AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But something did. I can feel it in the electric air. A shift. A lightness. A spark. I just wish I knew what it meant.
CHAPTER23
Training sucks balls. There’s really no other way to put it. After everyone praised me for being so badass when I kicked Slate’s ass, I had a bit of confidence that perhaps I’d be able to hold my own. But nope. Rune has been kicking my butt all damn day. And supposedly, he’s taking it easy on me. At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling me. Apparently, Rune is a badass warrior who has never lost a fight, hence the reason Slate called him the “infamous Rune.”
“If he were fighting at full-force, you’d be dead,” Liberty told me.
That made me feel a bit scared, but not enough to stop fighting.
I grunt in pain and frustration as I slam to the mat for at least the twentieth time. The worst part is that Liberty, Kylan, and Jules are all here to witness me getting my ass kicked. Jules at least is trying to be encouraging.
“You’re doing okay.” Jules crouches down at the edge of the mat and catches my gaze. “You just need to find his weakness.”
“Yeah, easier said than done.” I wipe my mouth with my arm and see crimson streaks my skin.
The fucker made me bleed.
Rage currents through my achy muscles as I push to my feet and run at Rune, who’s barely broken a sweat. Two seconds later, I’m slammed into the mat again, on my back, the wind getting knocked out of me. If I were human, some of my bones would’ve broken by now. Jules assured me that our bodies are way stronger, something I’m finding out firsthand.
“You need to stop running at me and start fighting with your instincts.” Rune’s face appears above me, his hands on his hips.
“I can’t remember my instincts, remember?” I bite out. I know I’m being a sore loser about this, but every part of my body hurts. And I’m exhausted. And humiliated.
“You may not remember them, but they’re still alive in here.” He leans over and taps my star-marked temple. “You just need to reconnect with them.”
“I’m trying.”
“Well, try harder.”
I work my jaw from side to side.Great advice there, Rune.
He cracks his knuckles as he straightens. “Now, let’s try it again.” He doesn’t even bother moving back, as if he’s so sure I won’t be able to touch him. And he has every right and reason to feel that way, but it pisses me off.
I growl, and my wolf mimics me.
Do it,she whispers.Take him out. Just like you used to.
How?And now I’m talking to her. She doesn’t answer, but instinct takes over.
Rolling onto my side, I stretch my leg out lightning fast and kick Rune’s legs out from under him. He hits the mat with a loudsmackas I leap to my feet. He blinks up at me in a dazed stupor, and I sort of feel bad, but not enough to stop.
I climb on top of him, using my knees to pin down his arms, and line my arm with his throat, pressing my weight down on him. He gasps for air, his face turning red. When I ease up the pressure on his neck, he wheezes with laughter.
I glance at Jules, wondering if I broke Rune’s brain or something.
But Jules is chuckling, too.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, hopping off Rune.
“That was your move,” Liberty explains as she secures her hair into a ponytail. “That’s how you would kick Jules, Shade, and Rune’s asses when we were younger. It got them almost every time.”
“Oh.” A bit of confidence rises as I turn back to Rune. “Again?”
His laughter dies as he stands, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Now that you’ve found your wolf instincts, let’s see what you can do with them.”
Smiling, I lunge at him.
* * *
