Second Chance Mate (The Force - Book 2)

Chapter 4

Once the last flag was placed on the board, Director Fielding blew his whistle, signaling the end of the first exam. Mattie watched him as he walked over to the board and reviewed the list of trainees who passed the first round. She did not miss the anger in his eyes seeing her name listed on the pass list. He looked at her for a second, giving her a cold look before walking off.

I will finish this exam whether you like it or not. I will see to it you give me my certificate showing I completed this academy.

Trainees were given a short fifteen-minute break to get water and prepare for their second exam. Dax walked over to Mattie, bringing her a bottle of water and a towel.

Giving him a half smile, Mattie accepted his offer. “Thanks Dax.”

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he watched her drink the bottle of water. Even though she was still drenched in water, her t-shirt and athletic shorts hugged the curves of her olive, sun-kissed body in all of the right ways. She looked good even when she wasn’t trying. Sighing, he bent down next to Mattie, “Are you prepared for the skills test?” Dax looked over to the weapons area as most of the other trainees had already started looking at different weapons, practicing.

Rolling her eyes, Mattie took a long drink of her water before she stood up. She looked at Dax with her light, golden brown eyes. “I guess we will see.”

Dax lightly grabbed her shoulders, stopping her in front of him. He was well over a foot taller than her. “You know, after all of this, no matter the outcome, I will help you to get a job. My father has a lot of connections…”

Mattie raised her hand to stop him from saying anything further. She didn’t need his help. Even if she did not pass all of the exams, she would never ask Dax or his family for help. There were always strings attached. But she also didn’t want him to be her enemy either. He could cause a lot of problems for her. For a moment Mattie stared at him and wondered if Dax was responsible for her added challenge at the lake. He was in the advanced training program. It wouldn’t be uncommon for an advanced trainee to be tasked with helping add challenges to the examination.

Turning on her heels, Mattie walked towards the weaponry skills area. She sat back and watched other trainees get their weapon of choice. Mattie was the last to choose. Showing no emotion, she walked up and collected different daggers off of the stand. Inside she was smiling. Daggers were not visually aesthetic to show off compared to larger weapons the audience could easily see. Mattie could care less. She was here to pass her exam, not show off to rich old men trying to win money.

Trainees engaged with their assigned targets in order of their standing from the endurance test. Mattie calmed herself and watched the other trainees who went before her – noting their approaches. When it was time for Mattie to engage in the test, she slowly walked up to the starting line. The targets had been moved to different locations, making it harder to attack targets from any one location.

Taking a deep breath, Mattie waited for the sound of the whistle. The screeching high pitched sound made her adrenaline surge through her body. Taking off down the course, Mattie threw her first two daggers at the dummies, nailing them in the head. Each dagger made death kill. There were only two areas that counted. The head or the heart.

Retrieving the daggers, she flew up behind the third target, jumped on it’s back and stabbed him in the skull.

The last two targets were hidden. She continued her forward progress, waiting for the targets to be revealed. Stepping on the release pad, one target flew out from her left while a second target dropped from above her. Letting her instincts take over, Mattie threw one dagger at the moving target to her left, nailing it in the heart, while dodging the aerial attack, stabbing it in the head. Mattie had one unused dagger left in her belt, she took it out, flipped it in her hand and threw it into her last target, in the head.

Smiling, she looked back at Director Fielding and left the course. All five dummies were struck with a precision death strike. Exam completed.

Whispers in the crowd questioned the trainee’s report they were given. Mattie was ranked second to last. But yet, she was a strong competitor. The audience wondered who she was. A few who already had their front runner fail their exam and were looking at Mattie. Could they bet on a female to pass the exam, let alone win?

The one thing the trainee’s summary report did not include was information regarding a female’s talent. Even though she-wolves could not shift, each she-wolf had a talent, a gift from the Moon Goddess. For Mattie, her gift was the strength and skills of a Werewolf. She could not shift, but her speed, strength, and agility were equal to that of a male Werewolf. Making her a worthy competitor in this competition.

