Jayce waited until Liam and Brianna left, then sat down again. He and Connor had a few things to discuss, including the vamp blood situation, but mainly Jayce wanted to know what the hell the Alpha planned to do about Kat’s blatant disregard of pack rules.
* * *
Kat steered down the long driveway to the Armstrong-Cordona ranch and fought the raw energy humming through her. Normally she experienced the same intense excitement when she came to train with Aiden, but today was different. She knew there was a chance she might see Jayce there.
Doesn’t mean I have to talk to him, she reminded herself. She was here for one reason and one reason only: to hone her fighting skills. She might be able to turn into a wolf, but in her human form she still had limited skills. She’d taken kickboxing for years and was in good shape from skiing, but she needed to be better. She needed to be a walking weapon.
If she wanted to take down APL members, she couldn’t afford to be weak in either human or animal form. All the strength in the world wouldn’t make up for a lack of skills. If someone shot her or injected her with enough silver, she’d be screwed.
After leaving her Jeep in the covered barnlike parking structure, she headed across the expansive area of land. The houses and cabins on the ranch created a circle around the main house, where Connor, her Alpha—she was still getting used to that concept—and his mate lived. All the homes were far enough apart from one another that the pack members had some privacy, but overall, the ranch reminded her of a small village.
As she entered the barn, where she and Aiden usually met before training, she looked around in confusion. Most of the horses were gone, which made sense since she guessed most of the males were out patrolling, but she didn’t detect the scent of her trainer. Even with the other scents of hay, manure, and animals, she could usually pick his out.
Walking the length of the building, she froze once she reached the other end. Jayce was nearby. Something earthy and all primitive male tickled her nose. Before she could turn to search him out, two muscular arms grasped her and tackled her to the ground. All the air rushed from her lungs, but oddly the fall didn’t hurt. Her attacker had rolled their bodies so that he took the brunt of the fall before moving back on top of her.
For a moment all she could do was stare up at Jayce, wondering what the hell he was doing. Just as quickly, annoyance surged through her. She shoved at his chest, and to her surprise, he nimbly jumped up. When he offered his hand she ignored it and picked herself up off the ground.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked as she wiped dirt and pieces of hay from her hands.
“Lesson one. Always be aware of your surroundings,” he said, as if what he’d just done was perfectly normal.
“Lesson one?”
He gave a short nod. “You’re training with me today, not Aiden.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Does Aiden know about this?”
A slight smirk touched Jayce’s lips as he nodded. “He doesn’t have much of a say in the matter.” Before she could respond, he continued. “If you want to continue training with him, go ahead, but you and I both know who the better warrior is. So, do you want to be trained by the best or not?”
Kat gritted her teeth at his arrogant tone. Some prideful part of her wanted to tell him to shove it, but she held off. The arrogant wolf was right. He was the best. He wouldn’t be the enforcer for North America if he weren’t. Even though he might drive her insane and would probably distract her, she could learn a lot from him.
Keeping her anger toward Jayce contained would help her learn the type of skills that he could give her. And she desperately wanted that. The need to be able to protect herself in any situation ate away at her. She couldn’t sleep without having torturous nightmares. Maybe Jayce could give her back some of the normalcy she so badly needed. “What’s lesson two?” she asked in a muted tone.
His eyes widened for a split second, as if he was surprised that she wasn’t arguing. Just as quickly, a calm mask fell into place. For the first time since she’d met him, she felt like she was getting a peek at his more militaristic side. “First we’ll go over my rules. Then your lessons.”
Despite her desire to remain calm around him, annoyance bubbled up inside her at his egotistical tone. “Rules?”
“During training sessions, you listen to me. If you have a question about something, fine, but this isn’t time we’re going to spend arguing. Your training is about you honing your skills so you can defend yourself in any situation.”
Defend? She didn’t want to simply be able to defend herself; she wanted to be able to hold her own, to attack any threat that came her way. She shrugged. “Fine.”
He paused again, sizing her up, as if he didn’t quite believe her agreeable attitude. Then he continued. “Rule number two. The saying that all’s fair in love and war is true. When you’re fighting for your life, fair fighting is bullshit. Anything can be a weapon. Today I’m going to show you how to use your bare hands to defend yourself against humans.”
