Across the mat, he turned away from me to face one of his students. “Zeke,” he barked, and I watched one of the young boys scramble to the edge of the mat. “You’ll referee the match. We’ll be following standard rules for practice sparring.
Do you know them, human?” By the way he raised his eyebrow at me, I could tell he expected me to be clueless.
“No using fangs, claws, or transforming into wolf forms. The match is over when the first opponent taps out,” I said, rolling my eyes. Not only had I participated in countless matches like this during warrior training, but I’d watched them too. I could list the rules in my sleep.
Surprise flashed through his eyes, but it only lasted a second before it was gone. “Good, I don’t need to waste time explaining them to you,” he grunted in that European accent of his, “Not as if most of those rules apply to you anyway.”
I watched him lower into a fighting stance, his feet spread wide and his arms out. “Zeke,” he snapped again, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. “You call the start of the match.”
“Yes, Instructor Ivan,” the boy muttered, standing off to the side. I didn’t dare look away from Instructor Ivan, but I knew all the attention was on us. We were the main act.
“Round 1, begin!”
There was enough adrenaline pumping through my veins to power a car. The sound of my own heartbeat was all I could hear, thumping away in my ears.
Thump.
The instructor lurched forward, preparing to tackle me.
Thump.
I managed to miss his large, bulky b*dy by inches, barely stumbling out of the way. I heard his b*dy hit the mat behind me.
Thump.
In the midst of sidestepping the instructor, I tripped over my own weight. The flat of my palms hit the mat but I caught myself. Instantly, I scrambled back up, whipping around to face the instructor.
Thump.
He was already back on his feet, looking like a predator ready to pounce. “You’re quick on your feet,” he hissed, and I could see the surprise in his eyes. He hadn’t expected me to dodge him. “Is avoiding a hit all you know how to do?” There was that smug smile again.
I knew he was goading me, but in the heat of the moment, I took the bait. Anything to wipe that smile off his face.
Thump. As I moved to punch him ~ right in the mouth ~ I tucked my thumb over the middle finger of my fist. The same way I’d been taught in warrior training.
Thump.
My punch never landed.
The instructor caught my fist mid-air, twisting me and pushing me back onto the mat. I landed face-first, and the force of the mat against my chin rattled my jaw. That was going to bruise later.
Thump. “How can you expect to land a punch on a stronger opponent when you don’t have a good base?” The instructor said, and I could hear every bit of smug condescension in his tone. “Now, are you ready to tap out? You’ve given it a good eff -“
My leg shot out, aimed right between his legs. “Oomph!”
The instructor doubled over, clutching himself. I knew it was a d*rty move, but if he got supernatural speed and strength, didn’t that entitle me to a few d*rty moves? Thump.
Still on the mat, I watched the instructor’s face contort in anger. If 1 hadn’t been screwed before, I was definitely screwed now.
“Why, you little – ” Whatever insult the instructor had been about to throw at me was caught off by a loud growl rattling through the room.
It seemed to shake the walls, the floor, even the very mat we were on.
Oh no.
A few of the young wolf boys whimpered at the sound.
I craned my head to find the source of the sound and my stomach dropped. I could no longer hear my heartbeat in my ears – I was pretty sure it had stopped beating altogether.
Griffin was standing at the entrance of the door, looking royally pissed. }
“When we love someone, we make it our business to protect them.” Donna Goddard Griffin moved too fast for my eyes to follow his movement. One moment, he was standing near the door, seething.
The next, he’d positioned himself in front of me, growling deep and low in his throat. My heart caught in my throat – I’d heard that growl before. It was the growl I’d heard the day I met him, just moments before his father’s head rolled on the floor. It was the growl of a wolf protecting his mate.
Every wolf in the room seemed to cower beneath Griffin’s raw power – the instructor included. He’d stumbled to the edge of the mat with wide eyes, his hands thrown up in surrender.
“What the hell is going on here?” Griffin’s voice boomed across the room. He looked ready to pounce on the instructor.
“What were you doing to my mate?”
The instructor looked like he’d just stumbled into a den of vipers. “M- mate?” His eyes flickered over to me, where I was still flat on the mat. If his jaw could’ve dropped to the floor, I had a feeling it would have.
As soon as he looked over at me, Griffin growled again. “Don’t look at her!” The instructor immediately obeyed, his gaze falling to the floor. If I could feel Griffin’s raw power as a human, I could only imagine how strong it must’ve been for the wolves. In the background, several of the young boys continued to whimper and stare with wide eyes – but none of them spoke.
My limbs felt frozen. This felt all too reminiscent of the first day I’d met Griffin.
Am I going to have to stare at the instructor’s dead eyes the same way 1 had to stare at the king’s?
That thought alone was enough to spur me into action. Scrambling up, I grabbed one of Griffin’s arms. His attention was immediately on me and tried not to falter under his intense stare. Man, he was pissed. His eyes were wild and dark, but he still reached up to entangle his hand with mine.
“Griffin, it’s okay,” I murmured to him, “He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”
Griffin’s hand tightened over mine, another rumbling in his chest. “Oh, he wasn’t?” He snarled. “I felt your fear through our bond, little fox. I walked in as you were kicking him away from you. If that wasn’t his attempt to hurt you, what was it?” His eyes felt like they were burning into mine. No matter how upset he was at the instructor, I had a feeling Griffin was almost as angry at me.
I glanced over at the instructor. He didn’t dare make eye contact with Griffin – let alone me ~ but I could tell he was hanging onto every word. He was probably wondering if I was going to sell him out, tell Griffin everything he’d said.
Well, he certainly doesn’t have that smug smile on his face now.
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