“Good,” he said, then added, “Sloppy, but good.”
Rowan scowled. “You could have just left it at ‘good.’”
“I could have,” he said, “but it wouldn't have been an accurate statement.”
I whistled. “Look at you, Kitten. Getting the smallest, tiniest scrap of praise from the emotionally stunted murder wolf. Proud of you.”
She flipped me off from the mat.
Talon helped her up, and she accepted his hand this time. A smirk tugged at his mouth.
“You have instincts,” he said. “You just need the skills to match them.”
She stared at him in shock. “That was… almost a compliment.Almost.”
He shrugged. “Don't get used to it.”
He looked around first, making sure no one was within earshot. Then, his voice dipped low.
“We'll see how well you do tonight in the woods. After that display, I'm expecting you to have more control and precision.”
“You both flipped me like a pancake at least fifty times,” Rowan snapped. “I got lucky and flipped you once. Once out of fifty is not good odds. And now you expect me to suddenly control,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “my shift?”
“Not entirely,” Talon said, “But, that one time was not luck. I watched you move. You tapped into your wolf’s instincts andsenses. I've seen you do it before. You need to let her get closer to the surface. Connect with the wolf. Especially if you don't want to spend every training session pinned face down on the mat.”
“Entertaining for me, bad for training,” I said with a tut. “As much as I enjoy seeing you pinned face down, ass up…”
“Ryker, please shut up,” she groaned, exasperated.
For a second she pressed her thumbs to her temples and rubbed in small circles, just like Cade. She really was turning into a miniature control freak from spending so much time with us, soaking up all of our bad habits like a sponge.
“So let me get this straight,” she continued. “First you tell me I need to do everything in my power not to shift so no one finds out, and now you are telling me to call my wolf in the middle of the fitness center. Which is it, Talon?”
“Both,” he said with a firm nod.
She stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “That’s not helpful!”
“It's completely helpful,” Talon said, tone flat. “You need to control your wolf without letting her take over. That's the entire point. You can let her closer to the surface, tap into her instincts and heightened senses, without actually shifting.”
Rowan blinked. “You want me to crack the door open but not let her out?”
Talon nodded once. “Exactly. That's where control comes in. How much you let the wolf bleed out. How much leash you give her. How much you hold back.”
Rowan took a breath, visibly trying to process Talon’s instructions. “So I am supposed to… feel my wolf but not actually let her shift.”
“Correct,” Talon said.
“While sparring.”
“Correct.”
“In public.”
“Yes.”
She stared at him. “Great. Fantastic. I love that for me. Why didn't you just say that in the first place? Easy peasy."
The sarcasm in her voice elicited a stern look from Tally.
