The Breed: Nora's Choice (6 page)

            Not only
did he have to win over his mate, he had to come up with some serious business
skills, and fast.

            “You think
I’m just gonna hand you a check book and push you out into the world?” Memphis
snorted, “We’re family now. We’ll be doing it together. I’m thinking we’ll have
it in the Midwest since that’s where you’re from, and I’m thinking a sports
bar.”

            “Ok… yeah,
I think I could do a sports bar,” when he was still human he loved driving to
downtown Detroit during big games to go bar hopping if he couldn’t get tickets.
If there was one food establishment he thought he might be able to run, a
sports bar was it.

            “Alright
now we’re cooking with gas,” Memphis finally cracked a smile, “Before Christmas
I want you to pitch me some serious ideas; décor, theme, food, location, name,
I want it all done.”

            “Christmas…
ok, right,” that would give him at least a little time to wrap his mind around
things.

            “Also,
tomorrow we’re starting a training course for your sister. Cass wants her to
learn to at least defend herself, and I volunteered to teach it because I’ll
need to make sure you’re up to scratch anyway. We also conveniently decided
that since Nora has been her partner in crime, she should do some time as
well,” Memphis winked.

            Quinn
perked up immediately.

Tomorrow
would be his first chance to impress his mate and he needed to make it count.

               
At eight fifty Nora trudged her way
across the embassies gigantic training field. She knew Memphis well enough to
know he never made an empty threat, and seeing Quinn was the last thing she
needed right now.

            Once she worked on herself a little more
and got her episodes under control again, then she would be ready to discuss
the options of their bond.

            Maybe.

            Tessa waved cheerfully at her, wearing a
black sweat suit, and to Nora’s surprise, she had beaten her wild curls into a
tight bun at the base of her neck.

            Nora’s own curls were stuffed neatly
into a thick braid down her back, making her feel like a curvier version of the
tomb raider.

            “You’re not wearing any pants,” Tessa
scowled at her.

            “Yoga pants
are
pants, fashion
police. Where’s Memphis?” she scanned for his hulking figure.

            “Those are thinner than tights,” Tessa
rolled her eyes, “he and Remy are pulling the stuff we’re using out of the
shed.”

            “Alright, we’re just waiting for the last
person to wander in,” Memphis called over his shoulder as he drug a mat towards
them.

            “Who else is coming?” she asked.

            “Finally,” Memphis grumbled, just as
Tessa gave another overly cheerful wave.

           
Oh hell no
. She didn’t even need
to turn around to see who it was, the look on everyone’s face told her Quinn
was headed her way.

            “You’re late,” Memphis grunted, tossing
a stack of knee and elbow pads into his chest, “sort those out for Remy and
Tessa.”

            He didn’t bother saying hello to her,
just began untangling the pile of pads.

            She didn’t care; she was happy that he
hadn’t acknowledged her presence. Absolutely thrilled about it.

            “Ok, Tess and Nora, you two are here as
a punishment because you can’t seem to keep yourselves out of trouble. We’re gonna
start off with the basics in weapons and hand to hand combat training, and as
Tessa progresses we’ll move on-”

            “I already know the basics so I
shouldn’t have to be here,” Nora grumbled at the waste of her time.

            She needed to be doing things to help her
better herself and get over her episodes. She needed to be attending the
nursing classes and finding something to help with her stress, not wasting her
time going over things she had learned half a century ago.

            “Fight me then,” Quinn’s voice rang clear
and steady across the grounds.

            “What?” she scoffed.

            She searched for his feelings but found
nothing, again. He was intentionally keeping himself calm and steady so that
she couldn’t get a reading from him.

            “If you already know everything about
what he’s teaching us today, then fight me, beat  me to prove it and leave once
your done,” he replied casually.

            She didn’t understand what his deal was.
Was he trying to get his ass kicked? Whatever game he was trying to play, her
patience was running thin.

            “I don’t need to prove anything to you,
the people who matter already know what I’m capable of,” she barked, hoping the
barb would wound his pride.

            “That’s fine,” he shrugged, “wouldn’t
have been much of a fight anyway.”

            “Excuse me?” she flared. He would pay
for that.

            Around her Tessa and Remy huddled
together looking like a nuclear bomb was about to go off.

            “Give me a bow staff,” she growled,
impatiently holding out her hand, “and prepare to get your teeth kicked down
your throat.”

            “It’s alright really,” he chuckled,
waving his hands in mock surrender, “the only person I should be fighting with
is Memphis. I don’t want to hurt you girls.”

