Chapter 26: Warrior Training
Samara
I have no idea what came over me. Okay, yes I do a and it’s more than just the mate bond. I might already be addicted to the way Roman kisses me His mouth feels so perfect against mine, so soft and warm, and if I’m being honest with myself, loving! can feel the love that Roman has for me through his kiss. It’s like he pours his entire being into the kiss I don’t know much about sex, but I do know that if we ever get to that stage of our relationship, I’m positive rll be overwhelmed by him. If he puts this much of himself into a kiss, I can’t imagine how much he’ll pour himself into our love–making
So, for him to agree
sree that I can let Aylı
run alone AND 1 get kisses out of it, it’s a win–win for m
‘For us. I like the way he kisses us too. I can’t wait until I can have time with Pierce, Ayla says
‘I know.” Roman is making it nearly impossible to NOT trust him.
After another amazing kiss from Roman, he leads me back downstairs to warrior training. I’ve watched warriors train all my life, first in my father’s pack and then in Alpha William’s. I’ve practiced some moves in my room when I was alone, but without an instructor, I have no idea if I’m any good.
I watch Roman quickly assess his warriors, then nod at Austin to continue training before leading me slightly away from the
group.
“Okay, I’d like to get an idea of what you remember about your training and see how strong you are so I know how hard I can push you. Let’s start with you on offense. I know you know how to kick…
“Yeah she e does.”
Morning, Luna.”
–
a warrior chimes in. I turn and see Andrew, the warrior I knocked unconscious at the hotel, smiling
“Good morning, Andrew,”
As I glance around, I realize all of the warriors are distracted by my presence. Roman seems to recognize the same thing and
he turns to them.
Thirty minutes. You can watch for thirty minutes, then I better see the best sparting I’ve ever seen in my life from you,” he says and in less than a minute, the entire group of warriors has surrounded us.
“Why do you want to watch?” I ask
“You knocked Andrew out,” one of the warriors says.
“Yeah, he’s one of our strongest warriors, Luna. If you’re untrained and you did that, you must be pretty damn strong
“What they’re really hoping to see is you knocking our Alpha on his ass. None of us has ever been able to do it, but we’re
hoping you can,” Beta Austin says.
I turn and look back at Roman. He’s grinning, and he waggles his eyebrows at me. It’s an obvious challenge, one that the
Alpha in me can’t refuse, which I’m sure Roman knows
“I think you have a decided advantage over me,” I tell him.
“As I said, this is for me to see what you remember and how strong you really are. Whenever you’re ready,” he says, taking a
defensive stance
I roll my shoulders and tilt my head from side to side, loosening my neck as I think through what I remember, and what I’ve seen and practiced in warrior training
I get in an attack stance and then I come at Roman hard, punching straight at his chest, then an uppercut to his jaw and a
third to the side to catch his ribs. He blocks the first two and grunts when I make contact with his ribs.
The warriors begin cheering for me
“Quiet!” Roman tells them “She needs to focus Then he looks at me “You’re fast, that’s good. I thought you said Ayla has
never had training.”
“She hasn’t. I hadn’t gotten her when I left home.”
He raises an eyebrow. “That combination is a more advanced combination than I would expect a pup to have learned “
“I have eyes Roman. I watched Alpha William’s warriors spar, and I taught myself what I could”
He smiles proudly. “Of course you did. When you’re ready,” he says, getting back into a defensive stance.
I think through the next sequence I’ve been practicing. I come at him again, aiming for the chest, when he blocks, I swing my body around, using the momentum to try and land a punch to his ribs, which he also blocks. Then I let the momentum of the
tum continue as I crouch and swing my leg out behind Roman’s. He leaps over my leg just before I can swipe his feet out
from underneath him.
He spins around ready for me to come at him again, but my combos are only in threes, so I step back. Roman grins at me.
“Damn you’re good. You’re going to be one hell of a fighter once you’ve had practice.”
The unexpected praise has me beaming with pleasure.
