“For old time’s sake,” he said, cracking a smile. He sat down on the dusty ground, taking a stone in his hand too, and I sat next to him.
“What’re you going to draw?” I asked, leaning over his shoulder and inhaling his minty scent. He pushed the rock into the wall and carved. I watched him with excitement, blurting out guesses now and then. He chuckled each time, asking me if his drawing wasthatbad when I guessed he was drawing a stick figure, and continued.
I stared between Roman and the drawing, my heart racing. The way his eyes shifted effortlessly around the rock, the way he moved his hand so smoothly, the spark in his eye… it made me feel young again.
He glanced over at me, and I knew he felt it too. It was like those tingles he had given me but something more, something deeper.
His eyes drifted to my smile, then to the rock in my hand. “Let me help you,” he said, scooting closer to me. He rested one leg beside my thigh and one behind me, so I sat directly between his legs.
When he grasped my hand, we both tensed. But then he leaned closer to me and placed my hand against the stone wall, moving my wrist in all different directions to create a carving of a werewolf.
His breath was on my neck, his heart was beating against my back, his scent was enveloping me. We were close and not close like we had been earlier.
I shifted slightly, letting him rest his chin on my shoulder and enjoying when he took a big breath of me.
After we finished the drawing, he reluctantly released my hand and put down the stone. We didn’t move for a long time, just stayed close, stayed so close that we could feel each other breathing.
And I never wanted the night to end.
Chapter 6
Isabella
The next day, I slumped onto the ground, back against the packhouse, legs stretched out in front of me. Everything hurt. My back, my legs, my arms, my abs, even my neck. But, of course, Vanessa and everyone else didn’t have this problem. They had all been treated like normal werewolves with normal abilities. I was pushed. Hard.
Two tan and muscular legs came into my line of vision. “Sore?” Cayden asked, his black Adidas gym bag hanging from his shoulder. He tossed it down and sat in front of me.
“What gave it away?” I asked, tracing the bruises on my quads. At least they didn’t hurt as bad as they did last night. After my night with Roman, Mom had made me sit in a warm bath with Moonflowers floating around the top to help with the pain. It worked a bit, but… not as much as I had hoped.
Cayden rummaged through his bag and smirked. “That look of misery on your face.”
I raised a brow at him and pointed to my face. “Oh, no. This look of misery is not because I’m sore. I just don’t want to go through another day of hell while everyone else takes a fucking walk in the park.”
After he peeled off his shirt, he scooted closer to me. “Alpha Roman likes obedience.”
Roman liked obedience.
I stifled a laugh. I would disagree. Disobedience seemed to turn him on. I tested that many times, and each resulted in the same way: him pushing his hard cock against me any way that he could.
“I think you handled it yesterday the best way you could,” he said.
The scent of mint drifted into my nostrils, so I inched closer to Cayden—knowing that this would surely be an act of disobedience in Roman’s eyes, and smiled. “Well, I do take punishments very well.”
Roman growled, and my heart raced. But I didn’t turn around. Instead I sat, smiling at Cayden, suggesting something more sinister than mere punishment.
Something about getting on his nerves, about getting close to Roman any way that I could always excited me.
“I’m serious, Isabella,” Cayden said—completely oblivious to my flirting. “You’re strong as hell. Training with us will give you that extraumpft. You’ll be kicking my ass in no time. You’re close to it.”
Roman walked over to us, and Cayden’s eyes lingered on me for a quick moment, then they snapped to Roman. “Cayden,” he said, jaw clenched. “Lead the run.”
Cayden stood and held out a hand. “Come on. You can make it.”
I grabbed his hand, raising my brow at Roman to test him. Oh, boy, did I love testing him.
Roman eyed us, his hands clenched into tight fists. When Cayden released my hand and started walking to the crowd, I followed. But, before I could lead the run with him like I did yesterday, Roman caught my arm. “You’re not going.”
Cayden gazed at Roman, nodded his head, and disappeared through the woods. The rest of the warriors and trainees—except Vanessa—followed, their feet pounding against the dirt like a thunderous echo.
