Page 90 of The SnowFang Storm

No. I have control. I have had control for years.

Except for a few weeks ago, when I hadn’t.

Shut up, brain! I’ve only ever dropped to wolf form! I’ve never force-shifted into war-form! Not even close!

All it takes is once.

Shut up, brain! Shut up!

I tugged at my ponytail again, glaring at nothing in particular. I did have control of my forms. I did. I did.

“Good to keep going?” a different black belt asked me.

“Once more,” I said, just to prove to myself I wasn’t as frightened as I was.

Maya was in the locker room with two other she-wolves. Adorable. Now she needed reinforcements so she could spy on me. Well, if she wanted to hang out with two friends and pretend like I was supposed to care, she could go right ahead. I was not in the mood. I had other things on my mind. Like how I’d damn near lost my mind twenty minutes ago.

Impact smashed me into the wall of metal doors.

A strong hand jerked me back by my collar, spun me around and smashed me backwards.

The locks and latches dug into my skin and bones. Blood poured from a cut over my right eye. Maya, arms akimbo, grinned at me, flanked by her two associates. “Little Luna, you need a lesson.”

I spit out a mouthful of blood. So this was why Maya had suddenly manifested friends. “Here to defend your Luna’s honor? Three on one and I just finished a workout. She must be so proud of her champions.”

“You rotten cunt,” Maya snarled.

That was a very dirty word.

“I can smell your fear,” one she-wolf growled, showing me her fangs, then clicked her teeth.

Yeah, it wasn’t her I was afraid of, it was myself. And if she had any good sense, she’d be afraid of me too.

I lunged at She-Wolf #1. She wasn’t ready. I grabbed a handful of hair and swung my hips to the outside. She had thirty pounds on me, and I was already exhausted, but adrenaline dumped into my system. I tumbled into the lockers with her. Metal clattered and rattled. A few doors popped open under the impact. A tangle of clothing and bandages tumbled out. She swatted at the bandages as #2 grabbed me from behind.

She smushed me against the lockers. I wriggled one arm under one of hers. One hook, but she fought me for the next, so I grabbed her behind the head in a half-clinch. She-Wolf #1 pawed her way free of the tangle and roared as she got to her feet. Now she was mad.

I squirmed. Not working. Snaked my foot around #2’s ankle and pulled back as hard as I could. We smashed onto the tile floor.

That hurt. I was already sweat-soaked from my workout, and now blood-soaked from at least one gash, so I squirmed over her, but stayed close and tight. I postured up, and she flung an elbow into my jaw from the bottom.

My teeth crunched together. My head jerked and blood splattered in an arc and poured down my face. Damn head wounds. Always bled like hell. More blood wept over my shoulders. #1 grabbed me from behind. The crook of her elbow twisted around my neck, and pain exploded in my mid-back from a kidney shot.

“I am not in the mood for this shit today,” I snarled at #1. “But since you’ve volunteered…”

I had hooks under #2’s thighs and she bucked and shrimped but nope, she could bronc as much as she wanted. I ducked around another elbow somehow. Blood coated me. My blood, her blood, their blood, no idea, didn’t matter. Bloody and sweaty, I managed to squirm out of #1’s grasp, duck under, grab #2’s wrist and kick my hooks free.

Swing around, pivot, pull, and #2’s arm came between my thighs. I shoved my heels into her shoulder and neck and arched my spine as tight as I could.

She screamed.

My abs burned. Just a bit more—

Pop!

This time she shrieked. The tension across my pelvis gave and her other palm slapped into my shin. Training habit: she was tapping out.

Too bad for her. I torqued her wrist for good measure.

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