Chapter 29
“I can’t do this.”
Aiden laughs at me sprawled on my ass.
“Of course you can, we just need to figure out what triggers your powers. We all feel them getting stronger, but something is holding them back.”
I glare up at him as he holds his hand out to help me up off the ground. I take it, but grumble at him as he assists me.
We have been at this for more than an hour. The guys insisted that I should try and access my magic. That is a lot easier said than done apparently. Aiden is my instructor for the day, and while he is good natured about it, he still doesn’t go easy on me.
We have tried meditation techniques, but the only thing that helped was being able to block some of my thoughts from Don. While pretty helpful, it isn’t what we are trying to achieve. Which then led to Aiden throwing me around on mats that he and Cam dragged out from the gym.
Cam had come up with the idea. His reasoning was that I tended to show my powers during moments of stress. So, they thought it would be a good idea to make me fight them.
And by fight, it was really them putting me in holds and me trying to get out of them. I took basic self defense years ago, but they are all much stronger than I am. My rusty defense moves are no match for well-trained men.
All Aiden has accomplished is making me incredibly frustrated. Cam had been helping, but he had to leave to get some work done. So here I am, sweating my ass off, and sore as hell from not being able to dodge Aiden’s strong holds.
“Maybe we should get Don and Brent out here, get you riled up in a different way.” He winks at me, and I let loose a growl.
“Shut up, Aiden.”
He smirks at me, wiggling his eyebrows.
“What, you wouldn’t want a Don and Brent sandwich?”
My jaw drops. What the hell is he playing at? My eyes narrow. He is being an ass on purpose.
“Is this about some bet you have with Cam?”
He looks at me innocently. “Nope, no bet. Just trying to nudge things along.”
“There isn’t going to be any type of sandwich, you perv.”
He chuckles darkly. “Never say never, Kinley.”
Fine, if he wants to play like that, then I’m going to play dirty, too.
“Why don’t you worry about yourself, Aiden? You know, I bet Megan would love to hear about how helpful you’re being.” I see him blanch and it makes me grin.
“You wouldn’t,” He says nervously.
“Hmmmm, I’m not sure.”
“Are you two done sparring with words? I thought the wolf was supposed to be training you, Mistress, not whatever this is.” Indy’s dry, disdainful voice interrupts us.
We both turn to face my familiars, who have decided to become spectators to today’s training sessions. I look at them sheepishly.
“Well, do you have any suggestions, oh wise and mighty Guardians?” Aiden says in a joking tone.
Indy yawns widely, obviously not amused with Aiden’s tone. “You obviously don’t make her feel threatened, wolf; you don’t instill fear. Maybe it would be wise to call in more terrifying beasts.”
Aiden frowns hard, and I laugh. Indy has a very amusing gift of insulting the guys in a roundabout way, and I find it hilarious.
“Oh, you think that is funny, do you?” Aiden’s eyes gleam as he stalks towards me. His body begins to pulse with power. Oh fuck.
“Aiden, this isn’t funny.” I laugh nervously.
He growls, his body vibrates in the way they do just before they shift, and I bolt. I race towards the trees, a scream leaving my lips as his snarl bellows just behind me.
“Aiden!” I cry out, on the verge of panic.
I hear his teeth click together just behind me. Fuck, he wouldn’t hurt me, right?
I’m running as fast as I can, and it’s still not fast enough. His hot breath blasts against my neck. He’s chasing me down like prey. No, no, no, no, I’m not prey. A deep growl rumbles in my chest, my beast finally deeming to make her presence known.
A deep, growling laugh fills my ears. Aiden hears it, too.
“Is she finally coming out to play…little mouse?”
Oh, my beast did not like him calling her that. I feel her anger spark, just as she commands me to stop running.
I leap to the side, whirling as I do, just in time to watch Aiden skid to a stop just feet away from me.
His tongue lolls out of his mouth as he pants. A wolfish grin spreads his mouth wide, showing every sharp tooth.
“What’s it going to take to really get her to show herself? Hmmmm, should I leave my mark on you…stake a claim?”
“You are not worthy to claim anything.” I snarl at him, my voice lanced with dominance.
His ears perk forward. He hears her pushing towards the surface, so he pushes back.
“What if I bit down on that pretty little neck of yours? It’s not like you can do anything about it. Your mate isn’t even here to protect you.”
