AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tomorrow evening?” Kaden suggested. “I think we all finish tomorrow around six.”
“That would work,” Dustin said. “We can make pizzas and go through a few more things. Although it might get too cold to do much outside.”
“We can do that this weekend,” Emily patted his shoulder. “If that works for you.”
“Yes, thank you. That would be perfect.” I would take any amount of time they offered us, and if we had to move other plans around, we would. Not that we had any.
“Great, we will see you tomorrow, then.” Dustin handed me my coat.
The guys slipped their coats on, and we thanked our hosts again before leaving.
“That was . . .” Theo trailed off. He was rarely at a loss for words, so his dazed, happy expression made me laugh.
“Exhilarating? Astounding? Truly awesome?” Kaden supplied for him.
“Yes.” Theo accepted them all.
“I had no idea what to expect, but now I can’t wait to see what we can do,” Niall admitted.
I smiled at my guys. I was excited too, but I couldn’t shake the constant worry that now lived in the back of my mind. Would it be enough? Would we ever be strong enough to defend ourselves against the Council? Could we help our families and friends, or would we be more of a liability?
I wanted to be optimistic, but Serene’s disappointment from the day before dampened my hope.
We wasted so much time already. Working and tutoring and training were important, sure, but working with Dustin, Joey, and Emily should be our top priority. We should spend all those hours with them.
Responsibilities were distracting us, but they were necessary if we wanted to stay with the pack. If we wanted to remain safe and provided for, we needed to follow their rules. No matter how frustrating they were.
Chapter 16
The next day, I walked into our house after a long, frustrating, and unproductive pup training session. I resented them more and more. Jeff didn’t teach me anything useful, and the other students enjoyed my suffering a little too much. There had to be a better way to train my shifter side, but so far, Jeff the Asshat was the only solution anyone offered.
At least I didn’t have to worry about attacking anyone anymore. Sleeping with the cuffs on made a difference. The only downside was only someone with a special tool could remove them, and no one in our group was allowed to have it.
I had to wait until I got to work or hunt down one of my uncles before training and tutoring. It was frustrating, but the trade-off was worth it. My guys were safe.
“Hey, how's your day?” Sai lifted his head off the couch and smiled.He was lying on his side and looked like I interrupted a nap.
“Fine.” I stepped out of my boots and hung up my coat, then crossed the small room and dropped into the small available space between the edge of the couch and his stomach.
“Just fine?”
I knew he wanted me to open up to him, but it was hard to complain when I knew he was dealing with much worse. Not being able to shift had to be hard on him.
“Saige, talk to me.”
I faced him and decided to stop holding back. “I've been doing real work with Serene and making a ton of progress. We finished the entire burn scar in the forest. We’ve been working on my potion making and coming up with my own spells. I think I'm on track or even ahead of what I would be at the Academy.”
“That's good, so why do you look so bummed out?”
“Because I'm sick of being treated like a baby by Jeff and the other shifters. I'm just frustrated. We're given all this responsibility and contribute. I work with Gloria and help with whatever the pack needs. As a witch, I'm taken seriously, but when it comes to being a shifter, it feels like I'm at the very bottom.”
“I understand.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, even though I tutor with the other shifters and train with them and work out with them, I can tell that they don't like me, and that they don't respect me. They think I'm some sort of joke.”
“Because you're a tiger shifter? That doesn't make any sense. I wouldn't want to see you get into a fight with any of them, but I'm pretty sure your tiger could take any of their wolves in a fight.”
