Becoming the Enigma, page 8
From the sidelines, Dustin commented, “Wouldn’t want to get on her bad side.”
Katey pounced on Logan, too fast for him to dodge. He grabbed her waist and flipped her around to pin her again, the same move he had done before. His hand went quickly for her shoulder nerve and squeezed. Katey cried out as fire shot through her blood vessels. She could barely think past the arresting pain and each breath was a gasp for oxygen. She had done what they told her not to do, exposed her weakness.
“Not too hard, Logan,” Darren warned.
Katey’s eyes went wide as they glowed their loup-garou gold. Tawny claws slashed at Logan’s throat again. This time, she didn’t miss and found purchase in tight flesh.
Logan immediately released and staggered to his feet. He held his neck, blood seeping between his fingers as he choked and gulped for breath. She likely cut into his windpipe. It would have been a mortal wound if their rapid healing didn’t stitch him back together. Katey, however, wouldn’t give him the luxury of a break. The wolf within her roared, fangs bared and claws extended, and charged, swiping and snapping at him with wild savagery. No strategy, only the single-minded goal to disable or kill.
From the recesses of Katey’s mind, her human side began to pound at the walls, demanding to be given the reins again. Her wolf refused.
Logan dodged and ducked through each strike and slipped behind her. With his neck wound healed enough that he could breathe, he hooked his arms around hers and positioned his hands just behind her neck in a full nelson hold. Katey kicked and struggled madly against him, her heels beating against his shins. Bones cracked, but Logan fought the need to fall or let go until she surrendered.
Katey suddenly dropped, loosening Logan’s hold on her, then forced herself upwards and back to throw him off balance. Logan stumbled and finally let go. As she began to fall back with him, she twisted and pushed herself away before spinning to kick him in the face. Logan fell and his hand fled to his bloodied face. That was the second time she broke his nose.
Katey fell upon all fours as she had in the wrestling gym, readying herself for another attack. She had lost control of herself and succumbed to the might of her inner wolf. At the sight of Logan’s busted face, Katey grappled with her subconscious, begging for her human side to be released again and take the place of the beast that fought for her protection. Just as before, the wolf wouldn’t listen and gave a deep, gruff growl.
“A little help here would be nice!” Logan shouted to the pack.
Heeding his plea for help, Katey somehow took hold of her wolf and forced it to be still, her body stuck in that tensed, crouched position in the grass. She wasn’t sure how long she could hold it, but she’d try until someone could permanently stop her.
Darren and Dustin didn’t need to be asked twice.
Dustin lifted Katey to her feet, wrapping his arms around hers to keep her claws out of the way and Logan rushed forward to envelope his arms around her legs. Darren sandwiched her head between his two powerful hands and forced her to look him in the eyes.
Katey let go and the wolf surged forth to growl at her alpha. She struggled and thrashed, but she couldn’t break their hold. Dominance blasted from the alpha and beta, cocooning her and restraining her better than their own strength could.
“Katey! Katey, look at me!” Through the haze and dominance, Katey slowly came back to herself and looked deep into Darren’s chocolate brown eyes. “Calm down! You’re okay. No one here is going to hurt you. It was just training. Take deep breaths. You’re safe.”
Her body went limp and all will to fight left her at the prompting of her alpha. His dominance was the only thing the wolf would listen to, but it was a begrudging submission.
The men slowly loosened their grip on her and Katey collapsed into Logan’s embrace. He cradled her in his lap and held her close as she became frantic and confused. The wolf had slunk back into its hole, leaving Katey to deal with the mess. Somehow, Logan seemed to understand that it wasn’t her who fought so hard to hurt him, to kill him. He hugged her tight, even though her hands had shed his blood, the blood that stained the front of his shirt and filled Katey’s senses. It was a reminder that she had done what she never wanted to do.
“I’m sorry, Logan. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I couldn’t control it.” She became hysterical, sobbing into his blood-soaked shirt.
