Page 42 of Fated to the Alpha

“Sure, if this matters to you,” he smiled.

“It does.”

Her answer might have been a little too eager because Shane turned a little more serious. Still, he didn’t ask for an explanation yet and shifted his weight as if he were getting ready for some physically demanding task.

“Okay, the key, in most cases, is to use your opponent’s weight against them. No offense, but that’s probably the only way you’ll get out of the situation.”

Kimberly shrugged. “I’m a runt. I know.”

“Right. But the same advice can be used against you. A guy like me could throw you into the wall with no problem. So sometimes that’s a little cliché. Instead, think about it in terms of angles, balance, and misdirection. In this nightmare scenario preparation, I assume you’re going up against a human?”

Nightmare scenario. That was putting it mildly.

“Not necessarily.”

His dark blonde brows lowered. “No shifter in his right mind would do anything to you.”

“Well, let’s assume a shifter who isn’t in their right mind.”

Kimberly did her best not to paint the whole picture for him, but the specificity of it pinched his face with worry, but he didn’t pry.

“All right … let’s start there. Humans are easy enough to overpower if you try. Shifters are another story.” He stepped closer and grabbed her wrist again. “Dudes are simple. Shifter or human, aim for the nuts. Grab, punch, kick, whatever. Most of the time, that will help you get away fast unless he’s hyped up on drugs or something. If he can’t feel pain, cracking the family jewels won’t do you any good. Also, you were trying to throw my ass to the mat just for grabbing your wrist. Gauge the threat. Not every dude who does that is trying to mug you or something. And, as you saw, it didn’t work right away. Imagine doing that to a guy, it doesn’t work, and now you’re in his space. I could have snatched you up and carried you off if I wanted. Don’t give someone that chance. The ultimate goal is to get away. If that doesn’t work, then disable.”

Kimberly held up her hand. “How do you know all this?”

“One of my pack, Wanda, hosted a class on this stuff for the pack a couple of years back. I participated as the dummy aggressor then too. In fact, do you want me to get you in touch with her? She might be a better teacher than me.”

“No, no,” she said quickly. “I’d rather have you show me this stuff.”

One corner of his mouth quirked up. “I’m glad you trust me.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, so, if a guy grabs you like this.” He shook her wrist. “It’s all about angles and leverage. First, get yourself in a sturdy, stable stance … Good. Turn the most narrow part of your wrist against the junction of my thumb and fingers … Perfect. Now, you’re going to pivot your elbow to try and touch mine, our forearms too … No, you don’t move up or pull on me. That won’t work if he’s determined. You move toward me, but just enough. Assume I’m as solid as a rock. I’m not going to move my arm. But don’t get too close or you’ll be vulnerable. Might have to duck down a little. Try again … Yep, and you see, I can’t keep a hold on your wrist at that angle. It’s impossible. Once you’re free, jump away. Just like that.”

They practiced the move a few times slowly, then in a simulated scenario where Shane held on with intentional force. With the technique down, Kimberly was able to break free relatively easily, even if the skin on her wrist began to sting.

“That’s great,” he encouraged. “Ready to move on to something else?”

Feeling confident, Kimberly nodded. As soon as she did, Shane whisked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She squeaked as his arms cinched closed, drawing her body into his. Every alarm in her mind blared loudly through her nerves. Her muscles seized, her heart felt as if it had stopped, and her lungs constricted. Panic rose up her throat like bile, and she groped for some shred of cool to remind her that this was Shane, and he wasn’t going to hurt her. This wasn’t real. She wasn’t in danger. This was just pretend.

“How would you get out of this?”

Kimberly had no answer. It was as if her brain had flatlined.

“Kim?”

The softness of his voice next to her ear roused her pulse to start up again. Her mind recovered its sinus rhythm. She nodded, more to show that she was still with him than to answer his first question.

“Try to get out of this.”

She did, though it was a half-hearted effort, mostly because she knew it would do no good. No amount of wiggling would loosen his hold.

“Okay. Follow my directions again.”

As before, she did as he said. She bent forward to get Shane off balance, widened her stance to force him to catch himself, planting his foot between hers. She then reached down to grab his ankle. With one quick yank, Shane fell backward, his arms released from her waist.

Kimberly turned to see Shane on his ass. “Oh, are you okay?”

“You don’t ask the bastard if he’s okay! You jump away, remember?”

“Right. Right.” Kimberly scuttled away and watched him get back to his feet. “What if he doesn’t let go?”