Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(79)

With more than a little effort, the small brunette was able to pull herself off the floor. She briefly attempted to rub the pain from her backside before squaring her feet and once again turning to face her pugnacious teacher. “Okay, let’s try again.”

Before Markus could charge her, however, an exasperated groan from the couch caught both of their attention. “You two are insane. I’m not going to sit here and watched you get thrashed yet again Katherine. I mean, come on Markus, how do you think Bastian will react when he finds out you’ve been manhandling her?”

The owner of the voice was Zane, of course. He’d been moaning all afternoon – and all the previous afternoons they’d held these little sessions – about how careless the both of them were being. He was convinced that Markus would take it too far at some point and since their pack didn’t have a designated healer, he would be the one to end up having to cart Katherine to the town’s general healer – Bastian’s friend, Gabriela Atkins –and have to explain to her and their alpha what exactly had happened to land her there.

Truth be told, Katherine could understand Zane’s concerns. She didn’t think that Bastian would take too kindly to the fact that they – she, Markus, and Zane – were going behind his back this way.

Okay, so she knew he wouldn’t.

But Katherine was certain that she needed to learn how to fight! And since Bastian had adamantly refused to teach her, she’d felt like she had no other choice but to turn to Markus for help. And to be fair, she’d told him upfront that Bastian would be none too pleased if he ever learned of what they were doing.

She’d originally only intended to involve Markus in her little scheme. However, he’d quickly persuaded her into including Zane in their lessons. Apparently, he was the first of the pack to master voluntary transformation and Markus couldn’t exactly teach her how to fight in her wolf form without her learning how to change into it first.

A fun fact Katherine had learned? Born werewolves don’t actually transform into their wolf forms until after they hit puberty. There would be no puppies running around at the upcoming moon gathering.

The moon gathering – it was the first one she was to attend and taking place the very next night. Her pack would be there with her, but Katherine couldn’t deny that she was nervous. Bastian would probably be too busy with the Rogue situation to guide her through it like he had her first transformation.

Rogue. Despite whatever Bastian believed, Katherine did have the upmost confidence in his fighting prowess. Logically, she knew he could easily beat Rogue in a battle of strength, endurance, or even intelligence. But that didn’t stop the slight nausea from rising in her gut whenever she thought of what could happen to her if by some twist of fate, he did lose to Rogue. For Bastian’s sake, though, she’d been doing her best to hide her increasing anxiety as the day – or rather, night – of the fight loomed nearer. She and Bastian had actually been getting along ever since their rather intense talk in the forest and she didn’t want to destroy the tentative peace they’d established.

In fact, earlier that week he’d even taken her to the waterfall that Haven Falls was named after. She didn’t know how it looked like in the spring or summer time, but in the winter, it was a breathtaking sight – absolutely worth the hike through the snow that they’d had to take to get there.

“How much longer?”

Katherine couldn’t believe that she’d actually been excited when it had started to snow two weeks earlier. The fat flakes had been so white and pretty falling from the sky. She’d watched from the house’s windows as they began to build up on the ground and didn’t stop building until at least a foot of the stuff covered the once green grass. It wasn’t until she’d had to walk through the heavy snow the day after that her disdain for it had begun to grow.

And after a nearly mile long hike where she’d had to bring her boot-clad feet up to nearly her knees to get over the drifts? Well, that distain was quickly growing into contempt.

“We’re nearly there – just a few more minutes. Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you the rest of the way?”

It would be easy for Katherine to be offended by Bastian’s question if he didn’t sound so genuinely concerned for her. As it was, she was huffing and puffing to keep up with the tall man whose powerful legs easily maneuvered through the wet sludge and snow.

“I’m fine,” she managed to force out between breaths.

Bastian looked doubtful, but trudged forward. Katherine trailed behind him. And then, just as he had promised, they were there. Surrounded by pine trees with branches that were heavy with snow, was the most magnificent waterfall she had ever seen. Huge icicles hung from the contours of a cliff – like the rushing water had literally frozen as it had cascaded down the dark hunk of rock.

Katherine was speechless.

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

The sound of Bastian’s voice quickly snapped her out of her daze. She turned to face her companion – and he looked just a little too pleased with himself.

“It’s gorgeous,” Katherine agreed honestly.

Bastian grinned, his upturned lips bringing out the dimple on his right cheek. “I knew you’d like it,” he muttered, seemingly to himself, before gesturing widely toward the west, beyond the trees surrounding the waterfall. “The moon gathering always takes place a few miles from here. Before the full moon rises this Wednesday, that’s where we’ll need to be.”