A Twist of Luck (Shifter City Fated Mates #2)

Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45

EMME

M uscled thighs clad in blue sports shorts came into my blurry view as Kellan lowered himself next to my broken body. There was a large, black case in his hand, which he placed next to him, his expression filled with concerned amusement. “Shortcake, you know you’re lying in a pile of snow, right?”

“Umph,” I gurgled, unable to coherently form words after Slade’s fight drills. We’d only worked on stance and technique, for fuck’s sake, and I was still mostly dead. I hadn’t managed to lay one hand on the shifter the entire time, and he’d managed to drop me to my ass multiple times via nothing more than a few brief touches over my clothes. Which was a relief… and a bother.

A part of me was desperate to experience the first time I touched him without a reason behind it. To feel his skin under my hands because he wanted me to touch him and not because I needed help or fixing. It’d never happen at this rate, and my stupid hero worship of the dragon shifter hadn’t decreased with my ass-kicking. It was quite possibly worse.

“Snow helps,” I managed to say, enjoying the cool, melting slush easing the pain in my muscles.

“Would you like some food before we move on to the next round?” Kellan asked, and I didn’t miss the waver in his tone as he attempted not to laugh at me. Without waiting for my response, he slid his hands under my arms and hauled my floppy body off the ground. “I’m going to hazard a guess that a little energy boost might be required before my lesson.”

“Slade is getting food,” I huffed, shaking my head to keep my eyes open. My lack of sleep really wasn’t helping the whole situation either. “Even my eyelids hurt, Golden. Don’t let him train me again. I beg you.”

Kellan tried so hard not to laugh; he pressed his lips together and closed his eyes, but it could not be contained. I must have looked like a right old bag of dicks, and when he finally let loose, he howled and crouched forward, taking me with him like I was no heavier than said bag of appendages.

“Oh, Shortcake. You’re fucking adorable. If you’re still walking, Slade didn’t go too hard on you. He knows better.”

Waving down at my useless legs, I snarled. “What part of collapsed in the snow screams I can walk to you?”

Kellan released me suddenly and my legs caught, the ache in them not quite as pronounced as before. “You’re stronger than you believe, pretty mate,” he told me, eyes sparkling as his laughter faded.

“I’ve never had anyone believe in me,” I replied, with a shake of my head. “You’d think I’d have learned to believe in myself to make up for it.”

Kellan brushed back the loose strands of my braid. “You do believe in yourself. If you didn’t, you’d never have had the strength to fight our bond and stay out of the cities. You’re not weak, you just show your strength in different ways. Ways that I, personally, love.”

Gah, Kellan was my destruction and salvation wrapped up in one shifter. “You know I bonded to you not even a month after we met, right? I’d hardly call that fighting a mate bond .”

When his expression shuttered, I hurried to add, “Not that I have any regrets or would change a thing, I promise. I just wanted to point out… fuck, ignore me. I don’t know why I’m babbling like an idiot.”

Slade’s deep rumble saved me from further word vomit when he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, food in hand. “You saved Kellan’s life despite your fears and misgivings. I’d say that qualifies as another form of bravery and strength. It’s all about perspective, Snow, and at times, yours is skewed.”

I barely managed to contain my eyeroll. “Why, thank you, oh wise one. Any of my other flaws you’d like to point out for me?”

It wasn’t like I wanted these alphas to spend all day every day showering me in love and compliments—wait, I didn’t not want that, but reality dictated that it wasn’t possible. Today, though, after his ass-kicking, I didn’t need one more negative word from Slade Riverson.

“Well…” he started.

Kellan’s eyes widened as he made a very subtle gesture to shut the fuck up , and Slade immediately complied.

A huffed snort escaped me. “It’s okay, Scary Shifter, I’m quite self-aware when it comes to my flaws. I’m working on acknowledging my strengths too, because I do agree with parts of what Kellan said. I have been through a lot, and I kind of feel like I deserve a bit of this happiness.”

“You absolutely deserve it,” Slade said with force, and for a brief moment his hard exterior softened.

He handed me the plate of food he’d been holding and my mouth watered at the meat-based selection, which included beef, turkey, chicken breast, and sliced sausage.