“I know. It’s all right.” Logan smoothed back her hair, dampened with sweat.
Katey leaned her head onto his chest as if to hide from the world, while Logan shushed her whimpering and rocked her gently back and forth, treating her like a frightened child. In many ways, she was.
She didn’t mind as Logan enclosed his legs around her. Burrowing into him, she felt safe, whole, and like nothing could harm her, not even what lurked inside, waiting for another chance to come out. Her eyes returned to their normal green and her fangs and claws reduced to a safe length. Yet, she couldn’t stop herself from trembling, remembering the complete vulnerability of knowing that she was not in command of her own body, and she had let it happen.
Darren stroked his beard, deep in thought. “We’re going to have to watch out for that.”
“I never remember getting set off that easy,” Dustin said, “She broke out of that shoulder grab like it was nothing.”
Katey heard their words and cringed, disappointed in herself.
“I don’t think any of us did, not even Ben.”
Dustin sighed and looked to Darren wearily. “Are we going to have to teach her that meditation Zen crap that you learned?”
The alpha shook his head. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll wait until after she changes for the first time and see how she is after that.”
Katey could hear their low voices, deep in conversation about what they would do with her. If she was good enough, if she had more control, they wouldn’t have had to waste so much time and effort in training her. Her body felt heavy under the realization that there was no way she could expedite her training just by trying harder. The years she’d have to wait became more and more like a reality she had to accept. So much could happen in those years.
“Logan, I’m scared,” she whispered.
“Don’t be,” Logan said softly, “we’re going to take care of you.” He squeezed her tighter and kissed the top of her head.
As the midnight oil burned, the senior members of the pack were still awake, restless and troubled by the day that seemed hardly over yet. In the back billiard room, the loups-garous played the tenth game of pool since the two younger loups-garous had gone upstairs to bed.
The room was covered in a low-pile green carpet and the walls were lined with dark tongue-and-groove panels, resembling the inside of a bar, which was just what they had intended when they designed the home. In the middle of the room sat the billiard table, the colored balls scattered across its felt surface. Dustin lined up for a shot while the others waited, their intense gazes fixed on the game.
Billiards had been their pastime of choice for decades, the perfect form of entertainment that doubled as training. Precision aim and careful gaging of shots helped to hone their control and fine motor skills. In the early days, one strong hit would send balls flying about the pool hall, knocking holes into the wall. The wood panels proved more resilient than drywall. By now, their accuracy had improved, and they could carry on dozens of rounds without damaging the house any further.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Dustin asked as he slid the stick back and forth between his fingers, aiming at the cue ball. He was the first to bring up the topic in the last two hours since they first entered the billiard room, but everyone had been stewing on their predicament for just as long. He took his shot and pocketed a solid.
Darren sat in one of the barstools by the cocktail table and absently tapped the heavy base of the pool stick between his legs against the floor. "I don't know. This is new to all of us."
Ben gave him a curious look. "Y’all trained loups-garous with John in France for decades. How is this new to you?"
Out of the three, Darren was the most experienced in teaching young loups-garous. When he had graduated from his own training, he stayed on with John for a number of years at the chateau to manage the other orphaned teens who had no father or mentor to explain what they were and what they could do. Though there was no need for the chateau anymore, the place bombed out by the Germans during the second World War, John’s work had been invaluable to hundreds, if not thousands of loups-garous who went on to become part of their own packs. Those years he had spent under John’s tutelage inspired Darren to the vocation of teacher and educator.
But this... This was different.
"Katey isn't the same. Today was proof enough of that."
Ben took aim as Dustin moved around the table to assess the field. "How so? Ain't this normal? I know I wasn't the best student, but I figured that was more Dustin's fault than mine." He pocketed his striped ball with a clatter.
Dustin gave him a derisive laugh. "Very funny. But no. Katey’s skill is... incredible to say the least."