“I’m still waiting for the head kick, though,” he says, getting back in his defensive stance.
“If you’re expecting it, then it won’t work, will it?” I ask him.
“Come on, Luna. Take him down,” a warrior says, and the others murmur excited encouragement, staying quiet as Roman
directed.
through my kicking combination. If I can distract him with a head kick, maybe I can bring him down a different way
I get in my stance and Roman quickly assesses the change in how I’m standing. He rolls onto his toes, subtly changing his stance, obviously ready for me to kick him
I swing my leg hard and fast at his head. I’m ready when he blocks it and I spin back the other way, swinging my leg at his stomach He blocks me again, but the next spin has me moving beside him and I plant my left leg and lift my right foot, kicking the back of Roman’s knee.
He drops to one knee but before I can get excited about bringing him down, his arm snakes around my waist and he yanks me down in front of him. I yelp at the unexpected movement and a moment later, I’m in Roman’s arms, my upper body
cradled in one arm while resting against his bent leg, with the arm that snagged me still around my waist as he holds me
against him.
I can hear the cheers of the warriors, excited that I brought Roman down, even if he did take me down with him. But it’s the
pride shining in Roman’s eyes that has my heart fluttering.
“Damn, you’re incredible,” he says, a moment before his mouth crashes against mine I don’t bother fighting it. I love the way this man kisses me, so I wrap my arms around his neck, letting him guide me through another kiss.
This time, I fight for dominance in the dance of our tongues, but my mate is a much more experienced kisser than I am and
he only deepens the kiss until I’m whimpering against him
When he finally pulls away, we’re both panting. He gently strokes my cheek as he looks at me
says softly,
I feel my cheeks heat from his praise.
You really are amazing,” he
“You
25 NONUS
“But we still have a lot of work to do to make you a lethal fighter,” he says, lifting me up When he stands, I realize all of the warriors are back to their own sparring, having given us what little privacy they could while we kissed. I’m embarrassed all ever again, realizing that I’d just kissed Roman like I did in front of the pack.
“You have good skills, but I’m assuming your combos stop at three?” he asks.
“Yes”
“We need to expand that. You can’t stop in the middle of a fight and think through your next combination. It has to come naturally. That will come with practice. You also have tells that we’ll work on Your stance was different when you were going to kick. Any good warrior will be able to see what you’re going to do before you do it. You took Andrew by surprise at the hotel, but Thet he and most of my warriors, knew you were going to kick in that last combination.”
“We did.” I hear some of the warriors call out.
“What’s with the peanut gallery?” I ask
“We’re impressed with you, Luna,” one of the warriors says.
“Yeah, we can’t wait until it’s our turn to try our skills against you,” another says.
“That will be a while,” Roman says, before refocusing on me.
“Now, let’s test your defensive skills. You should have had those in pup training, but I’m gue you haven’t had a lot of
practice using those.”
kitchen.” I smirk
“You’d be surprised how many defensive skills an omega needs in the kitchen,”
ling for me t
to get into a defensive position
“Wow me again with your skills, my mate,” he says, nodding
When I do, I realize quickly that Roman is right. While I remember the defensive techniques, I’m very rusty. Roman tags me again and again, careful not to punch too hard, just enough to let me know he got past my defenses.
“Tomorrow, we’ll focus on strengthening your defensive skills. That’s your biggest weakness and the one I want to improve quickly. We don’t get attacked often, but if we are, I need to know that you can defend yourself”
Because I know he’s right, I don’t argue.
He pulls me into a hug. “You did really well. Once again, you impress me, my mate.”
“Maybe you’re just easily impressed” I say.
He pulls back to look at me. “Believe me, I’m not,” he says, then leans in for another kiss.
“Is this what I can expect every time I let Ayla out for a run?” I ask him when he pulls back
He grins at me “Oh this is nothing. I still have more than half the day left. There will be many, many more kisses to come
Yep, definitely a win–win for me 1
Cooper
Is anyone surprised that Samara is a strong warrior even without training?
