I check on César to make sure he’s properly buckled and that his chest clip is resting where it’s supposed to before climbing in the passenger seat.
I meet Jordy’s stare through the windshield, his face still tight and eyes glaring.
Jae squeezes my knee in reassurance. “Everything good?”
I nod. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
He puts the car in drive and Jordy steps out behind the car, watching us leave. I sigh. I have a feeling he isn’t going to take the news of me moving in with Jae very well. Which is why I’m not going to tell him. At least, not anytime soon if I can help it. Now, I just need to figure out a way to keep him from finding out on his own.
Easier said than done.
65
Jordy
This was supposed to be a training exercise. Just a quick sparring session before we go out on patrols. But instead of taking it easy, like we’d agreed, I’m taking every opportunity I get to kick my partner’s ass.
Fuck training exercises. My wolf is clawing beneath the surface of my skin and I need a release. A few coordinated jabs and tumbles isn’t going to cut it.
What was that guy even doing here? Jae.Pfft.And why the hell would she call him? Today is her first day back. I told her I’d be there. That I’d help. Pull my weight. I thought we went over all of this at her place. I told her she was my responsibility too. I want to take care of her and César, but she doesn’t even give me the chance. No. She has some fucking druid asshole helping out. He’s not her family. He isn’t who she should be relying on.
Desmond and Rafael face off in the spar circle beside me, working on evasive maneuvers, but neither of them really throws their weight around. They’re evenly matched both in strength and dominance, so neither feels like he has anything to prove.
The shifter in front of me—Cameron Bailey—is the same age as I am but has at least thirty pounds of muscle on me. It’s unfortunate for him that won’t work to his advantage. Not with the mood I’m in. Fucker didn’t know what he was getting himself into when he agreed to be my partner today.
Cameron is light on his feet, his stance shifting just enough to alert me to his intentions right before he lunges, hands fisted and ready to strike. None of us are allowed to shift. We’re working on tactics using just our human skins, but that’s ok. I don’t need my wolf to kick his ass.
I bend at my knees, angling my shoulder to take him right in the gut. My smile is savage when our bodies connect, and I hear the air rush out of him as he takes the full brunt of my aggression before I use his momentum to flip him over my shoulder, his back colliding with the unforgiving ground.
He thought I’d evade the blow, but I want to feel his hit. Absorb the pain and give it right back only twice as hard.
“Fuck!” he shouts, his chest rising and falling. Almost in slow motion, I turn around. He’s still flat on his back, eyes blinking up at the sky. I crouch beside him and tilt my head, taking in the sweat beading along his upper lip.
“Doing alright?”
“Did you have to lay me out like that?” he growls, pushing himself from the ground. I could offer him a hand, but where’s the fun in that?
I shrug. “Yeah. I did.”
Damian, one of Clan Wolf’s sentinels, comes up beside me and slaps my shoulder. “Put a leash on your wolf,” he tells me, then pauses, giving Cameron a disapproving scowl. “And you might want to remember to use your beast.”
I chuckle. “You’ve got it.”
Cameron flips me off as soon as Damian turns away. “Fuck you, Salgaldo. I thought we were cool?”
I brush past him, making sure to shoulder check him along the way. “Not sure what gave you that idea.”
He curses. “I didn’t even talk to her, man.”
I don’t bother turning around. He doesn’t deserve my anger, but it fucking sucks for him because he’s going to get it. “Again!” Damian shouts and everyone hustles back into position.
“I’ll be in on the next round,” I tell him and nod toward one of the juveniles standing nearby. “You’re up.”
He startles to attention and then runs to face off with Cameron, Damian already shouting for him to hurry his ass up.
I stalk toward the Compound, going straight for the community showers on the far left. I glance around the empty space before claiming a seat on a nearby bench. I need to get my head on straight, but I can’t get the image of Jo sitting withhimout of my head, my kid in the back seat. They looked like the perfect fucking family. Is that why she said no to marrying me? Fuck. To dating me. Because she’s already got her eyes set on someone else? Someone who isn’t a shifter.
I drag my hand over my face and kick one of the floor-to-ceiling lockers that the sentinels and trackers keep some of their gear in. I need answers. Spinning in the combination to my lock, I tear my locker open and dig through my bag for my cell phone, but before I even have a chance to unlock the screen, a call comes in.
