Today, he really needed the outlet. His dreams had been bothering him more each day and were the reason he headed to the training center after school most days. On days when he was turned away from training, he worked out with the bag or tried to talk another vampire into sparring with him. Connor had sparred with him on more than one occasion, telling Mitchell he understood the need for physical activity during times of great stress.
“I’d like to join the training,” Mitchell told him.
Rand nodded. “This is a more advanced group, so I’m not sure if you’ll be able to do much in the way of sparring.”
“I’ll just watch if it’s too much for me,” Mitchell assured him.
Rand was one of the scariest looking vampires Mitchell had ever seen. He was well over six feet tall and a wall of muscle. With black hair and harsh features, Rand could easily inspire fear. Rand was also a good friend who genuinely cared about those around him.
An hour later, Mitchell was dressed in shorts and his workout shoes, having stripped off his shirt long ago. Sweat dripped down his brow, but he couldn’t wipe it since he was in the middle of a set of one-hundred pushups. Rand always worked them to their limits before sparring. With an advanced group, those limits were much higher. That was one of the things Mitchell loved about the advanced training sessions. Usually, by the end, he ached everywhere, and he was much too tired to dwell on any of his dreams.
“Who’s ready to spar?” Rand called out and was met with a dozen groans. Rand laughed at their discomfort, clearly satisfied that he’d warmed them up.
“Spar with me, Mitchell,” Nate said from his side.
Nate was a turned vampire like him. He was older and had willingly been changed when he’d thought he needed to fight the born vampires. Now, he was one of the leaders at another settlement in Connor’s territory. Since Connor was big on training, Nate still had to come in four times a week. Mitchell didn’t know Nate very well, but he knew Nate was a brutal fighter, making him wonder if Nate wasn’t up to a real challenge that day. While Nate was actually a couple inches shorter than him and had a slimmer build, he could take on fighters twice his size.
“Looking for an easy opponent after that warm-up?” Mitchell asked.
Nate laughed at his question, his pale brown eyes filled with amusement. “No one considers you an easy opponent. You may not have all your fighting skills down yet, but your instincts are good. After watching you spar last week, I’ve been looking forward to getting a chance to be your partner.”
Mitchell was a little embarrassed by Nate’s praise, but he was definitely looking forward to sparring with him, even knowing Nate would go easy on him like the others. “All right.”
The worst part of training came next as they all strapped on their padding. The padding wasn’t bad if you weren’t already sweaty and uncomfortable. Still, Mitchell agreed with Rand’s argument that they wouldn’t always be fighting in a climate controlled environment. Mitchell had to admit he preferred this to the days when Rand turned the air conditioning all the way up and they trained in an icy cold room.
Once their pads were in place, he faced off with Nate, who was smiling as if they were about to have a pleasant conversation. That threw Mitchell off, so he wasn’t prepared when Nate’s fist slammed into the side of his helmet just before his foot landed in the center of Mitchell’s chest, knocking him on his back. The wind left Mitchell’s lungs a little, and the slight pain from the kick caused adrenaline to rush through his body. Nate stepped back, waiting for Mitchell to regain his feet.
“Are you okay?” Nate asked him, and Mitchell saw Rand’s narrowed eyes. He assumed Rand wasn’t happy about the amount of force Nate had put into his kick, but he was waiting to see how Mitchell reacted before intervening.
Mitchell nodded, stood, and dropped back into a defensive stance, preparing for Nate to attack again. Nate shook his head. “You need to stop just defending yourself, Mitchell.”
Rand was suddenly at Nate’s side, with a scowl on his face. “Mitchell is outmatched unless you choose to go easy on him. His best bet is defense. That is what he needs to learn at this point.”
“Would you tell him that if he were out fighting for real?” Nate asked.
“He’s not training to fight for real,” Rand argued. “He’s here to relieve some tension. Stand the fuck down, Nate.”
