Chapter 12 Julian
Chapter twelve
Julian
I leaned against the wall of the gym, waiting for Jack to come back from the locker room. My eyes scanned the gym, taking in every supernatural creature in the room, the exits, the possible weapons.
Being a hunter was something that never stopped. Every minute of every day, I had to be vigilante or end up dead… like my parents.
That night had been like any other night. It was a typical mission, hunting down some vampires that had started snatching up teens living on the streets. I wasn’t old enough to go on missions yet — I’d barely started my training at that point — but that didn’t stop me from begging to go with them.
Of course, my parents refused.
They left me with one of the other hunters that night. They gave me a big kiss and hug and promised to be home when I woke up the next morning.
What I didn’t know was that was the last time I’d ever see them again.
Weights clanked louder than needed. My eyes jerked over to the sound. The werewolves weren’t paying attention to their work outs anymore. No. All their eyes had locked onto where Jack walked out of the locker room.
I understood why they stared. Jack was a sight to behold in normal clothing. Put her in a skintight pair of bike shorts and a tank top, and anyone could appreciate the curve of her hips. The smooth, creamy, toned skin visible by the clothing just itched to be touched.
Even a thirty-year-old man, like me, couldn’t keep his blood from racing, heating, every fiber of his being zeroing in on her and her alone.
This was such a bad idea.
Jack walked across the gym, completely unfazed by the attention she was getting from the testosterone-filled wolves sniffing nearby. I shot them a glare of warning, which only served to make them smirk.
“Alright.” Jack clapped her hands on her thighs. “Let’s do this. I want to go to bed.”
I arched a brow. “Little early for bed, isn’t it?”
Jack tossed the long end of her ponytail over her shoulder and shrugged. “Had a long night. Didn’t get much sleep.”
I hummed, gesturing for her to step onto the mat. “I hope you aren’t letting your social life get in the way of your… studies.”
We circled each other on the mat, getting a feel for the other’s movements. I’d been a year since we’d trained together. Ever since I’d become her superior, I tried to keep our physical involvement as little as possible.
Jack scowled at me. “I can multitask. I can’t spend every second of every day thinking about work. I’m not you.” She lunged for me, ever the impatient one.
“Is that right?” I said, side-stepping her attack. I grabbed her arm and pulled her around. Her free arm swung at me, her fist grazing my chin. “Come on, you’re not even trying.”
Jack growled and shoved me back.
I released her arm, my lips twitching. She was so easy to rile up. It made her movements predictable. That’s why it was so easy for me to catch her leg as she kicked out.
“Too slow.” I held her ankle in my hands as I grinned. “You’re unfocused.”
“I’m not,” she grunted, throwing a combination of hits and kicks in my direction.
I dodged and weaved, growing more frustrated at her lack of ability.
“What happened? A year ago, I’d be on my ass already.
” I grunted, catching the elbow she threw at my face, closing in close behind her as I twisted the arm behind her.
“Did that vampire take all the fight out of you? Too heartbroken to take me out?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack argued before her head snapped back, smashing into my nose.
A sharp pain filled my face, and my eyes watered. Before I could process the pain, she knocked the wind out of me. I stumbled back barely keeping my footing. A ripple of surprised whistles and laughter filled the gym.
I huffed. “You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgement.”
She threw another punch. “I’m doing my job.”
“No.” I grabbed her wrist. “You’re being reckless.”
Jack stepped into my space and glared at me. Then she hooked her leg behind me, knocking me to my knees on the mat.
“Still reckless?” she asked as she stood over me.
Shaking my head, I brushed myself off and stood. My expression went cold. “Then why were you out there on your own?”
We both knew what I was talking about. Last night wasn’t the first time she’d come back bleeding, trying to hide it from everyone else. She’d been hunting again. Being reckless by going off alone without a team to back her up again.
It was a conversation we’d had many times over the years. A lot of the times, I could tell when she was feeling restless and could preemptively catch her before she went out. Often, I ended up going with her just so she wouldn’t go alone.
While Jack struggled to answer me, I lunged. Grabbing her wrist, I pulled her forward.