Director Fielding blew his whistle, ending the second round. The top ten names were read off in order of points. Mattie jumped from 9th position to 5th position. Smiling, she was right where she wanted to be. Her smile quickly faded as Tory, the other female who made it to the examination, was eliminated. Director Fielding had Mattie where he wanted her. Originally, he had planned to pair the two she-wolves up to spar each other. It would only be fair to them not to fight a male Werewolf. But as luck would have it, that was no longer an option.

Calling for a short break, Director Fielding stepped off to the side to work on the sparring order. His concentration was interrupted by one of the Royal Court members. “Director Fielding, a word if I may.” Ferris Burton waited for Fielding to turn around to face him. His face was cold and his eyes were dark, hiding his emotions. Ferris was a Royal Court member, ran the import/export shipping business, in addition to her own private affairs. He came from a long line of Viking Werewolves.

Swallowing hard, Director Fielding nodded, acknowledging Ferris. “Director Fielding, you seem like a smart wolf. You see, I am in a predicament. I lost my first round of betting on Tanner, who I thought was a promising individual. I lost a lot of money. Now I am betting on the girl passing the next examination. I don’t like losing money.”

Ferris’s dark eyes focused on Director Fielding. “I see.”

Coldness filled the air around them as Ferris spoke. “Do you Director Fielding? Do you really see?” Ferris glanced down at the sparring list. The list made no sense to him. Mattie was paired with Duke, who was the front runner and now the crowd favorite to win. Ferris liked winning, but he didn’t want some washed up warrior taking out his personal vendetta on Mattie. Ferris caught the way he looked at Mattie today. Anyone paying half attention couldn’t miss Director Fielding’s looks at her. “I expect a logic pairing for the third assessment. You see, if I feel things are not fair and I lose because of it, I may need to recruit you to be part of my next shipment leaving tonight. One that might just have an accident and sink to the bottom of the ocean.”

Pursing his lips together, Fielding was no one to be threatened, but he also was not part of the Royal Court. Ferris held a powerful position and he no doubt would carry out his threat. Reigning in his irritation, Fielding kept control of his emotions. “Mr. Burton…” Fielding glanced down at his list, “…this is an old draft that I am still revising. I always ensure a fair fight in the third exam. After all, it is a test of skills and we want the best to shine.”

Ferris turned around and snapped his fingers for his guards to follow him. He knew Fielding would see it his way.

Duke walked over to Mattie, who was warming up on her own. “Hey Matt.” Most of the trainees called her Matt as a nickname, as she fought like a Werewolf.

Smiling, she acknowledged Duke. He was a good friend and training partner. He never took it easy on her because she was a she-wolf. No, he recognized her talent and treated her as an equal. He sat down next to her, close, pretending to stretch. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Listen, if we are paired up…it is expected I will knockout my opponent.” Mattie nodded at Duke. She knew this. It didn’t make her happy knowing there was a good possibility they might be paired up to fight. He was one of the best fighters in the program. His eyes narrowed, looking at Mattie out of concern. “You need to get two strikes in as soon as we start before I have to fully engage in our match.”

Mattie frowned. She didn’t want anyone going easy on her. “Duke, I appreciate your concern. Just fight me as you would anyone else.” Sighing, he wished for once she would accept help. “When I win our match, I want it to be because I kicked your ass, not because you took it easy on me.”

Duke smiled at her. That was his Mattie. He playfully pushed her jaw with his knuckles before getting up.

Dax stood off to the side watching Duke and Mattie. Their voices were too low for him to hear what they were saying from where he was. Seeing Duke flirt with Mattie made his blood boil. If Duke didn’t watch it, Dax would take care of him one way or another. Anyone who got between him and Mattie would face his wrath.

**Please follow me by liking the book. What do you think about the characters so far? Mattie is one tough she-wolf. She will need her strength to make it through the next exam.**