Mitchell was surprised by Rand’s reaction, and he was also annoyed at Rand for acting so overprotective.
“I’m fine,” he assured Rand. “I’ll tell Nate if I need him to back off.”
Rand reluctantly stepped back but not far, clearly not trusting Nate to go easy on Mitchell.
Mitchell faced Nate and nodded. Kicking out at Nate, he was satisfied when his foot made contact with Nate’s cheek. Nate dodged too quickly for the kick to bring him down, but he was still impressed he’d landed the kick. Rather than waiting for Nate to react, he kicked him again, that time hitting Nate in the chest and making him stumbled back. Nate moved forward, lashing out with a vicious jab that nearly made contact with Mitchell’s chin. For the next twenty minutes, Mitchell continued to fight with Nate. He could no longer call it sparring since neither were doing anything to avoid hurting the other. Nate’s nose was bleeding and Mitchell had a large gash on his forehead. Their helmets and part of their padding had long since been discarded. Blood and sweat blurred his vision. Still, neither stopped fighting.
Nate slammed into Mitchell’s midsection, taking him to the ground, and they both fought for control, each landing vicious strikes to the other.
“Enough!” Connor roared, and that was when Mitchell and Nate finally broke apart, both getting to their feet.
Nate grinned at Mitchell and gave him a nod before turning to Connor.
“What the hell are you doing?” Connor demanded of Nate.
“Sparring,” Nate offered with an innocent grin.
“Sparring does not involve beating each other to a bloody pulp,” Connor spat out. “It sure as hell doesn’t involve removing your protective gear. Rand told you to stand down several times. What the hell were you thinking?”
Mitchell hadn’t once heard Rand speak. “He did?”
“Yeah,” Nate confirmed. “I was tempted to do what he said, but I was worried you’d kick my ass if I let my guard down for a second.”
Mitchell grinned, feeling pretty good about himself.
As for Connor, he looked like he was tempted to beat the hell out of both of them. Mitchell had seen Connor pissed before, but it had never been directed at him. While he felt a twinge of guilt over making Connor mad, mostly, he was reveling in it.
“Both of you go over to the field by Mitchell’s school and run,” Connor ordered them.
“Mitchell should go home and get cleaned up,” Rand suggested.
Connor shook his head. “Mitchell should get his ass over to the field with Nate and run. If he wants to be part of a training class, he’ll deal with discipline like the rest of the class.”
“How long should we run?” Nate asked.
“Until I tell you to stop running,” Connor replied.
“Can we take a jeep over there?” Nate asked. When Connor said nothing, just continued to glare at them, Nate flashed a sheepish smile. “Right. We’ll just run over there.”
Mitchell and Nate jogged out of the room and then out of the training center before Nate chuckled. “Connor is seriously pissed.”
“You seem pretty happy about that,” Mitchell remarked, surprised by Nate’s attitude.
“Claire will tell you I thrive on being a pain in the ass,” he explained.
“Something tells me neither of us is going to feel like being a pain in the ass by the time Connor tells us we can stop,” Mitchell muttered, but he was secretly pleased with being included in the punishment. It made him feel like a real member of the training class instead of someone Rand just put up with.
“Probably not,” Nate agreed. “I’m already exhausted. You are really fast. Bl
ocking your attacks was a challenge, and I’m surprised you didn’t break my nose.”
“Really?” Mitchell asked, having never considered himself impressive when it came to sparring.
“I’d love to see you fight Danny,” Nate told him.
Mitchell let out a bark of laughter. “I’ve seen Danny move, and unless I get a lot of shifter blood, I’m never going to be near his speed in a fight. Were you going easy on me?”
“Nope,” Nate assured him. “Once you stopped playing around and started really fighting me, you didn’t need me to go easy on you.”
“You still would have won,” Mitchell pointed out.
“True,” Nate agreed. “Something tells me that won’t always be the case. Wanna talk about what’s bothering you?”
