Rogue Wolf Page 20

  He crossed to the foot of my bed, but he didn’t sit down. “I don’t know what’s happening to me,” he said without looking at me. “Ever since I woke up from the succubus’ dream, I’ve been feeling confused.”

  Crossing my arms, I gripped my biceps tightly and remained silent. It wasn’t confusion he was feeling, it was regret at being bonded to me.

  “I didn’t realize how badly I wanted to be a part of a true pack,” he confessed. It hurt that he didn’t think of our motley collection of shifters as a real pack. To me, we were more than that. We were family. “Now, it seems to be all I can think about,” he added.

  I felt his despair and my heart would have gone out to him if I hadn’t felt so devastated. “It must be hard, knowing that a pack of true born werewolves is so close and not being able to be a part of it.”

  Finally looking at me, he met my eyes and his were bleak. “Exactly. They might be dysfunctional and harboring a killer, but they share something that I’ve always wanted to be a part of.”

  I hadn’t been born a werewolf and I didn’t share his need to belong quite as badly as he did. I was content with our small unit. He wasn’t and it was now apparent that he never would be.

  “What if they’re all killers?” I asked. “What if they’re all in on luring Mark here to kill him? Are you going to be able to back us up?”

  He didn’t hesitate to respond, but I saw momentary doubt in his eyes. “Of course. Mark is like a father to me. I’d never let anyone hurt him.” He meant it, yet I sensed falseness in his tone that I didn’t think he was even aware of.

  I nodded, but refrained from commenting.

  “I guess we should get some sleep,” he said. Brushing a kiss on my cheek, he let himself out.

  Tears burned in my eyes when I locked the door and lay down. The kiss had felt like a farewell, as if he was letting me go. The bed felt very empty with only me in it.

  I woke early and full of purpose. I’d come too close to being marked by the rogue wolf and I was determined that I’d never be in that position again. I spoke to Kala as soon as she ambled downstairs for breakfast. “I need more intensive combat training.”

  Yawning as she poured herself a mug of coffee, she was only half awake. I figured she’d had about as much sleep as I’d had, which had been far too little. “What do you think we’ve been teaching you for the past few months? Twister?”

  “We both know you’ve been taking it easy on me. I don’t want you to coddle me anymore.”

  Flynn appeared at the top of the stairs. His expression was serious when he spoke. “What if you lose control of your anger again?” Mark was sitting at the computer table. He glanced at Flynn for a moment before returning to whatever he was doing.

  After being on the receiving end of Reece’s rage, I could understand his concern. I’d lost control of my anger once and had done my best to tear Kala apart. Reece had helped me to get a hold of my rage then. He’d done his best to teach me how to harness it.

  The anger was one of the things I hated most about being a werewolf. My inner beast had a habit of rising to the surface when I was under stress. “You’re both stronger than me,” I pointed out. “Just hold me down until I calm down again.”

  “I take it we’re not going to include Garrett in these training sessions?” Kala asked.

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea at the moment.”

  “Good call,” Flynn decided. They shared a long look then nodded. “When do you want to begin training?”

  “There’s no time like the present.” I gulped back my nerves when Kala grinned.

  “Let me eat first,” she said, “then I’ll be happy to beat the crap out of you.”

  She and Flynn ate a hasty breakfast then downed their coffee. From their suppressed glee, I had a feeling I’d just bitten off more than I could chew. There was no doubt in my mind that this was going to hurt, but it would be the quickest way for me to learn.

  We stacked our dishes into the dishwasher then Kala loped over to the boxing ring and leaped over the ropes. “No gloves,” she warned me. Her fingers had curled into claws and her tawny eyes were narrowed in assessment as I climbed into the ring with her.

  Flynn stood nearby, acting as our referee. I kept my eyes on Kala’s body, not focusing on any one part as I’d been taught. Her left leg left the ground in a round kick that was aimed at my side and I lifted my arm to block it. Altering her trajectory in mid-air, her foot flicked up over my hands and connected with my jaw. Seeing stars, I crashed to the mat with a groan of pain and humiliation.

