Unlike with Raj, I couldn’t keep up with Ryker. He would fake me out with one move, then switch to another one. Fake a takedown, finish a leg-pick. Fake a jab-cross combination, land a kick to the side.
Adrenaline pumped through my system. Pure excitement. Pure exhilaration. Pure power.
Ryker shot in for a takedown, grabbed my wrist instead, and threw me over his hip. I landed on the ground—hard—and he landed on top of me. His body on mine, his chest against my breasts, his lips near my neck. I took a deep breath.
After a couple long moments, he hopped up and pulled me off of the ground. “Let’s get you cleaned up before the run back to your pack.” He tossed his shirt over his shoulder, leading me toward the packhouse. “You did good today.”
“Just good?” I asked, brows furrowing together.
“Yes,” he said. “Just good.” He opened the door to the packhouse for me. “You shouldn’t expect me to compliment you or go easy on you when you begin with us.”
I smiled, stomach filling with excitement. “When I begin with you?”
“Isabella,” he said, giving me a breathtaking smile. “You’re going to be a Lycan.”
Chapter 21
Isabella
I walked through the hospital, clipboard in one hand and Mr. Beck’s blood samples in another. My thoughts hadn’t stopped racing since this morning.
After Ryker told me I was going to be a Lycan, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. I couldn’t fucking believe that any of this was happening. All of my life I trained for this moment, and I thought Roman had taken this opportunity away from me. But now, I was going to be one of the most respected warriors—ever. A goddamn Lycan!
After placing the blood sample in a cart to be examined by Dr. Jakkobs, I skipped back to Mr. Beck’s room with a big smile on my face. Instead of sitting in his room where I left him, he had rolled all the way to the end of the hallway. He sat in his wheelchair, swaying back and forth and staring out the window at the cardinals.
“You should break me out of here,” he said. “I need to get those whipper-snappers in shape.”
I raised a brow at him. “Whipper-snappers?”
“Those warriors. I seen them run past here every morning… Back in my day, we’d be running for hours, not just one time around the property.”
Oh, Moon Goddess. Here we go with another one of his stories.
He turned to me. “I bet Roman’s training you real good.” He elbowed me and gave me a toothless grin. “You know what I mean.”
“I told you I’m not a warrior,” I said. If I was, I wouldn’t be here with him.
He slapped the armrest on his wheelchair and burst out in chuckles. “I ain’t talking about fightin’. I’m talking in the bedroom.”
I blinked a few times. Did he just… did he just really say… “Mr. Beck, we’re not—”
Suddenly, he stopped laughing and looked at me with a serious expression. “Isabella.”
My brows furrowed together, taking his hand in mine. “What’s wrong? Does anything hurt? Are you okay?”
“He’s here.”
“Who’s here?”
“Isabella,” Roman said, walking through the front doors of the hospital with a to-die-for smile on his face. Mr. Beck burst out in laughter again, and I silently cursed at him for nearly giving me a heart attack.
Roman walked all the way toward me, eyes landing on my chin, and furrowed his eyebrows. “What happened to you?”
I arched a brow. “What?”
“You look… tired, hurt? What happened?” His soft eyes searched mine.
I pulled away from him, Mr. Beck’s laughter still sharp in my ear, and gazed down at the clipboard, pretending to be busy. “Nothing happened. I slept fine last night without you barging in like usual.”
