I flipped her the bird and she just smiled as if it made her happy that I was pissed off. The entire pack had pulled up chairs to watch. All except Logan and Gear. They were off dealing with trying to find my car and Eva. Even Isaac had come to watch, eating sunflower seeds and gazing at the spectacle as if it was a silly sport.
Ruben was in the trees with a druid dummy on a string. He would launch it down at me from different angles each time. I was running on some major cortisol and adrenaline. Not knowing when or where the druid would pop out from, made me super jumpy and paranoid.
Just as I was approaching the wall, a druid was flying down from the trees at me. I popped off two paintballs. One hit his chest and the other went over his shoulder, missing him.
Not too bad.
But he was still coming at me. The force of falling from the tree kept his momentum, and I knew he was going to slam into me. I pulled my knife from my thigh holster, and with a battle cry I shoved it into his groin.
A collective “Owwww” came from behind me as every male groaned.
“That’s my girl!” Sophie screamed. “Now get over that wall! There are five hunters behind you and your pack is on the other side.”
I’d lost my running start, which was the only way to get over the slick stucco-type wall. The five hunters behind me were pretend, but I had to act like it was real in order to pass the run. Looking down at my hand, I smirked at the huge blade in my grasp. With a groan I shoved it deep into the mud wall about three feet off the ground.
“Great job! That wall looked really dangerous,” Sophie commented sarcastically.
“Shut up, boobs!” I screamed, and heard Keegan chuckle.
I gingerly put my left boot onto the knife handle and tested my weight. It held. Barely. From a crouch, I used all of my energy to spring up, jumping off of the handle embedded into the wall, grasping the top ledge.
Hell yes, bitches!
I went to pull myself up, but my arms were shaking from fatigue. I didn’t work out. This was basically hell on earth for me and my stupid arms weren’t able to hold my weight.
Cooperate, arms! I yelled at my weak biceps as they quivered under the strain. My feet were sliding and … no! I fell down, landing on my heels and falling backward, lying there looking up at the sky.
Sophie came over her bullhorn: “That would have been so badass if you’d have pulled it off. But unfortunately you’re dead. The hunters just killed you.”
I gave her the middle finger for the hundredth time that day as Nadine’s face swam into view. “Hemlock is ready for dinner. You want to take a break and come feed him?”
Yes. Something other than this torture. Anything.
She helped me stand and Sophie rolled her eyes. “Fine. Rest your weary muscles, but we start up again first thing in the morning.” She had used the bullhorn again even though I was standing ten feet from her.
“Someone take that bullhorn before I shoot it!” I called out over my shoulder.
Danny grinned and ripped it from her hands. “Sophie, go make dinner!” he yelled in her ear through the horn.
Sophie looked positively murderous at him and it made me feel a little bit better, but I was still dying. Was I limping? Everything was numb at this point so I couldn’t tell. “Nadine, I think I need to see a doctor. Everything shouldn’t hurt, right? Shouldn’t I be healing?”
I whined as a muscle in my thigh cramped.
She laughed, tossing her long black hair over one shoulder. “You’ll be fine after dinner. It’s good for you. Sophie may be annoying, but that knife in the wall move was totally badass. That’s the kind of thinking that will keep you alive the next time they attack.”
Meh. I guess I was learning some cool moves, and best of all gaining confidence that I could maybe hold my own in a fight with a druid. Maybe. But shooting Sophie’s dummy was really the highlight of the day.
“Thanks for taping Sophie’s picture on the dummy. It really helped my motivation,” I told Nadine as we reached the little hut we shared.
She laughed. “Anytime.”
Sophie wasn’t that bad once you got to know her. We had a mutual banter that was working for us. I no longer wanted to rip her head off all of the time. Just sometimes.
As we approached the kitchen, I smiled at the dog bed Nadine had set up.
“I took an extra pillow from your bed and covered it with both of our shirts. That way he smells us and knows we are the bosses,” she told me.
“Smart,” I commented as I grabbed the dog food she’d run out and gotten, and set it on the kitchen counter with his bowl. I grabbed a handful of dried kibble and mixed my scent around in it, then dropped it in his bowl, keeping it high up on the counter away from him. After that, I pulled out about five pieces and placed them in my palm.
“Hemlock, you hungry? You want dinner?” I asked. His nostrils flared and he whined as I bent low, bringing my palm near his face, fingers flat. “I’m not going to hurt you,” I told him calmly.
He looked into my eyes, then at the food in my palm. I held the food about three inches from his face, and instead of growling he lowered his head and tenderly licked the kernels from my palm. I looked up at Nadine, who was slack-jawed.
“Reward him!” Nadine said.
“Good boy, Hemlock!” I told him, and set the rest of the bowl down, petting his neck gently.
He scarfed the food as I stood to wash my hands. “He’s gonna be okay,” I told Nadine.
She smiled. “Because of you.”
“Because of you too,” I told her. But she was right. Because of me he was going to live, and that was a damn good feeling. Not just live but thrive.
Nadine pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water, taking a sip.
“So … while you were running the obstacle course, I overheard Keegan and Logan talking about your heat.” She grinned.
My what? My eyes were as big as saucers and she cackled in glee. “Keegan has an ovulation predictor app, and he’s been tracking your cycles.”
I nearly fell over in shock.
“Please, please, tell me you are joking,” I told her.
She shook her head. “Not joking. They were talking about different options to keep you from shifting during that time. Logan said he could put you in that sleep again, but it lines up with when we have to be back to get the staff.”
My mouth dropped open. How dare he even think of putting me into a three-day sleep! “What else did they say? This is beyond embarrassing.”
Nadine grinned. “Keegan remarked that since you were mates you could just … mate. Logan nearly decked him.”
That was interesting. “Why?”
She shrugged. “He’s chivalrous like that I guess.”
I barked out a laugh, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl. “Not according to Monica.”
Nadine’s brows pinched in confusion. “Who?”
“Girl from Eva’s bar.”
Recognition dawned on her face. “Oh, her. Pshh, she’s nothing. I’ve never seen Logan so in love. Seriously, he was really lonely before you came along. Like … in a dark place.”
Love. We hadn’t said that yet, but obviously I was falling in love with him. How could I not? Those smoldering eyes, those thick lips, his gentle heart.
“You’re moaning,” Nadine commented.
I growled. “This damn heat! It’s coming and I can’t stop it.”