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I shook out my fist when I instinctively clenched it, imagining alphas stalking him through the stone corridors of the Palace. “Did you always feel that way while living here?”
“Yeah,” he said simply. “I learned to keep a wall at my back as much as possible. The assholes liked to ambush me and take me by surprise. Even if they weren’t trying to hurt me, even a back slap would affect me. I could brace myself when I saw it coming, and dodged when I could. But when they took me by surprise, I froze. So they loved doing it. I guess it made them feel powerful or some shit.”
“We can help you with that,” River said, in a rough voice as he lowered the sparring pads. “When you’ve got this technique down, we’ll work on your situational awareness and quick pivoting. When Nick joins us, we’ll also teach you both to fight in formation, keeping each other at your backs.”
I was grateful for River stepping in and taking over the conversation when I knew he wasn’t great at dealing with people’s emotions. He knew I needed a moment to pull myself together. I took a few deep breaths before shifting around to River’s side so I wasn’t at Cary’s back anymore.
“You need to tell us this stuff so we’re aware of it,” I said. “We don’t want to trigger you unintentionally.”
“I’ve never had a team before. It’s always been me against the wolves. I’m working on it,” he replied with a too-casual shrug.
“You have one now,” I added. “Any asshole comes at you, we’ll have your back.” River nodded in agreement.
Cary sighed and rolled his head on his shoulders, trying to loosen up. “You can stand back behind me, Ryder. Just maybe make some noise. You’re too fucking quiet on your feet. I can’t tell where you are.”
I laughed as I moved around to his side, but stayed in his peripheral vision. River put his pads back up, and they started sparring again. Some of Cary’s tension had eased, which was good. His moves were flowing easier.
“Watch your thumb,” River warned him. “If it pops out, you’re going to break it.”
Cary grunted and punched again as River shifted his stance. Cary wasn’t throwing a lot of power into his punches yet. We’d started just focusing on technique. Still, his muscles rippling along his sweaty back were distracting.
Neither Wolf or Nick did anything for me physically, but Cary had me intrigued. I didn’t make a big deal of being bisexual. I’d never even really talked about it with River. He just knew. It wasn’t even that Cary was an omega, and a gorgeous man. He wasn’t mine, yet I could appreciate that his body and face were a work of art, with those chiseled planes and dark skin sliding over sleek muscles. I got why alphas at the Palace were fascinated by him. But it was more than that. It was something about Cary himself. His vulnerability and determination, maybe. Everything that shone through his eyes.
The thought of Cary going into heat alongside Ava stirred something in me. So, maybe being an omega was part of it. I couldn’t be sure. Cary didn’t seem to affect River, though. He’d been clear about how he felt last night.
“How’s his form?” River asked suddenly and glanced at me pointedly.Shit, had I been standing here drooling over Cary? That was not helpful right now.
“Uh, good. Hit him harder for me on the next one,” I mumbled.
Cary gave the pads a harder punch and looked over his taut shoulder at me.
“Can I correct your stance a little? I’m going to need to touch you,” I asked.
He nodded, and I approached him slowly. I kicked at the inside of his foot gently. “You need to widen your stance slightly. You’ve got a wide upper body and a narrow waist, you don’t want to overbalance yourself. Most of your power is going to come from your hips and your legs. Your arm is an extension of that.”
I stepped back slightly. “Try it again.”
He punched, and I watched his hips and legs closely. “Okay, you need to start the punch at your foot. Push off with your heel, then feel that power travel up to your thighs, then your hips as you swivel, until it finally runs up to your arm.”
I ran my hand up the outside of his thigh after he pushed off and twisted his hips lightly. “It doesn’t need to be a big movement or you’ll unbalance yourself again. It’s more about controlled power.”
I glanced at his face, and his eyes were wide. I was suddenly intensely aware of how close we were standing and the ice-cream scent filling my senses. He was breathing hard, and I wasn’t sure if it was the exertion or something else. I stepped away quickly before my body betrayed me, and to give him some room.
“Here, watch me.” I demonstrated the motion slowly, starting with my heel. Then sped up and did it a few more times. He nodded at me, but his eyes seemed a little glazed as they traveled over my form.
“Okay, here, try again on the pads,” River said, bringing our attention back to him. His face hadn’t changed, but I could feel his mirth through our bond. I flipped him the bird behind Cary’s back and his lip twitched.
“That’s better,” River said as Cary hit a punch with a lot more power.
“Yeah. Wow, that really works,” Cary said, sounding amazed. He threw a few more, getting more confident with each one.
“Good job,” I praised him. “Remember to keep your back straight and don’t lean too far forward. You’ll leave your chin open to an uppercut.”
“You’ve got good upper body strength, but we need to work on your leg strength a bit more. It will help give you more power,” River added.
“I never really thought about my legs,” Cary admitted. “I figured it was all about my arms.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, most people do. Take a look at Wolf’s thighs. It’s where a lot of his power comes from.”
