Page 38 of Mortal Shift
Yes, I was, as it happened, but I wasn’t about to let this jackass know that. I pushed up my hands in an imitation of the guard stance I saw from most of the students around me, and beckoned him forward.
He rolled out his shoulders, and his lips peeled back in amusement. Shit.
His fist smashed through my guard and thudded into my stomach, knocking the wind from me. I doubled over, gasping as fiery pain spread through my gut and I tried to stagger back. Kallan was on me before I made it a step, grabbing a handful of hair in his fist. Before I could utter more than a whimper of protest, he yanked back and down, tossing me into the floor. I slammed into it, losing what little breath I had left in my body, and every instinct in my mind screamed at me to curl into a ball and protect what I could. But before I could act on it, Kallan dropped down to straddle me, his weight pinning me helplessly to the floor and trapping my arms by my sides. I bucked and squirmed, and tried to kick him off with my legs, but the pain and breathlessness stole what little strength I’d had to start with, and Kallan just grinned down at me, barely even jostled by my attempts.
Then he drew his fist back and aimed it at my face.
Panic flooded me as I realized what he intended and my mouth popped open in horror, but a rasping wheeze was the only sound that made it out. I screwed my eyes shut, tensing as I had no choice but to wait for his fist to smash into my face.
And then, suddenly, his weight was gone from me, followed a split second later by a snarl and the sound of something smashing into the wall. Another snarl followed, this one right above me, and I peeled my eyes open to see Cole’s back to me in a protective crouch. I followed the direction of his gaze in time to see Kallan climbing to his feet and peeling back his lips in a snarl of his own.
“Enough,” Garrett snapped. “The next person to throw so much as a dirty look at someone who’s not their sparring partner will find themselves sparring withme.”
He scanned the room with a scowl, and abruptly everyone lost interest in Cole and Kallan, and turned back to their own partners.
“Kallan, partner with Jax. Cole, take your pathetic excuse of a mate to the healer. And see me at the end of the day. The rest of you, why thefuckcan’t I hear sounds of sparring?”
He stalked away, presumably to harass some other unfortunate, and Kallan moved off, too, after sending one last sneer in our direction. I glowered back and scrambled to my feet, still wheezing, and becoming more aware of the pain spreading through my body by the moment. I’d been about to object being sent to the healer, but now I was having second thoughts. Plus, anything that meant skipping the rest of this lesson could only be a good thing. I was totallynotready for combat lessons.
I felt Cole at my back as I left the room, and it wasn’t until we were deep in the corridors that I realized what had just happened.
“You protected me,” I said.
He snorted. “Don’t get used to it. Instinct kicked in: I didn’t want you making me look weak by letting him kick your ass.”
“Right.” I rolled my eyes. “As if you’d care aboutme.What was I thinking?”
“I assume you weren’t,” he said as we rounded another corner. “As usual.”
I didn’t bother rising to the bait. My entire body ached from being slammed into the floor so hard, and the back of my head was throbbing, either from Kallan using my hair to body slam me, or the lump I was pretty sure was forming there.
“It’s not my fault he took it too far. How was I supposed to know he was a psycho? He seemed nice.”
“Nice?” He raised a brow and gave me a distinctly unflattering look that I decided to ignore. “You really are that naïve, aren’t you? No-one here is ‘nice’.”
“Yeah, well, he was less nice than most,” I grumbled, giving in and rubbing at the back of my head. Yup, there was definitely a lump there.
“Kallan’s the alpha heir of Black Wind pack.” He glanced at me when I said nothing. “Black Wind are my family’s biggest rivals. They have the most to gain from making me look weak.”
“I just love being a pawn in pack politics I know nothing about.”
“He won’t be the last to try that. Especially now that others know you’re a soft target. They’ll come after you to weaken my position.”
“Great.”
“I’ll teach you self-defense. We’ll start tonight.”
“Excuse me?” I frowned at him, because for a moment there, it almost sounded like he was worried, and that did not track with the Cole I knew and hated.
“I can’t have you making me look weak,” he grunted as we reached the top of the stairs.
Thattracked with the Cole I knew and hated. Me taking a beating was fine, but his status? That needed to be protected. Well, screw him.
“I’m not interested in self-defense lessons.”
“Tough. They’re not optional. You’re going to need them to survive here.”
“You’re assuming I’m staying.”
