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“Arrogant prick,” I mumbled to myself.
I undressed and stood in front of the full length mirror in the bathroom. It had been days since Griffin rescued me, and the bruises had started to lighten. The only bruise left on my face was a yellowed patch under my eye, and only a handful were left on my arms and legs. The worst one was on my ribs, it was still slightly purple. It was horrible not being able to remember anything while there except that last night—just glimpses. I must have pissed Kellan off for him to have hit me so many times. Part of me felt proud, but the rest felt annoyed that I couldn’t save myself. I should have been able to. I should never have been kidnapped in the first place. Next time, I would be ready—I had to be.
At that thought, I showered, got dressed, and headed out to where Griffin sat. The smell of pizza made my stomach growl, but I forced myself not to be distracted.
“Do the werewolves know how to fight?” I asked with my hands on my hips. Griffin stopped mid bite.
“What do you mean?”
I sighed. “Do you know how to fight, to defend yourself?”
“Yes, we usually go through training when we’re young. It’s an old tradition and not very useful after the High Council forced peace, but it’s still done.” He frowned at me and put the pizza down. “Why?”
“I want you to teach me.” Griffin raised an eyebrow at that. “I’m still learning how to use magic and it might take a while. I want to be able to defend myself if anything happens again.”
He sighed, “Why not ask Cassian?”
“Well, you’re here right now. Please?” I asked, batting my eyelashes.
“I mean, it could help. Give me a break from having to rescue you,” Griffin said with a smile. “Fine, I’ll help, but learning to fight doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time.”
I grinned, ignoring his comment about saving me. “When do we start?”
“Tomorrow.” He rolled his eyes at my look of impatience. “I’d like to enjoy my pizza and peace for the rest of the day, if you don’t mind.”
“Tomorrow then… Thanks, Griffin,” I said and bounced to the box of pizza. I ate one while putting another on my plate.
I could have asked Cassian. He would have taught me after some convincing, but I also knew that he would go easy on me. He’d be too afraid to hurt me, and I needed someone who wouldn’t force me to stop at the first sign of pain. Cassian would be pissed but Griffin wouldn’t go easy on me. If anything, he would push me to my limits and laugh if I complained.
Cassian would be there soon, and I’d tell him. I’d been avoiding being alone with him because I knew he wanted to talk about us and where we stood. I had promised him that we would talk about it while I was still in New Orleans, but now that we were back, I wasn’t ready. He wanted me to be his mate, but the more I thought about it, the more the bond scared me.
Being a mate was intense if the stories were true. It meant complete commitment. I would be Cassian’s mate, his partner, but how much of a partner could you be if your mate was an alpha. Being boss was in his blood, and after craving independence for so long, I wasn’t ready to relinquish it so soon.
Maybe that's why I didn’t mind being roomies with Griffin—even though he was also my mate, he never brought it up. I didn’t feel any pressure to talk about it. I mostly knew where I stood with him, and the fact that he wasn’t interested in me made it much easier to be around him. With everything else, the bond was the least of my worries.
