27. Riley
Riley
The minute I cracked an eye open, I realized I was in the shit. I’d been here a month already, which meant Auntie Flow had come calling. It didn’t matter that the glamour I wore made me look like a male. I still had half-human female biology, and that included periods.
I regretted not paying Tamara for a potion to stop them. It was a stupid mistake, one I’d be paying for over the next few days. Ugh.
Worse still, I was supposed to be meeting the lion shifter in thirty minutes when all I wanted to do was lie in bed, eat chocolate, and feel sorry for myself.
Several minutes ticked by before I reluctantly crawled into the shower cubicle while trying my best to ignore the awful cramps squeezing my uterus. My periods were not usually this bad. Had the glamour fucked me up in some hideous way?
Another agonizing cramp clenched my insides, making me groan, but I gritted my teeth and pulled on some loose sweats and a hoodie.
I just hoped the lion didn’t piss me off. With the mood I was in, I might just murder him.
“But it’s raining,” I whined when Leone informed me we’d be training outside this morning. He fixed me with a look that spoke volumes. It was clear the lion shifter thought I was a pathetic idiot.
“You’re a shifter, Scott. Shifters don’t feel the cold.”
“Half shifter,” I corrected automatically.
“So the cold affects me.” Not as much as a human, but I wasn’t immune to subzero temperatures.
However, my resistance to spending time outside in the freezing cold had more to do with my belly cramps and general monthly misery, and what I really wanted right now was a hot bath, a back rub, and more sleep.
Leone gritted his teeth. “These sessions have shown me your balance suffers when you get fatigued, Scott, so today we’ll be doing some balance work outside.”
“What fun,” I muttered sarcastically, triggering a scowl from the irritating lion shifter.
He ignored my continued bitching and stalked off outside, not bothering to wait for me.
After a brief pause where I pondered the potential penalties for murdering a teacher, I reluctantly followed, wincing when a sharp blast of wind cut through my hoodie and sank into my bones.
If I were human, or worse, a reptile shifter, I’d be worried about hypothermia.
No wonder Simon and his buddies hated this place in winter.
He’d have been better off going to one of the shifter schools in a tropical climate. I made a mental note to ask him later why he’d come here instead.
We crossed the field and entered the forest, where the trees provided some respite from the wind. I trudged along the trail, my gaze glued to the lion shifter’s ass in his red shorts as he powered ahead. His powerful thighs flexed with each long stride, which forced me into a jog to keep up.
Unlike me, the lion wore nothing but athletic shorts and sneakers. I guess alpha lions didn’t feel the cold. Not that I was complaining. His thighs and ass were the only things keeping me focused at this point.
When we reached a wide clearing, I saw a bunch of training obstacles constructed from logs and rope. Then my gaze snagged on the ropes tied between two trees high above. High enough to cause me serious injury if I fell.
Was the lion trying to kill me?
“See that rope bridge?” the lion said, following my gaze. “At the end of this session, I want you to climb the ladder and then cross the bridge.”
“But there’s no safety net,” I felt compelled to point out. He rolled his eyes.
“You’ll be fine. First, however, we’re going to spar on those logs over there.
” I looked across the clearing to see lots of vertical logs sticking out of the ground, all at different heights.
Thankfully none of them were more than a foot high.
Still, it would require perfect balance to throw a punch without falling off them.
An hour later, I realized the lion’s assessment was right; the more fatigued I became, the more my balance faltered.
After I’d fallen off a log for the millionth time, Leone scowled. “You’re usually better than this, Scott. Too busy partying over the weekend?” I bristled at his tone. What a judgmental asshole!
“Yes, I went to the full moon party. Not that it’s any of your business.” His amber eyes turned gold, and the minute I jumped back onto my log, he launched a vicious jab at my stomach.
Because I was tired and in pain, I reacted a fraction of a second too late. His fist hit me hard, knocking me to the ground.
