Page 64 of Claim Me
Chapter 44
Rafe
Mav threw his body into mine and at the last second, I was able to avoid it. My wolf practically yawned in my head. He was bored of this and wanted more of a challenge. But today wasn’t about a challenge. It was about teaching and having fun. I spun around the big brute and landed a kick to the back of his knee. He fell forward but recovered quickly. We panted as we circled each other. I could vaguely hear Ford cheering for me over the blood pounding in my ears. This was my second opponent today. My sock slid on the tile and down I went. Mav landed a bruising blow to my shoulder and my breathwhooshedright out of me. I lost. Mav reached his huge hand down and helped me off of the floor.
“Why on earth would you think socks would be a good idea when sparring?” Gabriel chuckled from the couch. I rolled my sore shoulder.
“We aren’t supposed to be sparring down here,” I waved my hands around the in-home gym. We had a sparring arena, this was just us messing around. I cracked my neck and faced Mav. “Again.”
He shook his head. “I won’t fight you again.”
“Why not?”
“I’m scared I’m going to really hurt you.”
I groaned. “In all of the years we have known each other and sparred together. Have you ever actually managed toreallyhurt me?”
Mav looked uncertain as he watched the other guys. “No, but you’ve been off of your game.”
“Then help me get back on track,” I ripped the socks off of my feet and bounced on my toes. I wouldn’t be going down again. He set his shoulders and prepared for my attack. I immediately went for his weak spot. He didn’t block his right side very well. He was left-handed. I had picked it up the first time we ever fought together. Everyone had a weak spot but usually they were harder to find if they were as good of fighters as we were. There was also the part where he had been gone training to be a Guardian. His weak spot wasn’t as weak as it had been. I landed a few punches to his side before he could recover. He came at me even quicker and I blinked in surprise. He was a massive dude and I thought I had speed on my side. Usually the bigger the guy, the slower they were. I should have known Mav was holding out on me. He was afraid he would injure me after all.
I ducked out of the way as his fist swung toward my temple. He smiled as I landed a few more blows to him but he blocked each one. Where was his weakness now? He had been expecting me to use that. His toes dipped slightly and I saw it, his knee was bothering him. I faked kicking his leg out from beneath him and jumped up to land a blow to the side of his head. He stepped out of the way at the last minute and my hand flew past him and right into the sheetrock. I winced as I pulled my hand free from the wall. Sheetrock dust sprinkled down to the floor like snow.
Knox was up immediately from the couch. “You’re lucky you didn’t hit a stud.”
Mav cracked a smile. “He was close. Too slow.”
Knox’s nostrils flared in annoyance. “I meant the wood in the wall.”
“Of course you did,” Mav nodded in an over exaggerated manner.
My pocket knife slipped free from my pocket and I flicked it open. The oddly-shaped hole would be hard to patch if it wasn’t even. I sawed away the uneven patches and was about to walk away to get supplies when something shiny caught my eye. I hadn’t been the one to put sheetrock up in the house, not even down here in the basement. My father had this place remodeled several times while he lived here. I simply made it my own. I took walls out where I saw fit upstairs, but I hadn’t touched the walls or anything else down here. I had simply put up mirrors and the equipment. I had painted. I vaguely remembered that my father had a study down here but I hadn’t lived in this home for a while. The manor had been my home after I had turned eighteen. Between my father’s wolf and my own, we couldn’t be under the same roof together. He came down here when he wanted to be alone. There had been a little computer and desk. Where? Here? The layout was so different now. What else could be hiding in these walls?
As quickly as I could manage I cut away more of the wall until I could see what was hidden there. Waiting right below my fist hole was a small metal box. It wasn’t much bigger than a toolbox. Red and orange rust coated it. I was almost afraid to pull it free but I knew it belonged to my father. Right now I needed answers more than ever. The box groaned as I pulled it free from the studs holding it upright on either side.
Mav was by my side in seconds. “What did you find?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea. A toolbox maybe?”
“Your old man hid that here?” Gabriel peeked over Mav’s shoulder.
I shrugged.
The latch on the front of it looked rusted beyond repair. It made me want to rethink this. Maybe the secrets hidden in the walls were meant to stay there. My hands grew sweaty as I decided against my better judgment and yanked the latch clean off. The hinges squeaked as I lifted the lid.
Surprisingly enough, the inside of the box was immaculate. There wasn’t any rust or discoloration to the metal at all. How it had managed to stay in such pristine condition was beyond me. In the center of the box, there were a few envelopes. The paper was worn so much that I couldn’t read who they were from. Under the stack of letters was a little leather book.
Knox clapped me on the shoulder. “This is probably something you should do alone. I’m as curious and nosey as anyone else but this was your old man. If you need us, we will be upstairs.”
Archer looked ready to protest but Mav picked him up around the waist and carried him away from me and my discovery. The door at the top of the stairs clicked shut.
Carefully, I peeled back the cover of the journal and looked inside. Was it wrong of me to not tell my mother about this? Maybe she needed to be here as I read it. This was her mate. There could be gross things in here about my mother. But the book looked dated far beyond their marriage. I could always give it to her later.
The first few pages weren’t anything interesting. They were things about the pack, what it was like to be an Alpha and be single. The war between witches.
Blah, blah, blah.
I didn’t know what I was looking for. I didn’t know why I cared to read his words. What I felt betrayed over had happened too long ago for it to matter. But then… I found it. I didn’t know how I knew it was what I was needing but there it was…