  “You asked for it,” she said without a hint of sympathy.

  “I know,” I replied and pushed myself to my feet. “Show me how you did that.”

  I knew she was good, but I now saw that she’d been holding back far more than I’d realized. She repeated the move and I saw her readjust her kick from waist height to head height. It was like throwing a fake jab then changing it to a roundhouse instead.

  “That’s pretty cool,” I said in admiration. “Do you think I’ll ever be able to pull that off?”

  “Sure,” she shrugged. “You’re young and flexible. There’s no reason you can’t learn everything we know. Eventually. For now, we’ll focus on teaching you how to defend yourself. We’ll show you offensive moves later.”

  This time, I watched her more carefully and successfully blocked her next kick. I had to stay sharp and remain focused. Every time I let my guard slip, I ended up on the floor, bruised and bleeding.

  “Take a break,” Flynn called after we’d been at it for an hour.

  “Thank God,” I mumbled as Kala hauled me to my feet. I was drenched in sweat and my entire body was aching. The pain was already fading and would soon disappear, but I had a feeling I’d sleep better tonight after this much activity.

  After coffee and a snack, we returned to the ring. Reece was somewhere outside, doing his best to avoid me. Zeus had grown bored watching me being pummeled and had asked to be let out. I hoped the pair would keep their distance from each other. My guardian still wasn’t happy with Reece after he’d tried to choke me.

  It was Flynn’s turn to humiliate me this time. He was more fluid and controlled than Kala and his attacks were more precise. His expression remained serene, not giving me any hint of what he was going to do.

  Getting punched in the face for the fifth time in as many minutes, my anger began to build. Reece had shown me how to master it once and the method came back to me. My focus sharpened and everything seemed to slow down. I saw his fist come flying at me and turned my head just enough for it to glide past. Then my fist was moving towards him. His eyes widened when I pulled my punch just short of connecting with his nose.

  “Nice one!” Kala crowed from the sidelines. “Don’t bother to pull your punches. We can take whatever you dish out, Levine. An itty-bitty little werewolf like you doesn’t scare us.” Her grin was infectious. Finally, I had an inkling of how to use my inner monster.

  Flynn didn’t let up and pounded me mercilessly. I could hardly complain about the treatment I was receiving when I’d asked them both not to go easy on me. He got through my defenses time and time again, but I was slowly learning how to block and even occasionally counter their attacks.

  They’d both drilled me on kicking and punching techniques for the past few months. This type of brutal training session would help me to put it all together far more rapidly than the slow and easy sessions we’d previously engaged in.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Mark called a halt to our training for lunch and I was glad to have a rest. He made us sandwiches and we sat down in our usual seats to eat. The door opened and Reece entered, he let Zeus in ahead of him. He was carrying a large parcel. “This was just delivered to the gate,” he said.

  I looked for any signs that the pair might have had an altercation, but couldn’t find any. Zeus wandered over to me and stared up at me, willing me to drop some
food so he could snap it up. That’s not going to happen, greedy guts. His ears drooped and he flopped down in a huff.

  Mark checked his watch in surprise. “The courier arrived early. I wasn’t expecting them to turn up for another hour.”

  Reece put the parcel on the kitchen counter then sat across from me to eat. The atmosphere instantly became tense and conversation minimal. Mark was the first to push away from the table. “I’m going to test the drone to make sure it’s fully operational.”

  “Can we do anything to help?” Kala asked.

  He nodded and opened the box. “I’ll need someone to take the drone out to the back of the compound.”

  “I’ll do it,” Flynn volunteered.

  Taking the drone out of the box, Mark inspected it for damage. It was about four feet long and had slim wings that folded out and snapped into place. The wingspan was around eight feet. It looked like a miniature plane with the wings extended. Mark was handling it easily, which meant it wasn’t very heavy.