“Get up, Scott,” he sneered, unimpressed. “If a larger shifter attacks you, they won’t wait for you to take a rest before coming back for more.”
Fully aware he was right while still hating him for being a dickhead about it, I got back into position. He jabbed again. This time I blocked it, but he followed that up with a second jab to my ribs, winding me at the same time as a vicious cramp squeezed my insides.
A pained groan escaped despite my best efforts to hide my discomfort. Leone leaped off his log and dropped to his knees, his irritation replaced by concern.
“Are you hurt?” Then he sniffed the air and frowned. “You’re bleeding. Have you cut yourself?”
Ice-cold panic flooded my system. Goddess save me, my mooncup must be leaking!
“I’m fine,” I told him, praying he didn’t push the issue. “I must have cut my leg or something.”
“Let me check.” When he went to touch my ankle, I kicked out.
“I said I’m fine!” Praying to the goddess for a convenient lightning strike that cut this session short, I pointed up at the rope bridge. “How about I do the rope and then we call it quits, yeah?”
The last thing I felt like doing was wobbling my way across a piece of string suspended between two trees, but the prospect of falling was way better than admitting to the lion shifter that I was a female hybrid on her period. Because eww.
Did female shifters even have periods? I knew very little about shifter biology.
All I’d learned so far was that full-blooded female wolf shifters went into heat when they formed a mate bond, which sounded awful.
Being biologically compelled to fuck for several days non-stop gave me the serious ick.
Vaginal chafing.
I shuddered.
“Look, Scott, if you don’t feel—” Leone raked his glorious blond mane and frowned, eyeing me with concern.
“I’m good,” I insisted, butting in before he tried examining every inch of me for a visible wound. Not that him inspecting my body inch by inch was a turnoff—far from it—but my glamour surely wouldn’t hold up to that level of scrutiny.
Before he could say another word, I jumped up and sprinted over to the ladder hanging down at the start of the rope bridge. Using the last bit of energy I possessed, I made quick work of the ladder, and in less than a minute, I’d reached a small wooden platform fixed to the side of a tree.
Two perilously thin ropes stretched out in front of me, while below, Leone stood watching.
“Use the upper rope to help you balance,” he yelled. “Take it slowly and keep your core tight; it will help you balance more easily.”
The wind howled around my head, buffeting me as I perched on the edge of the platform. Heights had never bothered me before, but every bit of me ached, and I wasn’t sure I could do this.
But I refused to admit defeat. The lion shifter fully expected me to give up, and while I was many things, a quitter wasn’t one of them.
“You can do it,” the lion called when I didn’t move.
Damn right, I could. I sucked in a shaky breath and exhaled slowly, releasing some of the tension in my muscles. Being tense wouldn’t help me. Leone was right in that I needed to lock my core, but I also needed to relax or I might just panic-freeze halfway across.
“Don’t look down,” I muttered as a sharp blast of wind hit me in the face.
I stepped forward, focusing on the platform at the far side of the rope. It’s not that far. Or so I told myself.
The rope swayed, but my shifter agility helped me balance. I crept forward, using the upper rope as a balancing aid. With each step, the rope swung from side to side. It made me nauseous, but I stayed as relaxed as possible, letting my body adjust to the swinging motion.
Leone watched from below, not saying a word. I reminded myself he promised he’d catch me if I fell. And even if he didn’t, falling wouldn’t kill me. Yes, it would hurt a lot, but I wasn’t that high up.
I passed the halfway point, ignoring the cramps in my uterus. The wind slammed into me repeatedly, but I rode it out while remaining upright. Four more steps. Three more steps. The wind hit me harder. Not enough to unbalance me, but enough to give me serious heart palpitations.
Relief crashed into me when I realized I’d crossed the bridge without falling. But just as I was about to step onto the platform, the rope in my hands snapped unexpectedly, detaching from the tree.
I wobbled, flailed in panic, and then fell sideways with a scream.