Chapter Seventy-Two
Catherine waited for the attack, seeing it coming from a mile away. She ducked her shoulder, locked her hand around the attacker’s wrist, shoved up with a grunt and sent them to the mat behind her. Catherine turned around, her hands on her hips.
“Stop going easy on me,” Catherine chastised, barely out of breath.
“I’m not, you bitch!” Natalie yelled, shoving herself up off the mat. She bent backwards until there was a pop, a sign of fatigue Catherine had picked up on in the last week of working with her. Natalie rotated her arms and held her fists out again. “If you want to train with your boy toy in the evenings, that’s fine. Just give me a heads up so I can do the same.”
Natalie slipped forward and left. Catherine knew she would shift right before Natalie attempted it. Catherine felt it. Like an electrical line stripped of all its protective coating, the static crackled in the air around her. Catherine lifted her hand to block the right uppercut then brought her knee up to deflect Natlie’s left hand. Catherine ducked and slid to avoid the sudden appearance of Natalie’s trusty ankle knife.
Catherine ebbed and flowed around the field of energy, dodging with perfect accuracy until she found the opening: Natalie broke her root to the ground. Catherine dropped, spun her feet and knocked Natalie’s feet from under her. Natalie grunted as she hit the mat face-first.
Catherine stood up and laughed down at her friend who was shaking her head into the mat in anger. “To answer your question, Graham refuses to spar with me,” Catherine said. She held her hand down and helped Natalie onto her feet. The door behind them slammed shut.
“She’s not there yet,” Graham confirmed. Catherine rolled her eyes towards Natalie. “First she has to get past you, then Theo, then Lucas, then Lucas and Theo…” As he talked, Catherine moved her mouth to the words. Graham’s hands enveloped her waist. He turned her to face him and she gave him an innocent smile that his dark eyes saw straight through. He took her chin between his fingers and tilted her face up. “Then me.”
“You sure are a cocky one,” Catherine chuckled. She ran her hands up his chest.
“After watching you beat up a much more practiced warrior than yourself for the past twenty minutes?” Graham cupped her hand and moved it down to the front of his pants causing her cheeks to catch fire. “Yes, very cocky indeed.”
“You two are gross!” Natalie groaned. She tried to cover her ears as she picked up her belongings scattered around the gym. “It’s only gotten worse since you’ve marked each other. You don’t care about being private anymore.”
“Payback, Sister,” Graham mocked.
“Theo and I are never as bad as you two are.”
Catherine scoffed. “Oh, really? Does this sound familiar…” Catherine covered Graham’s ears. “I’ve been stuck in the woods dreaming of your dripping pussy.’ ‘You’re in luck, I’ve been stuck here practicing riding your desperate cock.””
Graham clearly heard every word. His dark eyes stared daggers at his sister who squirmed beneath his gaze.
“I’m going to make you pay for that. Sooner than you think catty Catherine,” Natalie warned.
She balled her dirty clothes, purse and towel haphazardly in her arms and stalked from the gym. Graham’s dark glare followed his sister out the door. When he looked back at her, his gaze softened and his thumbs rubbed against her bare skin.
“You’re picking things up quickly,” he said with pride.
1/4
“I’m glad you approve,” she joked.
“I think I can get you started with Theo next week.”
“Will you be watching me then?”
“Like a hawk,” he agreed. Catherine laughed as he gave her a quick kiss. He glanced down at his phone. His eyebrows drew together as he responded to a text.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
Graham nodded as he finished responding. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and gave her a breathtaking smile. “Everything’s great, Baby. Only going to get better. You ready?”
Catherine nodded and allowed Graham to lead her out to the motorcycle. She sat up slightly and rested her chin on his shoulder as he drove them home. They were having a date-night. Tomorrow was Catherine’s first day off in a week and so they were going out to dinner. Graham refused to tell her anything else he had planned though he promised she would love it.
Everything had been perfect in the last week. Catherine managed to compartmentalize all of her problems and instead basked in the glow of being newly mated. She loved the thrill of showing off her mate’s mark. She loved how much more sensitive she felt to the world and everything it encompassed. She loved how her power continued to manifest more and more each day as if slowly allowing her to get accustomed to its presence. Most of all, she loved her mate, who strove to make each and every day better than the last.
