When the trees cleared and the fog suddenly dissipated, I gaped at the hundreds—if not thousands—of houses built into the mountainside. We stood atop a mountain with the community of Lycans below us. Though it was 1am, every cabin had a light on. At the very bottom was a plateau where Lycans were training in an open field that stretched on for miles.
The grandest home was near the bottom of the hill. White brick, towering windows, and firewood stacked along its side; the view was more amazing than anything I had ever seen.
A bonfire was lit in front of the cabin, and some warriors sat around it. Each one had scars, Moonflower tattoos, and a look in his eyes that promised me death if I got on their bad side.
My heart pounded against my chest, just taking in everything. Though any other wolf would’ve been terrified by the Lycans, I was excited. So damn excited.
Ryker led me to the fire. As we passed the Lycans, they gazed at me, some looking like they wanted to kill, others giving me that oh-so-seductive stare that Roman always gave me.
It felt weird to have that attention from them instead of Roman. Sure, they were hot and were infamous for their feral manners in bed, for both fucking and loving with so much passion because they didn’t know if they’d survive the next day with all the rogues and terror they faced. But it wasn’t Roman.
I sat down on a log near the fire, letting it warm my face, and Ryker sat next to me. Though I didn’t mind those seductive looks and though I wanted to love with as much passion as the next Lycan, my mind kept wandering back to Roman.
His stupid lopsided grin. That stupid glow in his eyes. The stupid way I felt when I was with him. I didn’t want to think about how I lied to him so easily or how this wasn’t some white lie. This wasthelie. The lie that would destroy any type of relationship that I had with him. The lie that would pluck me right out of my dreaded hospital life. The lie that would make me.
Ryker placed his forearms on his knees and leaned closer to me. “These are my warriors. We usually hunt at night, which is when rogues are most active. As you can see, we like to train in the type of environment that we fight in.” He smiled at me and placed a hand on my knee. “Follow me. We will watch practice.”
We walked toward the open field where warriors were stretching. When they saw Ryker, they bowed their heads, as if he were their alpha. We stood at the edge of the field, gaze shifting and analyzing the Lycans as they fought against each other. Muscle against muscle. Brain against brain. Heart against heart.
“Raj,” he said to a man, arms crossed. “You’re not finishing through with your throw.”
Raj gazed at me, pushing a hand through his strong black hair, and winked. “I always finish,” he said, a slight accent in his voice.
“Finish the throw,” Ryker said, a familiar authority aura to him. I looked at him to see his jaw clenched just slightly. He reminded me of Roman. “I bet Isabella would finish the throw on you.”
“Me?” I said with wide eyes.
His eyes glowed like the moon. “If you don’t want to fight tonight, I can—”
“No!” I jogged over to Raj. “I want to fight.” I was born to fight.
Raj gestured down to his body. “I don’t know if you want a piece of—”
I grabbed his wrist in one hand, turned on my heel, pushing my hips in front of his, and tossed him over my shoulder, completing one of the hundreds of judo throws I had memorized over the last ten years.
He landed on the dirt with a hard thud, then hopped up. “Okay then, she’s good.”
Ryker smirked, fingers brushing against his stubble. “I know.”
Raj shook out his arms and leaned down into a fighting stance. “Well, get ready, Killer. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Punches, kicks, takedowns, and throws—he tried them all on me. Landing about half of his moves, he came at me for almost an hour, giving me everything that he had.
Training with Cayden made me aware of my weaknesses and had prepared me for this moment. Every night after tryouts, I analyzed the positions I had gotten myself into and understood how to get out of them. I was ready for anything he could throw at me.
For the rest of the night, Ryker watched me and nodded in approval when I took Raj to the ground. It felt good to have someone to believe in me and to think I was as good as these Lycans.
Every time I caught him staring, I pushed myself harder. This was my only chance to impress him, and I wasn’t going to give it up.
After practice, I sat on the ground, leaning back onto my hands and breathing deeply. Sweat dripped down my forehead, rolled down my neck, drenched my shirt. Everyone walked back to their homes up the mountain.
Ryker gazed down at me and took off his shirt, his muscles flexing. Scars were etched into his taut chest, tattoos covered his forearms, the light from the bonfire bounced off of his body so damn perfectly. “You ready?”
“Ready for what?” I asked, standing.
He cocked a smirk. “For me.” He lowered into a fighting stance. “Did you hope that you were done?”
I smiled at him, butterflies in my stomach. “Never,” I said, imitating his stance. Roman never fought against me, wouldn’t even think about it. He never gave me a chance, but Ryker did.
