Everyone's Mate (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 31

I snorted out, "Are you a puppy?" before I was tackled to the ground with teeth around my neck faster than I could blink. The breath was knocked out of me as she pushed my head down in the snow.

Her teeth and her tongue were warm as she clenched down, almost drawing blood. Almost.

Riordan walked closer, a smirk on his face. He crouched down next to me so he could see my expression, his eyes teasing and knowing. Danika growled deeply around my throat, making my instincts flare.

"Two years ago she was where you are right now. Now she could hold up to even me." He smirked. "Maybe you should think before you talk."

I frowned at him, knowing I dare not move while she had my neck. Rio stood and signaled for her to get off and she let go slowly, but her glare didn't have heat anymore. She'd made her point.

"This time," Rio crowed, crossing his arms over his chest and backing up to lean against the side of the house, "I hope you take this seriously."

The rest of the group of warriors surrounding us let out a few chuckles. They'd probably all been in my place at some time or another. He'd been training with them before I came out here. They were all fine soldiers – a good number of them were his brothers, but the great many were random people I'd never met but all were mated (Thank god). All of them looked similar to him – toned, muscular, strong, lithe, and powerful. These were his elite warriors, the ones he would trust with his life.

I took solace in that. Just a little. And maybe I understood in hindsight why he would want to know if he could trust me like that too.

I stared Danika down and waited for her move, our footsteps crunching in the snow. This time when she came at me in the exact same way she had before, tackling me to the ground, I used her inertia to roll us to the side with my arm across her neck, pinning her to the ground.

A few whistles sounded out from the group. Riordan nodded approvingly. "Good. Again."

She took her time circling me, snapping at me to test my defense. I always kept her to my front, knowing my best defense was going to be something like before.

She lunged from the side this time, ripping at my shirt, biting into it and shaking it to take me off balance, trying to drag me down to the floor where she had the advantage. I moved with her, putting her off balance, and wrapped my arm around her neck, holding her there in a vulnerable position. She went limp after a few struggles, letting me know I won.

I was about to release her when I was tackled suddenly to the side, teeth in my shoulder and neck but not penetrating. This wolf was much bigger than her, and stronger.

This time I struggled as much as I would have in real life, boxing his ears to let me go and kicking him off of me to get more room.

I got up and rubbed at my sore shoulder, glaring at them and then Riordan. "You said only Danika!"

"Do you think the enemy would care?" he asked seriously, giving me a shrug before I was pulled back into the fray.

Danika was the first to make a move, slamming into me with the force of a firetruck. This time I had no choice but to fall again, rolling to absorb the impact before scrambling to my feet.

The other wolf was on me within seconds, his teeth in a vice-like grip around my forearm. I couldn't move.

I slammed my other elbow into the back of his head, freeing my arm, and had the good grace to roll out of the way as Danika came at me again. I was already soaked to the bone with melted snow.

This time I was on my feet and I was running. They didn't expect that.

Nor did they expect me to vault from the trunk of a nearby pine tree and jump high enough to grab a strong low-hanging branch. I used it to swing myself up out of danger of the next lunging wolf, pulling myself up to crouch precariously on the branch. Unintended, snow fell from higher up in the tree right onto the two below me. I took their distraction as a sign and broke off a piece of the branch that was at least half the width and depth of my wrist. It was jagged enough to mean something so I pocketed it, hoping no one saw.