My body snaps into motion before I even know what I’m doing. I lunge at him, not even phased that I’m still in my delicate human form. My claws push out of my finger tips, and I go after him with pure rage.
As I’m mid-lunge, I hear him utter one word. “Shit.”
Did he not think I would? Well, he’s about to find out what I’m willing to do, even without my beast fully present.
I slam my body into his. He grunts as I land on top of him, my claws digging deep.
“Kinley!”
My name is roared in the distance, but I pay it no heed. My sole focus is beating this dumb wolf. Aiden must have seen that glint in my eye, the one that promised pain. I’m not seeing him any longer; all I see is a male that has no right to me.
He manages to shake me off, but not without my claws dragging through his hide. Yelping, he spins out of my reach as I go to lunge for him again.
I don’t even make it one step before I’m lifted off the ground, steel-like arms banding around my body.
I kick and thrash my body, my mind consumed with feral rage.
“Enough!” A deep voice snarls in my ear.
I almost manage to thrash free, when I’m pinned against a tree.
A hard body presses against me fully from behind, a muscled thigh wedging between my legs.
I’m completely at the mercy of this male.
I growl deep, voicing my displeasure, when an even deeper growl answers me.
It vibrates through my whole body, making me stir in a completely different way.
“Be a good mate, and stop fighting me,” The deep voice rumbles.
His words begin to clear the angry fog from my brain.
Mate?
This time my growl doesn’t hold the rage it had a moment ago; my growl holds a sensual note. I push my hips back into the male, and I feel his teeth take hold of the flesh at the base of my neck.
Mate . His voice rumbles through my mind as my body goes pliant in his grasp. That’s it.
“Don?”
Who else would be calling you that? Are you going to be my good girl if I release you?
The rage hasn’t fully dissipated, but my beast is preening now that our mate has us pinned. We like him being all dominant and bitey. I nod, feeling the skin on my neck pull as his teeth grip a little tighter before he releases me.
I miss his warmth immediately, but he doesn’t release me entirely. His hand takes mine, turning me towards him as he leads me back to the house.
A small crowd has gathered on the back deck.
When did everyone get home?
Don leads me up onto the deck, placing me right in front of him, his arms coming back around me.
“Would someone like to explain what was going on back there?” Don’s voice rumbles, sending vibrations into my back, making me shiver.
Aiden looks sheepish and a little worse for wear. He shifted back, his shirt being used to put pressure on the worst of my claw marks. I wince, feeling slightly bad about the damage I inflicted. He deserved it though.
“Well, I thought I might try a new tactic, since what we previously have been trying wasn’t getting her beast to perk up. I might have underestimated how she would react when I led her to believe you weren’t around to stop me from claiming her.”
Don’s snarl and mine blend together, creating a harmony of fury. Aiden quickly holds his hands up in surrender.
“I wasn’t serious! I just couldn’t think of anything else to rile her beast.”
His apologetic expression eases my anger.
“I also might have let the cat get the better of me. He is remarkably well-adapted at manipulating me.” He rubs his hand on the back of his neck sheepishly.
The cat in question scoffs at him. “Maybe if you used your supposed intelligence, you would be more of a challenge.”
This exchange is entirely too amusing, but Indy isn’t being very nice.
“Indy, we are guests; be a little nicer,” I scold gently.
His piercing green eyes fall on me as he nods slightly. “As you wish, Mistress.”
His eyes are filled with mischief, so I won’t hold my breath that he won’t continue egging the guys on at every opportunity. My eyebrow rises, but all he does is blink slowly at me.
“Aiden, maybe next time we don’t do that again. I wasn’t going to stop. She had control and had a one track mind of punishing you.”
He looks startled. “Really? Hmmmm, I guess we will just have to keep trying then. Maybe have Brent try next time.”
There he goes again suggesting Brent. I smirk at him. “That reminds me, I need to go talk to Megan.” I wiggle out of Don’s embrace and stride purposefully into the house.
“Fuck, Kinley! I’m sorry.” Aiden calls out after me.
Hearing him coming after me, I sprint to my bedroom.
He’s hot on my heels; I try slamming the door in his face, but he plows through.
The door slamming into the wall, I shriek into a fit of laughter as I lunge for my phone on the side table.
Aiden snatches it right out of my hands.
Holding my phone high over his head, way out of my reach.
“Give me my phone, Aiden.”
He shakes his head. “Nope, not going to happen, not until you say you won’t tell her.”