Page 39 of Secrets and S'mores
Onyx pushes open the door to the training building, and I’m surprised at how many wolves occupy the space. The garage door on the back side is open, and more wolves train in the dirt beyond.
A group of females grapple in a ring, while a few people lift weights along the wall. I hone in on Jasper, who stands in a line with a gun pointed at a target in the trees. He tenses and shoots, his shot landing off-center. He was always better with knives.
“Ember,” Hazel says, using a towel to wipe her sweat off.
“I’d like to talk to my brother,” I say, unwilling to look at the Alpha who is withholding information from me.
“He’s finishing up some training. Can you wait a minute?” she asks. Her tone is casual, but there’s an underlying command that prickles at me. With a jolt, I realize she’s using dominance on me. From the soft brush of it, it’s most likely unintentional. I wouldn’t even notice if I was her pack. As soft as it is, it feels different than my mother’s, and therefore alien.
Turning, I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you trying to start a fight?”
Hazel glances between me and Onyx, her cheek sucked in where she bites it. “No, but maybe it’s a good idea to work off some of your aggression before you talk with Jasper? Just a bit of friendly sparring.”
A minute later, we replace the sparring women in the ring. Onyx stands at the edge nervously. He’s joined by a few pack members I don’t recognize.
My focus narrows to Hazel. We’ve fought before, when she was human in the woods. She had a knife and I took it from her. Only Jasper’s arrival saved her. But there are no knives here. Mine is tucked in my room, for once. And I have no reason to kill her. Regardless, I still want to win.
Hazel steps closer, hands up defensively. I’m a couple inches shorter than her, so I lower myself as I dart in, attempting to land a strike on her ribcage. She’s incredibly fast, grabbing my wrist and twisting. I fall to a knee, snarling.
Hazel presses her advantage, trying to force me to the ground. Ignoring the pain, I grab her closer thigh and shove into her. She struggles to maintain her balance, throwing her weight onto me.
My wrist wrenches and my shoulder pops. We both fall sideways.
With a horrified expression, Hazel releases my arm. “Sorry!” she yelps, attempting to sit up. The pain in that arm is blinding, but I'm used to ignoring pain. Using my good arm, I slam into her collarbone, pressing her into the mat.
I press into her airway, observing the ways her eyes widen. She slams into my cheek with her fist, and I have to duck my head. Her weight shifts, her feet getting under me before I can drop lower, and then I’m flying over her to land on my back. All the air whooshes out of my body.
Hazel crouches over me, one hand rubbing at her neck. “Are you okay?” she asks, sounding distant.
Other faces join hers, but I can only focus on Jasper’s glowing pale eyes. He hauls me up with rough hands, dragging me away from the crowd and into the trees.
Hazel’s voice echoes, “Jasper, she’s hurt!”
As I suck in air, my mind clears. My brother’s face is twisted in fury.
“Is this what you’ve been doing here? Attempting to assassinate our brother’s mate?” His words are barely above a growl.
“What?” I ask, holding my aching arm and trying to figure out how to pop it back into place.
“She tapped the mat. You could have strangled her!”
“I didn’t see,” I admit, my eyes dropping to the ground. “I didn’t think an Alpha would ever tap out.”
“She did it because you were hurt!” he hisses.
“I’m sorry! But she’s the one who wanted to spar. If she couldn’t handle it, she shouldn’t have asked me!” Anger surges back into my body, turning up the pain in my arm until I’m choking on it.
“You should show her some respect. Hazel is the only one keeping you safe right now.” I want to argue that I can take care of myself, but it hurts too much to form words.
“Stop it,” Onyx growls, prying Jasper’s hands off of me. He shoves my brother back. “She’s hurt, you asshole.”
Jasper looks me over and I bare my teeth at him.
“Dammit, Ember,” Onyx mutters. He comes up beside me, using both hands to grip my shoulder andpopping it back into place. I turn my face into his chest to muffle the small scream I can’t contain.
“We need to talk about this,” Jasper huffs when I look up.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of things to talk about, since you’re refusing to tell me what the hell is going on,” I say. Neither of us moves so Onyx stays a weight against my good arm. His hand goes to the small of my back.