The way he said “humans” made her pause. “Who else would I need to defend myself against?”
“Fighting with humans is different from fighting with vampires or the fae or even other shifters.”
“How so? And why would other supernatural beings want to hurt me?” She’d thought that since supernatural beings came out to the world, they were all okay with each other—that humans were the ones that had the problem with different species.
Jayce’s smile was wry, his gray eyes flashing an eerie, almost iridescent shade for a split second before returning to normal. “You really have a lot to learn, little wolf,” he murmured, almost absently.
For a split second he showed her a softer side of himself. His almost gentle expression reminded her of the time when they’d been together. When she hadn’t had to keep her guard up at all times. When she’d known that being in his arms was the safest, warmest place she could be. But all that was over now. Straightening, she pushed her shoulders back and kept her limbs loose. Now wasn’t the time to reminisce. She needed to keep her focus. “So teach me already.”
Just like that, Jayce slipped back into battle mode, his face hardening. Without warning, his hand struck out at her, lightning fast. He made contact with her temple, but it was only a glance, not a strike intended to harm her. His touch was whisper soft as he grazed her temple. “This can be a killing blow if you hit hard enough. Or you might knock someone out instead. Then you can kill them. Try it on me. Don’t hold back.”
Kat eyed him warily, but did as he said—and only because she knew that if and when she struck him, she wouldn’t hurt him. Balling her hand into a fist as he’d done, she lashed out.
Jayce dodged to the side, easily avoiding her would-be strike. So she tried again, and again. And he continued to evade her with a fluid grace that fascinated and annoyed her.
Her heart rate increased as adrenaline pumped through her. He’d said all was fair in fighting. As she struck out with her right hand, she simultaneously struck out with her left foot. Her foot connected with his stomach even as she missed her punch.
The moment her foot made contact with him, he grabbed her ankle and flipped her onto her back. The hard earth was unforgiving as she slammed into it.
For some reason, Jayce looked pleased with her. “Good. Use your entire body to come at me. If you can strike me in the temple like I showed you, you can strike anyone. Don’t hold back.”
This kind of training was different from what she’d been doing with Aiden. He’d basically showed her how to punch and kick and they’d done a lot of running. To stay in shape, he’d said. Jayce’s training seemed less structured and she found she liked it. Pushing to her feet, she didn’t pause as she advanced on him.
For the next couple of hours, she went at Jayce like a missile. More often than not she was able to strike him with her feet—and half the time landed on her ass afterward—but it was damn near impossible to hit his face or head.
He dodged like a freaking butterfly, flitting with a supernatural grace that was maddening. She’d never seen anyone move so fast. What he wanted her to do was so simple.
As she struck out again, Jayce ducked, then snatched her wrist in a tight grip. Before she could react, he’d spun her around and pulled her tight against his front. His muscled chest at her back was impossibly firm. “All you have to do is hit me once. You’re not trying hard enough,” he growled.
Not trying hard enough? The sports bra she wore under her long-sleeved top was damp with perspiration. More than a little sweat poured down the sides of her face, and her legs and arms strained under the constant movement. Just one solid strike. That was all she needed.
Wrenching out of his embrace, she yanked her long-sleeved black T-shirt off and tossed it to the ground. Cool air rushed over her bare stomach, but she hardly noticed it. Her focus was on Jayce and his changing eyes, which had now turned a much darker shade. They were almost black.
His hands hung loose at his sides and his breathing was slightly erratic as he stared at her.
Fighting fair is bullshit. That’s what he’d told her.
And she intended to follow that advice, which was why she’d taken her top off. If she could distract him with her body, she would do it. Without warning, she struck out again.
This time she connected with his temple in a sharp, satisfying blow. His head jerked back a bit, almost as if she’d barely touched him, but she felt the hard sting on her hand and knew the blow had made serious contact.
“If I was human, I’d be on my ass right now. Not dead, but definitely unconscious.” There was a slight note of pride in his voice as he looked at her.
Taking a chance, she struck out again, but he grabbed her hand in his own fist and twisted until he had her pinned on the ground, flat on her back.
Without even thinking about the move, she kneed him once in the groin. His hold loosened as he groaned, but just as quickly his hand tightened on hers again.