  Turning it over, he pointed at a silver switch on the bottom. “Take it out to the shooting range. Flick this on then place it on the ground,” he instructed. Tiny cameras were mounted on the sides and bottom of the device.

  Eager for something to do, Flynn picked it up gingerly and headed for the long corridor that would carry him to the back of the building. The rest of us climbed up to the coms room and sat around the computer. Mark switched it on then typed a few commands. Whatever he did forged a link with the drone and its cameras flared to life. Flynn must have sprinted to the range. He’d already placed the device on the ground.

  Mark typed another command and a drawer opened beneath the computer. He pulled out a computer game controller and plugged it in. Displaying skills I didn’t even know he had, he used the controller to operate the drone. Rising into the air, it hovered several feet above the ground. He shifted it from side to side then backwards and forwards, checking to make sure it was responding correctly before he sent it higher. We had a bird’s eye view of Flynn as he tilted his head back to watch it.

  He practiced flying the drone long enough for Kala to become bored enough to fetch us all coffee and snacks. We could trust her to put cookies on a plate without poisoning us all.

  When he was satisfied with his skills, Mark made the device hover in the air then called Flynn on his cell phone. I was itching to try the drone out, but I knew better than to ask. It wasn’t a toy and it had to be expensive.

  “What’s up, boss?” Flynn’s boredom threshold was higher than Kala’s and he was still patiently waiting for instructions. He waved at the drone, knowing we were watching him on the monitor.

  “I need your help to determine how high I have to make the drone fly for it to remain undetected. Tell me when you can no longer hear it.”

  “No problem.”

  “You’ll need either Lexi or me to help you out with that,” Reece said. He’d been silent for so long that it was almost a surprise to hear him speak. “Our hearing is better than most shifter’s.”

  “Of course,” Mark said. “I should have thought of that.”

  “I’ll go,” I said before Reece could make the offer. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him whether pure born shifters had better hearing than lesser wolves. Then I remembered that he wanted to keep his origins to himself, at least for now.

  “Lexi’s coming to meet you,” Mark said to Flynn as I headed to the ground floor. “It’ll be interesting to see how much better her hearing is.”

  I smiled a little at that. He was forever analyzing us, trying to learn more about our species. Zeus trotted over to me when I reached the ground floor. He was upset at being left downstairs on his own. “If you weren’t such a baby about the stairs you wouldn’t have to be left out,” I told him as we jogged down the long hallway.

  He sent me a picture of his feet going through the empty spaces between the stairs and of falling through and hurting himself. “You’re too big to fit through a space that small,” I scoffed. “Do you want me to carry you upstairs like a helpless little puppy?” The look he sent me was reproachful. “Then I guess you’re stuck down here.” He growled to tell me he wasn’t happy.

  We ran the half mile distance to the outdoor range where Flynn and the drone were waiting. He had his phone to his ear and spoke as we arrived. “She’s here,” he said to Mark then put his cell on speaker phone.

  “Tell me when you can no longer hear it,” he instructed.

  We followed his order and listened intently. The drone’s hum began to grow quieter by the second as the hovering device flew higher and higher.

  “I can’t hear it now,” Flynn said.

  The sound continued for ten seconds or so before it grew too faint for me to hear. “I can’t hear it,” I said then glanced down at my companion. “But Zeus still can.”

  “Tell me when he can no longer detect it.”

  Zeus’ head was cocked to the side. His ears twitched when the noise faded a few seconds later. “He says he can’t hear it anymore.”

  “That is so weird,” Kala murmured and Reece made a sound of agreement. I wasn’t sure why he couldn’t communicate with dogs like I could. If anything, a pure blood werewolf should have had more of a connection to our furry brethren than a lesser wolf like me.

  “I’m going to land it now,” Mark said.

  “Roger that,” Flynn replied and hung up.