Darren stood to evaluate the field. "She nailed her training faster than any fresh loup-garou I've ever known. It's as if she has years of experience and innate control already." He bent down and eased the end of his stick toward the cue ball. "Yet, she doesn't have a handle on her wolf in the same way." He struck the ball, sending it barreling toward a solid. He missed.
"It's almost like her wolf is too strong," Dustin added as he readied for his turn. "Strong enough to tear the house down if we let her."
Two balls in the corner pocket.
Darren took his seat again and bowed his head to tap the upright pool stick against his forehead. Dustin was right. He could sense that plainly enough through their pack bond and it startled him. Katey sat on a wealth of untapped dominance, like an underground reservoir and they were just one strike away from unleashing an insurmountable torrent. If she ever tried to use it, they would all be in trouble, including Darren.
"Do y’all think it’s because she's a girl?"
Dustin shrugged. "Maybe. Or it may have something to do with the fact that Logan was the one who bit her. Pieces of the sire transfer in the bite sometimes. Have you noticed those highlights in her hair?"
Ben guffawed. "If she's gonna take after Logan, we're all in for it."
Darren lifted his head and regarded a spot on the opposite wall where a ball had dented the wooden panel years back. "Logan’s training was much worse than this. He didn't want to have anything to do with the wolf. But Katey... She's eager."
He remembered how she continued to insist that she wanted to be turned, that she wanted the bite. Perhaps they had been wrong all along and Logan’s efforts to intimidate her into the decision was utterly wrong. Despite everything she knew about them, despite all of their warnings, Katey had been willing to take the bite and turn into a loup-garou, even if it would kill her.
Dustin propped a hand on his hip and laughed. "Eager is putting it lightly."
"Talented and untamed," Ben said with a shake of his head. "Bad combination."
Darren frowned. "Not bad. Simply... uncommon."
"Everything about Katey has been uncommon from day one," Dustin reminded them. "We all knew it. Maybe our wolves saw that."
It was possible. Katey had that special spark, something that drew them to her like a starved horse to lush green pastures. Their wolves already saw her as part of the pack and the bond established so easily without trying, as if the groundwork was there from the very beginning.
Everything about this situation seemed more complicated, more delicate. Did they have a ticking time bomb or the next loup-garou prodigy?
"I wonder if John would have any advice."
Ben's question reminded Darren that he had forgotten all about the coming weekend.
He groaned and covered his eyes. "Bloody hell... Alaska."
It seemed to have slipped everyone's mind as well and they mumbled their own curses.
"How the hell are we going to manage Katey in Alaska?" Dustin exclaimed, a hint of his Irish roots shining through.
Darren's head spun with all the fresh complexities. "John will be there. Perhaps he will know."
"We need to call and warn him what we're bringing with us."
He nodded in agreement with his beta. "We need to prepare Katey as well... The poor girl will be so overwhelmed. The noise, the attention—"
"The shift."
Darren and Dustin snapped toward Ben.
"The shift?" Dustin bawled. "She hasn’t had her loup-garou legs for even a week. There's no way she'll be able to shift at will."
A startling thought came to Darren's mind. "Maybe she will." Now it was their turn to stare in disbelief at their alpha. "She's already come so far in her own training. It may be possible that with the right coaching, she could shift with the rest of us for that night."
Dustin came a few steps closer. "You realize she'd be the only unclaimed female amongst potentially hundreds of other shifted loups-garous. If they don't try to kill her, they'll try to—"
Ben slapped his hands over his ears. “I don't wanna think about it! Don’t even say it!"
Dustin raised his voice. "But it's true. She'll be vulnerable. There will be plenty of alphas there to keep her safe from the younger loups-garous, but that's no guarantee. The only guarantee is..." He gave Darren a pointed look, the one that taunted him with the reminder of a conversation they never got to finish. The day before, Dustin had warned him about Logan’s love for Katey and that it may indicate some trouble ahead. None of them could have known that it would have been him turning her, but their initial theory was that he would try to form a mating bond with Katey far too soon.
