Page 22 of Supernova

When we finished, he leaned into me as he pulled off his gloves, ducking his head down towards my face. “You kept up with me. Not bad for a girl who never knew she was a hunter. You’ll be sweet with boxing but I still have so much more I could show you.” I looked up at him, noticing his thick dark lashes as he held my gaze with a wicked grin.

“I’m sure you do,” I replied, almost automatically.

I had no idea where this fire had come from. I was poking the beast when I really shouldn’t be. But he brought out a different side of me. I was never like this with River. I was a calm, good girl. Our relationship just happened—blossomed from friendship. There was not really any crazy sexual tension or cheeky flirting. We had met when we were so young, there wasn’t any time for that.

His smile became even more devilish, if that was even possible. He handed me a towel and wiped at his neck with his own. Once again, I found myself staring. I observed his dark features, similar to Rivers yet immensely different. Unlike every book I’d ever read, these two were not polar opposites, at least not in looks. I clearly had a type: tall, dark and handsome. Although that phrase often confused me with how vague it was. In this instance I meant ‘dark’ in the literal sense of his features; his hair, brows, thick lashes and the warmer undertone of his tanned skin.Although, he also had that whole mysterious, aloof thing going for him, so I guess he fit the description in all senses.

He stood slightly taller than River, but where the wolf was stock, robust and bulky with strength, Griffin was leaner and sculpted like a Greek god. Still extremely muscular, every inch of his body was chiselled and defined from a lifetime of training. He was lither and I could tell it made him an agile fighter. His skin was an olive tone where River’s was golden brown. Griffin’s dark hair was cut shorter than the long tousled brown locks of the alpha, which were lightened by the sun. His greyish brown eyes were turbulent and piercing but somehow also held a soft quality. I met his gaze enough over the last day that I noticed they almost seemed to change colour, switching from a liquid mix of grey and cool brown to a more silvery tone. They were not as gentle as the honey colour of Rivers’ yet they were hypnotising, maybe because they seemed so depthless.

Personality wise, they couldn’t be more different. Griffin was an enigma and I’m sure he’d always be, but he seemed stoic and a bit withdrawn from everything around him. At the same time he was flirty and seductive. Funnily enough, he reminded me of a predator; smooth, calculated and cunning in order to draw in his prey. Beautiful and majestic but somewhat cold. I had no doubt that every flirty remark he made at me was predetermined and thought out. The perfect hunter. I’d always known wolves to be the beast of prey, but in order to fight them it made sense that the hunters had to be the true apex predator. Stealthy and swift. Quick thinking and tactical.

River on the other hand was warm, charismatic and loyal—as lovable as a puppy but strong and tough when he needed to be. Protective.

Somehow in the end, that ended up being the more dangerous type; the type that gains your trust and infiltrates your heart only to trick you and tear you apart.

I was thankfully pulled out of my thoughts when Kitana all but jumped on me. “You killed that girl!” She squealed. “Come on, let’s take a break.” She grabbed my hand, pulling me away from Griffin and towards the kitchen.

He called after me, “Regain your strength, weapon training is next. And get your protein in.”

The buffet in the Diner was filled with fruits, juices, blenders, shakers and an array of nutrient powders. Everything buffed up gym heads would want as a snack. Griffin and Carter didn’t join us but the girls ran me through how the rest of the day would pan out after they made me a vanilla protein shake and I snacked on a few berries. Once we had refuelled, it was time to head back out to the gym.

CHAPTER 16

I was completely dreading the weapon training, scared of how I’d perform, and it absolutely killed the adrenaline high I worked up from boxing. To make matters worse, Sienna was waiting around the mat in the weapons training section with her posse of bitchy looking girls—Lola, Stacey and Megan—who stared me down as I walked over with Billie and Kit to where Carter and Griffin were waiting.

Sienna stood on the opposite side of him, leaning against a rack of swords with her arms crossed so her boobs were extra perky in her black sports bra. She looked away from me and attempted to talk to Griffin, who didn’t seem very interested if his body language was any indication—not that I cared or should have even noticed. He turned his back to her, whispering something to Carter instead who smiled in our direction as we approached. I picked a spot on the side wall to pretend to be fascinated with as we neared. Anything to not make eye contact.

Griffin pulled away once we lined the walls facing the mat. He walked right up to the centre and faced us all, arms crossed. Despite his casual overall demeanour, he oozed authority as he spoke.

“Alright recruits, you know the drill.”

Turns out Griffin was in charge of this particular form of training. I recalled the conversion he and Carter had last night: he had called him ‘boss’ but for some reason it didn’t fully register with me until now. I just didn’t think he meant it literally but I guess this was part of his duties as a captain. Not to mention, as a ‘Gray’.

Even when he was leading he still had this lazy drawl to his voice, like he could think of a hundred things he’d rather do than train a bunch of recruits. He continued, “But today you won’t be using your chosen weapon. Pick another and then pair up like usual with someone who’s using something different. Get moving.” He then turned to me with a glint in his eyes. “Supernova, hold back a sec.”

Kit gave me a concerned look. She mouthed “good luck” and then turned towards the racks to grab herself a bow and arrow. Billie smiled at me and then followed, picking up a shield and sword so she could pair up with her fierce little friend. I wondered what their usual weapons were.

Walking towards me casually, Griffin smirked.

“Supernova?” I questioned with a raised brow as he got closer.

“Yep. I think I like Supernova. Don’t you?” I had to look away from his intense gaze, shoving my hands nervously into my pockets.

“I don’t think it matters what I like. You seem like the type of guy who’ll do what he wants either way.”

He stopped right in front of me, his large body covering the majority of my view. I had no idea what he was about to do as he reached his arm behind my waist. My breath hitched.

He surprised me when he pulled out a large silver sword that was so polished it gleamed, reflecting fragments of light from the windows above. I didn’t even realise it was behind me—that there was a whole rack of swords behind me. Not a great start to being around weapons, clearly I was oblivious which didn’t seem like the safest thing when there were pointy, dangerous things all around.

He held the sword in his hand like an extension of himself, as if it was always meant to be there.

“Oh you have no idea, Supernova.” He breathed out as he examined the sword with admiration. “Now, we need to find out which weapon speaks to you. It might take some time but you’ll eventually find the right fit.” His eyes seemed to shine, a twinkle of that silver slipping through. “This is mine,” he told me. “Let’s try it first.”

He passed his sword to me and I noticed the handle was intricately designed with twisted silver engraved in the metal. Running down the middle of the sword was a mediaeval pattern that tailed off into the edge and tip. A beautiful grey misty crystal sat right at the cross section, resembling the colour of his eyes. I traced my finger over it. In the light, hues of blue and purple shone within it.

“It’s moonstone,” he said before I even got a chance to ask, like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“It’s beautiful,” I replied in awe.

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