the manpower. I’ve got a bad feeling that when we go to rescue your family, it’s gonna get ugly. We’ll need everything we have to pull off the mission.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I had the same feelings.
NICO
Idug my fingers into my biceps and clamped down and squeezed, trying to massage away the strange sensation I’d felt for a couple of days. It wasn’t helping. Since I’d claimed Maddy, it had been as though I was going to rip right out of my skin. All I could do was try to keep it together so no one else noticed or worried about me. My attempts to do that had been fairly successful but not perfect.
Luis sat on the other side of the table. “What the hell’s going on?”
I glanced up and saw Luis looking at me, one eyebrow raised in question. His eyes were glued to my hand, massaging my other arm. If there was anyone I’d never be able to fool, it was Luis. He was a professional investigator, for God’s sake. He was too damned observant for his own good. I pulled my hand away so quickly that it probably looked like I’d been burned.
I shook my head. “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”
Luis crossed his arms and tilted his head. “You say that, but your body language says different. Spill it.”
We stared at each other for several long moments. I was hoping he’d get the message and drop it, but he was obviously not going to. My irritation slowly gave way to acceptance, even though it pissed me off to no end that he’d beaten me.
“Fine,” I hissed. “It’s this new power I’ve got.”
“New power?”
“Yeah. Ever since I claimed Maddy. It’s like… I don’t know. Imagine how strong you are now, then take all that power and strength and plunge it right into the body of a thirteen-year-old kid or something. That’s what it’s like-almost too much to handle. Good lord, I can almost feel it seeping out of my pores.”
Luis nodded. “I can go ahead and confirm that’s true. Even sitting this close, I can feel it coming off you. It gives me these weird instinctual feelings. Sort of like I want to get on my knees and swear fealty to you like you’re some ancient king or something. The others also feel it. It’s weird. I’ll admit that. Sort of difficult to be around, honestly.”
I lowered my head into my hands. “I’m sorry. I can’t control it yet.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Luis waved me off. “It’s not a bad thing. We aren’t scared of you or anything. Besides, I think it’ll get better once you learn to harness this new power. You know, control it. It’s new. Just like what Maddy’s going through.”
“Right, but shouldn’t I be dealing with this better? I was born a shifter. Changes should come easier to me,” I said. Maybe he didn’t understand what I meant, but it made sense in my head. I was the one who’d been changing since I was eleven years old. I was well-equipped to handle this, but I still felt like my skin was about to explode from my body.
“Correct,” Luis said. “But the issue is the power you’re sharing. We know Maddy’s lineage. That’s some powerful shit. We know you aren’t trying to force us all into submission or anything. We’re here, bro. You’ll be fine in a few days. I’d almost guarantee it.”
“I can only hope some of your positivity rubs off on me.” I shook my head and sighed. “You know, I really thought claiming Maddy would be all about me helping her through the changes. I didn’t think I’d have to worry about myself.”
Luis left a while later, and I was stewing in my own thoughts. Maddy was grocery shopping with Felipe, and the house felt simultaneously too big and too small. If I could describe how I felt, it was probably closer to going through puberty than anything else. It ticked all the boxes: strange emotions, weird things happening to my body, new strength.
I took a little while to sit on my bed and do some breathing exercises. Perhaps meditation would help me focus on my new power. I listened to music and took slow, deep breaths, letting the new sensations wash over me. At first, I felt weird, like some new-age guru trying to “find his center”, but after a few minutes, I really thought it was helping. Luis was probably right-it would probably take a few days to really get a handle on it. There was just so much power. It was a testament to Maddy’s family tree. Being fated mates likely increased the power even more. I couldn’t even imagine what was going on inside Maddy’s body.
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