Darren let out a long breath. "Well, Logan would certainly be happy about that."
"Mating?" Ben exclaimed. "The girl has been through enough." He ticked off the points on his fingers. "She finds out werewolves exist, her foster mother dies in a car accident that she somehow walked away from, she moves in with us, and Logan scared the shit out of her to make her agree to the bite. Now we'd be askin' her to fly across the country to a gatherin' of dozens of packs and, oh yeah, she has to make a lifelong commitment to an angsty loup-garou that can't even shift at will, or else she may get ravaged by her own kind."
Darren grimaced. Ben wasn't wrong, but it could have been said in a nicer manner. It was a lot to ask. All of those things had occurred within just a few weeks’ time. How Katey hadn’t lost her mind already, he couldn't understand.
The billiard room went dead quiet. How could things have gotten so out of hand so quickly?
Dustin looked back at the abandoned game. "Maybe we shouldn't go to Alaska under the circumstances?"
"We won't be able to return the tickets so late," Darren said, voice low. "Besides, John will be there. He should be able to help. Katey won't need to shift, so mating will not be necessary. We’re delving into mere speculation."
Ben huffed. "What're the odds she'll twist our arms into lettin' her try to shift anyway?"
"Pretty high," Dustin returned. "You know we're wrapped around her finger."
A knowing smile cracked across Darren’s mouth. "Well, we'll just have to resist her charms somehow... Whose turn was it?"
Dustin thought for a minute and then pointed to Ben, but he didn't seem too sure.
After consideration, Darren told his pack. "We will continue to do our best for Katey. We'll train her like any other loup-garou and get John to weigh in on the matter when we get to Alaska."
They agreed and the topic was closed... for now.
Their game continued, but Darren's thoughts tripped and tangled over this new challenge. Katey came into their lives like a subtle, intriguing mystery. She had been someone to protect, but from a distance. They knew better than to become too attached. Such boundaries were obliterated when Logan finally met her and saw what they all saw in her. He had latched on with a dangerous intensity, straining their carefully balanced world to spend more time with her. He became too invested and careless, falling in love along the way. He disregarded their rules and before they knew it, Katey was in too deep to claw her way out.
Now, she was part of their lives in a way that none of them could have imagined. None of them could fathom that a female could become a loup-garou. It was impossible. It had never been done before, and when it was attempted, every convert died in the process. While Darren couldn't regret the turn of events, he knew it all happened too fast. It was as if the hands of destiny hastened them all toward some final end beyond the mists of their own ignorance. They couldn't see beyond the next day, couldn't predict what would happen. All they could do was tread carefully and keep Katey alive in the process.
Katey moaned and kicked at the comforter that constricted around her legs. She couldn’t bring herself out of the nightmare, couldn’t grab for reality through the darkness.
Her powerful loup-garou heart pounded against her rib cage, rapidly beating like a sledgehammer. A cold sweat broke out over every inch of her skin, dampening her pajamas and sheets. Even the wolf seemed scared.
She realized one thing had not changed since Logan bit her. The dreams about the woman in white still plagued her sleeping hours. This was the first time she had dreamed exclusively about the woman since she was bitten, but everything had been magnified by her new senses.
Even in her nightmares, she could smell, hear, and sense everything with a heightened intensity. Not only could she hear the woman calling to her, but she could hear the whisper of fabric as her white dress bellowed in the wind. She could smell the musty scent of wood and torn upholstery. The stench of coppery blood was prevalent, wrapping around her mind in a vice grip. Even more startling was the odor of sulfur in the air, and she couldn’t find where it was coming from.
As vivid as her dream was, she wasn’t able to see it through to the end, not even close. Katey had taken one step outside the cabin to run after the woman when Dustin rushed in and shook her awake.
