Page 57 of Wolf Trial

“Surprised to see your nose isn’t shoved up Thane’s asshole,” I retorted. The full-blooded, short-haired, black vampire was from a family as old and important as Reverie’s, and Lawrence had attached himself to the guy’s side like a barnacle. I was sure Thane was delighted.

“Stop fucking about,” Reed grouched, muscular arms crossed over her chest as she waited for us to fight.

Lawrence’s mouth twisted and he turned to say something to the tutor. Idiot. I lunged forward, grabbed his dominant wrist in both hands and threw all my weight into twisting it. I would have been happy with knocking him to the ground, but a horrid snap sounded, and a keening wail poured from Lawrence’s smug mouth.

“Don’t just cry about it,” Reed coached. “Get revenge. Hit her back.”

And here I thought she was on my side. I jumped back, watching Lawrence like a hawk as he nursed his injured arm at his side, swinging out messily with the other. I let him throw hit after hit, dancing back to avoid the blows. This wasn’t just easy; it was fun. For the first time since I ran from Leander in the forest, my blood pumped through my body and the shakiness left my limbs. My skin stopped itching, and cold, drizzle-laced air filled my lungs to capacity.

God, it felt good to breathe again.

“She’s toying with you; do something, Lawrence.”

I probably shouldn’t have given Reed my middle finger without glancing away from my opponent, but she laughed, so I took that as a sign she wouldn’t kick me out of class. I no longer wanted to leave, the siren song of my blood pounding, my body under my control again. Besides, I needed to do good—or average—in all my classes so they wouldn’t put me in one of those fight-to-the-death arenas. It wasn’t like I had a backup option now; I couldn’t flee a death battle into the forest when the forest held killer wolves. Probably serial killer wolves; Leander had murdered Oona so easily, and with little fuss.

Lawrence’s left fist drove into my gut and I grunted. Yep, that was my fault for being distracted. I honed all my focus on him and caught his hand when it sailed towards me again.

“Want me to dislocate this one for you, too?” I chirped, enjoying the pain dulling his stare, baring his teeth. Looked like he’d spent too much time around these vampires and slayers; his human veneer was wearing off. I knew mine was, too.

He ripped his hand free, and I smirked, swinging aside to avoid his next strike. With my enhanced senses, it was easy to see his attacks coming.

“Go, Sadie!” Paige yelled from the sidelines, and it sent a rush of energy up my spine.

I pretended to pause, to listen. “Aw, sorry, buddy. I don’t hear Thane yelling for you. Are you okay? Do you need an ice cream tub to cure that broken—”

I danced back with a laugh. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

Lawrence gritted his teeth and put more conviction into his next swing, and my blood sang as I threw my hands up to intercept the blow, the fight becoming a challenge.

When he drove me back, the drizzle-slick grass nearly sent me flying. It carried me three paces back in a rush and sent my heart leaping into my throat. I felt alive. What an idiot I’d been for avoiding classes when it was training like this that brought me back to life, that finally allowed me to push off the burning itch of being away from my mates.

I let Lawrence get another clumsy blow in, allowed the flat of his hand to connect with my forearm and gritted my teeth against the rattle of pain up my arm. And before he even moved his hand away, I used it to twist him onto the floor in a move that Reed only taught us a few days ago

“Nice, Sadie,” she praised from the sidelines. “Come on Lawrence, fight back.”

I chose to ignore the second part of that, putting my boot on his chest and keeping him in the slick grass. I didn’t have the greatest balance in the rain, and it would’ve been easy for him to knock me down to the ground, but either he knocked his head or the thought never occurred to him.

“Fine,” he spat. “I yield.”

“No, you do not,” Reed snapped. “Get up and fight her.”

His eyes flashed with an anger I’d seen on the faces of customers so many times that I could read the exact path of emotion. Disbelief at the audacity to tell him what to do, followed by a swift desire to put me in my place. But Lawrence couldn’t put Reed in her place, so I was the next best option. I saw his plan, and before he’d even reached for the boot I had balanced on his chest, I was pushing down, driving him into the grass, not stopping until something snapped.

“Alright, Sadie,” Reed called, “that’s enough. You’ve made your point. Lawrence, I expect you to put in extra hours training and to win your next session, am I clear?”

Lawrence might have replied if I didn’t see red. Anger and hatred hit me. It took control before I could tell myself this was instinct fucking with me, the way hormones messed with me the week before my period. There was no voice of reason, not as I gazed down at Lawrence and saw every person who’d ever mistreated me, everyone who’d ever had the entitlement to demean me, belittle me.

I looked at Lawrence and saw everyone I’d ever hated. All my exes, my long period of bosses who thought they were God and I was an ant that needed to be stepped on. I saw my gran who took me in when I had nowhere else to go and then sold me like I was cattle. I saw the pack who made me think I might have a different future than a lifetime of killing and training and becoming someone I didn’t recognise, only for them to turn out to be killers. Deadly when they were meant to be safe. Unpredictable when they were supposed to be reliable.

It wasn’t just me hurt; it was my wolf, too. As much as she loved Leander slaughtering her enemy, it had shaken her how easily he snapped Oona’s neck, how quickly he’d flipped from the irreverent joker, the man who looked at us with gentle eyes, as if he would never hurt anyone, least of all us. Now even she didn’t know if he was safe to be around, or if it would be our neck under his hands next time. The idea of her mate, our mate, doing that was abhorrent, but if Lainsz wanted us dead, what was to say that Leander didn’t, too? And Verne.

It wasn’t fair. That the people my wolf was supposed to trust above others was so untrustworthy. Exactly like I was supposed to be able to trust Dad not to leave, and Gran to take care of me.

It wasn’t really anger, not deep down. It might’ve had the heat of lava and the ferocity of a wildfire, but beneath its hardened core was pain. I was hurt. Again.

Despite my better instincts, a part of me had begun to trust them. To trust the serial killer who snapped a neck as easily as breaking a twig underfoot.

“Sadie,” Reed snapped, her furious shout breaking through the red haze that had come across my vision without me even realising it. She grabbed my shoulder, dragging me away from Lawrence. And I saw the mess I’d made of his face, my boot no longer resting on his chest but pressing on his windpipe.