  We watched the drone as it descended lower and lower until it gently touched down. Flynn picked it up and flipped it over. He flicked the switch to turn it off then we headed back towards the compound. “I wish he’d let us have a turn flying it,” he said.

  I grinned in agreement. “Knowing me, I’d smash it into a tree.”

  “Didn’t you ever play computer games as a kid?”

  “My Dad wasn’t big on frivolous activities. I spent most of my free time at the gun range.”

  “You must have had a very strange childhood.”

  “Says the guy who was raised by a federal agent of an almost unheard of organization in identical secret compounds that are scattered all around the country.”

  “It sounds weird when you put it like that,” he complained.

  “It sounds weird because it is weird. It’s a wonder any of you turned out normal.”

  “We’re not, though,” he pointed out. “We’re about as far from normal as you can get.”

  “You might not be normal by human standards, but you’re not psychos. The rogue wolf doesn’t have any excuse for what he’s doing. He was raised by a normal pack who should have taught him right from wrong, yet he’s still mauling people to death at every full moon.”

  “I see what you mean,” he said as we reached the building. “I guess we’re pretty lucky it was Mark who found us. Any other agent would probably have put a bullet in our heads.”

  “He’s a great father figure,” I said sincerely. “You could have done a lot worse.”

  “I still wonder who my real parents were,” he said softly. “Mark tried to find them, but there was no record of any missing children matching my description. I have no idea where I came from or if I have any family left.”

  “We’re your family,” I replied firmly. “We love you and we’ll always be there for you.”

  “Just try to remember that the next time I punch you in the face.” He laughed then yelped when Zeus nipped his calf. “What was that for?” he asked, limping for a few seconds before the wound healed.

  “For punching me in the face so many times,” I said blandly then put my hand on the scanner and opened the door to the main area.

  With Mark busy upstairs, we resumed our training. I was slowly making progress at not being knocked down quite as often. Reece appeared in my peripheral vision and I was momentarily distracted. He’d stripped down to cutoff sweatpants and was lifting weights across the room from us.

  “Can’t you at least try to ignore the eye candy?” Kala complained as she circled me.

  I tore
my eyes away from Reece in time to block a kick to my ribs. My focus was sorely tested every time he walked around half naked. Her next blow made it through and I fell to my knees.

  Reece dropped the barbells on the thick rubber mat that covered the floor in the gym area. I put my hand up to stop him from coming to my rescue. “I’m fine,” I reassured him when I got my breath back. I didn’t kid myself that it was his overwhelming care for me that prompted him to come to my defense. His protectiveness was just a byproduct of the bond that he no longer wished we had.

  “Yeah,” Kala taunted, “it was just a little kick to the guts. It’s not like I’m choking the life out of her.” Her tone was very nearly spiteful.

  Cut by her reprimand, he turned his back and resumed his workout.

  “It wasn’t his fault,” I said to her quietly. “He wasn’t in control of himself.”

  “I know,” she replied just as softly. “I just don’t want him to let it happen again.”

  Neither did I, but what if he couldn’t stop it? He would be a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. Even when working together, neither Kala nor Flynn had been able to pry him off me. I had the feeling that Mark had been on the verge of shooting his agent before I’d managed to free his mind.

  After dinner, we sat on the couches, watching TV as we waited for darkness to fall. When it finally did, Mark stood. “Flynn, could you take the drone out to the range again?”

  “I’m on it, boss.” The drone had been charged up and was sitting on the dining table. Picking it up carefully, he headed towards the door.

  Zeus clambered to his feet and trotted after him. He was tired of lying around doing nothing and wanted a little action. The rest of us climbed to the second floor and waited for the cameras to come to life. A couple of minutes later, they did.

  Mark switched the cameras to infrared and the monitors changed from being dark to becoming almost too bright. I winced and looked away for a few seconds. When I looked back, the drone was already on its way towards the distant property where the shifters were holed up.