She twisted out of my hold. Her elbow came at my ribs, but I shifted blocking it with my forearm.
Jack shoved away from me, breathing heavily. We began circling each other once more. My eyes flicked over her, watching for when she’d attack next. Which she did.
Jack tried to sweep my leg. I stepped over it, caught her shoulder, and pushed her back. She recovered quickly, snapping her foot out toward my thigh. My hands caught her foot mid-motion.
The watching crowd made another noise.
She ripped her foot from my hands before I could dump her onto the mat.
“Sloppy,” I stated calmly.
“You’re just slow.”
My eyes narrowed.
Then we were moving again. I stepped into her guard, grabbed her arm, and twisted. Jack tried to shift her weight to knock me down again, but I anticipated it this time.
Using her momentum against her, the world tilted. She hit the mat hard as I followed her down. My knees pinned her on either side of her hips, one hand pressing hers into the mat by her head.
Neither of us moved for a moment. Our bodies were close, too close. Each of us breathed heavily, and our breaths mingled together. It was hard to ignore the soft press of her curves against me.
Jack’s breathing changed. She must have felt it, too. The electricity between us. What this could be if only we let it.
“Still reckless,” I murmured.
Glaring up at me, she bucked her hips in vain. “Get off.”
I tightened my grip on her, pressing my hips firmly against hers. “Not until you admit you’re putting yourself in danger.”
She gritted her teeth, not answering. For a moment, time stood still, neither one of us willing to give the other what they wanted.
A voice cut through the tension.
“What the hell is this?”
Irritation flickered through me.
Jack’s head jerked back, eyes looking up behind her. “Tate?”
My gaze followed hers to the large werewolf standing on the edge of the mat, his arms down at his sides, his face a mixture of confusion and fury.
The wolf’s eyes dropped to where I had Jack pinned on the mat. “Get off her.”
I didn’t move immediately, partly because I didn’t want to and in part because I didn’t take orders from him.
Jack huffed. “It’s just training,” Jack huffed.
Tate scoffed. “Doesn’t look like it.”
Guilt crashed into me. I had been doing exactly what I’d accused Jack of being.
Reckless. While trying to get through to her, I forgot that we weren’t back at the guild.
We were in a room full of supernatural beings who thought we were just student and teacher, and here I was, craving one more minute of her body pressed to mine.
I released her and stood, brushing my hands off as if this was an everyday occurrence to me.
“If you don’t mind,” I stated coolly, “this is a private lesson.”
Tate’s jaw tightened. “Oh, I bet they are. Real professional of you.”
Jack scrambled to her feet, stepping between us. “That’s enough,” she snapped.
I gave Tate a dismissive look, turning away from him.
“Tate, it’s not what it looks like,” I heard Jack explain as I picked up my own bag from the side of the mat.
“Really?” he snorted. “What it looks like is professor over there was putting his hands all over what’s mine.”
Jack huffed. “He was just helping me train. Blowing off some steam.” Someone in the crowd must have done something because Jack shot off. “Oh, grow the fuck up. Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
There was a set of grumbles, and I turned in time to see the werewolves that’d been watching us move back toward their machines.
I was enjoying seeing the wolf in distress, jealous that I was getting to my girl.
No, his girl. I had to put a stop to this. There was a clear line in the sand and I had smudged it. Time to put it back to right.
“She’s right.” I wiped the sweat from my brow. “Her parents asked me to keep an eye on her.” Not a lie but not the full truth. “If you were doing your job as her boyfriend, I wouldn’t have to be helping her train to protect herself.”
Tate growled and stepped toward me.
Jack pressed her hand to his chest, stopping him. “Tate, no.” To me, she gave an incredulous look. “I think we’re done here.”
I gave her a pointed look. “Remember what we discussed.”
Jack rolled her eyes and grabbed her stuff before leading the wolf out of the gym. That left me to glower at the students still paying far too much attention to what’s going on with us than their own workouts.
Squirting water into my mouth, I swallowed and sighed, watching until the door closed behind Jack and the wolf.
I needed to remember she wasn’t mine. Not now, not ever.