A Werewolf After Dark (The Garrison Pack - Book 2) - Complete

Chapter 17

"Again!" he shouts.

I kick, even though my muscles ache and sweat beads across my collarbone and spine. He catches my leg and flips me. It would've hurt if he hadn't taught me how to break my fall correctly, the same way I do now. He's on me a second later, his hands going for my throat, but I knock them away as I wrap my legs around his and push to the side, changing our positions the way he taught me. I'm above him now, but he's still attacking. His hands go to my hips and he pushes, regaining control once more. We slip and slid over each other for a few more minutes, his hand grabbing my waist, my hips, and my thighs. We grapple until he uses a move I hadn't been expecting. Flipping my onto my stomach, he straddles my back, his thighs caging my waist and the tops of my own thighs as his hands grab mine and he pins them above my head. Holding them into the ground, my wrists shackled in one callous hand, his other grips my rib cage, his fingers brushing just underneath my breasts as he leans down, pressing the length of his chest against my back as he positions his teeth over my neck.

Even in human form, I know he's won. Groaning in annoyance, I rest my forehead against the forest floor.

"You're getting better, Emily," he says, his weight lasting a fraction too long against my body before he moves. By the time I roll onto my back, he's standing up. He looks down at me, hardly any sweat coating his body, although he had removed his T-shirt earlier and his chest has a soft sheen of light sweat on now. I pull my eyes away and hold my hand out; he takes it without hesitation and pulls me to my feet.

"Thanks," I say softly and he nods, "You cheated," I mutter a second later and a very rare smile slips onto his lips for a tenth of a second, before it vanished once more.

"How?" he asks.

He infuriates me sometimes. I mean, no one else would've asked that question. If I'd accused anyone else of cheating, they would've defended themselves quickly, or just growled at you, but not him, he turns around and asks you a question you probably can't answer with any ease.

"I... you..." I try to find something to accuse him of but find nothing.

"Well?"

"Fine, you didn't cheat, but I wasn't expecting that move," I mutter and he raises his eye brow at me.

Damn this infuriating man!

"You can't expect attackers to follow certain moves. If you begin winning them, they'll turn to unexpected, even desperate moves to regain control. You know this Emily. Expect the unexpected, it's the only way you have any sort of chance against another," he says, his demeanour relaxed as he leans his hip against a tree and watches me silently.

"You're irritating. You know that, don't you?" I huff and his lips twitch.

Shrugging carelessly, he catches my eyes with his, "Doesn't make me wrong though, do it?" he challenges and I groan, throwing my hand into the air as if exasperated with him. I walk over to my bottle of water and take a deep drink. I can feel his eyes on me, watching and waiting, all in silence. Finally I cast him a look.

"Emily," he says and just to piss him off I mimic him.

"Rafe," I mutter, his name tumbling from my lips easily.

"You know I'm right, don't you?" he says again, his raven black hair catching the light for a split second before he seems to move back into the shadows.

"You know I'm beautiful, don't you?" the words leave my lips before I can stop them and I freeze, not sure what to say now.

I'd meant to sass him, piss him off, but the way his eyes suddenly run over my body makes me reconsider that notion.

"As we seem to be in agreement, are you ready to head back?" he asks. I blush softly at the implication of his words. Does he think I'm beautiful? I shake that thought from my mind and nod.

After the rouges had kidnapped me, Kaitlyn had suggested I take self-defence classes. I had went to ask Shane, who is in charge of the self-defence, but when I'd gotten there, I'd lost my nerve, feeling embarrassed and silly. I'd tried teaching myself, coming out to the forest alone and following moves shown in books. That was where Rafe had found me. We'd stood in awkward silence for a while, before he'd moved silently up next to me, turned me around and repositioned my arm.

"You aren't holding your arm right on those two last moves," he'd muttered softly.

In the end, I'd turned around to him and asked if he would teach me. He'd watched me in that silent way he had and then nodded, telling me to meet him back here the next day at the same time. We'd never stopped meeting here on that same day at that same time ever since and that had been nearly a year ago.

"What are you thinking about so forcefully?" he asks quietly as we make our way back toward the Pack House.

No one knows Rafe teaches me self-defence alone in the middle of the forest. I'm sure if my dad knew, he'd freak out. Although I'm pretty sure Zack would just nod his head and accept it.

"Jason and Annie," I say, covering up my real thoughts.

"What of them?"

"Well, we both know she was attacked by the rouges first... What would happen if they'd bitten her?" I ask. It's something I've been thinking about the last few days, but I hadn't voiced my opinions.

"She'd die," he says simply.

"Are you sure? Her leg was pretty badly damaged," I say softly. I stop walking to turn and look up at him. Although he isn't much taller than me, my head only come to just under his jaw. He stops walking and looks down at me

"You think she was bitten and something happened to her because of a result of that?" he asks. I bite my lip and nod.

"It's a possibility, though I've never heard of a human surviving an attack, yet she did and in all likelihood there is a chance, though a small one, that what you're saying could in fact be true," he says as we begin walking again.

Before training with him, I knew him as silent. He hardly ever spoke, but over the past few months, he's begun speaking a little more when we're alone together. It's nice, because and though I'll never tell him this, he has a great voice.

"So you believe me?" I ask as we near the edge of the forest, we pause.

"Yes. I'll look into it. See what I can find out. In the meantime, keep quiet about it. The last thing we need to do right now is cause a disruption," he says and although, too many it would sound demanding and uncaring, I know him too well now to not understand the underlying loyalty and love he has for the Pack.

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow," I say.

He nods, before turning and walking back toward the deeper woods, we always split up at this point.

"Rafe," I call out and he stops. Turning back to me silently, I smile, "Happy 19th Birthday," I say as I throw him a present.

He catches the box in mid-air and looks down at the shiny black wrapping paper that sort of reminds me of his hair. His face reflects surprise for an instant before he opens the gift and pulls out the watch I'd bought last weekend. He looks up and his lips curve into an unmistakable smile. My heart catches as his eyes meet mine for a single, stolen moment of time, before he puts the watch on and his smile vanishes.

"Thank you," he mumbles roughly and I nod, before turning and walking out of the forest and back toward home.

I smile.