Page 26 of Country and Clove
“I told you,” Clove hissed through her exertion, “I don’t have any powers.” She ducked low and caught Graham with a punch to the gut. He doubled over but came up smiling. If Clove didn’t know any better she would think he actually liked getting the shit beat out of him by a woman.
Clove moved forward, throwing him a wild right hook. Graham deflected it and snatched her wrist, using it to spin her around until she was tight against his chest with her arms pinned in front of her.
“You may be trying to hide it but the scent of magic is all over you.” He leaned in and inhaled. “You’ve got magic. Come on, you can tell me. I’m top notch at keeping secrets.”
Clove stomped down hard on his left foot and sent an elbow back into his ribs. “I don’t have magic. What the fuck were you thinking saying that kind of shit in front of the group?” She threw a side kick but Graham grabbed her knee and used it to flip her flat on her ass.
“It’s not my fault I can smell magic. I didn’t know you were keeping it a secret from everyone.”
She tapped out and they moved back into their starting positions.
“Why are you messing with me?” Clove growled. She hadn’t spent most of her life trying to bury her powers and keep them a secret just for some Scottish arsehole to expose her to the rest of the pack.
“I like you. You remind me of home.” He stood up, dropping his fighting stance.
Clove balked. “How do I remind you of home?”
Graham chuckled and scratched at his beard. “You’re batshit crazy, always looking for a fight, and you smell like a farm. You’d fit in perfectly on my home island.”
“I smell like a farm?” She lifted her eyebrows in amusement.
“It’s a compliment. I miss it. I miss the rolling pastures, the animals. The complex is great and all, and the women have been more than welcoming.” He grinned before sighing. “But it can be a lot. Things were so simple back there.” His eyes saddened in a way that called to Clove. She suddenly saw Graham for exactly what he was. A big Scottish farm boy who left his small island and moved into the elegant extravagance of the Ulric complex. He joined a brand-new pack, one with a billionaire Alpha and an endless amount of drama in a time when Mountain’s End was shadowed in darkness and loss. He was feeling alone, despite all the lycans that shared this space as their home.
“Would you wanna come? To the ranch?” she asked, feeling a connection to Graham that hadn’t been there before. He needed a taste of home and he needed a friend. Someone who didn’t want anything from him in return. He needed a friend to be simple with. So did she. His eyes lit up.
“Abso-fuckin-lutely,” he immediately answered.
“It’s not fancy.” She felt a tinge of embarrassment. The farmhouse was older and had been built by her grandfather. She had never bothered to update it and there were more than a few handyman projects that had been on a perpetual to-do list.
Graham’s grin didn’t falter. “Give me a few beers and a clear view of the stars and I’ll be happy as a pup.”
“I can manage that.” She smiled. Graham peered over her shoulder, his own smile dropping fast.
“Just make sure you clear it with your boyfriend first.” He nodded to Aaron. Clove turned, finding a piercing set of whisky-brown eyes on her. Aaron’s jaw was tense and his fists opened and closed by his sides. Clove’s eyes trailed up from his hands to his forearms as they flexed repeatedly. Her gaze met his and something dangerous passed between them.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she assured Graham, but her tone wavered.
“No boyfriend, no powers. You’re going to have to work on telling the truth if we’re going to be friends.” He gave her a haughty grin before flipping her onto her back.
“Asshole.” She glared at him. Dane announced they were done for the day and most of the recruits headed off to the locker rooms. Graham was waiting for Clove when she emerged, freshly showered and sporting a pair of grey Ulric sweats. Gideon must order thousands of pairs of sweats a month. Lycans were always shifting and if they lost control before stripping or were faced with an emergency, their clothes were ruined. The standard grey sweats were stashed in nearly every room in the complex along with some newly created caches outside. It helped to reduce the number of naked shifters strolling through the complex and town.
“Ready?” Graham pushed off the wall and fell in line beside her.
“Clove.” Her stomach swarmed with butterflies as Aaron’s voice sounded from just behind her. The familiar, Southern lilt sent heat pooling low in her belly. She spun, ignoring the instinct to run away as fast as possible. Aaron’s muscular arms were folded across his chest as he stared at her. “I need to have a word with you.”
Clove’s immediate instinct was to tell Aaron he could fuck off. His eyes narrowed, sensing the shift in her energy.
“That’s an order, not a request, recruit.” He punctuated the word ‘recruit’ in a way that ensured she knew she was beneath him in the chain of command. He controlled all fourteen of them as long as they were in his program. If he said jump, they’d ask how high and how many times.This is only temporary, she reminded herself.
“All right.” She kept her voice neutral despite the maelstrom of emotion warring within her. She looked at Graham. “Go get some beer. I’ll pick you up out front.”
Graham leveled a measured look between them and didn’t move. Lycans were naturally protective and it appeared Graham was heavy on the brutish guard dog side of the instinct scale.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, giving him a shove in the right direction. Aaron was quietly observing the interaction but some of the tension in his posture seemed to fade as Graham moved away from them.
“This way.” Aaron walked down the corridor without so much as a backwards glance. Clove huffed out an irritated sigh and followed suit. Aaron held open a door at the end of the hallway. Clove swept inside, careful not to breathe in as she passed him. The last thing she needed was his scent overwhelming her. They were going to talk, like he said. Then she was going to leave him behind without another thought. He was her trainer. That’s all.
Even as she thought the words, she knew they were foolish. Aaron held a sway over her like nothing else. It had been a constant fight to keep from rushing into his arms every time she saw him. Fighting her natural instincts required immense concentration. It was literally painful at some points. Her wolf fought to free itself almost constantly when he was around. Even now, the animal was practically rolled over and belly up, begging for Aaron’s attention.You are a damn hussy.Herwolf ignored the insult.
