Wicked Cravings (The Phoenix Pack 2)

“I can understand if you’re tired of fighting, if you’re tempted to stop fighting what you think is inevitable—”

“Think is inevitable? It is inevitable.”

He pursed his lips. “Maybe not.”

“What does that mean?”

“What I said. I want you to come with me somewhere.” Placing her on her feet, he gestured to a plastic bag beside his bed. “I had Shaya get some clothes together for you. Go in the bathroom and get dressed. Or you can dress right here if you prefer. I’m totally fine with that.” His devilish, cocky grin did something interesting to her insides. She snatched the bag from the floor and went into in the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she came out feeling refreshed and dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans—both of which were skintight. How typical of Shaya, who was not only very fashion conscious but extremely fond of clothes that highlighted every curve.

As usual, Dante’s c*ck throbbed at the sight of her. He shackled her wrist with his hand.

“Come with me.”

Sighing, she allowed him to lead her through the network of tunnels, down the stairs of the cliff face, and over to the river where the patio table and chairs were set up. “What are we doing out here?” she asked the second he released her.

Dante slowly began to circle her. “Your biggest problem now is that your wolf is getting stronger, right?”

“Right,” she confirmed, confused as to where he was going with this.

“Then it stands to reason that in order to keep fighting her, you need to get stronger. You need to perfect your self-control. I don’t doubt that it’s good, but it could be better. And I can help you with that.”

“How?”

Having done two complete circles around her, he halted in front of her. “I’m going to train you.

I’m going to give you the same training I gave the enforcers. It’s hard as all hell, Jaime. There’ll be times when you’ll want nothing more than to use the skills I teach you to slit my throat. But it will help you, just like it helps me.”

That comment had her frowning. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, baby.”

The endearment and the intensity in his eyes made a tingle run down her spine. “Why is control so important to you? I know it’s nothing to do with your wolf. He’s not damaged like mine or a little too close to the surface like Trey’s.”

“No, he’s not,” allowed Dante. “It has nothing to do with my wolf.”

“Then why?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you if you do well with training. Are you up to it, Jaime?” It was more of a dare than a question. “Like I said, it won’t be easy. But it will make you stronger. It all depends on whether you want to keep on fighting, or whether you’re a quitter.”

CHAPTER SIX

“A short warm up?” said Jaime, gasping, as she rose from the forest floor. “More like an effective way to break my will to live. Shifter strength and speed or not, that was some hard shit.” Dante remembered thinking that very same thing on his first day of training. First, he’d had Jaime do some minor stretching, then eighty push-ups within a minute, followed by eighty sit-ups within a minute. He’d made her repeat each exercise five more times. “By the end of your training, you should be able to do eighty of both within the space of a minute.”

“Well, hell.”

“You can always stop here if you think this training will be too much,” taunted Dante. He knew that she’d never show weakness. “If you don’t think you can—” Jaime’s expression was serious as she replied, “Get on with it, Popeye.”

“Then, let’s get running.”

“Running?”

“We need to do a full lap of pack territory, but we’re aiming for you to be capable of doing three within the space of twenty minutes. It’s what I taught all the enforcers, and not just to build their fitness level. Whenever they’re on duty, they’re required to do a lap of our territory, checking for any breaches or problems. But being fit enough to do one lap isn’t good enough. What if there’s a problem and it requires them all to get on the job as a team? They can’t afford to sit down and rest while they catch their breath, which is why they trained their bodies to cope with more. And now you’re going to do the same, because we need to build up your strength.”

Jaime gave him a curt nod. “Yes, sir.”

His smile was devilish. “You really shouldn’t say that, Jaime. You don’t want me getting ideas.”

She rolled her eyes. “So, how about that run?”

As they did their lap, Dante told Jaime the type of things enforcers needed to check for when doing a patrol check: unusual odors, unfamiliar scents or footprints or markings, damage to the forest, signs of forced entry on the perimeter fence, or any fallen tree limbs that could cause damage to the perimeter fence.

By the time they were back at the river, she was panting like crazy and bent over as she nursed a cramp in her side. But she was on her feet, which was good. He recalled that Dominic had passed out at this point on his first day. “I know I should probably keep your first session simple, take it easy on you and just concentrate on improving your fitness level,” began Dante as he paced in front of Jaime. “But I won’t, just as I didn’t with the others. I needed them to understand that this was all about so much more than that. They need to be able to also work as a team that is so in sync with each other that they’re more like a well-oiled machine.”

“Well, my joints sure feel like they need oiling.”

“Stop whining. Your accelerated healing rate will have you feeling better within the hour.”

“In that case, could you give me an hour?”

“Will your wolf give you a break if you ask? No. And nor will I. So let’s start. One thing that every enforcer has to be an expert at is stealth—and it’s something that is very good at helping with self-control, so I’ll be teaching it to you. At a later point, I’ll be testing you on this, possibly by bringing some of the guys to help.”

“Why?”

“Because if you know I’m going to do that, you’ll be sure to take this seriously. I know you well enough to know that you won’t show weakness in front of anyone, especially your own pack.” He was right, the a**hole.

“You’ll have to be good to fool them, because believe me when I say that the enforcers are experts at this. They have to be. Let’s say that one of them does a lap of pack territory and finds evidence of intruders. They can’t just run over there and take on the problem alone. They need to alert the team and, if possible, wait. If it’s not possible, if their intervention is needed right then, they need to act. Shifter hearing can pick up a lot of things. They need to be able to move undetected, even by other shifters. In order to fool them, so will you.”

“Move undetected,” echoed Jaime, nodding. “Panting won’t help me with that, huh.” She straightened and made an effort to calm her breathing.

