Page 145 of Shrouded in the Dark

Coughing, I groaned as I flipped over onto my stomach as I pushed myself to my feet. That hadn’t hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, but the shock to my back made me lose my breath for several seconds.

We were practicing in the backyard. We’d been here for four days already and they’d all been taking turns on helping me learn self-defense.

“Not pulling any punches?” I wiped my pants off as I straightened, moving my leg back so that I could prepare for his next attack.

“No. If we’re going to be at the attack on the compound, you need to have some kind of self-defense training. This isn’t up for debate.” He took a step toward me. “After this, you’ll practice with Wyn on fighting in your animal forms.”

I was sweating so much that I was tempted to take my shirt off. I was back to borrowing the guys clothes since I’d only packed for one day when we’d gone to meet the resistance. Luckily, the house had laundry, so I only really had to borrow their clothes during workouts.

“When fighting someone, look for weak points. There’s no such thing as fighting dirty. There is only survival.” Seth moved suddenly, his leg kicking out and catching me behind my knee. I fell to my hands. I’d seen him move, but I hadn’t known what to do. “Your only goal is to get away alive.”

Time dragged on during this training. I was thankful for the accelerated healing I had, otherwise I’d have been bedridden at the end of it. Even though Seth wasn’t holding back, he took steps to not cause serious harm.

“Agh!” I landed on my back again, and this time, it really hurt. “Ow.” My spine throbbed.

Seth kneeled next to me, concern evident. “Becca?”

“I’m good.” I didn’t move, though. “But can we take a break?”

His hand brushed some hair from my face, the gentle touch making me close my eyes. It felt so good.

“Break it is.” His hand left my face and there was a shift in the air next to me.

I turned to look at Seth as he laid next to me, he glanced up at the clouds. His brows were slightly furrowed and I couldn’t resist running my thumb along his nose.

“Are you worried? About the upcoming attack?” I flicked my finger on the tip of his nose teasingly.

He grabbed my hand, kissing the tips of my fingers. “Of course. I’m worried about what happens after.”

The guys had caught me up on what they’d learned from Felicity. I had agreed with them. The more I learned about the Fae, the more I disliked them. My dislike for them was now on par with the Venandi.

Felicity was doing alright, at least according to the texts that I received from her. Apparently, Sero was really hot, but an asshole. She had gone shopping the second day she’d been there and already had a confrontation with some local shifters, but they got their asses handed to them by their alpha before she had to do anything.

Knowing that she’d already had trouble and was protected helped ease my mind with her being so far away now. It helped Wyn, too, even if he didn’t say it.

“If the Fae do decide to do something, what would it be?” I looked up to the clouds. “Could it be worse than what the Venandi have done?” A feeling in the pit of my stomach suggested that it would be.

“The Fae are extremely powerful beings. The only reason they’re in hiding is because Earth doesn’t have the magic that Fairyland does. If they were to find a way to change that, not only shifters will have problems, humanity would be at risk of annihilation.“ Seth shifted onto his side, leaning his cheek onto his hand. “I doubt that is what’s happening, but it’s better to be cautious.” With his free hand, he used his index finger to trace my cheek to my lips. “After we’re done in Texas, I want to introduce you to my brother.”

“Yeah? You think he’ll like me?” I pushed myself up so I could lean on my hands. “I’ve never asked you what your brother's name is.”

“Oh. That’s my fault. His name is—” Seth was interrupted as Wyn opened the sliding door and stuck his head out.

“Hey, love birds. Are you done?” His hair was damp from a shower. “I want to get an hour or two of training with Becca before dinner.”

Seth got to his feet and pulled me up with him. He ran his hands down my hair. “She’s all yours.” He gave me a wink. “We’ll talk more later tonight.”

“Do you need to rest?” Wyn closed the door behind me as we came back inside.

The furniture in the living room had been pushed against the sides of the wall with the dining room table when we trained inside. The breakables were on the kitchen countertops.

“No.” Which was true, my back was fine now. “I need to learn what I can with the time we have.”

Wyn cocked his right hip as he grinned. “You’re a good kitten.” He gestured to the living room. “Let’s stick to our smaller forms for now. I’d rather not cause any damage to the house if we can help it.”

Shifting back was getting a little easier with how hard we were all working.

“Mr. Biggy is so considerate.” Cody strutted into the room. His hair was damp too and I narrowed my eyes.