Page 10 of Smoke and Lure

At least Morlie had one thing in her favor when it seemed everything else about her the woman saw as hopeless.

“I’m going to hit you.”

“Again?”Morlie slumped as the word slipped out.Relaxing her posture brought some relief because her spine between her shoulder blades was starting to burn.

“Tits up,” Rieka ordered.“Yes, again.The first lesson of a Lupine is to learn how to fight through pain.”

“I prefer to learn how not to get hit,” Morlie complained, but she watched Rieka to figure out when the strike would come.”

“That is the next lesson.”Rieka had both hands in her pockets as she stood two feet from Morlie.“You ready?”

No.Morlie swallowed, trying to prepare herself for what was to come.“Yes—”

Whack.

Her vision was black on impact but cleared just as pain erupted in her nose, causing thick, fast rivers of blood to run from it.

Grrr.Morlie’s wolf growled, and hair sprung along the back of her neck.

Morlie gritted her teeth, forcing her beast to stay inside.She began to draw up the hem of Chanin’s shirt to staunch the blood.

“No.Leave it.You’re a wolf-shifter now.That tiny owie will heal before Chanin returns.You have to learn how to fight through the pain.”Rieka postured herself like she had instructed Morlie, then tossed her head back to flip her long, blonde ponytail over her shoulder as she raised her hands, taking a clear fighting stance.

Morlie could feel her nose swelling, and she’d already lost the ability to breathe out of one side.

“Hands up,” Rieka growled.“Loosen your knees.”

Doing as she was told, Morlie tried not to think about the injury to her face as she balled up her fist.

“Keep your elbows into your sides and hands about cheekbone level.”

“Okay.”Morlie licked away the coppery fluid spreading over the seam of her lips.

“Now, this time, I’m going to swing slowly.I want you to try and knock my hands away.”

True to her words, Rieka threw a handful of punches slow enough for Morlie to see them coming in sufficient time to swat them away.

“Good.Now faster.”

Morlie stayed focused and watched the fists fly, batting them away left and right.They kept a steady pace and maintained a quick rhythm.She felt confident as the speed increased, but something different happened as she started to smack at Rieka’s fist.Before Morlie knew it, she was on her ass.

“Dammit!”Morlie slammed her fists into the ground.One second, she dodged fists; the next, Morlie had her feet swept out from under her, and she found herself staring up at the ceiling.

Rieka stared down at her and held out a hand.Once Morlie took her hand, the older woman hauled her back to her feet effortlessly.

“Watch the hips.Lesson three.”

“How many lessons are there?”Morlie assumed her stance.Her spine no longer ached, and both her nostrils were open again, but she could still see too much of her nose, and it felt and looked disjointed.

“As many as it takes.”Rieka shrugged one shoulder.

“You’re doing well,” Rudie cheered on from her crossed-legged position on the couch.

Morlie wasn’t even sure at what point Rudie had finished cooking and sat down.“Thanks.”

“Your opponent may try to distract you with a punch or grab your shoulder, then sweep your foot to knock you off balance.Because once you are down, they can leap onto you and hold you in a position under their weight that will cause you great damage or death.”

“I want you to watch if my hip shifts to rebalance my weight to step up, and then you sweep my lead foot.You’ll need to bring your foot up to push my foot out of the way by rotating around to catch my foot, counterbalance to knock me down.”

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