Catherine pulled her helmet off and handed it to Graham. When he set it down, Catherine grabbed his jacket and hauled him to her. He grunted as their lips clashed. His body immediately enveloped hers. Sweeping her up against his chest, he moved them into the house. He sat her down in the bedroom but instead of helping her out of her clothes, like he normally did, he gave her one last lingering kiss and told her to get ready.
Catherine chalked his dismissive behavior up to wanting to get ready in time to make it to the reservation. She took a quick shower, applied some makeup and put on her black spaghetti strap cocktail dress. She was strapping on some heels when there was a knock on the door.
“Graham? Was that the door?” Catherine yelled.
“Huh?” Graham called from the kitchen.
The knocking sounded again.
“I think there’s someone at the door, can you get it?” she asked.
“I can’t hear you? Is that the door? Can you get it?”
Catherine shook her head and smiled. Refusing to keep yelling, she limped on one heel toward the front door. As she got closer she heard several female voices talking all at once. The knocking came again. Someone shushed someone else. The voices picked up again. Catherine opened the door and her mouth fell open.
“Surprise!!”
Natalie, Heather, Annabelle, Mable, and Betty all cheered and laughed at Catherine’s shocked expression. Then they parted, revealing a sixth person: Juno. Catherine squealed and jumped into her friend’s arms. They hugged each other tightly which resulted in the other five girls joining them in one large group hug.
Catherine managed to extricate herself and find her breath again. “What… What are you guys doing here?!”
2/4
Chapter Seventy-Two
“It’s your marking party!” the MacTavish girls declared.
“Marking party?” Catherine asked, still trying to process what was happening.
“It’s like a bachelorette party,” Juno explained.
“Yeah, you know how it is. Most of us jump our mate’s bones the moment we recognize each other so it’s easier to celebrate after,” Natalie said as she walked by them carrying several bags that clinked. Catherine’s eyes followed Natalie and landed on Graham waiting inside the door with a pleased smile on his face.
“Did you do this?” Catherine asked, stepping up closer to him.
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I thought you might want a girls’ night.”
“I love you,” Catherine whispered before placing a gentle kiss to his lips. The other women bustled past them carrying bags of candy, board games, blankets, pajamas and more. Catherine’s excitement grew with each new item she saw. She looked up at Graham. He was staring down at his phone again. His thumbs moved over the screen.”What about you? Do guys have marking parties?”
Graham put his phone away and hugged her. His smile seemed content. He brushed some hair behind her ear. “Yeah, the guys want to take me out,” he said, gesturing with his chin to the road.
Catherine glanced to the road to see a black SUV pull up. Theo stuck his head out the driver-side window and waved. Natalie skipped over to say goodbye as the other men piled out to stretch. She recognized Geoffrey and Leo. Lucas was getting a few things out of his jeep.
“Who’s he?” Catherine asked, gesturing toward a man she recognized as one of Jensen’s guards.
“That’s Mark. He’s a good guy. He was there when I saw you the first time. Remember?”
“I remember you walking away from me,” she pointed out.
“Ouch.”
“I agree! What are you going to do? No strip clubs,” Catherine said as she jabbed a finger in his chest.
He caught her finger and kissed the tip. “Never.” He shrugged. “We might get drinks and dinner. Maybe get a tattoo.” Graham started to pull away from her.
“Oh yeah, got to memorialize your rise to beta, huh?” she guessed.
Graham looked upward and shrugged his shoulders to his ears. He ducked down, trapped her face between his hands and kissed her. “Have fun tonight, Baby.”
“Thank you. You too,” she whispered.
Catherine watched Graham stride off. She shook her head as the guys enveloped him in a grand display of back pats and shoulder shakes. Lucas looked up toward the house and gave a flirtatious wave.
“Bye, June Bug. I’ll be seeing you,” Lucas said in a sing-song voice.
Juno walked up beside Catherine and wrapped her arms around Catherine’s shoulders. She sighed and shook her head as they watched the men file into the SUV. Lucas got in last and blew Juno a kiss before slamming the door shut.
3/4
Chapter Seventy-Two
I see you met Lucas?” Catherine observed.
“He gave me a ride into town,” Juno explained. “That boy is trouble.”
“Understatement. He’s quite the man-slut,” Catherine informed her.
“That’s okay, I’m quite the woman-slut,” Juno said.
The two held hands as they walked back into the house to see what the MacTavish sisters had in mind for the night.
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