Chapter 10 Getting It Right

DAVINA’S POV

The fifteenth attempt felt different right from the get-go. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think my brain finally decided to stop arguing with my body and just let it do its thing.

This time, Zane came at me from the left. I dropped my weight, twisted my body, and drove my elbow into his ribs with enough force that actually made him move. I was suddenly free, and standing tall on my own two feet, with my chest heaving, and both of us locked in a stare.

For a moment, neither of us said anything.

Then Zane broke the silence. “That’s it.” His voice was steady, but his eyes were saying something else entirely. “That’s exactly it.”

I pressed my hands against my knees, trying to catch my breath and not look as shocked as I felt. “I did it.”

“You did it.”

“I actually did it.”

“Davina.” The corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile. “You did it.”

I laughed, a little unhinged from exhaustion, but it was genuine and it surprised both of us.

"Okay." He stepped back and looked at me. "That's a wrap for today."

I straightened up, feeling every muscle in my body protesting. "Already?"

"Yep, that’s it. We stop here." He crossed his arms, a firm look on his face. "You ended with a win."

I wanted to argue, but honestly, I was too tired to fight it, so I let it slide.

Then, from somewhere behind me, I heard a slow clap, which picked up speed.

I turned to see Sloane making her way through the thinning crowd of wolves, with her arms wide open.

"That last move!" She threw her arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. "Did you see that elbow?!" She looked up at the remaining wolves on the fence, her excitement bubbling over. "She got him! She actually got him!"

"I’ve been getting knocked down for an hour," I reminded her.

"True, but then you got him!" She squeezed my shoulder, with her infectious enthusiasm. "Especially for a human, that was seriously impressive."

"Especially for a human," I echoed, a smirk creeping onto my face.

"I meant it as a compliment," she said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"I know you did, I’m not annoyed."

She grinned and steered me away from the training ground, her arm still draped around my shoulders.

I glanced back once and Zane was chatting with Caspian, he had his back to me, but Caspian was looking my way with a look that seemed to say he was quietly pleased.

I turned back around, feeling a mix of pride and exhaustion wash over me.

The showers Sloane took me to were in a building on the north side of the compound, and she had not been exaggerating about the water pressure. I stood under it for longer than was probably reasonable and let the heat work through every muscle that had spent the afternoon meeting the ground, and by the time I came out I felt like a different person.

A sore different person, but still.

Sloane was sitting cross-legged on the bench outside the shower room eating an apple and looking entirely unbothered by the wait.

She tossed me a clean towel. "Better?" she said.

"Much better." I sat down beside her and pressed the towel against my face. "Thank you. For the shower tip and for the applause."

"It's nothing." She took another bite of the apple and looked at me. "He was watching you, you know. The whole time."

I kept the towel against my face. "He was supposed to be watching me. He was teaching me."

"Not like that." She said it simply and took another bite.

I lowered the towel. "Sloane."

"I'm just saying what I saw." She shrugged one shoulder, perfectly casual. "I've known Zane my whole life, and I have never once seen him look at anyone the way he was looking at you when you got that last move right."

"How was he looking at me?"

She turned to face me fully, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Like you were the most interesting thing that had happened to him in years." She paused. "Which, given that his life consists mostly of border patrols and pack politics, is admittedly a low bar. But still."

I looked at her for a moment, then I stood up and started walking back toward the cabin.

She appeared beside me immediately, completely unbothered.

"I'm not saying marry the man," she said. "I'm just asking how you felt being that close to him, objectively."

"Objectively I felt like I was being used as a crash test dummy."

"Before that."

"Sloane."

"You can tell me." She bumped her shoulder against mine. "I'm very discreet."

I glanced at her, and she had the expression of someone who was absolutely not discreet and knew it and didn't care.

"He's infuriating," I said.

"Completely," she agreed.

"He makes decisions without asking, he doesn't care to know what I actually want, he's…"

"Dashing?"

I stopped walking and she stopped too, looking up at me with those warm eyes and that smile. "I'm just filling in the blanks."

"You're terrible," I said.

"I've been told." She started walking again and I followed her because the alternative was standing alone on a path in a wolf compound and that was worse. "For what is worth," she said, more quietly, "he hasn't done any of this for anyone else. The training, the personal attention." She glanced at me. "Zane doesn't do things halfway and he doesn't do things without a reason."

I thought about what he'd said on the training ground. Only people worth my time.

I hadn't stopped thinking about it since he said it.

"I just want to go home," I said. Not to her specifically, just out loud, into the afternoon air.

Sloane was quiet for a moment. “I know,” she said softly, like she understood I could want to stay and still miss home, and wasn’t going to make me choose between the two.

We finally got to the cabin, and she paused at the door.

"Same time tomorrow," she said with a smile. "I'll bring tea."

"You really don’t have to do that," I replied.

"I know," she said, turning to head back toward the main compound, her hands tucked into her pockets. "That’s exactly why I’m doing it," she called over her shoulder, not looking back.

I stood in the doorway, watching her walk away, feeling a mix of warmth and curiosity.

Once I was inside, I plopped down on the edge of the bed, my mind drifting to those amber eyes.

I pressed my palms flat against my thighs.

Only people worth my time, I reminded myself.

I really needed to stop thinking about that.