“Why do you think something’s bother me?” Mitchell asked.
“You seemed more relaxed after we beat the hell out of each other,” Nate replied. “I figure you must have had a lot of stress you were trying to deal with. Talking about things can help.”
“I don’t remember much from before I was turned,” Mitchell began. “Becoming this wasn’t my choice.”
“I know,” Nate said. “That must have made it harder to accept what you are. I chose this, and it was still really hard for me to come to terms with it.”
“It was harder at first,” Mitchell admitted. “Now, I’m okay with my vampire side, but I feel like there’s more to me.”
“I’ve heard you weren’t fully human before the change,” Nate remarked.
“I guess that’s true,” Mitchell agreed. “Sometimes, I dream about being places I’ve never been. It’s not about me forgetting them. I’ve just never been there. I also dream about things before they happen, like visions.”
“That would be scary,” Nate stated.
“It is scary,” Mitchell told him. “It’s also frustrating because I have no idea what’s a dream and what’s real. I know very little about who or what I am, and I keep thinking there’s something really big I should know.”
“Do you think you knew before you lost so much of your memory?” Nate asked. “I mean about your nonhuman side and what’s up with the visions.”
Mitchell had wondered that a lot over the last several months. “I don’t think I knew about any of that. Kyleigh says if it was Fae genes, they may not have shown up for generations, so maybe my parents didn’t know. It’s all really frustrating.”
“Do you feel better after fighting?” Nate asked.
“Yes,” Mitchell admitted. “I feel much better.”
“I’d tell you we can do this again any time you want, but something tells me we aren’t going to be allowed to spar together.”
Mitchell would have laughed if he weren’t starting to get winded from running so soon after their strenuous fight. “Something tells me we won’t want to fight by the time we get done running.”
Running hadn’t been a regular part of anyone’s workout until Zane’s mate Lexi had stayed at the born vampire settlement temporarily. She’d run to relieve stress and for exercise. Now, Connor used it more in training than he had before, and he was also apparently using it as punishment.
“You’ve known Connor longer than I have. How long do you think he’ll make us run?” Nate asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Mitchell replied. “He was pretty pissed.”
“Even though we’ll probably never be allowed to spar again, we can still be friends. You can call me if you need anything. I’ll give you my number before I head back to the island,” Nate offered before flashing a grin. “We might even be able to fight if we can find a way to hide it from Connor.”
Mitchell let out a strained laugh. “Let’s see if you still want to make that offer after Connor gets done punishing us for today.”
Chapter Eighteen
Since meeting his mate earlier that day, Jase had been edgy and uneasy, likely because he hated having to wait so long to claim her. Other females no longer held much interest for him, and he figured his unease might stem from the need to remain celibate. While he could still perform with a female, he’d rather remain faithful to his mate. Walking away from the cougar land, he’d felt an almost overwhelming need to go back to his mate and mark her as his, making him feel like a complete dick since she was so young—much too young for him to mark. On top of all that, he’d had to watch his brothers find mates they could claim, so he was feeling left out and cheated. It seemed unfair that, as the oldest, he was the one being forced to wait several years to claim his mate. The fact that he was acting somewhat childish about the whole thing pissed him off more.
It was these frustrations that had him in lynx form, having shifted shortly after he’d returned from the meeting with Cord. His thoughts weren’t so confusing when running as a lynx. In this form, he could simply enjoy the day. He’d hunted and run for hours when he caught the scent of a female. She was a cougar near her heat cycle, and Jase found himself interested for the first time since seeing Vee—more than interested, if he was being honest.
In his human form, he would have resisted following the female’s scent, but the lynx went after her. Running until he caught up with her by the creek, he was surprised by what he found. If his nose hadn’t told him she was a shapeshifter, he might have guessed she was a normal cougar. She was much smaller than the other shifters with the most extraordinary green eyes. He guessed she was only half-shifter since Layla, a half-lynx, was the only shapeshifter he’d met who was that small.