“Oh, I forgive you,” I cried, making weird, happy sounds. “All is forgiven. We’re back to being besties who prank each other.”

Kellan coughed up a furball behind us, but I was locked in on Slade’s expression, determined to notice even the smallest reaction. All morning he’d ignored my attempts to get him to break first and yell at me over my prank, and even now he remained impassive.

“Besties,” he murmured, like it was a foreign word he had no understanding of. With a shake of his head, he handed over the water too. “Give your full attention to Kellan. He’s unsurpassed in weapons.”

When he walked away, Kellan pressed in closer to my spine, his alpha heat easing the chill from my rest in the snow. “He hasn’t mentioned your prank yet?” he asked, keeping his voice extra low in case Slade heard, even though the dragon shifter was already gone from sight.

“Not a single freaking comment or reaction,” I whispered back. “I mean, unless you count kicking my ass all morning, but I get the sense he would have done that either way.”

“Oh yeah, he’s the best with ass-kicking,” Kellan confirmed. “Just be careful, Shortcake. Slade doesn’t usually let infractions against his boundaries slide. I’m not worried he’ll hurt you. I wouldn’t have assisted you if I thought there was any chance of that, but that doesn’t mean he won’t find another, creative way to return the favor.”

A shiver traced down my spine, and this one had absolutely nothing to do with the cold. I also couldn’t tell if it was fear—it didn’t quite feel like fear…

Stuffing my face seemed like a great distraction. I chose a piece of beef first, biting into the tender, pink meat. “Oh, so good,” I groaned, closing my eyes.

When I opened them again, Kellan was watching me with a hunger that had nothing to do with food. I did enjoy food as much as the next shifter, but my groans might have been exaggerated for another reason. I needed a tiny hit of that addictive, starving look that stirred my omega essence. “You want to share?” I asked, feigning innocence as I lifted the plate higher.

The blue in Kellan’s eyes almost reached that violet hue. “You eat first, always.”

Right .

Making short work of the food, I was full after a third of the plate, and when I handed the rest to Kellan, he wolfed it down in seconds. I sipped on a bottle of water as he discarded the plate and grabbed his black case. “Come on, we need to head inside,” he told me, staying at my side as we made our way into the hall. “They’ve got a shooting range and sparring mat back here,” he added. “How are your legs doing?”

“Back to normal,” I said, bouncing a little to prove it. “I swear, my shifter healing is getting faster. The pack runs are strengthening my beast.”

His smile was tinged in sadness. “I hate that you spent so many years hiding a huge part of yourself. Years spent containing the wild heart of your beast. That part alone makes me want to tear your mom and that fucking pack apart, although there are plenty of other reasons to destroy them.”

Namely that they’d hurt my mate. “I was content to pretend they didn’t exist for the rest of my life, even after what they did to Mom. Let’s be real, she wasn’t really innocent. But when they hurt you… that was where my tolerance ended. They will pay for what they did, no matter what it takes to make it happen.”

Kellan dropped a brief kiss on my head. “Fiercely protective Emme is one of my favorites.”

It wasn’t anything new to want to keep him safe, but after almost losing him, the feeling had turned into a calling of sorts. I’d never survive going through that again.

When he opened the doors and hit the lights on the shooting range, it looked exactly like ones I’d seen on television: booths with rows and targets at the end. It smelled like metal and sulfur, but not the magic variety, one slightly sweeter.

Kellan gently placed his case on the large table spanning the back wall and used his thumbprint to unlock it.

When he lifted the lid, I leaned forward to peer in. “Whoa,” I said, taking in the array of weapons fitted perfectly into individual slots. I counted two handguns along with one larger, more deadly looking gun. There were also three short, ornate blades, and one longer blade that reminded me of a samurai sword. “Just so you know, when I grow up, I want a cool weapons briefcase.”

Kellan traced his finger along the top of one gun, a brief chuckle escaping. “Tell you what, Shortcake. When you can hit the middle of the target ten shots in a row, I’ll get you one.”

Oh, I loved a challenge.

Kellan spent the next thirty minutes running me through all aspects of the guns, one at a time, showing me how he broke them down, cleaned and serviced, and then put them back together. The blades were next, as he went over the ways he kept the edges in prime condition.

