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Chapter Nineteen
Kane
She’d been brainwashed, and she didn’t even realize it. Those fucking bastards, the masters, had conned her into thinking she had to cage her wild side instead of nurture it. She was probably fighting to keep those pieces of herself at bay and under control constantly, which had to weaken her.
But I couldn’t approach this that way. She’d get defensive, and that wasn’t going to lead to change.
“Raw power is not enough. It burns up too fast.” I held my hand out to Charlie, half expecting her to knock it away. “You need brain and muscles working together for what we want to do.” I’d get her aligned with all her instincts in a roundabout way.
Much to my surprise, she accepted the help to stand, a sign that her werebeast side had sucked her energy almost to nothing. It wasn’t good. She needed to maintain balance to prevent her werebeast instincts from exhausting her. There had to be unity so she could harness her abilities and her power as one, rather than being splintered then easily worn out.
She pulled her hand away as soon as she was upright, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to reach out and snatch it back. She was little as a human. Pintsized, compared to her werebeast mode—and I wanted to lay claim, to hold her hand and caress the tender, soft flesh between her thumb and finger.
“This was all your idea,” Charlie said with an almost-pout.
The pout was so enticing. I swayed closer, tempted to kiss it off her pretty face then swat her ass until it was cherry red.
She wiped dirt from her clothes. “I didn’t ask for this.” She waved a hand up her body. “I was just fine living on my own, doing things my way. My training helped me keep things under control.”
By the wince, I knew that she knew that was a lie.
“Besides, I haven’t even agreed to anything you said earlier. What you’re offering…” There was sarcasm edging her final words.
Time for a slap to shake off that whining. “Stop being obtuse.” I was beginning to enjoy goading her a little, just to see if I could rile her up again. Her beast side was just under the surface, that much was clear, but how long did it take her to bounce back when she’d expended her energy? “It’s in your best interest to align with us, Charlie.”
“This is a waste of time.” She ran her fingers through her hair, dislodging dirt and grass but not rising to my bait—which was, frankly, disappointing. “I know how to train wolves. I need to work with the pack if you want me to bond with them.” But her expression said she was running her mouth and buying time. Her body might not show signs of strain, but it was clear she was stalling as she waited for her beast side to recharge.
I doubted it would be an issue if she melded her sides together.
All the same, if she were going to lead the Duke clan, she was going to need to get a handle on her abilities. “Bullshit. You don’t even understand how you bonded with your uncle’s ferals, and you expect me to just hand the pack over to you?” I shook my head and crossed my arms. “You’re not ready.”
A spark flashed across her forest eyes. Challenge accepted.
She faked me out with a viper strike punch to the shoulder, not enough to do anything but stun me because she was so fast. While my attention was diverted to my arm, she dropped down, sweeping her leg and taking me out at the knees. I hit the ground before I could even get an arm up to ward off her next blow, which came as a knee slam to the ribs.
I doubled up, because, ouch, and tried to roll, curling myself around my injured middle, wondering how in the hell she could be that fast and that powerful as a human. I kept rolling as she came at me again and again, relentless with her kicks to my back and swipes at my head. Each blow was a thunderclap of power, and I found my ears ringing, along with the throbbing pain from the gouges she made over my scalp.
Deep, throbbing gouges. Blood trickled down my neck. She’s breaking skin!
Because she could partially shift.
Fuck! I couldn’t believe I’d missed that. She was moving so fast and shifting so seamlessly that it was almost impossible to see how her arms sprouted fur and her fingers tipped with razor-sharp claws for mere seconds before she shifted back to human form between punches, swipes, kicks and elbows.
She was good…very good. Even Mother couldn’t shift in motion like that—not repeated, seemingly relentless transformations that would keep any opponent unable to effectively ward her off or anticipate her next move.
I swiveled my legs, trying to anticipate the next kick, and got lucky. I grabbed her bulked-up calf with the tips of my fingers and at the same time clumsily knocked her clawed hand away with my forearm. I didn’t let my surprise success derail me. I rolled into her, taking her down as I cut her legs out from under her.
She didn’t fall, though. She leapt, wrenching herself free from my grip, her quickly shifting wolf legs springing with greater strength then her human ones could. She soared over me, and it was amazing to watch this partially shifted female in all her glory. I want ed to gape at her, to stare in awe. But that would probably end with me bleeding profusely.
I kept rolling then sprang up, ready to take whatever she brought next. “I knew you had it in you.” I aimed for patronizing in hopes that I’d coax her beast side to burst free once again. I needed to understand her triggers, to see how close she was at any given time to losing her shit.
She was huffing and puffing, her chest heaving, eyes narrowed, fangs gleaming, barely peeking out from her lips, like she was getting ready to rip my throat out but wasn’t quite there. Her wolf side was present, prowling just behind her eyes. I saw the wildness of it and recognized a common footing. I understood her wolf side more than I did her beast. Both were primal, but one understood hierarchy and order. I planned to use that.
She licked her lips, and my body revved straight down to my cock. I wanted what this woman could dish out, even if she’d rather me dead.
“If you can partially shift on command, then you can work out how to manage your beast side.” I motioned for her to attack, pushing aside my lust to tackle her so I could press my weight between her legs. I wanted to lock her in my arms, cage her to the ground and feel her curves and cushions—but not when she had my death in her eyes.
She held steady, assessing my stance, no doubt gauging what my next move would be. She gave me a blazing once-over, her gaze lingering on my groin for a steady beat that had me revving all over again. “You keep looking at me like that, woman, and you’ll be asking for trouble.”
