“Wait! You are human?” he gasped, disbelief coloring his voice. His nostrils were flared and his eyes narrowed – he must’ve sniffed me out.
Is this the part where he realizes who’s human I am and calls Griffin to collect me?
My stomach sunk at the thought. I could only imagine Griffin would be even less happy about this than a quick stroll in the hallway.
There was no point lying to the man or any of the boys who were watching me with eager eyes. So, I just nodded my head.
The man just scoffed, muttering something under his breath. “To think they’d just let humans wander around here on their own,” he rolled his eyes. I couldn’t identify his accent but it was definitely European. “Let me guess. You’re the mate of some low-ranking guard and you’ve got nothing better to do than twiddle your thumbs all day…so you’re going to come here and interrupt my training session.”
Now I was just confused. I didn’t expect the entire werewolf world to recognize me, but I thought that word had spread to the entire castle by now. Most servants and guards seemed to recognize me on sight. Either this guy hadn’t gotten the memo or he wasn’t tuned into the gossip.
Before I could even refute his statement, he continued talking. “This is just my luck! I’m in the midst of training this castle’s next generation of warriors and guards. And now, not only have you interrupted my training session, but I’ve wasted even more time trying to explain this to auseless human.” There were chuckles and gasps from the class of boys as the instructor’s loud voice echoed throughout the room. If my cheeks weren’t red before, they certainly were now.
The instructor’s words sparked rage in my stomach.
Auseless human ~ that’s what he’d called me. He probably had no idea what kind of old, festering wound he’d just poked but I did. How many times had I heard that over the years, felt that same superior attitude from my dad’s pack members?
(?
A year ago, I probably would’ve shrugged his words off and sulked about it in private. But right now, staring at his smug face, all I wanted to do was prove him wrong. I wasn’t sure how, but I wanted to. I wanted to wipe that smug superiority right off his face.
So, instead of shrinking into myself, I did the opposite. I squared my , “You’re the shoulders and met his glare head-on. “For the record,” I sa one who wasted your time talking, not me. And just because
I’m human doesn’t mean I’m useless.”
I could see surprise flit across his face, but when a couple of the boys began chuckling, the instructor’s glare returned.
“Actually, it does. If you’re human, you’re useless.”
That flicker of rage that he’d lit in my stomach became an entire forest fire.
“Sounds like you haven’t spent a lot of time around humans,” I snapped back. “We’re more durable than you think.”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the group of boys. The entire class looked like they’d scored front row seats to a boxing match. They were eating up every bit of our argument. “If you’re so convinced, why don’t we put it to the test?”
I faltered momentarily.
He grinned at me, sharp teeth gleaming in the light. “Spar with me – we’ll see how useful you are ina fight.”
“Fight d*rty but fight bravely.”
Chloe Gong
I could only stare at the instructor in surprise. His proposition had thrown me off guard – I hadn’t expected him to actually challenge me toa fight.
“Come on, little human,” he goaded me, a smug smile on his face, “You want to prove you’re not useless. I’ve got my entire class here. You can teach me a lesson in front of them.” = He’s just trying to get a reaction out of you, Clark.
He’s a werewolf and a trained fighter. There’s no way you’d stand a chance sparring against him.
“Or perhaps you already know that it’d be pointless,” he continued, “There’s no need to embarrass yourself after all.”
Although I knew he was prodding for a weak spot, his words were still hitting the mark. If I backed off now, I wouldn’t just be admitting that he was right. I’d be setting an example for all the young boys watching us with eager eyes. They’d grow up thinking the same thing that so many werewolves already did ~ that humans were useless. You could wipe that smile off his face in another way.
Show him your mark, reveal that you’re mated to the King. He’ll be too afraid of Griffin to even think about fighting you.
If the mark could ever come in handy, it would be now. With a little more confidence than before, I stood up straight, raising my eyebrows at the instructor. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be embarrassing myself,” I said, keeping my tone cold. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with here.”
Slowly, I reached up to pull my shirt down and reveal Griffin’s mark. My eyes bore into the instructor’s and I could already imagine the way his face would drop when I revealed it. When I revealed that I wasn’t some useless human, I was the mate of his King.
And then I stopped.
My fingers stopped moving, although they were still gripping the material of the shirt.
Is showing off this mark really going to accomplish what I want?
Revealing the mark doesn’t prove that humans are useful…it just proves that I happened to win the soulmate version of the lottery.
I could practically feel the mark pulse under my skin. As if the magic of Griffin’s bite was begging me to expose it.
No, I don’t need to rely on Griffin or anyb*dy else to prove I’m useful. If t his guy wants his a*s handed to him so bad, then I’ll happily use my own human fists.
My mind flashed back to every warrior training class I’d ever taken. I used to dread getting my a*s kicked in those classes, but for once, I couldn’t be more thankful my dad had made me take them. .’ I
I’m not a fighter by any means, but doesn’t several years of training with wolves at least mean I probably won’t embarrass myself too bad?
“Well?” the instructor barked. That smug smile was still on his face, but I could tell my hesitancy was starting to annoy him. “Are you up for a challenge or are you going to leave and stop taking up so much of my class time?”
I took a deep breath, my stomach slowly twisting into knots. In the back of my mind, something whispered that Griffin would absolutely kill me if he found out about this, but it wasn’t loud enough to stop me.
“Let’s do this.”
The dark, wide smile that spread across his face didn’t reassure me. Neither did the way the young boys cheered at my answer. I couldn’t tell if they were cheering because they got to watch a fight or they were just so excited to see me end up with a bloody nose. (*
You’re being generous, Clark. This guy looks like he wants to break a few bones, not just give you a bloody nose.
I watched the instructor walk to the end of a large, springy mat. It looked similar to the practice mats we’d have in warrior training, just much larger.
As I stepped to the other side of the mat and faced him, I tried to steady my shaking limbs. I didn’t want to look like a scared little leaf. I wouldn’t win this sparring match that way.
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