Claimed Mate by Roxie Ray
Liv
In retrospect, it was probably pretty odd that my father never taught me how to fight. Maybe he thought he’d be around to protect his little girl forever. Ben didn’t surprise me at all, given that he never thought much of me, and more importantly, he knew the prophecy, but still, my father? Shouldn’t all wolves know how to defend themselves?
It didn’t matter now, though, and I wasn’t going to let the pang of hurt ruin my moment, either.
“Cal, why don’t you go join some of the other wolves and get some training in yourself?” Corin was asking as Leith and I walked back. “I can introduce you to a few.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Leith murmured.
My mate looked less than impressed, however. His arms were still folded over his chest and his gaze kept flickering between me, Corin, and Leith. He shrugged one shoulder, disinterested. “I’m fine. I can handle myself.”
Corin didn’t even bother to hide her eye roll. “Obviously, or you wouldn’t have made it past a bunch of power-hungry werewolves. That doesn’t mean you work well with a team, though.”
I bit the inside of my lip to keep from saying anything; she’d hit the nail on the head there. Cal knew it too, judging by the way his shoulders bunched up a little more. After a moment, I sighed and shook my head, stepping back over to him. “C’mon, it might be nice to meet some other wolves!” I tried to encourage him, leaning up to give him a little peck on the lips.
To my surprise, he deepened the kiss almost immediately. Both hands found my hips as he dragged me in, tongue sweeping over my lips. I jerked my head backwards and pulled out of his hands, torn somewhere between bewilderment and irritation. What the hell? I tried to shove some of my aggravation through the bond; that big, shaggy redhead had already come over to try and challenge me. Who was going to take me seriously if Cal was bending me over for a sweeping kiss at every chance he got?
Cal didn’t say anything else, returning to his brooding gargoyle pose. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned back to Leith. Thankfully, the man had enough grace to pretend he hadn’t witnessed anything. “We will let Corin and Cal decide how to spend their time,” he said mildly. “You and I will see what power we can coax from you.”
The next twohours were simultaneously the longest, most excruciating hours as well as the fastest time spent. My muscles felt like gelatin by the time Leith announced that we were done; I’d worked so hard, sweat was dripping off my nose. I pushed a few stray strands of hair away from my face, struggling to even out my breathing.
“We will keep working on your endurance,” Leith murmured, tapping his fingers against his hip. “But you are already holding the smoke much longer than you were earlier this morning. This is good. This is very good.”
I hadn’t set the bar very high when I started, but I could actually hold it now, instead of just producing smoke and letting it go again. It was nice to hear it from someone else, though, that I wasn’t just impressing myself. That Leith actually saw some worthwhile progress being made. It was hard work, and I was positive I’d feel it all over tomorrow, but maybe I would be able to train enough to do some of the things Malachi and Finola had told me about earlier in the week.
I smiled up at Leith. “I had a good teacher,” I said, pleased when I caught the corner of his mouth tick upwards. “Man, I really wish I worked out more often, though.”
That earned a chuckle. “Physical strength does help, yes,” he agreed, “but you should think of it as another set of muscles. They can work together, but they aren’t the same thing. That said, you would not want to practice and practice and practice without rest. Just as you could tear a muscle, you can injure your spirit.”
“My spirit?”
“Where did you think your magic came from, your fingers?”
It took me a second to realize he was making a joke. A startled laugh escaped and I shook my head. Before I could reply, an alarm went off. A fresh wave of adrenaline coursed through me as the guards erupted into organized chaos. A single alarm became several, a chain reaction traveling through the entire institute. “What’s that?” I yelled, struggling to be heard over the racket.
“There are witchwards around the perimeter,” Leith shouted back, somehow still sounding perfectly calm. Relaxed, even, just loud enough to be heard. “They trigger alarms.”
Corin was nowhere to be seen. I straightened my shoulders, about to follow after Leith when Maren appeared by my side, snagging my wrist. “Hey!” I tried to snatch my arm back. “I have to go!”
