Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(44)

“The idea is to test her limits. Sunday wants to learn control, so we need to push her to her breaking point. The only way to do that in a safe scenario is to make it feel as real as possible. Thus . . . her nemesis.”

“Why do I have to wear the chick suit? You already have the man bun. You wear the tits.”

“Just be thankful I only made you look like her. I could change your voice permanently if I wanted to.”

“Hello, I’m right here, and I can tell you right now, we don’t need to turn Kingston into Callie for me to kick his ass. Just say the word, and I’ll have him on the ground in no time,” Sunday huffed.

My lips twitched, and I moved to stand behind her, placing one hand on each of her shoulders. “You told me you felt most out of control during your fight with Callie. We’re going to recreate the scenario, and you’re going to harness and use your anger without letting it overtake you.”

Taking a long, slow breath, she nodded. “Okay. Lemme at her.”

Kingston growled. “I’m not going to forget this, Nordson.”

“Good. Maybe next time you’ll remember who you’re dealing with. Because if you think that is the extent of what I can do, you clearly need to freshen up on your Norse mythology.”

Sunday shrugged. “Or watch a Marvel movie.”

This time I was the one who growled. “The number of liberties they took with those fucking movies . . . do not get me started, Sunday. Trust me, it’s not remotely the same thing.”

“Aw, does the big bad Viking have issues with Thor and Loki? Give me five minutes alone with Tom Hiddleston and I—”

“Enough,” I grunted. “Get to work.”

“What am I supposed to do? Just stand here like this?” Kingston asked, twirling a piece of hair on his finger. He glanced down at the curvy frame he sported. “On second thought . . .”

“Attack.”

Sunday narrowed her focus on Callie’s doppelg?nger and balled her hands into fists. “I don’t want to kill him.”

“You won’t,” I promised. “Focus on your movements, not your emotions. When your anger pushes you to react, I want you to ignore it. At least for now. The purpose of this exercise is to subdue, not harm. Just like in class.”

I ran my fingers up the sides of her neck, working the muscles to center her. I could feel her pulse beating like a caged bird fluttering in vain for freedom, but she nodded. “Subdue, not harm. Got it.”

Kingston seemed to settle into his role after my little speech. He began taunting her with a surprisingly good impression of the vampire. “You pathetic little nobody. You think you’re remotely on my level? On my worst day, you aren’t even close. Thorne’s taking pity on you. All he wants you for is your blood.”

The air around Sunday crackled with energy, a feeling akin to the atmosphere just before lightning struck. The ends of her hair lifted, just enough I noticed, and with a calming palm between her shoulders, I murmured against the shell of her ear, “You can do this, K?rasta.”

Everything stopped the moment the endearment fell from my lips. Why was I calling her that? It wasn’t a word used lightly. For the men in my family, hailing all the way back to my grandfather’s time, it was the term reserved for their true mates. The woman who called to their soul. I had absolutely no business using it with Sunday. Did I?

Her rage didn’t ease as it should have because I lost my damned focus and had taken my hand off her. Before I could fix what I’d broken, she lunged, a wild growl tearing from her chest. I released the magic keeping Kingston in the form of Callie to give him a fighting chance at subduing Sunday.

Kingston, thankfully, seemed to realize something had changed because he dropped all pretense, his body language shifting as he prepared to intercept her. Amber flashed in his eyes as his beast merged with his human form.

“Sunday,” he growled, his voice lower and filled with authority, “stop.”

He’d used an Alpha’s command, I realized. But he wasn’t Sunday’s Alpha. And she wasn’t obeying.

“No. I’ll never stop fighting you. All you want is to command me, control me.” Sunday pinned him, possessing a strength she shouldn’t have. Kingston was the next in line to take the position of prime Alpha of his pack. He was more powerful than most wolves, built to defend and protect. But the small, curvaceous woman straddled him and held him down. “I can’t stop.”

Well, this didn’t go as expected.





Chapter

Twenty-Four





SUNDAY





Anger boiled in my veins, uncontainable and near painful. My skin felt like a live wire had touched it, an electric current racing across every exposed inch. All I knew was I needed to dominate this threat in front of me. Kingston was here to take my freedom, just like everyone else in my life had done from the time I was born. I wouldn’t cave to him.

A growl ripped from somewhere deep in my chest as I gripped his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. Searing pain burned through my fingertips where they dug into his skin, making his eyes widen.

“Sunday!” Alek shouted in panic.

“Stop. I’ve got this,” Kingston said. “Just go. You’ve done enough.”

Alek’s palm hovered over my shoulder. I could feel his energy even though he didn’t touch me, wasn’t in my line of sight. It should’ve unnerved me that I knew he was right there without seeing him. But I was too focused on the wannabe Alpha in my grasp.