Page 89 of Memories Like Fangs
When the four of us went downstairs and out the door of our building, Everett had us do some stretches and said we were going to do some cardio as a warm-up. Since we were all supernaturals, a few miles wouldn’t do anything to make us break a sweat, so he ensured the path he had us take was at least ten miles. He made us all promise we wouldn’t just blur the whole way, not that we could. Even supernaturals had their limits, and we couldn’t go that fast for that long. Still, we had to swear we would actually treat this like a real workout.
The path he sent us to take started close to the end of Little Salem in a forest on its edge. We walked for about half a mile before building to a run and then picking up the pace and running together for several miles. We were close to the destination, and between Everett’s antics, Quinn’s never-ending flirting, and Teddy having to be the parent to us all, I had already rolled my eyes so much that I wondered if eyes were capable of cramping. But, I had also laughed hard enough to make me trip a few times mid-run. We were all breaking a sweat and panting a bit, too. My mom’s obsidian pendant softly pounded against my chest as I ran, a soundless drumbeat keeping time with my heart and footsteps.
Quinn, Clarkson, and I were the first to break through the trees and reach our destination at last. The forest opened to a stretch of land with a babbling brook and boulders. The water was clear enough to see straight to the bottom, where pebbles and crystals sat. They hummed softly, whispering a welcome to me. I smiled, loving the pulse of their energy even though I wasn’t within reach of them. Near the running stream in the middle of the grass were the bags that Teddy had teleported. Bythe time we reached them, the indigo of midnight was meeting the dawning blue. The sun was a beautiful pinkish coral orange as it peeked from the horizon.
Quinn and I leaned against a boulder at the creek’s edge to catch our breath, smoky clouds gusting from our mouths as we panted. Clarkson ran past us to drink from the stream and then to sit and pant in front of us.
“I’m surprised that Clarkson can keep up with us,” I said.
“She is kind of a supernatural herself,” Quinn explained between gasping breaths. “I got her when she was just a puppy. She can run just as fast as us and lives as long as any supernatural she is bound to, just like a familiar. Hunters train dogs like her to help sniff out supernaturals and find their locations. I trained her to know to go to the car once she has found a supernatural because she’s a bit of a scaredy-cat.”
Clarkson huffed at Quinn’s remark. I laughed. “Don’t you be mean to my baby! She’s the bravest girl, aren’t you, Clarkson?”
Clarkson rolled onto her side and just let her tongue loll out of her mouth in response. I loved her so much. She was so adorable.
I unzipped and took off my jacket to allow the chilly, wet air to caress my warm skin. Next to me, Quinn pushed back her slightly damp curls. Her tan skin was shiny with a thin sheen of sweat and rosy from her exertion. The scent ofher,a campfire with sweet chocolate and an undercurrent of citrus, surrounded me completely, leaving me enraptured. With my heightened sense of smell, I caught my scent mixed with hers.
Because she’s ours, our mate, my dragon purred, my nostrils flaring even more to drink in more of her.
Quinn drank from her water bottle, and I watched every single one of her muscles flex and move as she did. Her arms were stacked with muscle, her legs thick with power, and everything about her was so nice to look at. I was so fuckingdown bad for this woman. Every time I thought I couldn’t fall deeper and be more attracted to her, I was proven dead fucking wrong.
“I don’t think water is going to help you with your thirst there, now will it, Sweetness?” Quinn remarked, noticing me drooling over her with a smirk. My face heated up from something aside from the run. As she chuckled, Everett and Teddy emerged from the trees, panting and sweating like us.
“See? Now, wasn’t that great?” Everett said.
I rolled my eyes. “If you think this run is going to make me stop contemplating the different ways I can kill you for waking me up this early, you are sorely mistaken, sir.”
“Well then, let’s put that rage to good use, yeah?” Everett smiled villainously.
Teddy went over and knelt in front of the bags. He pulled out some boxing pads and tossed them over to Everett, who caught them easily.
“It’s been a while since we had one of our fighting lessons,” Everett said as he put his hands in the pads.
I snorted. “Yeah, try at least ten years. Maybe even since Pops died?”
“Exactly.” He took a few steps further into the expanse of land before he took a wide stance with the pads held out in front of him. “Why don’t you show me what you remember?”
Nodding, I pushed off the boulder and approached him. I got into my stance without thinking about it, even though I hadn’t done it in years. It was like Pops’ voice was ingrained in my muscles, instructing them what to do before my brain could even consider it.
Feet shoulder width apart, back toes just behind your front heel, since you favor kicks more. Front foot pointed forward, back foot at an angle. Hands go up to guard that beautiful face of yours, baby bee. That’s it.
Once I was in my proper stance, I let loose, throwing all the kicks, punches, and moves I recalled. When I reached school age, Pops and Everett started taking me out into the backyard on the weekends when Pops wasn’t working overtime to teach me the basics of fighting so I knew how to defend myself. They taught me not just how to form a punch so your thumb doesn’t break, but also how to incapacitate a grown supernatural man for long enough to escape. It didn’t take me long to pick up on it, and I could handle myself in a one-on-one match with most normal supernaturals. However, a group, an overly powerful one, or even a single hunter who had spent their life fighting were different stories altogether.
I ran through everything Pops and Everett had taught me all those years ago. The first few hits felt sloppy and clunky. Everett wore a mask as he watched me, but I knew my form was off, my punches lacked strength, and my kicks were sending me off balance. Pausing, I furrowed my brows. Why did the moveset feel so awkward when I was doing them the way I had before? Sure, I was out of practice, having not done this in years. I was older and rusty. But, this felt more like when you put a sock on wrong or held a pen differently from how you always did. It shouldn’t feel thisoff.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I voiced aloud. “But, this feels weird. I can’t explain it.”
“Kind of like you are wearing the wrong size shoes and don’t know how to walk anymore?”
“Yes,” I said, meeting his eyes immediately, feeling the rightness of Everett’s words. “How did you guess that?”
“Because I’m a shifter, too.” He snorted before continuing. “You learned those moves as a human before your dragon manifested. Your body and instincts were completely different from how they are now. Now, everything is heightened, you are more powerful, and you have a wild animal inside guiding you.When you learn to fight as a human before you shift for the first time, it feels weird doing those same movements after the fact. I went through the same thing before I shifted, although mine was different since I wasn’t an adult like you are when I first shifted.”
“So, what do we do?”
“We train, of course. Your stance is good, and you have the motions down perfectly. You have a great foundation, so I don’t have to teach you the basics. We just need to refine everything and build up on what you know to take advantage of your dragon more.” Everett must have seen me worrying my bottom lip with stress because his expression softened. “Don’t worry, kiddo. You are a dragon-shifter. Dragons naturally hoard knowledge like they do riches, so you will pick up on this fast as hell. You’ll see. Now, copy what I do, but if it feels odd, listen to your instincts and adjust, okay?”
I nodded, looking into his golden gaze and knowing I could trust him unequivocally.
