"Don't think about holding the magic," Lucien instructed, moving behind me. He placed his hands on my hips, his touch grounding. "Think about water. It flows in, it flows out. You are just the riverbed."
"Be the riverbed," I muttered. "Got it. Very Zen."
"Focus," Lucien whispered, his breath stirring the hair on my neck. "Kai is going to push energy at you. Take it, spin it, and throw it at Rhett."
Kai, who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with a vine, stood up. He looked apologetic. "Ready?"
"Ready," I braced myself.
Kai flicked his wrist. A surge of earth magic—heavy, rich, and smelling of damp soil—hit me in the chest.
Usually, my instinct was to clamp down. To hold it. To keep it safe.
Let it flow,Lucien's voice echoed in my mind.
I didn't clamp. I opened.
The magic rushed into my core, swirling with the static energy I already held. It felt chaotic. Too much.
"Push!" Lucien commanded.
I shoved my hands forward, aiming for the bag Rhett was holding.
GO AWAY!I thought, screaming the intent.
A blast of white-hot energy erupted from my palms.
It didn't hit the bag.
It hit Rhett.
There was a crack like thunder, and my 200-pound werewolf mate was lifted off his feet and thrown backward. He flew ten feet through the air before crashing into a stack of gym mats.
"Oh my god!" I screamed, running forward. "Rhett!"
Kai winced. "Ooh. That looked expensive."
Lucien didn't move. He just watched, a small, satisfied smile playing on his lips.
I reached the mats just as Rhett sat up. He shook his head, looking dazed. His shirt was singed, and there was a smell of ozone in the air.
"Rhett, I'm so sorry!" I grabbed his face, checking for injuries. "Are you okay? Did I break anything?"
Rhett blinked, his eyes focusing on me. Then, slowly, a massive grin spread across his face.
"Do it again," he breathed.
I stared at him. "What?"
"That felt... wild," he laughed, grabbing my waist and pulling me down on top of him. "You hit like a truck, Lina. A sexy, magical truck."
He flipped us, pinning me to the mats. The sudden shift in gravity made my head spin. He was heavy, hot, and smelled of ozone and arousal. His eyes glowed with a feral golden light, and claws extended from his fingertips, scraping lightly against the mat beside my head—partial shift kicking in, his wolf rising to the surface from the adrenaline rush.
"Rhett," I gasped, my hands finding purchase on his broad shoulders. "We're in a gym."
"Don't care," he growled, burying his face in my neck. He bit down on the sensitive cord of muscle there, not gently—his fangs grazing skin, a low rumble vibrating through his chest. It sent a jolt of electricity straight to my core. "You have no idea how turned on I am right now. Seeing you like that... dangerous."
"It was an accident," I breathed, my hips instinctively rocking against him. But the power high from the blast surged through me—my magic buzzing, alive, demanding. I wasn't just reactive anymore. I flipped the script, channeling the static into my palms and shoving against his chest—not to blast him away, but to test my control, to ground his wolfish intensity.
