Blood Legacy

2

He took off his school jacket, revealing a Wolf Moon Academy standard silver tank top paired with blood-red shorts. The muscles in his arms were almost as big as his head.

"She's mine to train." Kai's jaw clenched.

"Not anymore." Liam wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "She'll be trained by one of our own."

"Our own?" Kai arched an eyebrow and chuckled without humor. "So, now she's good enough to be an elite? You do realize my father works for you, so I'm technically ranked higher than her."

Shit, they were having a pissing match. What are you doing? I have a class. You can't come in here and just pull me out of it.

Actually, I can. He nodded to Evan. "He's training her from here on out, which means blondie here is all yours." He pointed at Gertrude. "It'll be good for you to focus all of your attention on her anyway."

"Let me guess—you got Daddy's approval for this change." Kai closed his eyes and shook his head. "I should've seen it coming."

"Maybe it wouldn't have happened if you’d actually trained her. Plus, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt." Evan's voice was deep and rough.

"What injury?" Some of the gusto seemed to leave Kai.

"I feel so lost." Gertrude cleared her throat and took a breath. "I'm going to run and get some water." She headed back toward the gym.

When no one answered, Kai took a step toward me and looked me over. "Are you hurt?" "I'm almost healed." I unconsciously rubbed the shoulder that Simon had sunk his teeth into.

"What happened?" Kai’s eyes landed right where my hand touched. He approached me, holding out his hand to touch me.

"No." Liam stepped in between Kai and me. "Don't touch her."

"Really? How the hell do you expect him," Kai said as he pointed his finger at Evan accusingly,

"to train her without any touching, especially if she's his only student?"

"Because he won't be around to watch." Evan's voice was deep and commanding.

"Like hell, I won't be." Liam turned around and glared at his friend.

Oh, dear God. "He's right." Liam couldn't be there, and to be honest, I was surprised that he wanted to be. I had a feeling that training was going to be rough and hands-on, and we were newly mated. As newly claimed mates, we were still getting acclimated to the bond. Since he’d fought ours so hard at first, it was taking an even harder toll on him. It didn’t help that he was used to always getting everything he wanted, but this time he was going to have to let go. I needed Evan.

"See, I knew she'd want me there." Liam's cocky grin spread across his face.

"No, Evan's right." I turned and faced Liam. It was going to be a stand-off. "You won't be around." "Now's not the time to try to be funny." Liam scowled at me.

"I'm not being funny." Every ounce of me knew I needed this even if it was going to be difficult and painful. This past weekend, I’d learned that my biological father was the Overseer of the original Blood Council and had been killed nineteen years ago. I was raised by a man who treated me as his own. Hell, I had always thought I was his blood; that’s how damn good he was to me. Despite that, he didn't have elite status. "You weren’t there that night to protect me, and it could happen again. I need to be able to not only stand my ground in a fight but win."

"She's right, and you know it." Evan nodded his head, and, dare I hope, just maybe I saw approval shine in his eyes.

"So, you're okay with this?" Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "He's going to beat the ever-loving s**t out of you."

"No, I won't." Evan glared at Kai. "But I won't treat her like she's weak because she's a female.

When she's in a fight, a male isn't going to go, oh wait. I won't kill her or hit quite as hard. They won't give a f**k, just like Simon."

Kai's shoulders deflated, and his forehead creased. "To be with someone who will always make you a target? To have to learn how to fight and defend yourself? To never know who is really friend or foe? That’s what you want?"

The problem was that, even if I didn't want all that, fate had other plans. What no one except Liam, Mom, Dad, and Max now knew was that I was the rightful heir to the overseer position, which was essentially the same as the President of the United States in the shifter world. If that wasn't enough, fate had decided to make Liam, the heir to The Blood Council's north member seat, my true mate. I had no choice but to accept my role before someone tried to kill me again. "Yes … I need to be able to rely on myself. Sometimes, we have to be our own saviors."

"She's already made her choice, so leave it alone." Liam's voice was raspy as he tried to rein in his wolf.

"You kind of forced her into it." Kai frowned as he looked at me. "Mia, I hope you don't regret this."

"I’m not sure how much clearer she can be unless you meant that as a threat." Liam narrowed his eyes at Kai.

Quit it. Right when I thought things might calm down. He added more fuel to the fire.

"Of course not. I'm not you." Kai spat the words.

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Hale appeared right behind our little group.

The four of us turned in his direction.

Liam's father stood there, wearing a suit that fit his trim figure perfectly. He looked like an older version of Liam. The more council members I saw, the odder it was. They all appeared to be so much younger than they actually were. Yes, shifters had great genes, but it was like theirs were on steroids. They looked more like older siblings than parents.

"Nope, we were just informing Kai of the trainer change." Liam crossed his arms as he glanced at

Kai. "It's not going over well."

"Didn't think it would." Mr. Hale chuckled. "That's why I'm here." His blue eyes, only a shade darker than Liam's, glanced at me. "Ms. Davis, you sure do seem to cause a lot of problems." His mouth spread into a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.

He must still be annoyed with me. "Never intentional."

"But trouble all the same." Mr. Hale pointed at Kai. "Get back inside and train the others. I'm sure

Coach Riley could use some help."

"Yes, Sir." Kai huffed and glared one last time at Liam before jogging back to the gym.