Eventually, we ended up in one of the shooting booths, and from where I stood, the targets appeared to be miles away. “As I said, this is a standard Glock,” Kellan said, handing me the black piece. It was heavier than I’d expected, but completely manageable. “Now, I need you to do the checks we went through before, then we can work on stance.”

I ran over everything without missing one item off his checklist, and after he corrected my stance and hold, it was time for me to take my shots. We both slipped on protective gear for our ears and eyes, even though as shifters we’d heal any injuries immediately, and I gripped the Glock once more.

I tried to relax and ignore how foreign the gun felt in my hands—Kellan had told me that the best way to instinctively use a weapon was to practice until it felt like a natural extension of your own hand.

Maybe one day I’d reach that point.

Switching off the safety, I breathed out in one deep breath and pulled the trigger, missing the target by a mile. I hadn’t been prepared for the recoil and slight burn on my hand, and would have dropped the gun if Kellan didn’t snatch it from the air.

With a rueful smile he lifted my earmuff. “Sorry, Shortcake. That was on me. I find this one has a moderate kick. Next time I’d suggest easing back on the trigger rather than jerking it hard.”

I nodded, my heart beating fast. “Makes sense. Sorry.”

Kellan shook his head like I was silly, and then gestured for me to put my ear protection back on. He proceeded to fire off one shot after another, and every single one hit the target directly through the middle of the smallest circle. It almost looked like each shot went through the same hole, which had to be nearly impossible. “My dad was a marksman for the Shifter Guard,” Kellan explained when we lifted our ear covers again as he reloaded and handed the gun back to me. “He taught my brothers and me how to use every weapon, right around the time we learned to walk.”

“I’d love to meet your parents,” I blurted, feeling this strange urge to know every part of Kellan’s life. Including where he’d been born and raised. Hopefully, the mention of a pack member’s parents would go over better today than it had last time with Hunter.

I was relieved to see Kellan’s expression turn soft and hopeful. “They’re going to love you, Shortcake. They remained with their pack back in Thorny Gardens, but will absolutely be out for Christmas.”

Christmas . One of the few holidays that shifters and humans shared, even though we didn’t share deities or other traditions. Mostly, it was a shifters love of gifts that propelled the cities into that holiday. I’d never really celebrated, and I wondered if there were any special events in Golden Claw during that time.

“Okay, sweet mate, I think that’s enough chatting.” Kellan gestured toward the gun. “It’s time for you to take another shot. I need to know you can protect yourself if we’re not around.”

As terrible as it was to imagine these alphas not being around, I was aware of the crazy shit happening in the world. Learning how to protect myself would never be a waste of time.

Kellan, to no one’s surprise, was a patient and easygoing teacher, and at the close of our lesson, I’d hit the target—close to the bullseye—with all my shots. Even managed to disarm Kellan when he “attacked” with a knife.

It was a quiet drive home, and once inside I dragged my sorry ass off to shower, completely wrecked. Wrecked but happy.

Today felt like a small achievement, and hopefully if I kept these lessons up, I’d just continue to grow stronger and more capable.

When I finally snuggled into my soft bed, I let my mind wander, excited by the prospect of Kellan and Hunter joining me soon. I was quite quickly turning into one of those females who could not sleep without her pack. Which should terrify me. But I was taking it one day at a time. Enjoying the little moments.

When I reached over to hit the master light switch beside my bed, I waited for the normal darkness to descend, only to find a wash of green filling the room.

With a shriek, I scrambled up in bed, staring around in horror.

Holy fuck. What…?

“Shortcake!” Kellan’s shout echoed, but I was too shocked to form a reply.

My entire room glowed.

From the walls to the bedding to the fucking rug on the floor.

Along with the glow, there was a set of giant, red dragon eyes peering down at me, also invisible until darkness hit. Below he’d written the words Game on, bestie .

The red was a stark contrast to the rest of the room, which was greeny-yellow. “Slade,” I finally breathed as Kellan burst in through my door, staring around in wide-eyed shock.

Okay, so yep, the dragon had most definitely noticed my prank, and he’d absolutely out-pranked me in return. Holy goddess .