Sofia rolls her shoulders, drops into a defensive crouch, sharp and focused. Mike mirrors her position, and they circle each other before Sofia lunges. I hold my breath, but it’s not long before Sofia has him on the ground with his arm twisted back, and Mike is tapping out.
Her next match is against one of our strongest females. Cadence. She’s my age. Which means she has years more training on Sofia. And yet Sofia takes less than a minute to have her knocked on her ass and only another thirty seconds before she’s tapping out.
My jaw literally drops.
Opponent after opponent steps up, and Sofia tears through them like they’re nothing. A sheen of sweat glistens on her flawless skin, her chest rising and falling with effort, her braids swinging as she moves. She’s fast, lethal, efficient, and fucking magnificent.
Jackson comes to stand beside me and claps me on the back. “She’s been doing this for years.”
My brows furrow and my mouth hangs open as I watch my mate in all her wonder. “What?” I ask, my voice strangled, because no other words are coming to mind as I watch Sofia kick, punch, flip, and throw each shifter that comes up against her.
I was aware she was strong. I understood she was fierce, but this… fuck. My mate is magnificent. My wolf puffs out his chest and encourages me to show her how strong we are; to show her we are worthy of her.
“She’s been kicking ass and taking names for years. It’s basically an unwritten rule that no one warns the younger warriors. It’s just funnier that way.” He shrugs. “They come in thinking she’s a pampered pack princess, and she gets to put them in their places. The new warriors learn that they aren’t as hot as they think they are, and Sofia gets to prove everyone wrong. Win-win.”
Well shit.
“I didn’t think she bothered to show up to training. She never comes when I’m here.”
“Huh,” he murmurs, cocking his head to the side. “That’s funny. Shealwayscomes when you’re not here. Almost seems as though that’s not a coincidence.”
He levels me with a look that has my ears burning and my head spinning. How did I fuck myself over so colossally? She is perfect, and I’ve pushed her away because of what? My inability to be attracted to her and stay in the same room as her without telling her how much I wanted her?
Shame curdles in my gut.
I’m a fucking idiot. I didn’t see it because I wasn’t here. I was too damn busy trying to pretend I didn’t care. And while I was drowning in my own bullshit, she became this undeniable force. Strong. Fierce. Unstoppable.
And I missed it.
Because I pushed her so far, she won’t even share air with me now. How could I have been so damn blind?
My wolf lets out a growl when it’s Simon’s turn to go up against Sofia. Like fuck is that happening.
“My turn,” I growl, stepping into the circle.
Sofia glares at me, her eyes full of fire. “No problem. He’s all yours. But do try to remember that training isn’t the place to work out your homicidal tendencies,” she says with a wink, while stepping back. A couple of the warriors laugh until I level them with a look that shuts them up quickly.
“I wasn’t talking about him,” I say with a smirk, looking her up and down. She used to have a crush on me when she was a kid. Everyone could see it. I need to get her to remember that version of me.
“Oh no,” she deadpans. “I’ve suddenly got a terrible pain in my ass. There’s no way I could possibly continue.”
Smartass brat. My wolf practically purrs. Her fire is half the reason I can’t stay away. I don’t want easy submission—I want toearnit. To break through that stubborn defiance until she begs for me.
She crosses her arms, which serves to push her tits up. My eyes are instantly drawn to them, and, Fates, do I want to fuck that attitude out of her. Goddess, help me. She has no idea what she does to me.
“Am I done?” she calls to Jackson.
“Yup, you’ve done more than enough for today,” he replies. And Sofia instantly turns and stalks out of the training facility with me trailing behind her.
She turns back to face me once she gets to the bottom of the steps and plants her hands on her hips. “Can you stop following me?”
“Well,” I murmur, stalking closer, “you said you had a pain in your ass. We better get that looked at, huh?”
Her eyes widen in realization a second before I throw her over my shoulder. She shrieks as I prowl away from the training hall without looking back. She wiggles and tries to extricate herself from my hold, and my arms clamp down on her thighs to limit the damage she can inflict. She thumps my back with her fist, knocking the air from my lungs, and before I can process what I’m doing, my hand comes down hard on her ass. Sofia lets out a yelp that goes straight to my dick.
“Unless you want me to give you a real pain in that sweet ass, I’d suggest you stop fighting, Princess,” I growl.
She huffs out a breath and mutters a stream of insults and threats as I stroll into the woods with a surprisingly and uncharacteristically subdued Sofia. I think I might have shocked her into submission, but that won’t last long. Honestly, I shocked myself too. Not that I don’t want to redden Sofia’s ass, but I’m meant to be winning her over, and that’s probably not the right way to go about things.
