"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 shit 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 fuck, 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.
"He's going to cause trouble too." Mr. Hale tsked and shook his head. "Which is a shame. I'll have to call his father."
"No, he won't." Kai was a good person, just hurting. I hadn't been able to see him prior to today with my brother being hurt by Micah and Simon plus getting him settled back in at home to heal. Max had stayed at Wolf Moon Academy’s dorm all day Sunday. Monday, we took him home to our parents where he found out the whole truth and why he’d gotten hurt. Luckily, he’d felt the same way as I did. We were still a family, and knowing who my real father was didn’t change anything even though both of us were conflicted. So, Kai hadn’t been a priority. "He's just... going through things?" I didn't mean for it to sound like a question.
"Well, he better figure it out sooner rather than later," Liam grumbled as he took my hand in his.
"You need to put him in his place." Mr. Hale arched an eyebrow at Liam before his attention turned back to me. "So, Mia, as you probably have heard, you are now being trained by Evan."
I nodded and took a gulp. I was kind of scared of what kind of training Evan would put me through, but it was something that needed to be done.
"Evan’s the strongest, at least physically, of the four heirs. You two run off and start." He turned his attention to Evan. "I need to talk to Liam alone.”
"Yes, Sir." Evan bowed his head ever so slightly and walked over to me, touching my shoulder. "Let me see what your wound looks like."
Liam growled.
"Stop being an ass." I moved my shirt so he could see my skin. It was pretty much healed, but it was still sore and scabbed over from where Simon had sunk his teeth in.