Page 64 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Yeah,” I replied, still glaring at Chris.

“Mind if I join you occasionally? It’s hard for me to get any training done when everyone trains during the day.”

“It’s private,” Chris answered, turning his glare from me to Elim.

“Actually, I think that’s a great idea. I need to get better, and Chris here seems to be taking on more pupils. Plus, Chris hasn’t trained in a long time and vampires are really fast. Great for wolves to train against. Isn’t it, Chris?”

“That’s not the p—”

“Don’t you want a challenge for once?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “I think those girls can give a lot of challenges but none of those would be in a fight.”

“I’m up for sparring. See how much he’s learned from Aunt Kassie,” Elim added, oblivious to the sparring that was happening in front of him.

Chris’ jaw ticked and I knew he was annoyed with me right now, but ditto. Finally, he appeared to see he’d lost the battle, because he sighed and ran a hand down his face.

“Fine. But my main job is to train Violet. As long as it doesn’t detract from that,” he conceded.

Elim looked happy, but I had a feeling he was the only one who was feeling that way right now.

“We should go back, Violet. If there’s something in the woods, I need to get you out of here.”

“Sure. I’ll see you later, Elim!” I said overly cheerfully to the man.

“Sounds good, Violet. I’ll keep hunting that thing.”

“If you need any help, let me know. I can draw a sketch so people know what to look out for or so maybe someone can identify it.”

“Oh, that’d be nice!” he called back, jumping up to a tree like it was nothing and darting away.

I followed a brooding Chris back to the pack house. I could feel his temper simmering under the surface. He kept grunting at nothing and scoffing without saying anything, walking much faster than usual, making me almost run to keep up with him. Was this his normal pace and always slowed down to mine? There was a certain sweetness to that gesture.

“Don’t run away on your own again,” Chris growled when we were back in my room, erasing the warmth the thought had generated in me.

“I didn’t run away. I walked—slowly— toward what sounded like an injured baby,” I snapped back, motioning to the rabbit.

Chris’ eyes snapped toward the rabbit, and his brows furrowed.

“Why did you bring it inside?”

“It’s injured,” I pointed out the obvious.

“It’s a rabbit. A wolf will eat it and put it out of its misery.”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

“It’s how nature works. The strong eat the weak,” he answered.

I didn’t think his words were meant to hurt, but in that moment, they did. I felt my eyes water, and I swallowed the knot in my throat. I turned away and looked for a storage box inside the closet. I grabbed a few of my clothes and layered them at the bottom. I placed the rabbit in the box and the top askew on it soit had air, but couldn’t jump out. I put my purse on top to keep it in place.

“Then, what the hell are you doing with me, Chris? I’m weak. Just let me die,” I finally said, turning around to find Chris’ eyes widening at my words.

“I didn’t m—”

“Didn’t you?” I asked, then shook my head. Nothing good would come from this conversation. “I’m going to take a long shower.” I grabbed a set of clothes for the day and crossed my arms, waiting for him to move through the bathroom to his room.

“Violet, I didn’t—”

“I don’t need your permission to rescue a rabbit,” I interrupted him. Chris deflated and nodded, walking through the door and shutting the door to his room behind him. I locked it, not because I thought he was going to step through while I showered, but because I felt hurt.

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