Page 76 of Shadow

Not missing a beat, I snapped my left fist forward twice, followed with a sharp jab from my right, and finished with a clean left hook, exactly as he had asked.

King nodded with approval, but I quickly shoved thoughts of his opinion out of my mind and focused on the task at hand. I let myself sink into the rhythm of training and the fluid repetition of movement. My punches sped up, my body shifting with a precision I hadn’t had weeks ago.

For the next hour, King worked me hard. By the time he finally called it, my arms and legs were trembling, the muscles quivering with exhaustion.

“How about a swim?” he asked casually as we prepared to leave the training room.

I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. He had a habit of throwing in these unexpected suggestions, little moments that kept me off balance. But there was no way I was turning down a swim.

“What about your shoulder?” I asked, noticing he hadn’t favored it once during our session.

He rolled the joint with ease. “It’s fine. Completely healed.”

He slid the harness strap he was wearing aside, revealing smooth pink skin where the bullet wound had been. Only a faint puckered line remained. Shadow Warriors healed fast, but I hadn’t quite understoodhowfast until now.

“Do you swim in those straps?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in what I hoped was a playful expression. The straps were undeniably sexy, but I tried to keep my curiosity casual.

“No,” he replied, adjusting the harness. “When I shift, they need to be readjusted.”

“Haven’t discovered the wonders of Velcro yet, I see,” I teased.

His lips twitched, the faintest hint of a smile. “Velcro’s unavailable on the island. But if you think it’ll help, I’ll add it to the scavenge list. And if it works, I’ll pull you off training detail and put you on sewing duty.”

I grinned. “I’m good with glue. Sewing might be a stretch.”

His laugh rumbled low in his chest. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me effortlessly against his side. I felt the warmth of his breath ruffling the top of my hair. “Training was a stretch too but look how far you’ve come.”

“You didn’t see the thousands of times I fell,” I retorted, a hint of stubbornness lacing the words.

“No,” he admitted with amusement. “But I heard about every single one from the biggest whining Warrior we have.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Poor Boot. I’d wondered how he had managed to tolerate me during those first grueling weeks. Apparently, he hadn’t.

“Boot needs to learn to keep his mouth shut,” I quipped, shaking my head.

“That he does,” King agreed, another rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Chapter Twenty-Six

King

Thoughts swirled in my head as we walked to her room. It hadn’t bothered me before when Boot was close to Marinah. But this time, it ruffled both mine and Beast’s feathers. Controlling the situation was harder when Beast and I were in accord. The only reason Boot had walked out of the room under his own power was because he was mated. Otherwise, things might have gone differently.

I was at a crossroads. The Federation had tried to kill her, and there was no chance she was returning. But she had friends, and her loyalty was with them. I needed her to see reason without alienating her.

Her transformation since arriving here had been remarkable. She stood taller now, her confidence evident in everything she did. Tripping over her own feet was a thing of the past, and I suspected being surrounded by Shadow Warriors, towering over her at every turn, had made her appreciate her height rather than resent it.

We were larger than life, intimidating by design, and yet Marinah had shown little fear since she arrived. Now, she wasn’t just fearless. She was inspiring. Her work ethic wasunparalleled, and Boot’s daily reports had shifted from“It’s torture to watch,”to“She could be an actual fighter.”

He didn’t mean in a ring. He meant in war.

That wasn’t happening.

I had spent too much time trying to untangle my inner turmoil with Beast. He wasn’t following the usual patterns when it came to women or how mating was supposed to work. Jealous? Yes. Volatile? Absolutely. But there was still something that held him back, something I couldn’t identify.

The whispers from Beast to kill her had stopped, though she still managed to provoke him. I rubbed the scar on my face, my thoughts swirling in a conflicting mix of frustration and curiosity.

I decided I’d dwell on it tomorrow.

---