Talons

Chapter 157: The Tickled

Rhea’s POV

The i***t who allowed himself to be used as a pawn hasn’t even realized that I just walked him into the sparring section of the gym, so when I next turn, I toss him a stretching stick that I picked up, and he becomes startled.

He defends my overhead blow, but I don’t let up on my attacks, and eventually I’m able to strike the back of his knee, making him kneel. 

Before he can stand, I smack him with the stick hard on the back, making him stumble to his feet. He looks terrified, but he wasn’t scared before.

I go full on Kendo on the man, happy that Brayden, who is a fan of the sport, insisted that I learn it, telling me that even a ruler could become a weapon with the right technique. I didn’t think I would ever use it, but apparently, it's a useful skill since many people don’t practice swordsmanship.

I relentlessly go after the man, hitting him in the soft spots that will hurt without doing too much damage, but after a while I realize that he hasn’t made a single offensive strike. 

“Fight back!” I order and the man gets to his feet, tossing the stick to the side as he decides to take this fight seriously. “Your choice… Should I continue to be gentle, or would you like me to be rough?” 

Actual fear crosses the man's face, and I use it to land several blows to his shoulder before making my way behind him. He isn’t a bad fighter, and he is able to block my strikes. He just isn’t as agile and is at a disadvantage because I’m still armed and have range to my attacks.

I allow the man to show me what he can do a few times, but I can tell he is holding back, so I up my acting game.

“You have gone too far, and I have already warned every one of the consequences for disrespecting me.” It was hard to hold in my laughter as a grown man pouted in helplessness. My guess is that he doesn’t want to hurt me, which is why he is choosing to just stand there.

I raise my stretching stick high above my head, but just before I land my blow Colton catches it and pulls, making me crash into his chest. 

“Took you long enough,” I reply.

“You knew?” He asks, but instead of chatting I throw a punch at the man, who dodges with a smile.

“Careful luna. There are some challenges I can’t back down from”

“Why? Are you scared?” Colton smirks and lunges at me. 

Everything starts to move like a blur for me as we continuously land blows while attacking one another. All I know is that this is the most fun I have had sparring with someone, and I’m thrilled by it. 

Colton isn’t fighting me with his all, that I’m sure of, but he isn’t exactly holding back, so I actually have to add a little effort to get around his blocks. 

However, I know how the man moves, so anytime he goes to hit me, I’m able to dodge, and the look of surprise he wears each time is absolutely hilarious. 

I start missing strikes as I giggle, unsure why, and Colton’s comical expressions aren’t making it any easier for me to concentrate.

“Maybe you should yield, you can’t even keep your balance anymore.” Sylvia didn’t like that comment, so she pushed forward, which for werewolves is like dual control. 

For some reason, we move faster this way, and we are a bit stronger. The only thing is that it's short lived, and probably dangerous considering that Colton has already warned us about challenging him.

Although he is huge, Colton is more agile than I thought, so when I fake a strike and pivot behind him, he twists his body and grabs me. My initial shock doesn’t last long, and I lock my legs around his, using his momentum and strength to knock us to the ground.

My logic is that if I stand up first, he loses, but he seems to have the same thoughts, because as we fall, we are both fighting not to be the one pinned to the mat. 

I didn’t know this about myself, but apparently, I’m ticklish, so when Colton grabs my side to push me away, I squirm with a giggle that’s rewarded with an onslaught of finger jabs until I collapse, and the man pins my arms above my head.

I clearly lost, but I'm not embarrassed by it, so I’m still chuckling until I notice that Colton is staring at me. He leans in and presses a warm kiss to my lips that leaves me stunned.

Colton’s POV

Rhea is a good fighter and I’m enjoying our game more than I’m angered by it. She clearly isn’t being disrespectful and is just having fun. Besides, her giggle anytime something unexpected happens has placated any anger I would have felt. 

I notice that her laughter has taken her mind away from the fight, and gently mock her about it, which caused her wolf to push forward. 

In any other situation, Orlin would have been itching to do the same, but right now, he’s silent with satisfaction. Like me, he loves our mate, and the simple gesture of her fighting us back, even for fun, means that we have made progress. 

