Thicker than Blood - Book One (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Heya updating for TheGlowingRose ;)

So this chapter appears short but there's a restricted part to it which you can find on my profile with my works, under restricted chapters for this story. (I do want to keep this story PG-13, somewhat.)

I'll also try to put the link to the restricted part on the side here. 

Read this first and then the restricted part if you wish. You won't miss anything if you don't read it, story line wise.

http://www.wattpad.com/3581083-chapter-twenty-six-restricted

If you click on the open external link thingy to the right of the chapter it will open into the restricted part of the chapter also ;)

Enjoy!

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It was hours later when Nathaniel and Jaden decided I was done for the day. The knifes I'd been using were all bloody and so were my clothes but neither had relented when I felt like running away screaming.

How could they both be so... So easy and teasing when I was hurting someone for no reason every time I failed? And I had failed, miserably. Time and again. Shamed about that I didn't meet Jaden's eyes as we left the practice room to go to the kitchen for lunch.

After about a dozen times it had become apparent that stabbing Jaden when he was already in panther form didn't work. At least, I hadn't been able to make him lose control of his shape and make him fluctuate between the two.

Jaden had then shifted to human form and surprised me by showing that he could do that and be clothed completely. Did that mean he kept his clothing on as he shifted? Yesterday I clearly remembered Nathaniel ordering him to dress...

I'd also seen the way the clothes the wolfs had worn shredded on the ground so I didn't think it worked that way. Nathaniel had incinerated every scrap of clothing in the blink of an eye, hiding the evidence from the rest of the school.

Jaden in human form had been much harder for me to stab, even though he'd taunted me and prodded and teased. His obvious attempt to ease my mind and help me do it, he'd also bantered easily with Nathaniel.

Stabbing him in human form didn't work either and I'd desperately tried to convince the two males that I couldn't do it. That wolf must have been weak and because of the pain he'd lost his own control, it had nothing to do with me.

They didn't believe me.

But Jaden had finally agreed that wolves and panthers were different and that we had to check if this meant I could only catch wolves in between shapes. Nathaniel hadn't wanted to put that to the test though.

He wouldn't let me near any of the werewolves in this area and he didn't have any wolves employed that he'd trust close to me either. Nor were they loyal enough that he'd asked them to be stabbed for my training.

Even now they were discussing what to do to help me unlock this power they imagined I had... But really this morning of futility had proven I didn't have it. I wouldn't let myself get pushed into another grueling training session where I had to hurt someone I hoped to be able to call friend.

Jaden was someone I could easily like and feel comfortable around. He was easy in his affections, reaching out occasionally to just rub his knuckles over my cheek. Just to show me he really wasn't blaming me for the pain he had to endure.

It surprised me that Nathaniel didn't get territorial about this but he seemed as easy around the panther as I felt. Affection was communicated between the two men differently as with me, a rough pat on the shoulder and that banter between them.