Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
I hesitated. It was a loaded question, even if it was an innocent one. “I just moved to the city and realized I’m not really prepared. I’ve never done anything like this, but…””You never had to before,” he said in a knowing tone. The surprise must’ve registered on my face because he smiled and added, “It’s not often I see a lone she-wolf around these parts, and definitely not one who walks through these doors. Figured you probably had a reason.”
So Sam had told him. That was a relief. “Yeah. I do. But I’m not really sure I’d be the best fit for this place,” I admitted, looking around.”Of course you are. This place is open to anyone who’s willing to work hard and fight fair,” he said earnestly. “Experience is something you can gain.”
I was surprised by his words, even if I wasn’t sure I believed them. “I guess I just don’t really know where to start.””This is as good a place as any,” he said with a shrug. “Starting from the ground up is usually easier than replacing bad training and what happens anyway.””Okay. I’m up for it if you’re willing, then,” I said, hoping that was true. I also hoped I wasn’t going to make even more of a fool out of myself than I feared, considering I hadn’t expected my instructor to be hot.”That’s what I like to hear,” he said, cocking his head for me to follow him over to the nearest empty mat. He grabbed a set of boxing gloves off the hanger on the wall and examined a few others before selecting a smaller red pair and tossing them to me.
I caught them, but barely. “Already?” I asked, unable to hide my disbelief.
He grinned, flashing pearly whites with no fangs, reassuring me that my scent wasn’t too far off. “Sometimes the best way to start is just to start.””Right,” I said, trying not to look as nervous as I felt as I slipped my hands into the gloves and fastened the Velcro. They felt clumsy and awkward, which was about right.”You can relax, it’s not a test,” he assured me, holding his gloves up, palms out. “I just want to get a feel for your natural reflexes so I know what we need to work on first.””Probably everything,” I mumbled.”Don’t psych yourself out. Throw me a punch, give it all you got.”
I hesitated because the idea of throwing a punch was even more foreign to me than waiting tables had been, but I had managed to overcome the one hurdle. This was just another. I threw a punch like he said, hitting his waiting glove, but it was even weaker and more pathetic than I had feared.”Good. Now another,” he said, managing to actually sound encouraging despite the fact that the punch felt pitiful even to me.
I kept going and he didn’t say to stop, but it was embarrassingly easy to get out of breath. He finally nodded for me to stop and I was relieved since I could feel a few of the guys at the next mat staring. How they weren’t bursting out laughing, I had no idea.”See? Not that hard,” Marcus said, punching the glove on his left hand as if to demonstrate. “Now we just gotta work on technique. You never want to punch dead-on like that. Always come at it from an angle, with your back foot forward and be ready to dodge.”
I did as he said, adjusting my position to mirror his even though I felt completely absurd with my fists up ready to punch like I actually stood a chance against this guy. The fact that he was human should’ve made it less intimidating, but it didn’t. It simply reminded me of how much greater the distance was between me and my own kind.
Then again, for all intents and purposes, Iwas human right now.”Nice,” he said, walking over to stand beside me. My heart skipped a beat as he put his hands on my shoulders and adjusted my stance a little before bringing his hand up under my right elbow and pulling it back. “Now, I want you to remember that whenever you hit a target, you’re gonna punch through it. You always want to keep momentum on your side, otherwise you’re gonna get recoil, just like a shotgun.”
I had even less experience with those than with my own fists, but I nodded.”It’s one thing with gloves, but if you’re ever in a street fight, make sure you keep your thumb on the outside of your fist. Never curl it inside or you’ll end up dislocating it,” he instructed. “Okay if I guide you through?””Yeah,” I said, trying not to think about the way his aftershave tickled my nostrils. It was a pleasant scent, not caked on like most human guys wore it, but the natural musk of his true scent beneath it was far more pleasant. His hand was warm and rough as it slid down my forearm and gripped my wrist slightly, maneuvering me through a slow-motion blow. “You feel that? Big difference when you’re hitting through a target instead of at it.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat. He wasn’t pushing up against me or anything. In fact, he kept plenty of distance between us, but I could still feel the heat of his muscular body behind mine, and it was playing all sorts of games with my head. “Yeah, I feel it.”
What the hell was wrong with me?”Good. Now you try it,” he said, stepping back.
My head cleared immediately, but I realized I had only been half-paying attention to what he was saying. I threw another punch, trying to remember everything he’d told me.
Follow through, keep your body at an angle…”Nice one,” Marcus said in his usual encouraging tone, walking around to stand in front of me again. “Now, let’s try it again.”
He held his gloves up and I spent the next ten minutes throwing punches that hit their mark even if they did little else. Human or not, it didn’t even phase my instructor, and each one felt more pathetic the last. I wasn’t sure if his insistence that I was getting better already was to be believed, or just the hollow praise of a kindergarten teacher humoring his worst students since she didn’t show any potential anyway. Since there was no way to know for sure, I decided just to put it out of my mind, along with the occasional stares I could still feel coming from the other inhabitants of the gym, and hope he was right about practice making improvement if not perfection.
Eventually, we moved on to a few other things, but him teaching me how to get out of a chokehold seemed like the most practical one I would actually be able to use. Of course, that required being put into a chokehold for the sake of practice, and not melting like a puddle of shameless ooze took as much of my attention as the technique itself.
By the time we stopped for our next water break, I was panting too hard to care who was or wasn’t watching. When I finally looked around, I realized the gym wasn’t even half as crowded as it had been before, although there were still a few fights going on in the rings and people I assumed were regulars milling around enjoying their conversations. It was a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere, once I had gotten used to it.”That’s good for tonight,” Marcus said, grinning. “Don’t want you to be too sore at work tomorrow.”
Fortunately, I was already so flushed I doubted he would notice my cheeks turning a little redder. Since when the hell had I become such a gutter mind? I smiled. “Yeah, you really kicked my ass.”
He chuckled. “You did good. You shouldn’t sell yourself so short. A few months and you’ll be surprised just how much you can accomplish.””So you’re willing to train me?” I asked hopefully. I’d assumed this was just a one-time seminar kind of thing. “I thought you weren’t running classes right now.””I’ll take you on, one on one,” he said, folding his biceps over his broad chest. The guy was as built as any werewolf I had ever encountered. “Three nights a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you’re up for it.”
I wasn’t at all sure, but I nodded anyway. “Sounds great. How much?”
His lips quirked a little at one corner. “On the house.” He must’ve seen the protest welling up within me because he raised a hand. “I’m not gonna take no for an answer. Let’s just say I owe Sam a favor, and I have to admit, Iamcurious.”