One Bite

Chapter 2-7

A/N: physical violence in this chapter.

A few days later, Raina shifted the focus of my training.

"You've surprised me on defense, so we're switching to offensive training today."

After another day of defensive training, Raina and I's moods reversed. Silently mulling over my crumbled situation with Lucus had made me quite irritable and short-tempered. I kept to myself, withdrawing to my room whenever Mist wasn't tossing me all over the training grounds.

On the contrary, Raina appeared to be in a good mood this morning. She seemed pleased with my progress in the sense that she didn't criticize me as much.

At least I still have that going for me.

I wondered if her change in mood had anything to do with my platonic situation with Lucus. But no matter the reason behind her shift, I was grateful that she continued my training because it became the sole reason I was here.

Didn't think my sole reason to be here would be impressing my no longer potential mate's sister, but at this point I'll take it.

As I practiced this week, spending more time in wolf form than human, the stronger Lumi grew inside me. We had become more intertwined, her presence and emotions flowed through me as if they were mine. As her muscles and my ability to manipulate them developed, I felt more comfortable, confident, and powerful as I controlled her body form.

Working together, she grew stronger every day.

This morning, I started to sense that the scale had tipped and she was now more powerful than me. She grew restless, wanting to be in control for a match. How unbridled she was left me unsettled and her impatient.

"Your wolf is smaller." Raina directed me to a spot on the field. "Lumi will always be smaller than males, so she will have to fight smarter. Do the defensive moves first, pushing wolves off their balance rather than overpowering them. It'll put you in control of the fight, acting first instead of reacting."

"Male wolves tend to get hot-headed when attacking females. Pheromones kick in. You'll smell it coming off their pores. Almost always they will try to over power us," she added in a low tone to suggest she was revealing secretive insider information. "Their overconfidence is the main weakness we have to our advantage."

My mind traveled back to yesterday, when she showed me sensitive pressure points on a wolf's body and how to manipulate them to throw a larger opponent off balance. She made me practice hind leg sweeps against one sensitive spot all week. The divot in between the nose and mouth, avoided because of its close proximity to snapping teeth, was another such sensitive area but we hadn't worked on it yet.

"Zara," her sharp tone cut through my thoughts. "Always defend first, put your opponent into an exposed position, then strike. That's the best approach to saving your life after you leave the practice ring."

Moving myself into position, I repeated with a nod, "Defend, expose, strike."

We can do this Lumi.

'Ready.'

She sure was and her desire to do this radiated electricity through every cell of my body. The hairs on my forearms rose in anticipation.

"I do not want your wolf fighting today, got it?" Raina pointed her index finger at me. 

Poof, Lumi was shut down. Her disappointment soaked through me, squeezing my heart and slumping my shoulders.

'Damn.'

At my pout, Raina rolled her eyes. "She'll get her chance, but right now she's too hard to control. Only you today, Zara."