Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(34)

I started in the kitchen after eating a light breakfast and made my way slowly around the house. Despite my resentment at being the pack’s janitor, I made sure to clean everything thoroughly. Stella came down at one point, grabbed a blueberry muffin and some coffee, and then headed off to her job as a kindergarten teacher. It still amazed me that the kids here all had their wolves so young. I bet that made her job a lot harder, but probably more fun too.

I stopped outside of Kaden’s room last. His was the only door I hadn’t seen open, and I had no intentions of breaking his rules. He’d no doubt smell that I’d been in there the moment he stepped inside. But I couldn't help but be curious what it looked like inside his room.

Instead, I went back downstairs. It had taken me the entire morning to clean this place, and I was ravenous. I ate lunch quickly, thinking about Stella’s words to me at dinner. Tomorrow afternoon is when you start training. Head to the clearing behind the house.

My mood lifted as I stepped outside, breathing in the warm summer air. I’d get to shift today, and I was looking forward to that most of all. Even if I had to put up with Kaden’s growling and glares. At least he was nice to look at.

There was a small path that led from the backyard into the forest, and I followed it, hoping I was heading in the right direction. I was instantly surrounded by the sights and smells from these woods, so much more noticeable now that I had my wolf senses. I couldn't wait to bound through these leaves and under the trees on four legs.

I eventually found the clearing, a huge open space big enough for dozens of shifters to move around without getting in each others’ way. I was surprised to find it empty except for Kaden, who stood in the center, face tilted up to the sun as if he was trying to catch the scent of something. Light streamed across his features and my heart clenched at the sight, filling me with something a lot like longing.

He looked over as I approached, and when he pinned me with those intense eyes, I almost missed a step. His masculine presence seemed to fill this entire clearing, and even though he was intimidating as hell, I kept walking toward him without looking down.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked.

“I’ll be overseeing your training personally," Kaden said. "I need to know what you know. How you fight, and how you’ll handle yourself in a situation when you face a real enemy."

I arched my eyebrow at that. I wasn't sure if I should feel honored or terrified to have his complete attention on me during these sessions. "And here I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."

He scowled at that but chose to ignore my comment. “Have you been taught to fight?”

“No, my dad didn’t want me to learn how. But I’ve been in plenty of fights, and I always made it out alive.”

“The last fight you were in would have ended pretty differently if we hadn’t rescued you.”

I snorted. “That felt a lot more like a kidnapping than a rescue."

His tone turned hard. "Would you rather I'd left you in the middle of the woods for the Leos to find you?" When I shot him a sharp look, he gestured in front of us. “You’ll start with stretching. I’ll show you what to do."

He sat down on the ground and motioned for me to follow. Then he led me in a series of simple stretches, and my limbs burned as they woke up. It helped get rid of any lingering aches from the cleaning earlier today. I watched the toned muscles of his arms move as he hugged one knee to his chest and quickly looked away. Focus.

“You’ll do this every day,” he said as we finished up.

I nodded, still looking at the ground. “I can do that."

“Even if we don’t train,” he added. “You need to be agile enough to fight at any moment, and these exercises will help keep you limber.”

Easy enough. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t done before, and he wasn’t doing any crazy handstands or anything of the like. So far, it looked like training was going to be manageable. I wasn’t arrogant enough to say that it would be a breeze though. I still had to see if I could fight. But this part, this small chunk, I had under control. It felt like a tiny accomplishment after everything I'd been through since the Convergence.

Kaden stood to his full height, making me look up at him. “Now, attack me.”

I expected him to take some sort of fighting stance, but he just stood, hands loose at his sides. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he was relaxed, but I knew he was simply waiting for me to make my move.

I stood and observed him for a few moments, trying to think as a fighter would. It would be best to try to catch him off guard. I was smaller and weaker than him, and he had proven multiple times that he had the ability to pin me down without an issue. I stepped back a few feet and tried to read his expression. His eyes gave nothing away.

“We don’t have all day," he snapped.

I launched myself at him, fists raised protectively in front of me, and darted around to his side, trying to get under his guard. The moment I sprang into action, he slid into a fighting stance. He moved out of the way as if he’d guessed exactly what I was doing. My fist met the air, and I overbalanced. He grabbed onto my outstretched arm and pulled me the rest of the way over, flinging me right past him and onto the ground. I hit with a whuff, and let myself collapse. Damn, he moved so fast.

“That was terrible,” he said, sounding almost bored. “Trying to get past my defenses. You made it blatantly obvious you were going to do it, but at least you weren’t stupid enough to try and attack me head-on. Get up and do it again.”