When she saw him, the cougar looked momentarily startled, like she might run, but she stood her ground. Letting out a snarl, she faced him. Cocking his head to the side, he studied her. She might be a tiny thing, but she had a lot of attitude and no intention of backing down, something he had to admire.
With this female so close to her heat cycle, she was a real temptation. Jase had no commitment to his mate yet, and most males in his position would have no problem pursuing the feisty little female. Despite her attitude, she was aroused, and he was sure she felt the same draw he did. His father and Cord would be thrilled if he impregnated her. Still, he hesitated. While he knew how strong the attraction to any unmarked female in heat could be, his attraction to this little cougar was more intense than any he’d ever experienced. Even in lynx form, he realized something was off. His reaction didn’t make sense.
The female ran from him, and Jase immediately gave chase, longing to be close to her.
She was fast and managed to pull ahead of him for a short time before turning, leaping onto a fallen log, and lunging at him. They rolled around until he pinned her and put his teeth on the back of her neck. Instinct told him to mark her, and he had no idea where that instinct had come from. He’d met his mate already, and it certainly wasn’t this female. He’d had the urge to mark a female before meeting Vee, but it shouldn’t happen now, a thought that finally registered with his lynx.
Jase released her neck and leapt back, putting some much needed distance between them. He needed to control his instincts. Jase shifted back to human form, hoping he could reason this out. Staring down at the female, he was annoyed when she didn’t change because he really wanted to see both forms. It was harder for him to read her expression now that he was in human form, but he sensed she was experiencing some of the same confusion.
“Yeah, I’m not sure about this either,” he said with a defeated sigh.
He chuckled when the female let out a snarl and bared her teeth. “It would be much easier to talk if you’d shift,” he told her. “Then you could actually tell me your name, and we could try to figure this out. There is so much I need to tell you, but I’d like to do it when I can read your reactions easier.”
She studied him, but it became clear she wasn’t going to shift. He didn’t recognize her scent, so he was sure she wasn’t one of the females he’d met. Thoughts of her scent had him inhaling deeply, and a shudder ran through his body. Fists clenched at his sides, he practically growled, “Your scent tel
ls me you’re mine.”
She looked away, and he suspected she was preparing to run again. “Don’t run,” he pleaded, and she hesitated. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you feel it, too, don’t you?”
Hesitantly, she padded toward him, and he dropped to his knees in front of her, stroking her back and shuddering at the sensation of her rough fur under his fingers. “It’s like there’s electricity shooting between us. There’s this huge part of me insisting you can’t be my mate. At least, the logical part of my brain keeps saying that. The rest of me isn’t convinced.”
The female looked startled and quickly backed away from him. While he knew she was going to run again, Jase decided it was probably for the best. He needed to focus on his mate, not a female he was suddenly drawn to during her heat cycle. He wanted to go after her. It was almost like he needed to go after her.
When she was far enough that he could no longer hear her, Jase finally stood and began walking in human form, deciding it would be smart to get further from this female before shifting. He’d like to think he could control his instinct to pursue the female, but he wasn’t so sure about that, especially when he felt like part of him was missing now that she was gone.
Chapter Nineteen
Vexx ran as fast as her legs would carry her, needing to get away from Jase. When she’d hidden her scent from him originally, it hadn’t been with the intention of preventing him from recognizing her as his mate. It had been another male she was avoiding, and she hadn’t noticed Jase until one of her sisters had mentioned he was watching her. When she masked her scent, her eyes often turned a dull shade of brown, so she even looked different to Jase. Once her eyes had landed on him, she’d known right away he was her mate, and that would have been the perfect time to explain her ability to mask her scent. It would have been the smart thing to do—the mature thing to do. Instead, she’d gotten it in her head that if she continued to mask her scent and never talked to Jase, the whole problem of him being her mate would go away. That was her witch side talking—the side that tended to be selfish and shortsighted.
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