Page 27 of Challenged Mate
I doubted it.
Standing with my arms above my head, I stretched my back as Kayla dropped her personal belongings on the ground by the wall of mirrors and started stretching herself.
This would be the third training session since the day I used my power to cut Hannah’s cheek, and I had yet to find a way to use my power again.
Convinced my emotions were tied to the ability to use my magic, Kayla had renewed her meditation efforts with me. She talked me through the calm, reflective exercise, gradually calling on me consider the strong emotions I’d experienced when my power escaped me. Kayla wanted me to find the link between the magic and my feelings—convinced it existed.
With every attempt, I could see thin cracks of golden light in my mind, but I failed to dismantle the wall holding it at bay.
I dropped my hands to touch my toes, lifting my head to look at her when I asked, “Care to tell me about this new strategy?”
Kayla sat in a saddle stretch and leaned to grab her left sneaker. “I’ve been talking with my brothers, and they think your mother put a safety into her spell. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”
I wasn’t surprised she spoke to her brothers. I’d gathered the three siblings were well-versed in magic, thanks to their parents’ tutelage. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised Asher hadn’t contacted me since he’s been gone.
It’d been a week, and he hadn’t even sent a text to see how I was doing.
“A safety? What do you mean?” I moved into a hurdle stretch, refusing to dwell on the hurt caused by Asher’s silence.
“Your mother didn’t want your power to be detected, so she had it concealed, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t want you to be able to use it if you were in danger. So, our theory is your mother embedded the spell surrounding your magic with a defensive safety. Whenever your emotions indicate you might be in danger, the hold on your power is broken. And you can use it. Like when you struck Hannah.”
“But I wasn’t in danger,” I pointed out. “I was just angry.”And embarrassed.
“I’ve been angry plenty of times in my life,” I added. “And I never felt so much as a trickle of magic in my veins.”
“But that was before the sorcerers attacked you in Montana,” Kayla said with a glint in her eye. “That attack broke the concealment which made your magic undetectable. Every magic-wielder in our pack can sense you now. So maybe the attack also loosened the safety holding back your magic. You don’t have to be in a true life or death situation for it to be released. Just mildly annoyed.”
I let that sink in.
Maybe my mother really did put a stipulation on the tether around my magic.
I mean, I hoped she wouldn’t have left me completely helpless.
Then again, I wondered if she ever thought I would gain access to my power. She probably thought I'd be safe within the Summit Pack—tucked away and naïve about half of the blood running through my veins.
There was no way she could have anticipated the twist my life would take.
“Let me guess,” I leaned forward to deepen the stretch along the back of my legs. “Your plan is to make me so angry my power comes out?”
“Bingo.” Kayla grinned.
I chuckled. “Fine. Might as well try it.”
“That’s the spirit!” Kayla pushed off the floor and stood, rolling out her neck. “Brace yourself, Blair. This is going to be fun.”
For two hours, Kayla did everything in her power to trigger my magic.
She threw insults my way. She criticized my fighting skills and laughed at the idea of a female every truly becoming a pack’s alpha. She told me I wasn’t worthy of mating her alpha. She told me she wished I would return to the Summit Pack and burden them with my presence.
Though I knew her words were fake—only a means of eliciting my anger to release my power—that didn’t save me from their sting.
Her comments nipped at deep fears of inadequacy I’d struggled with my entire life, but none triggered my magic.
Maybe it was because I knew Kayla didn’t mean the harsh words coming out of her mouth?
Thinking the same, Kayla moved on to lobbing quick and painful streaks of power at me.
I ducked and dodged, evading most of her attacks by tapping into my combat training. But even when her magic landed its mark, I didn’t get angry. Frustrated, maybe. But nothing like what I’d felt when Hannah had insulted me.
