Birthright

CHAPTER FIVE

Kray positioned his fists closer to his face and moved carefully around Alex. Even with headgear, chest padding and a variety of other protective equipment, her attacks still dealt a lot of damage. His overall bruised condition proved this. Unlike him, she wore only her workout outfit. She was confident he wouldn't be able to hurt her—which was true, much to his constant frustration.

Renovations on the square building behind the Drasse mansion had finally ended. They'd added several new areas, including a shower and a rec room. The workout room was stocked with weapons and equipment of almost every kind. Some, he'd been allowed to practice with over the years. But there were weapons he had never gone near, especially the reinforced Meta blades.

Still, he contented himself with these training hours, which became less frequent as time passed. In a few months, Alex would leave to attend a Meta Foundation, a school for training and creating Metas, and he would no longer have these moments with her.

"You look tired." Her voice broke through his contemplation. She stopped moving and lowered her arms, stance relaxed. "Break?"

A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. In a sudden burst of movement, he leaped toward her, swinging his arm to catch her in a chokehold. Laughing, Alex ducked under his attack and slipped around him. "You cheater," she said as she trapped his arms behind his back. "Taking advantage of my thoughtfulness?"

"Street brawlers don't play fair," he teased back, referring to her tendency to call him a street brawler whenever he and Oliver got into a scuffle. His face grew hot from exertion as he tried to pull his arms apart. There was nothing left in him. After two hours of being whacked around, he was done. "You win," he panted. "Let me go."

"Don't give up so easily." Her voice had grown serious; she was in instructor mode. "Search for a weakness. You might be surprised to find one."

His humor died down. A weakness. Alex never seemed to have one, but maybe she was letting him have a fighting chance. He tugged against her grip, not surprised when she didn't relent. But he did learn something new.

Even though her forearms secured him in place, her right hand wasn't holding his bicep tightly enough. There was just the slightest space between them, perhaps enough to slip his left arm out of her grasp. Against a normal person, this plan might have worked. But as a half-Meta, Alex had the strength of a grown man, maybe even two. Did he even stand a chance?

It was worth a try.

He disguised his intention by falling back against her, forcing her to push against him to keep them both upright. With an explosion of energy, he strained his upper muscles and focused all of his strength on freeing his left arm.

It worked. He allowed himself only a moment to relish the victory before moving for a counterattack. His freed arm reached over his opposite shoulder and grabbed a handful of Alex's sweatshirt.

A second later, Alex hit the mat with a resounding thud.

Kray didn't know which of them was more surprised. Her wide-eyed expression told him she hadn't willingly allowed him to slam her onto the padded mat. Chagrin replaced his shock and he fell to his knees next to her prone figure. "Alex! Are you okay?"

Even with the monumental difference in their strength, Alex was still a girl. He couldn't believe he'd just thrown a girl over his shoulder. What if she was really hurt?

She sat up slowly and stared at him for a long moment before saying, "I'm fine—I've taken worse hits against my trainers." A smile crossed her lips, intended to reassure him. But it looked more uncertain than anything else. "What was that about? I really didn't see it coming."