average human’s Reviews > Clash of Claws > Status Update

Her cheeks tinged pink, and she pointed a long maroon nail at me. “All you are is the maybe-daughter of an Alpha who stooped to form a trio with ordinary shifters and then stooped again to living in the human city. Then they had you, a freak of nature, and your brother, a weak fox shifter, for kids, and they probably have shit for power because their central bond is dead⁠—”
My blade was out of the special pocket I’d fashioned for it on the side of my backpack and at her throat before she could blink. She shrieked as I slammed her against the wall and pressed the sharp edge right up under her chin.
“Do not talk about my family,” I growled in her face. “If you insult them again—in front of me or behind my back, I don’t fucking care—I will break your pretty face and then poke you so full of holes that you’ll be laid up in the infirmary for months.”
“You deranged bitch—ahhh!”
I pressed harder. Tiny beads of blood sprouted under my blade. “And you will keep all references to my dead mother out of your fucking mouth, or I’ll slit your throat⁠—”
“Uh-oh, that’s enough of that.”
A large hand deftly removed my sword from my grip and Callista’s neck, and then I was unceremoniously thrown over a large shoulder.
“Wyatt,” I growled. “Put me the fuck down.”
“Wyatt!” Callista screamed. “Where are you going? She hurt me!”
He ignored her and marched us down the hall. I thrashed, but he’d wrapped his arm around the back of my thighs like a steel band. He also had my blade in his other hand, spinning it leisurely like it was a pencil and he was bored in class. Students darted out of our way, not one of them appearing concerned for my predicament.
He kicked the doors of the building open and hauled me outside into the bright, chilly day. A few quick, purposeful strides around the corner, and we were in a small courtyard similar to the one Aiden had taken me to work runes in last night.
“Are you going to behave if I put you down?” he asked lightly, coming to a stop next to a crape myrtle tree.
“Try it and find out,” I hissed. He was lucky my beast wasn’t rattling the bars of her enclosure. Anyone else would’ve had teeth in their neck by now, but nooo, Wyatt got to manhandle me while she flicked her tail, merely curious and alert.
He chuckled, a pleasing rumble I could feel where my boobs were smashed against his back. “Game on, then, Wildcat.”
In a swift and graceful move, he set me on my feet, then stepped clear of my reach. He still had my sword, so he knew I wasn’t going to bolt, and he probably suspected I wasn’t dumb enough to attack him—a Prime bear shifter armed with a blade.
I wasn’t dumb, but I was really pissed off, so there was still a chance.
“This is nice,” he said, making a few slashes with my sword as he examined it. “But way too lightweight for my taste. Perfect for you, though. I don’t think we have anyone in the program who can dual-wield as well as you.”
“Thank you. Give it back, please.”
He raised a dark-red brow, and his green eyes sparkled with predatory amusement, like I was a feisty little mouse he was excited to have caught. “Are you going to threaten any more students whose fathers are on the college’s Board of Trustees? I’ve decided I might be disappointed to see you expelled so soon.”
I glared at him. “Your girlfriend isn’t allowed to talk shit about my family or my dead mother. She can insult me all day and call me a social-climbing whore and warn me off you, but she can’t⁠—”
“Callista warned you off me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Wyatt, don’t play dumb.”
“She isn’t my girlfriend, but you knew that.” He grinned lasciviously. “Are you jealous, Wildcat?”
“No.”
“Not even a little bit?” He crept closer to me, stashing my poor sword away by slipping it through his belt as he moved.
I went on high alert, slowly shuffling backward until my legs hit a stone bench, which knocked me off balance. I sat down, and Wyatt kept coming. My jaw went slack as he knelt between my legs, crowding me, a huge sculpted arm coming down on either side of me.
Our eyes met, and he spoke again in a low, flirty purr. “Callista is beautiful, sure. She’s a little louder and bolder than your average blue-blooded shifter girl, which I like, but I don’t like hearing that she let petty jealousy turn her into someone who would be callous about your mother.” He paused, moving closer, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered, “She isn’t my girlfriend, though I suppose she thinks she’s the current lead contender because I let her suck my cock at a party last month.”
Uncomfortable, conflicting emotions burned in my stomach. My beast flattened her ears and growled.
“I don’t need to hear about where your cock has been, asshole,” I said through clenched teeth.
He chuckled, and it sounded like sex because now I was thinking about sex, moondamn him. He leaned back again, a deceptively earnest look in his eyes. “All I’m trying to say is, there’s no need to be jealous, baby. One blow job does not a claim on me make, though I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to you giving it your best shot.”