“That’s why we’ll be improving your fitness level and helping you to control your breathing better. No matter what, you never hold your breath.” Dante put his hand on his abdomen and gestured for Jaime to mirror the act. “First, learn to breathe from here rather than from your chest. It means you can take more air into your lungs. So, what you want to do is take a slow, deliberate breath through your nose until your hand moves as you do.” He gave a satisfied nod when Jaime followed the instruction. “It’s always quieter to breathe through your nose. If you need to do it through your mouth or need to breathe heavily, open it wide and take deep, slow breaths.” Ten seconds later, Jaime’s breathing was under control and the panting had stopped.

“Good, very good. An important aspect of stealth is blending. You’ve probably noticed that when they’re on patrol, the guys tend to wear clothes that are dark but never black. Black looks unnatural and outlines your silhouette, which makes you easier to see.” Jaime’s expression indicated that she hadn’t considered that. “You want to wear dark greens, dark browns, dark grays, or dark blues, but never black. You want to cover as much skin as possible and for your clothing to be tight—nothing that rustles as you move. In the future, wear something like that for training.”

“Dark clothes that don’t hinder movement. Got it.”

“You need to be constantly aware of your surroundings. Always utilize your senses. You not only want to be careful of how much noise you make, you want to be sure you’re alert to any noises around you so that no one can sneak up on you. Also, notice the direction of the wind—you don’t want others to be able to pick up your scent.”

“So I don’t want to be heard, seen, or scented.”

“Exactly. Always be patient. Being stealthy doesn’t mean moving slowly, but in some instances it’s imperative that you do. If you’re im patient, your movements will be jerky and uncoordinated. That’s when you risk your presence being detected. Patience helps you remain silent.

Remaining silent helps you not get caught. And so we begin your first exercise in stealth. You’re going to stand absolutely still and keep your breathing quiet for an entire half hour, as if you’re merely a foot away from one of the enforcers.”

Jaime wasn’t impressed with the exercise. “You want me to just stand still and be quiet for thirty minutes?”

It wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded, but Dante wanted her to figure that out for herself. “It means no fidgeting, no shifting your weight from foot to foot, no whistling, no sighing—nothing. Each time you move or make a noise, we begin again.” With that, Dante sat on one of the patio chairs behind her and watched. Three minutes into the exercise, she cleared her throat. “You made a sound, now you’re caught.”

“Fuck.”

“Again.” Eight minutes went by and she began absentmindedly drumming her fingers on her thigh. “Nice tune.”

“Goddammit.” She released an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”

“I know you didn’t, and that’s bad. You need to be fully alert. You need to be fully aware of every sound you make. If you can hear you, you can damn well bet the enforcers can, too. Now, we start again. Ready?”

Jaime released the tension from her shoulders and nodded. For a shocking eighteen minutes, she managed to remain still, but then she involuntarily bent her knees a little to relieve the stiffness in her legs. Instantly she realized what she had done and cursed. “It’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

“I know.” Dante rose from his seat and went to her. “You did well. Don’t worry, we’ll do a little at each session. It’s actually something you can practice anytime. Just see how long you can go relatively unnoticed in a room, or how long you can cope with staying out of the conversation at the table. Whatever. It is important.”

“Okay, let’s practice some more, then.”

“No, we’ll try more of that at the next session. Right now, I’m going to introduce you to the art of moving stealthily. You’ve seen the way the guys and I walk: fluidly, balanced, softly, evenly—”

“And in your case, cockily.” She’d never admit that his cocky strut was sexy as hell.

He gave her a mockingly castigating look. “You have to involve your whole body, but you also need to get the footwork right.” Physically demonstrating the move, Dante told her, “Place your heel down and then roll your foot along the outer side to the ground.” Jaime replicated the move. “Like this?”

“Perfect. Walking this way makes it easier to instantly halt if you need to.”

“I would’ve thought that the best way is to walk on the balls of your feet.”

“That does help you move quickly and quietly, but you need great balance and steadiness for that. Once we’re further into your training, we’ll try it. For now, we’ll stick to this.”

“Do I have to learn that weird sneaking crouch-crawl thingy?” asked Jaime, scrunching her face up.

“Yes, because that helps you keep a low silhouette. Plus, it’s better if you’re always on your feet. That’s something we’ll work on another time. What we’re going to concentrate on now is simply strolling through the woods as quietly as we can.” Dante gestured for Jaime to follow him out of the small clearing and through the cluster of trees. “Avoid dead leaves or branches, and try to walk on anything solid like tree roots, rocks, bare dirt, or even patches of moss.” Two minutes into the exercise, Jaime—who hadn’t been doing too well and had gotten so agitated that she was huffing and growling at herself—asked, “What if the ground is littered with twigs, what do I do then?”

“You listen to the sounds of the forest and try to blend in. What can you hear?” Jaime released a long-suffering sigh and answered in an impatient voice. “Birds, bees, leaves rustling, animals scurrying around, the river…”

“Good. You need to blend in with those sounds. This is where the soft and even walk ends.

Sure, you still tread softly, but you don’t want your footsteps to be regular. Maybe move a few steps and then halt just like a small animal would do. Wait for the moment when the breeze picks up to move again, and then halt.”

“Huh. That means an occasional rest, too.” Jaime’s smile was impish. “I like that idea.” Dante just shook his head. “If you still manage to make a noise, freeze exactly where you are in whatever position you’re in. Remain in it for as long as you can, even if you think the person or people who’re tracking you have dismissed the sound. You can bet your ass they won’t have completely dismissed it, just as you wouldn’t if the situation was reversed.”