Page 13 of Beta Hybrid

I meet her past the oasis, and down a little path to a flat expanse, a little smaller than the encampment clearing. Divina has set up a barrier, a safety perimeter.

‘I will teach you to unlock your powers. I know about fae magic, but it’s you who will have to control it,’ the Dark Witch warns. ‘For if you lose control, you could kill someone with those vines. And I must warn you, fae magic likes blood.’

Divina spends the cool hours just after sunrise teaching me to focus my thoughts—her dark presence like a protective hand over my mind—and guides me in how to select my magic. To use my fae side, I have to connect with the old earth.

My vines snake down from my arms. I still lack control. That’s vital. Our training pushes me to reach into my mind, my body and soul, and find my control and harness it.

After my mental training in the cool, brisk mornings, everyone breaks for lunch. It’s only during mealtimes that I’m exposed to everyone else. There are many familiar, smiling faces, but many more not. Noah glares at me, making his distain perfectly clear.

Cai comes to hug me, blocking Noah’s view of me, and makes sure I eat and stay hydrated.

Then we go into the woods and take our clothes off.

No, not like that.

I wish.

Cai pulls his shirt over his head and spreads his legs in a fighting stance, teaching me to do the same. I’m barely dressed in a training bra and shorts. Easy to move in, Cai insists, though I can feel his arousal as his eyes graze over my body. His mark on my ass.

I spend my afternoons learning hand-to-hand combat. I’ve never learned before. I’m a witch (hybrid). I didn’t rough-house like the wolves did as I grew up. As a woman, I can hold my own. Especially if I have mace. But this is different, I know.

Cai wants me to be as prepared as possible for the shitstorm to come. He patiently teaches me how to stand—‘cause there’s a proper fighting stance, apparently—and how to hold my hands up to protect my face.

The bond between us flutters, and I can tell he’s trying really hard not to check me out. I’ve tied my hair back in a long braid. I can feel his gaze, even when I glance down to check my feet are shoulder-width apart.

He might be trying not to check me out, but I’m doing no such thing.

Mordecai is a perfect alpha, strong and impressively muscled. Surrounded by woods, he’s in his territory; he could hunt anyone down here, his paws dancing over the floor in easy leaps and bounds.

Part of me wishes I were a wolf too. Like him.

The bond pulses between us as his jeans tighten at the crotch.

Focus, baby.

I smile. Since when do you call me baby?

He cocks his head with a slight smile. Do you not like it? Without warning, he attacks.

And not the cute-rough way he hauls me over his shoulder.

No, this is an attack. Canines extended, claws sharp in the sunlight, he lunges for me with wolf-strength.

I panic and scramble away.

Cai pauses and barks a laugh. ‘You… you ran away?’

I calm myself. ‘You taught me how to STAND, not how to fight yet!’

He hangs his head, smile fading. ‘You have to do better than that. You can’t scream and run away.’

I fold my arms over my chest. ‘I did not scream. Are you making fun of me?’

He approaches and moves me back into my fighting stance. ‘I am trying to make you into a warrior so that you don’t get killed.’

Something painful flutters in my chest. Perhaps Cai needs me to be better. Stronger. Before he officially accepts me as beta.

I hold my stance and patiently listen and watch as he shows me how to bend—keeping my hands up—and block if someone attacks, and how to move—keeping my feet shoulder-width apart—when I need to.

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