Page 21 of Marked For A Bite
There was that stubborn tilt to her chin again. His mate was incredibly fierce, and every display of her strength made his blood sing with pride and hunger.
She could stand beside me,he thought, the possibility both thrilling and terrifying.She could be just as lethal, just as dangerous.
But the darker thought followed immediately—the image of Zoe forced to carry out the brutal enforcement duties he'd shouldered for years. Killing humans who discovered their secret. Executing pack members who defied the High Council's archaic laws. The weight of those deaths, and the way they carved pieces from your soul until you wondered if anything good remained.
No.His wolf snarled at the thought.Not her. Never her.
"Come on," Logan said, pushing the dark visions away. His tactical mind was spiraling into scenarios that hadn't happened and might never happen. "Let's see what you're actually made of."
He led her deeper into the clearing where years of solitary training had worn paths in the forest floor. Rope courses stretched between ancient pines, targets hung from sturdy branches, and obstacles he'd crafted from fallen logs and boulders created a challenging circuit through the trees.
"One demonstration, one guided run, and one solo attempt," Logan explained, checking the security of the rope anchor points with practiced efficiency. "That's how we'll handle each element."
The rope course demanded upper body strength and coordination—thirty feet of rope-to-rope traversal with gaps that required leaps of faith and muscles that burned with sustained effort. Logan moved through it with the fluid grace of countless repetitions, his powerful frame making the challenging course look effortless.
"Show off," Zoe called from below, and the teasing note in her voice made him grin despite himself.
When he dropped down beside her, she was studying the course with the analytical focus he was learning was pure Zoe—cataloging each obstacle, and calculating angles and distances.
"Your turn," Logan said, positioning himself behind her as she gripped the first rope. "Trust your instincts. Your wolf knows how to move."
The moment her feet left the ground, Logan's breath caught. She moved with natural athleticism that spoke of her wolf heritage—sure-footed and graceful, even when her muscles trembled from exertion. Sweat dampened her black shirt, making the fabric cling to the curves of her body in ways that tested his focus on training rather than claiming.
Concentrate,he ordered himself.She needs a trainer, not a distracted mate.
But watching her push through fatigue with grim determination and seeing the way her eyes flashed golden when she made a particularly challenging leap—every instinct in him roared with pride and possessiveness.
When she completed the course and dropped down beside him, chest heaving and ponytail askew, she looked more alive than he'd seen her since Portland.
"That was incredible," she panted, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "I feel like my body knows things my mind doesn't understand yet."
"That's your wolf," Logan confirmed. "She's been sleeping, but she's waking up fast."
Her solo run proved that point dramatically. Without his guidance, Zoe attacked the rope course with aggressive confidence that made his heart race. She was learning, adapting, and growing stronger with each challenge.
Too strong,whispered a treacherous voice in his mind.Strong enough that the High Council will want to use her. Strong enough that they'll see her as a weapon instead of a person.
"Next," Logan announced, shoving the worry down deep. "Half-mile obstacle course through the forest."
This circuit tested everything—speed, agility, and problem-solving under pressure. Logan had designed it to simulate real combat scenarios, the kind where hesitation meant death.
He ran it first, his powerful strides eating up ground as he vaulted fallen logs, scaled rock faces, and navigated narrow passages between massive tree trunks. The familiar burn of exertion centered his mind, pushing away the protective anxiety that threatened to overwhelm his training instincts.
Running beside Zoe on the second pass was pure torture and transcendent joy. Her scent mixed with pine and earth, creating something that called to every primal part of him. She matched his pace through most of the course, only falling behind on the sections that demanded raw upper body power he'd built through years of brutal conditioning.
She's going to be magnificent,Logan realized, watching her refuse to quit even when her muscles shook with fatigue.Absolutely lethal when she's fully trained.
The thought sparked both fierce pride and cold terror. Because if she became as dangerous as him, if she transformed into the kind of weapon he was—would she still be the bright, defiant woman who'd chosen to trust him? Or would the violence change her the way it had changed him?
When Zoe completed her solo run, she wasn't even breathing that hard. If anything, she looked more energized and more alive, as though the physical challenge had awakened something fundamental in her nature.
"I feel like I could run for miles," she said, stretching her arms overhead in a way that made her shirt ride up, exposing the light brown skin of her stomach and making his mouth go completely dry. "Is that normal?"
"For a wolf waking up? Yeah." Logan's voice came out rougher than he'd intended. "Your endurance will keep building as your body adapts."
She's incredible,he thought, watching the way golden flecks danced in her hazel eyes.She really could fight beside me. Be my equal in every way.
But a darker realization followed—if she became his equal, she'd also become his biggest weakness. Because Logan Cross, feared enforcer of the Silvercrest pack, had just discovered he had something precious enough to destroy him. And not just by the hand of his enemies, but by his own.
