Cole's Redemption (Alpha Pack #5)(35)

He easily dodged her attack, stepping to the side with fluid grace. She moved in close to his body, got in a few good blows, but he always countered them without really hurting her. Even though she knew what he was doing, she refused to quit. Her rage was a living thing, poisonous, and she gave in to it.

He was using simple evasive maneuvers, using her anger against her as a weapon, waiting until she was worn-out. At last he ended the match by swiping a foot behind her heel and flipping her onto the mat hard, on her back. She glared up at him, panting, wishing him dead on the spot.

“Anger will get you killed in the field,” he told her, expression unreadable. “You have to learn to block it out and focus solely on reading your opponent, anticipating the next move. Emotion can all too easily defeat you.”

“Maybe that’s your problem,” she spat, pushing shakily to her feet. “You have no emotions, so you can’t win the fight that matters the most. Maybe you never could.”

Giving him a hard shove in the chest, she stalked out.

Distantly, she thought she heard Zan call out, but she was in no mood to deal with him. She just wanted to put space between herself and Nick—and his men—as fast as possible.

She pushed out of the gym, out into the morning sun. Found a spot under a tree near an open field and stayed there for a long while.

Zan called out after his mate, started to follow her. But Jax laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Let her go, my friend. She’s pissed right now, and I doubt she’d hear anything you have to say.”

“She needs me,” he said in frustration.

“I know she does, but let her cool off. Okay?”

He looked at his friend and gave in. “Yeah.”

“Nick too. I can tell he hated having to do that.”

Zan glanced at their boss, who was toweling off his face on the sidelines. His body was still tense. And his face as he stared after his daughter? Crushed.

“He needed to put her on her ass,” Jax said seriously. “You understand that, right? He never would have stood a chance of earning her respect otherwise.”

“You think so?”

“I do. Wolves are proud, and they respond to power. And those two are off the chain when it comes to their own power struggle right now. Your mate just learned she can’t push him around, either physically or verbally. He’s still her father, and he can walk the walk.”

“And she’s not going to be happy about it, either.” Zan sighed.

“Right, which is why she needs her space.” He threw a towel at Zan. “Want to get some breakfast? She’ll show when she’s ready.”

“Sure.”

But his heart wasn’t in his meal. He couldn’t help but worry about his stubborn, hurting mate.

She was going to be the death of him.

There wasn’t a much more impressive sight than a Fae prince strolling across the lawn toward you. Unless it was the broad smile transforming his face from gorgeous to stunning.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” he mused.

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“Hmm. May I sit?”

“It’s a free country, man.”

He frowned. “I’m not really a man. Or not a human man, in any case. I’m a Fae male and—”

“Relax, birdman, it was just an expression.”

“I’m not a bird, either. I—oh. That was an expression, too?”

She smiled. This guy was completely without guile, just as she’d been told. “Yep. How did such a naive male get to be a prince?”

He scoffed. “I’m not naive where I’m from, trust me. There are simply too many strange phrases in this realm for me to possibly keep up.”

She studied him for a moment, admiring his unusual golden eyes. The way his wings settled around him like a cloak and rustled in the gentle breeze. “Do you miss home?”

“Not the place so much, but my brothers,” he said wistfully. “I know they’d come here if they could. I just hope nothing is wrong. That they’re all right.”

“Me too, Blue.”

“Thank you.” He gave her a piercing look. “You’re grieving for family as well, and look at me, being all sad and ruining your peace.”

“Shut up—you are not,” she said, finding a smile for him. Something about Blue was just special. In some ways he was such an innocent. “I believe you’ll see them again one day.”

“I hope so. From your lips to the ears of the gods.”

“How did you wind up here, again?”

He sighed. “The Unseelie Council exiled me. Aric says they voted me off the island, but our home was not an island. Anyway, they learned the Unseelie king, Malik, was my sire and were afraid I carried his evil gene. Whether I did or not, they knew he’d come for me one day, and they didn’t want to be anywhere near me when he did.”

“That’s terrible,” she said with feeling.

“To be forced from one’s home, made to leave family and friends behind under penalty of death, is just about the loneliest thing that can happen,” Blue said, looking her straight in the eye. “I wouldn’t wish that feeling on my worst enemy.”

A sense of vertigo gripped her. “Are we talking about someone other than you right now?”