A Cursed Embrace(71)

Liam smiled down at Emme. “Don’t underestimate your opponents,” he said to the students. “The girls aren’t as innocent as they appear.” Emme could’ve set the field on fire with the heat from her cheeks. Liam laughed. “That’s not how I meant it, angel.”

Shayna stood apart by a battered lodgepole pine. She carefully scanned the ground before selecting two dead branches. Light flickered from her platinum necklace as she transferred the element into the pieces of muddy wood, transforming them into long silver staffs. She twirled them with the grace and speed of a cheetah, warming up her wrists. A few of the wolves nudged one another and pointed her way. Liam had cautioned them against underestimating our skills. Yet it took a little Shayna action to heed his warning.

Taran stepped along the field, careful to avoid the extra-squishy parts. “Celia, I’m not sitting in the goddamn mud. Do you have something I can use?”

“Take my sweatshirt. I don’t need it.” No sooner had I pulled it off than Aric had it wrapped back around me.

He zipped up the front. “What are you doing?” he asked firmly.

I zipped it back open. “I’m going to get hot once I start running.”

He leaned in close to my ear. “So will I if that’s all you wear.”

I considered my outfit. It was a perfectly respectable sports bra and a pair of cotton shorts. Granted my shorts were a little on the small side, but so was I. I laughed. Had I known this would spark Aric’s attention, I wouldn’t have spent so much on lingerie. I smiled playfully, and spoke just below a whisper. “I’ll tell you what, wolf. Pull my flag and I’ll wear whatever you want.”

I yanked the belt out of his hand and dashed into the woods. What sounded like a herd of elephants charged after me. I cleared a rusting barbed-wire fence with ease while wrapping the belt around my waist. Some of the students weren’t so graceful. They swore when they became ensnared in the wire, but I didn’t stop. They’d heal fast.

I sprinted amid the trees, weaving to the left before summoning extra speed to cut right. My tigress wanted to tackle and claw, but as her mischievous side spawned, she contentedly leapt and evaded, dodging fallen trees and gorges. I scented sweat, and ambition, decomposing leaves and royal pissed-offness. Weres should know better than to believe a tigress easy prey. The awkward clamor of the wolves only lightened my steps, spurring my inner beast to a more graceful, nimble cadence.

I skidded to a stop, allowing the momentum to sweep my hair over my shoulder before doing a little tigresses-rule, wolves-drool dance. My flags rustled and snapped as I surged forward. Judging by the throaty growls, the wolves hadn’t appreciated my shimmy.

Five miles later, the odds evened. In true pack formation, the wolves worked collectively, one pursuing me at full speed while the others hung back, and a new leader emerging each quarter mile. I’d known they were finely conditioned and intelligent, but their teamwork impressed me. I panted through a field of waist-high grasses, wondering how much longer I could run at full speed.

Three of them gradually passed me, cutting me off and trying to encircle. I shifted before they could strike. Their breathing hammered loud as thunder and their grunts merged with their pounding feet. They’d begun to tire. Hell, I was tired. My hair pasted to my face, my leg muscles threatened to tear off my bones and find a place to nap, and my tigress begged me to just eat one of the students and call it a day. But Aric hadn’t stopped the exercise, so we weren’t done.

A large stand of tall trees near the far end of the field caught my eye. My strides veered toward the strongest and widest trunk in the cluster. I protruded my front claws and quickly scaled upward, my breath escaping in rapid bursts. I stopped to rest atop a thick branch about halfway up. Below, the small pack of wolves circled the tree, growling in frustration. Some had started to climb, but most fell. Poor little puppies.

“Impressive,” Aric said, panting next to me.

I jerked back, barely keeping my footing. Of course wonder boy could scale a tree with his bare hands. He just missed grabbing my flag when I vaulted away to the closest tree. I continued to spring off branches until I ran out of limbs. When I teetered about fifteen feet from the ground, the students started jumping up at me. Aric chuckled as he got nearer. “Watch out, little kitty. Here comes the wolf.”

There was nowhere else to go but down, so I flipped and shifted a few feet away from them. The moment I surfaced, I felt a pull on my belt. Aric stood over me, dangling his trophy in my face as he grinned. The look in his eye wasn’t that of a wolf who had caught his prey. It was how he looked at me in the bedroom—impish, aroused, and oh so sexy. He cleared his throat before facing his exhausted students. “Haul ass. You have a mountain to conquer.”