Page 13 of Blood Pack Beginning

“Ooh, promise to give it to me hard? I’m shivering in excitement.” Sasha crooned and winked.

“Right now?” Diego exclaimed, eyeing his buddy skeptically. “We’ve barely slept what with all the shit going on.”

“Does the puppy need another nap?” she teased, referring to the tranqs she’d given them when she needed to leave and clean up the Morpheus mess.

“I’m good,” Cyrus insisted.

“All right, but there’s one rule: no shifting.”

The men balked, and Cyrus asked, “Why the hell not?”

“Because you’re facing a new kind of enemy, one you can’t rely on your old tactics to defeat. Look what happened back in Moon Dew. You had no time to shift, correct?”

The grumbles suggested they wanted to make excuses.

“The training is going to teach you to not depend on your canine side.”

“Is this some kind of anti-Lycan thing?” Once more Cyrus assumed the worse.

“No, it’s an assuming you already know how to fight in your wolf form thing. Fight as a wolf all you want when you’re out there on your own for all I care. But are dog fights all you want to be good for? If not, then come with me.”

The men looked at each other. Three seemed unconvinced, but Diego appeared ready to prove himself. “Let’s go.”

“Very well. Follow me, puppies.”

“Where are you taking us?” Amir asked. The big guy hadn’t yet said if he’d give wrestling her a shot.

“Can’t exactly fight inside. Boss gets peeved when we break his shit. We’ve got a training yard, which is the fancy title for a grassy spot with no breakable objects.”

It also had lights ringing it, and as it was night, it was currently illuminated, although Sasha tended to practice with them off, as well. Seeing the enemy was one way of fighting, but she also liked to keep her other senses honed for the times when shadows might prevail.

As they stepped onto the grass, Cyrus began stretching and rolling his limbs while the other three hung back to observe.

Meanwhile, Sasha removed her shirt because she happened to like it and would prefer to avoid grass stains, on the off chance one of them got lucky.

Immediately, she noticed three of the wolves staring, while trying to appear like they weren’t. Glancing at her upper body clad in only a sports bra then quickly away. Then looking back again.

Not Omar. He stared at Monty, a semi-regular visiting vampire who was doing pushups on the edge of the yard.

“Ready when you are, Grouchy,” she called out.

Cyrus scowled as he held out his arms in invitation. “Anytime, Shorty.”

She almost laughed. At least some of the wolves had some spirit. She crooked her fingers and beckoned. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Grouchy.”

He didn’t immediately rush her, rather pacing slowly, gaze intent. When he did start to lunge, putting all his weight on his left, despite being a righty, she didn’t fall for the ruse. She stepped quickly to the side, grabbed his arm, and wrenched it up behind his back, drawing a sharp gasp.

“Gotcha,” she crooned.

“Again,” he growled.

They separated back to their starting positions. Once more, he watched her, warier, tenser. This time, rather than try to lunge and tackle, he chose to swing, apparently losing his fear of hitting a woman. Well, not exactly hit. His fist never landed. She caught it and twisted, wrenching his arm hard enough he hit the ground on his knees.

She then yawned. “Boring. It’s like you’re not even trying.”

“Let me have a whirl,” Amir called out, to Sasha’s delight. Perhaps Cyrus wasn’t the only spirited dog among them after all.

She released Cyrus and went back to her starting point, a baiting smile on her lips. The big man took the scowling Cyrus’ place and watched her for so long she chose to dart in. He reached to grab her, and she let him, allowing those thick arms to wrap tight.

---