Chapter 77

“Again,”

The burning. The ripping of skin. The feel of fur back onto my paws.

“And back.”

More burning. More skin ripping. The chill across hands devoid of any hair.

“Again,”

“God,” I choked out of my mouth as I fell forwards onto my hands. “Can I get a half a second of rest?”

I heard the squishing of feet against the gym mat. Then, the shade of someone crouching down next to me. I tipped my chin up to meet the piercing gaze of Valentin.

“This method of shifting is particularly successful in young wolves,” he said softly. “It forces your body to get used to the shift quicker and it forces the body to accept it quicker. It’s harsh but it works.”

My chest was still heaving. “How many times to get it to work?”

“Usually, I can get a wolf to max out at about ten shifts per minutes,” he tilted his head. “You got to five.”

Five and my body felt like it was splitting at the seams. My lungs were heaving, heart a beat too high for a normal human. I pressed my hand to my chest to try and slow it. Valentin’s eyes were locked on me as I tried to slow my breathing. Finally, he held a hand out. I took it tentatively and sighed as the electricity flowed freely from his hands.

He helped me stand, one hand wrapping around my waist to keep me from falling back over. I leaned into him more than I should’ve. In response, I was met with a throat clearing behind me.

I instantly jumped out of Valentin’s arms and wrapped my hands around my waist, awkwardly. I looked up to see Thorne pinning me down with his gaze.

“I think that’s enough for today,” he gritted from between his teeth.

I shot him a look, clocking how jealous he was. Then I looked at Valentin. His jaw was set as he looked at Thorne. He sighed before looking back at me.

“That was a good first start,” he said, softly. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I said softly.

“I’ll walk you home,” Thorne piped up from across the mat. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I gave Valentin a half smile before walking off towards Thorne.

The two of us walking out of the gym in silence. It wasn’t until we got to the Admissions building that Thorne said anything.

“How’s classes?”

I immediately froze and looked at him. His eyebrows creased in confusion.

“What?”

“What’s your play here?”

“Play?” Thorne genuinely looked confused. “I’m just trying to make conversation.”

I rolled my eyes and continued to walk. Thorne was frozen for a hot second before he jogged to catch up.

“Is making conversation so awful?” he continued. “I’m your knight. We might as well be cordial to one another.”

“I don’t need a knight,”

Thorne snorted. “Why ‘cause you have Maximus?”

I stopped again and narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that jealousy I hear?”

“Psh,” Thorne snorted, again. “No. Just know you and him are…whatever.”

“Need I remind you,” I snapped. “That you broke our bond. Not me.”

“I know,” Thorne said softly. “But, for whatever reason, the Queen has a soft spot for you. So, she paired me up with you. For which I say, again, it’s not a crime to be cordial.”

I huffed. Soft-spot-for-me is not how I would describe the mother who abandoned me for eighteen years but in Thorne’s eyes, that’s what she was. I bracketed my hands on my hips as I tried to figure out what do say to that.

The wind was whipping across the campus at that point, whisking the leaves and brush up and around like a hurricane. I wrapped my arms around me as shiver worked over me.

“Do you want my jacket?” Thorne offered.

“No I have—” my sentence was cut off as I patted my waist and realized my jacket was not wrapped around my waist. It must’ve fallen off in the midst of the shifting training. I sighed again.

“I left my jacket,” I said.

Thorne frowned. “I can go get it for you,”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’ll get it. Don’t worry.”

“Okay,” Thorne said, tentatively. “I’ll wait here.”

“Don’t,” I called over my shoulder as I jogged back to the gym. “I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.”

I heard Thorne chuckle behind me as I continued to jog back to the gym. Luckily for me, the lights were still on. Valentin must’ve still been in the gym cleaning up. I tentatively walked back through the gym. The lights were still shining bright on the blue gym mats.

“Hello?” I called.

My voice ricocheted off the walls of the gym and back into my ears. I walked across the floor, feet slapping gently against the vinyl. I spotted my jacket, discarded off by the locker room. I walked towards it and slung it around my shoulders where it was supposed to be.

I heard a noise come from the locker room that startled me. I jumped and stuck my head into the men’s locker room. I heard the spray of one of the ancient showers turning on. My brow knitted immediately. It was well past the open hours of the gym. The night was on the precipice of the next day. No one was supposed be there.

Slowly, I walked into the locker room, on high alert. The spray of the shower was still going as I continued to scope out the scene. I heard several large bangs, then the hushed whispers of two people.

I crept my way past the office and into the lockers, crouching behind things as I went. The lights were all off in the locker room, save for the ones above the showers. As I crept closer to them, the people noises got louder. I poked my head out to get a better look.

I saw two people entangled in the spray of one of the showers. One was clearly a man who’d been mid-shower. He was naked and sopping wet. The second was a woman. She was fully clothed with her legs wrapped around the waist of the man as if she’d jumped into his arms. Their lips were locked in a passionate kiss. Her long black hair had just hit the spray and was shielding both of their faces.

The sight was something out of a porno. Their hands and mouths were hungry and feisty. A breathy moan came from the woman and the man spun them around to pin her to the wall. His bare ass was exposed to me. I blushed immediately then brought my gaze back to the woman.

Their faces separated as he dove in to attack her neck. She shoved her hair off her face and I couldn’t help the gasp of shock that came out of my lips.

The woman was none other than Bella.

She must’ve heard me because her eyes shot open. As soon as she realized it was me, he lips curled into a smile so malicious I could taste it. She immediately turned up the show, moaning and writhing under the man.

“Sh,” he hushed her. As he brought his head up to claim her lips again, I gasped for the second time.

Because the man who Bella was currently undulating under, was none other than Valentin Lunerly.