I surged forward and wrapped a hand around his throat. His eyes widened. My grip was probably much stronger than he was expecting, though my hand was little and his neck was thick. He lifted his chin and leaned into my grip, his green eyes blazing as his beast surged to the surface, a wild smile on his lips.
“Are you finished?” I snarled in his face. There was no way my own eyes weren’t lit up like the northern-fucking-lights, but that ship had well and truly sailed. “Give me back my sword, and keep your groupies in line if you don’t want to clean their blood off the walls of the Magical Ed building. And if you proposition me again, I will cut off that cock you’re so fond of using to make all those poor girls think they have a chance. Understood?”
“Fuck, you’re hot,” he said, his voice a guttural growl. “Tell me what you are. Tell me why my bear is so fucking fixated on you. Then you can do whatever the fuck you want to my cock.”
I shoved him away, and then I jammed the flat of my shoe into his wide, hard chest for good measure. He let me move him, and I scrambled to my feet, swiping my sword from his belt as I went.
He stood up and turned to face me, smiling like it was the best day of his life.
I raised my sword and pointed it at him. “Don’t ever touch this again.”
“Your sword? Or your sexy fucking body?”
I groaned and stomped off.
He didn’t follow me.

47%

Heath and Aiden tolerated them because they knew how to kill wraiths, and that was what we were all here to learn. Wyatt thought they were mostly full of shit but dismissed them as a threat because they weren’t—to us. Cash was a Prime lion shifter, but he was practically a cub compared to Holden Blackwell. The rest of the quad was comprised of two Alpha wolves and a snow leopard, none of whom could take Heath, Aiden, or Wyatt in a challenge.
And they certainly couldn’t handle me in a fight, but my beast never got to have that kind of fun.
I wasn’t convinced Cash was harmless, though. I’d tasted his fear once, during one of the very few times I’d let my beast out in the arena, and there was something off there. Sour. Dark, even.
And right now, if he didn’t take his slimy fucking glare off my dove, I’d be tasting more than just his fear.
“Everyone shut up and line up!” he shouted across the floor. “We’re doing conditioning first today. Maybe if you were all in better shape, you wouldn’t be such fucking embarrassments.”
I groaned. “This is what I get for deciding to actually show up today.”
“Look alive, man,” Wyatt said, nudging me. “If we hustle, we can position ourselves so that we’re right behind Avery. Staring at that perfect ass while we run bleachers will make it all worth it.”
I snapped my fingers and grinned at him. “Excellent thinking.”
“Damn it,” Heath said, a growl scratching inside his chest. At this point, I feared he might be stuck that way permanently. “Can you two behave?”
“Is that a serious question?” I asked.
Unfortunately, we did not make it into line behind Avery, who was surrounded by Brody Dara’s little squad of feline friends. Fortunately, Brody only had eyes for Avery’s brother, and the rest of the group appeared to be wary enough of her that they kept a respectable distance. I’d hate to have to maim any of our Support Squadron.
After we were all required to strap our weapon of choice to our backs, we began our conditioning. Heath wore his saber like a second skin and was one of the few of us—along with the Baxter siblings—who used his own blade rather than those provided by the program. Wyatt bitched, but he was the strongest of our quad pound-for-pound in human form, so running around with a massive ax strapped to his body would hardly register. I didn’t use a weapon when facing the SWIM, but I did carry a dagger for certain emergencies.
For half an hour, we ran laps up and down the bleachers. Heath, Wyatt, and I paced each other perfectly, as always, and by the end, I was feeling invigorated. Physical activity in my human form had a way of lulling my beast into a relaxed state, and I’d been remiss with that sort of thing lately.
As we lined up on the arena floor again, I drifted Avery’s way. She sparkled under the arena’s fluorescent overhead lighting, a light sheen of sweat coating her pale skin. I was delighted to find that she’d shed her ill-fitting Guardians T-shirt and was gracing us with a view of her lithe torso and perfect tits in a sports bra.
Heath and Wyatt drifted with me, both eyeing the same prize. Wyatt was grinning like it was his birthday, while Heath looked to be on the verge of apoplexy.
“Dove,” I purred as I sidled up to her. I couldn’t smell her as well as my quad brothers would be able to, but a pass of my tongue over my lips told me she was wary but not fearful of me. Perfect. “You look delectable.”
Her brother, who was standing next to her, unsheathed his katana in a flash and pointed it at my chin. “Thinking of taking a bite of my sister, snake?” he asked, which would’ve had a bit more teeth if he wasn’t wearing an amused grin.
“Ian!” Avery gasped.
Heath rumbled a displeased noise, and Wyatt snorted.
“Always,” I replied, returning his grin.
