“I—I wasn’t ready for it,” she said quickly. “Besides, I knew it was you and not some werewolf.”
“Do you expect there to be a formal announcement before they come after you? Because I can assure you there won’t be.”
“No.” Maya’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’m not stupid.”
“I know that.” Shane’s tone softened. “You were a quick study with the weapons, Maya, but you can’t rely on that. More often than not, we are dragged into physical one-on-one fighting, especially with the wolves. We will begin with self-defense techniques.” He stepped back and made a motion for her to turn around. “We’ll do it again, but this time I’ll walk you through what to do.”
“If I just shoot them, then I won’t need to worry about this,” Maya murmured. She turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Okay, Mr. Miyagi.”
Shane paused and his brow furrowed, confusion washing over him. “Who is Mr. Miyagi?”
“Never mind.” Maya laughed loudly. “Let’s go, old man.”
“Fine.” Shane stilled and stood about two feet behind her. “You need to focus on and tune in to the changes in the air around you at all times, much as you did with the targets. When you sense the ripples in the air getting stronger, your opponent is getting closer. The more you focus on the changes, the quicker it will become second nature. If you concentrate, you can anticipate your attacker’s movements. To defend yourself, it’s best to be face-to-face.”
“Then why did you have me turn around?” she asked far too sweetly.
“Close your eyes.” Shane grinned. “Focus on the sound waves in the air. What do you hear?”
“Frogs.” Maya’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. “Something moving in the water. An owl to the right.” Eyes still closed, she lifted her arm and pointed to the right. “He’s in a tree about twenty feet away and maybe fifteen feet off the ground.”
Good. Shane’s voice touched her mind gently and he remained motionless. Now keep your eyes closed and tell me what you feel.
Maya’s head tilted to the left. An animal is moving along the edge of the water. It’s small, probably a possum or something.
Good. He took one step forward. What else.
You. Her body tensed. You moved closer.
How can you tell? Shane’s voice remained even and he tried to focus on their training, instead of how enticingly sexy her ass looked in the sentry catsuit. He took two more steps toward her. Tell me what you feel.
There it is again. Her voice was laced with excitement, but her body stayed tense and ready to spring into action. It reminds me of being in the ocean when the waves rise suddenly after being calm. Kind of like what happens when another person swims by.
Excellent. Shane held his ground. Now I’m going to come after you again, like I did a few minutes ago, and I want you to see if you can avoid getting caught.
Maya nodded but didn’t respond.
Shane held off and he could feel the tension rising in the air while she patiently waited for him to make his move. Then with no warning he exploded toward her, but to his great delight, Maya spun around, anticipating his move. He’d hoped she’d fly off, but instead she jumped up into his embrace and linked her arms and legs around him before placing a big kiss on his cheek. Grinning like she’d won the lottery, she clung to him while he gripped her leather-clad ass with both hands.
“How was that?” Maya asked playfully.
“That is not exactly what I had in mind,” Shane said, struggling to squelch the smile that played at his lips. No matter how charmed he was, he could not let her turn this training session into some kind of game. “You did manage to sense my approach.”
“Would it be safe to say that I bested my opponent?” Maya whispered, brushing his lips with hers and squeezing him tighter, seductively wiggling in his embrace. “Perhaps I distracted you?”
“No.” Shane gripped Maya around her waist and placed her on her feet before stepping back and increasing the distance between them. Hurt flickered over her features, and even though his gut instinct was to gather in his arms and protect her, he knew that would be a mistake. There was no time for childish nonsense with both of their lives hanging in the balance. “This is not a game, Maya. If you don’t learn how to defend yourself, you’ll never make it past your first century, and let’s not forget that your games landed us down here in the first place.”
“Fine.” A wounded look flickered over her features, and her mouth set in a tight line. “But I wasn’t the only one who screwed up, Shane. So don’t try and act like you’re not partially to blame for us being sent away.”
Shane leveled a stern gaze her way, but he knew that what she said was spot-on. He’d lost his fucking senses because he had let his emotions cloud his judgment, but that would not happen again. Bloodmate legend be damned.
Even as he told himself that, he knew it was utter bullshit. He was in love with Maya and had been for months. The bloodmate legend was…incidental.
“You’re correct.” He stepped back and kept his voice free of emotion. “I allowed my personal feelings to get in the way of my duty, and as you’ve pointed out, it cost us dearly. I can assure you that situation will not be repeated.”
“That makes two of us.” Maya folded her arms over her chest and glared at him with a cold, detached look that was like a kick in the gut. “So what’s next?”
As if on cue, the engine of a car starting and the sound of tires crunching along the dirt and gravel driveway rumbled through the wild quiet of the rural Louisiana night.
“Lottie must be leaving for work,” Shane said tightly. “Good. Then we can continue our training undisturbed. We have much to do.”
“So stop talking,” Maya said. She placed her hands on her hips and sent him a challenging look. “And start doing.”
Maya never thought she’d enjoy fighting. In fact, the idea of any physical violence used to make her sick to her stomach. But when Shane took her through yet another round of sparring, she couldn’t wipe the exhilarated grin off her face. For the first time since she could remember, Maya felt empowered—strong and unstoppable.
She was able to deflect every punch Shane threw. Each time he tried to grab her and pin her arms to her sides, she was able to spin out and throw a defensive heel thrust to the chin. However, her favorite move had to be the roundhouse kick because almost every ounce of anger and frustration could be expelled in the process.
He came at her again, flying through the night like the deadly warrior he was. Eyes wild, he whipped toward her, but instead of attempting to throw a kick or a punch, Shane rolled right into Maya’s legs and knocked her feet out from under her. Before she could counter or right herself, Shane straddled her and had her pinned to the ground with her arms held above her head.
“Not every attack will come in the way you are trained for, youngling.” Shane’s dark eyes peered down at her, and a smile played at his lips. “You have to be prepared for the unexpected.”
“Lesson learned.” Lying trapped beneath his body, Maya kept her sights on Shane and let her body relax. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“We shall see,” Shane murmured. He released her arms and rested his hands on his thighs while he continued to stare down at her. “It’s always a different experience in the heat of a battle.”