Page 23 of Country and Clove
The faces of his dead recruits flashed before his eyes. He had a job to do. Committing to a mate would only distract him. He couldn’t afford that. Not after what happened.
The door swung wide and he knew instantaneously that it was her. He whirled, ready to commend her on yesterday’s fight. He may not want her as a mate, but he respected her as a fighter. When their gazes met, her eyes blazed. Rage poured from those green and gold irises. Rage that flowed freely in his direction. She walked right past him, ramming her shoulder into his as she went. Aaron stood there dumbfounded for a moment before turning.
“Good fight yesterday.”
Clove stilled. He could practically see her hackles rise from here. She spun to face him, and then closed the gap between them with hatred in her eyes. “Good fight? Oh, you mean the one where you humiliated me in front of several dozen pack members? Or when you forcibly dragged me out of the room and left me no choice but to beg the Alpha for a chance to prove myself? Or maybe when you shattered my ribs, right wrist, nose, and left me with internal bleeding and a migraine that lasted six hours? Is that the ‘good fight’ you’re referring to?”
The hostility was justified. He’d wounded her body, and worse, he’d wounded her pride.
“Technically you’re the one who chose a headbutt. So the migraine part is not my fault.” He gave her a lopsided grin, using one of his well-practiced moves for winning over an irate female.
Clove’s eyes only blazed more. “And the rest of it?” She didn’t wait for an answer before turning away from him and heading to the closest group of recruits. Damn she was even hotter when she was angry. His wolf snapped at him, refocusing his mind and urging him to fix things.All right, all right.I’m working on it.
He was going to fix this. Not because she was their mate, but because she was one of his recruits. Had absolutely nothing to do with his convoluted feelings for her. His inner beast just huffed in annoyance.
“Aaron, you ready to get started?” Dane jogged over to him with a smile on his face. His best friend, Hunter, had made it into the top fourteen and Dane had been sporting a mile-wide grin ever since. Their friendship must run deeper than any of Aaron’s. He tried to imagine any of his friends stealing his girlfriend because they realized she was their mate. Then again, now that he’d found Clove, he could understand that undeniable pull.
How the hell had he managed to fight it for so long? Having her this close was testing every bit of restraint and willpower in his being. His eyes tracked her movements. She was smiling now as she gave one of the other recruits a playful punch to the arm. The other lycan threw his arm over her shoulder, tugging her in close.
“Who the fuck is that?” Aaron remembered the tall blond from yesterday. He was a hell of a fighter, but what was his name?
“Waylin,” Dane answered. “He’s a good friend of Ginger and Clove’s. I think he works for their family or something.”
Aaron’s wolf paced within. That country bumpkin had his hands all over his mate. Well, not mate. Whatever, the point was he was touching Clove and Aaron didn’t like it.
“Everything okay?” Dane asked.
“Everything’s fine. Let’s get going.” They approached the group and all eyes went to him as he gave a perfunctory first-day speech. “Congratulations to everyone who made it into the fourteen trainee spots. We’re going to start with drills this morning—”
“Nah wait a fuckin’ minute.” A massive recruit pushed to the front. It was the new Scottish transfer, Graham. “Aren’t we going to sit in a circle and go ’round sharing our names and whatnot? A little group bonding?”
Aaron glared back at the man.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Dane whispered in his ear. “Considering almost a third of the group consists of recent transfers.”
“Fine.” Aaron rolled his eyes. “Everyone sit in a circle.”
“Perfect.” Graham rubbed his hands together excitedly as everyone gathered around the circle. “Now give us your names. And powers if you’ve got ’em. You first, golden eyes.” Aaron’s irritation grew with every heavily accented word that left Graham’s mouth. Did he forget that Aaron was in charge here?
“I’m Hunter. I recently transferred from California after finding my fated mate here in the Ulric pack.” He nodded to Clove. “Her twin actually.”
“Twins?” Graham gasped. “And I didn’t get to have a three-way before one of you found your mate? That is an absolute travesty.”
“You’re a pig.” Liv gave Graham a distasteful look.
“But a very good-looking pig.” Graham flew her a wink. “You next, your royal highness.”
“Fine.” Aaron studied Liv. She was a curious choice for the recruit team. She was small and similar in stature to Aria. But she fought like a skilled assassin. Growing up as the daughter of the London Alpha meant she’d been extremely well trained. “I’m Liv. This is my mate, Abigail. I’m here because she insisted on doing this and I want to make sure she doesn’t get herself killed. She’s not a lycan.”
Abigail was much taller than Liv with fair blonde hair and eyes like ice. “I’m Abigail. I’m Liv’s mate. We’re recent transfers from the London pack. And while Liv may be more than happy to spend her days being a pampered stay-at-home princess, I need something to keep me busy.”
“And your powers?” Graham pressed.
“I’m a Chosen with the gift of Sight,” she added casually.
“Which is how she was able to whoop your ass, Braggs.” Graham grinned. The dark-haired lycan, Braggs, had been randomly selected to spar with Abigail. As a human, no one expected her to make the team. But her gift of the Sight allowed her to anticipate Braggs’s moves and dodge or counter them with ease. On top of that, she was a fair fighter, attacking with lithe speed and a surprising strength for her slim figure.
Braggs had gotten his ass whooped, but he managed to hold his own and get a few punches in despite his opponent knowing his every move in advance. That had earned him his spot on the team.