“Hey!” Trent, Cash’s second, barked in our direction. “Break it the fuck up over there. Baxter, you set off that snake, and I will toss your ass out of here—if he doesn’t kill you first.”
Oddly, my beast had little interest in killing Ian Baxter. I’d been told that George tolerated him as well—the privileges that came with being so closely related to our dove.
Ian sheathed his blade, but not before he darted an ill-advised, threatening look at Wyatt, and then another at Heath. “You assholes need to tread very lightly around my sister. Hurt her, and I will kill you.”
I laughed. Wyatt’s smile had turned evil, and Heath had gone stone cold.
“Excuse him,” Avery said, exasperated, stepping in front of Ian and blocking him from our view. “He enjoys being provocative, and he is aware that I do not need his help to kill any one of you.”
“There she is,” Wyatt said, green eyes blazing. “Our savage girl. Wrap that hand around my throat again anytime, Wildcat.”
Heath and I both slanted a look at him. Avery had choked Wyatt? Not fair.
“Control your brother,” Heath growled at her. “That shit can get him killed. He’s lucky Wyatt and I have superior control over our beasts and that Elijah just ran his into a lull.”
Her eyes flashed electric blue, and she stepped toward Heath. Fuck yes. “Are you threatening my brother, Alpha?”
A gold sheen rolled over Heath’s irises, his beast’s energy surging in the space around us. Wyatt’s bear prickled, and mine opened a curious eye.
“Pair up!” Cash bellowed, snapping the tension. “Weapons drills for the next half hour!”
Ian snatched his sister’s hand, pulling her back from her confrontation with Heath. “C’mon, Aves. We haven’t sparred in a million years.”
Trent took that moment to butt into our huddle. “Nice try, fox. Go pair up with someone in Support Squadron. Cash wants Miss Baxter paired with Harrow.”
“Absolutely the fuck not,” Heath snapped. “Does he think we’re stupid?”
Trent sneered. “If the bitch doesn’t want to spar with a Prime mythic, she can see herself out. Or does she still claim to have what it takes to become a Guardian?”
“Why don’t you ask Cash if he’d like to spar with Elijah?” Wyatt said, his voice taunting. “He’s top of the Guardians, and yet, I don’t think he’s ever had the pleasure of sparring with a mythic.”
“Watch your fucking tone, Gale,” Trent growled. “You don’t get special treatment just because of who your daddy is, and he isn’t here to save your ass today.”
“How about you and I spar, Trent, and I’ll show you special treatment.”
Avery’s gorgeous gaze had bounced around the group, a confused frown on her face. “What is everyone’s problem? I don’t mind working with Elijah.”
I sighed, reaching for her hand. I rubbed my thumb across her palm, and she softened, peering up at me curiously. “My beast is unpredictable in combat situations, Dove,” I said in a low voice. “Cash is purposefully putting you in danger. As much as I’d like to think we would never harm you, I can’t exactly guarantee it.”
In fact, her hand in mine had awoken my beast, the tension inside intensifying rather rapidly. Color leached from my vision, and my teeth throbbed. I sucked in a deep breath and released her hand.
She studied me. Her heartbeat had jumped, but I tasted no fear. “We can’t let Cash win, Elijah. Heath and Wyatt can work out right next to us. I have faith in you.”
Was this love? If her existence didn’t make my beast so fucking feral, I would’ve thought so.
“Not happening,” Heath said, then he turned his scowl on Trent. “Tell Cash I’m working with Avery, and Wyatt will take Elijah.”
“Only if Baxter wants to get tossed out on her tight little ass, Blackwell.”
Avery’s lip curled, and I gritted my teeth as the pressure doubled. Luckily, Wyatt stepped right into Trent’s stupid, smirking face, his bear’s sudden rage heavy in the air, which mollified the monster within me. “Talk about her like that again, you sniveling dickhead, and I will rip your snowy white hide apart.”
“What the hell is this? Are you fucking her, Gale? Are you, Blackwell? Not that I blame you. She looks like she has a tight⁠—”
“That’s enough.” Avery shouldered in front of Wyatt, separating him from Trent. “We’re wasting training time. Trent, please tell Cash I will be working with Elijah under the condition that Wyatt and Heath will be nearby.” She didn’t wait for him to respond, whirling on her heel. “Come on, Elijah,” she said over her shoulder as she marched out onto the arena floor, ripping her swords from their sheaths on her back as she went.
A pleasant feeling bloomed in my chest, the buoyancy releasing me from the clutches of my beast, at least for now. I strolled after her, a pep in my step.
Heath and Wyatt fell in next to me. “You sure?” Heath asked quietly.
“Yes,” I replied easily. “About something, anyway.”