“No, you don’t,” Maren argued, not letting go. “You’re lucky I was nearby when the alarm went off!”
Lucky?!I jerked my arm again, looking around frantically for Leith, but he’d disappeared. Most of the guards had already dispersed. I growled and shook my arm. “Maren, Leith said there were intruders! I should go help!”
“I’ll go.”
Cal had been so quiet up until now, I’d almost forgotten he was here. I frowned, glancing between Cal and Maren as the pair exchanged a look. “Keep her safe,” my mate said, and Maren nodded. He was already stalking off before I could protest.
My exhaustion was already starting to creep in; my shoulders sagged, and after another weak protest, I allowed Maren to lead me away from the training fields. “I want to help,” I murmured again, not caring how childish it sounded. “I can’t keep letting people fight my battles for me.”
Maren glanced over her shoulder. “Who says this has anything to do with you? The witchwards were in place long before we showed up.” She kept marching forward and I felt my neck get a little hot. “A lot of folks here are hiding for a reason…or several reasons.”
I didn’t argue any further. She was right. It was incredibly selfish to assume all intrusions had something to do with me, prophecy or otherwise. My self-loathing was distracting enough that I hadn’t even realized Maren had led us back to the main building, down to where we’d watched the movie; instead, she opened the door across the hall with a flick of her wrist, and shoved me inside. It was so out of character, I didn’t even fight back as the door clicked shut behind me.
“Maren! What the hell!?”
“Do not open the door for anyone except me, Corin, or Malachi, okay?” she instructed from the other side of the door.
“I thought you just said this probably wasn’t about me!”
“Well, I don’t want to risk it!” Maren snapped back. I was taken aback by the sharpness in her tone. “Promise me, Olivia!”
“I…yes, okay, I promise!”
Man,I really wished I owned a watch. It felt like hours I sat there in the dark, waiting. Listening. My eyes adjusted after a few minutes, and my ability to tell how quickly time passed after that was absolutely lost.
What was that?
It sounded like footsteps. Thump! My entire body tensed; there was definitely someone outside now. I took a step back from the door and listened; it sounded like labored breathing. A moment later, someone knocked on the door — I paused. If it was one of the three, surely they would have announced themselves, right? I held still. The person outside the door shouted something, but I couldn’t make out the words.
Shit!
I had two choices. Either it was a friend and they just needed me to open the door, or it was whoever had attacked, and they’d gotten this far inside. Either way, I couldn’t really stay in a cupboard, could I?
My heart hammed in my chest. My blood was roaring so loudly, I could barely hear my own thoughts. I tried to summon up the few lessons Leith had given me before our session had ended today and pulled at my smoke. Fuck, but I was tired. I could feel a soul-deep ache, but I couldn’t just give up. Smoke started to curl around me and I reached for the rattling doorknob.
The door swung open to reveal the most arresting blue eyes I’d ever seen, but not a gaze I recognized. My heart stuttered and I waved a hand, attempting to throw my smoke in his face. Leith said it could blind, right?
At best, I managed to move it sideways simply with the force of a hand wave; before I could take three steps, the large fae grabbed me by the wrist. “Hey!” I yelled, and he didn’t even seem to hear me. He jerked me forward, nearly knocking me off my feet. The man clearly knew his way around, leading me down the hall and up the stairs, pulling us both out of the main building.
“Hey! Who the hell are you!?” I demanded, wishing I had the same kind of alpha authority my father used to. No one ever ignored his questions. “What do you want?”
Then again, maybe it didn’t work on non-wolves. I struggled, my frenzy increasing with each unanswered query. An idea struck and I fell forward, catching him briefly off guard. I reeled back and planted my heel in his ribs like I could pry him off. He grunted, faltering only for a moment before he turned and pressed to fingers to the center of my forehead. I had about three seconds to realize everything went blinding bright before turning pitch black.
