Bite Marks

Martial Arts

Mia left quickly clicking the lock shut behind her.

"I'm sorry, Kane I-"

"Do not apologize to me for defending yourself. Sierra wants a fight and eventually she will get one. We just need to make sure you can hold your own when the time comes."

"So what does that mean?"

"That means, Cassie, that you need to learn to fight."

Kane's grin was wicked. Something told me that whatever about this Kane would enjoy wouldn't be as fun for me.

"First you will shift. Then I will teach you how to defend yourself from skilled fighters like Sierra."

"She didn't seem all that skilled to me."

"Yes, you have really been able to get under her skin," Kane said with a frown.

I guess it was a problem when your queen bitch couldn't even take out the poor excuse for a werewolf that I was. 

"I will have to deal with that later, but for now you are going to shift."

I swallowed nervously.

"Even after I was attacked!?"

"You're not even injured, your elbow has already healed."

I rubbed the appendage in question guiltily. Kane was right obviously, I was just stalling.

"Okay. What's first?"

I took a deep breath. I was a werewolf. I couldn't change that now, however ridiculous and panic inducing it was. I might as well do my best to be a fully functioning one.

"Get down on all fours on the mats and try to relax."

I did as he asked, fully aware my ass was out, but trying to even out my nervous breathing. Kane came to stand in front of me. I didn't look up at him just continued to focus on my breathing and the pulse thundering through my veins.  I tried to relax. I closed my eyes and just breathed. The scent of pine and the forest helped to calm my nerves.

"Good Cassie, keep breathing. Just relax, there you go. Now I want you to keep breathing, but begin to picture yourself in your mind. How the mat feels under your hands and knees. The breeze from the vent blowing across the back of your thighs. My t shirt resting against your back. Your hair moving gently in your face with every breath you take."

I listened to him speak and followed his directions. Becoming hyper aware of myself piece by piece.

"Now I was you to start from the outside and work your way in. Imagine your hands changing and becoming claws. It's easy you've done this before. Don't freak out. Imagine the hair sprouting on your knuckles course and reddish-brown. I know you're beginning to feel the tingles. Don't fight it, just relax."

I kept my breathing even and became aware of the tingles in my hands, they quickly began to cramp as the tingles spread up my arm. I gasped in shock as my fingers cracked one by one. The pain was new. Every time I had done this before I had been so hyped up on adrenaline I wasn't able to register the pain. Not this time. I bit my lip and fought the urge to stop.

"Cassie, you're doing great. Keep going, think about what a wolf looks like. The thick fur, claws, muzzle, teeth. That's all inside you, just let it come."

It was getting harder to push myself. It felt like fighting through molasses where my hands had changed quickly as the fur had flown up my arm it had gotten slower and slower. I began to panic imagining myself stuck halfway between wolf and human for the rest of my life. My hair tickled my nose with every quick rough breath I released.