Page 16 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
“Modumo!”
My head whips toward the Lieutenant when he shouts my name.
“Since Walker isn’t here today, I want you to pair up with Amato. Show her the ropes and spar. I’ll be assessing.”
My brow tightens but I give him a firm nod in agreement. What else can I do?
This is not at all what I wanted. I need to stay as far away from this Omega as possible. For both our sake.
Fuck Colt and his fucked up mind keeping him from class.
“Get to work!”
My jaw sets as the rest of the class disperses. I make my way slowly toward the young woman and tower over her small frame once I’m near.
When she looks up at me, something flashes in her eyes I can’t discern before they narrow. She stands upright, her chin up. “Touch my skin and die,” she says, her tone hard as stone.
Her words surprise me, my brows rising a touch despite myself.
I’ve seen all forms of curses in the eleven years I’ve been in the system, and I know enough not to question when someone gives a cryptic message like that. Plus, it would explain the bodysuit and gloves.
She’s not the only one in the academy who wraps their whole body up in that fashion, and she won’t be the last.
I give a curt nod and motion to the last remaining empty mat toward the doors. She leads the way, and it’s all I can do not to pounce on her back along the way.
Anger and frustration build inside me.
She isn’t even walking in some seductive way. The sway of her hips isn’t exaggerated, and the long tee completely covers her ass.
I shake my head in a quick, jerking movement, trying to rid these unwanted thoughts and feelings from my mind. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and these thoughts...these emotions...they’re more dangerous than most know.
This has to end.
She turns when she reaches the far end of the mat and looks at me expectantly.
I don’t think the Lieutenant thought this through. It’s not like I can instruct her on what to do.
But it isn’t a moment later when Yarr approaches the mat, tablet in grasp. “We’ll start with light offense,” he advises. “I want Amato to advance, and Modumo, you defend.” He tosses a pair of padded training gloves to the Omega, and she easily catches them. “Modumo can’t speak, but The Tank is our best combatant in this academy.”
The praise does nothing for me, but the beast inside is oddly smug. I get the feeling it’s because it wants to impress the Omega.
“I’m here to assess your stance and ability, Miss Amato.”
Yarr steps back, the light from his tablet dancing across his upper body and face. It’s common practice for sessions to be recorded for assessment over time, and I’m sure that’s what he’s doing.
I face the Omega, who seems to be mulling over what the Lieutenant has said, her eyes squinting at the mat beneath her feet. She rubs her knuckles absently and frowns a moment before she pulls on the padded training gloves and winds the attached wraps. She’s obviously sparred before.
Wiggling her fingers, she readjusts, likely due to the full gloves she already has on. But it isn’t a moment later that she turns her body so her left side faces me and raises both fists in the air, right hand lower than the left. I barely have a moment to appreciate her stance before she’s on me.
She jumps, and her right heel meets my solar-plexus in a spinning back-kick that sends me sliding backward on the mat at least three feet. Although there’s a decent amount of power behind her strike for such a small thing, the blow doesn’t hurt much. There’s a reason I’m called The Tank.
“Well,” Yarr says, his tone smug. “How about that. You train to fight, Miss Amato?”
“My father taught me,” she says softly.
Yarr nods, a frown tugging the corners of his mouth. “You were on the run a long time.” He doesn’t ask; he states it. The tone of his voice is deceptively soft, more so than I’ve ever heard it, and I’ve known him for years.
He clears his throat and is back to business when he looks at me. “Modumo, grab the pads.” He looks at the Omega as I make my way to the back wall where additional equipment hangs. “Jab the pads for a bit, then we’ll move on to throws.”