If I would have hit her when she first came, even if it were playful, she would have melted to the ground, but right now, she is brushing off my blows and coming right back at me. 

I’m not exactly being gentle, but I’m definitely not trying to hurt her. Still, I’m impressed; she is extremely fast, and even more agile, but as big as I am, I’ve learned to move my body in odd ways to avoid my father’s petty tricks during training.

I wonder who Rhea trained with, and in my moment of distraction, she wraps her legs around the one I was moving to slam her to the mat causing me to trip. 

I have never fallen in slow motion before, but I swear that's what’s happening right now, and all the while, she and I are trying not to be the one left lying on their back. This may be a friendly spar, but people are watching, and I can’t lose, even if it’s just a joke. 

I grab my mate’s side, wanting to push her off me, but she flinches with a giggle that gives me a sinister idea. I tickle her until she collapses, and I pin her arms as she struggles to stop laughing. 

I know my mate is beautiful, but being this close to her, on top of her, and seeing her happy instead of terrified, has made her glow in my eyes, and before I can stop myself, I press a kiss to her lips that while fleeting, carried so many emotions within it.

Rhea’s face goes slack as she stares back up at me. I can’t tell if she is angry, shocked, or embarrassed, but I have no regrets. 

We just stayed there, staring into one another's eyes until a loud whistle whipped through the air, making Rhea flinch before she turned her face and scrambled from underneath me. 

She rushes to her cousin’s side, pushing the woman who must have said something annoying, and when my brother steps into her face, she pushes him too, making me laugh. 

“She isn’t afraid of anyone is she?”

“Nope, and she doesn’t have to be.” Orlin’s feelings for our mate have grown so deep that he’s satisfied by just being able to look at her, something I was taught would only happen years after fated partners are together, but I guess that doesn’t apply to us.

“Congratulations alpha.” I turn to see Carter smirking down at me as he extends a hand to help me stand. He roughly pats my back, and truthfully, I feel on top of the world right now. “I can see that she’s starting to accept you, but you should probably save that sort of flirting for the bedroom. Nobody here knew whether we should keep watching or turn around.”

I don’t know if I’m imagining things, but I could swear my face went red, and Carter’s reaction tells me that I’m right.

“You're so cute,” he says, earning himself a punch to the shoulder.

“Quick, how do I make things less awkward between us? I want to work out with her.” Carter shrugs so I turn to Dolton who mind-links his response.

“Give her a little while. Miracle pissed her off.”

“What did she do?”

“I don’t know, she said it in Spanish.” I leave my brother alone and turn to Holly, who randomly speaks Spanish thanks to our grandfather.

“Don’t get me involved. As of right now, I’m still the top fighter in this pack. You are not about to get my ass kicked.” 

“You’re scared of Rhea?”

“Absolutely.”

“Why? She’s nice to you.” 

“Yeah, very nice, very sweet; I like her a lot, but I’m not fighting her.”

“You're being ridiculous, Rhea isn’t scary at all. She’s so much smaller than you.”

“Colt… do you know how rough you two were ‘playing? Honestly speaking, I kept waiting for someone to get seriously hurt. Then you two went full on romance novel when you started tickling her. Sh*t was weird.” I laugh loudly as I consider how that must have appeared to the people watching us, and it reminds me of poor Ken.

I look around to find him, and he is standing in front of my mate, his shoulders folded in surrender. I move a little closer, wanting to hear what he is saying. The man is spilling his guts and throwing us under the bus as he does it.

Rhea’s POV

Ken is extremely ‘disappointed’ in himself and although his confession helped me put facts to what I already guessed, I’m a little annoyed by Colton’s actions.

From the moment I saw the man, I was reminded of Mike, so I'm sure Colton thinks that means I will automatically be attracted to him, but it was always Mike's personality that drew me to him, he just so happened to be handsome as well.

For Jack, my attraction was more physical, but it was in the way a fan would have a crush on a celebrity; he appeared perfect. 

As soon as it was clear to me that I had no shot, I gave up, and while I was a little sad, it was Mike who hurt me the most.

"Shall we get a little payback?" I whisper to the crestfallen Ken.