            “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried,” she
snapped.

            Shaking with rage she vowed once she
beat him she would parade the victory over him for the rest of his life. She
wasn’t some delicate flower he could just laugh off; she was going to crush
him.

            “Alright let’s make a bet then. I bet
that you can’t land a single blow on me with that staff. If you win I’ll do
whatever you want,” he suggested, and she finally saw the trap her temper had
walked her into.

            “Fine. If I win, you stay away from me.
No coming to these classes, or popping up outside my door, I don’t have to look
at your face unless
I
call for
you
,” she threw down her gauntlet.

            He had just given her the means to solve
her biggest problem, all she had to do was land one blow on him.

            “Deal. If I win I want a kiss,” he
smiled pleasantly at her.

            Nora’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t back
out now, her pride wouldn’t allow it. She had no choice but to accept.

            “And don’t even think about trying to
twist that around,” he waved a finger at her, “I mean a full on the lips,
longer than a minute, eyes closed, kiss.”

            Tessa let out a delighted squeal that
made her nauseous.

            “Doesn’t matter, I’m gonna smoke your
ass anyway,” she sneered, catching the bow staff Memphis tossed to her.

            “Put your money where your mouth is
then,” he taunted, casually leaning on his own weapon.

            “Let’s give them some space and go practice
down by the archery range. If either of you land a hit on me I’ll buy dinner,”
Memphis dictated, leading the girls away.

            Nora watched as they followed in his
footsteps, heads bent together strategizing on how they could possibly achieve
victory against Memphis.

            “Just me and you now,” he smiled at her,
forcing her to ignore the immediate spike in her heart rate.

            She circled around, sizing him up and
hating how relaxed he was. He would regret underestimating her.

            It didn’t matter to her that he was
twice her size, or that he was faster than anyone else in the Breed. Fighting
was just as much about strategy as it was brute strength.

            Memphis had taught her that lesson well.

            She knew he wasn’t going to attack her
aggressively, or even use his full strength. He would never try to hurt her,
instead he would go for light soft attempts. 

            Chivalry was going to be his down fall.
If he was going to take it easy on her, she would take advantage of the
situation and fight as hard, and as dirty, as she could. 

            Still standing behind him she lunged
forward like lightning, aiming her bow staff right between his legs.

            “Are you kidding me!” he yelped, barely
jumping out of the way before she made contact.

            She pulled her weapon back and furiously
aimed a jab at his neck.

            He dodged then swatted at her staff like
a mosquito.

            Again and again she aimed jabs and
slashes at him, grunting in frustration as he avoided even her dirtiest trick.
Sweat beaded down her back with the effort of the fight, while he never even
lifted his staff to defend himself.

            “Stop dodging and fight me,” she bit out
as her weapon thudded heavily against the ground. Within seconds she had it up
and swinging at his face again.

            “You are way too competitive,” he
chuckled, backing away just inches from her swing, “are you like this with
everything?”

            “Everything,” she growled out, “I hate
to lose, now pick up the staff and fight me.”

            He shook his head in wide eyed
disbelief, but raised his own weapon.

            She charged at him brandishing her bow
staff like a sword, and smashed it against his with all her might.

            “You know, I think it’s cute how crazy
you’re being,” he laughed, as he braced himself for another angry hit.

            Nora hated being called cute when she
was angry. She also hated the way his shirt stretched tight across his
washboard abs every time he moved, and the way his tousled hair always seemed
to find a way into his dark green eyes.

            She let out a hiss of frustration as she
watched her staff glide past his broad shoulder, again missing him by inches.

            Sweat was now pouring down her neck,
making her grip slip and her frustrations mount.

            “This is ridiculous,” she snarled as he
playfully tapped her staff.

            “I agree, why don’t you just give up and
give me my kiss,” he whirled behind her and gave her butt a quick smack.

            “Bite me!” her temper was boiling.

            “If that’s what you’re into,” he
laughed, jogging out of her reach.

            She began swinging wildly and with all
the strength she could muster, all thoughts of strategy tossed aside. She
didn’t care about winning anymore, she just wanted to smash the happy grin off
of his face.

            Every harsh crack of their weapons
meeting drove her on further, making her muscles scream out with the effort and
her mind relish the competition.

            It had been a long time since Nora had
met someone that she thought could beat her in a fight. If he had been a
regular Breed member she was sure they would have been on an equal footing, but
as it stood she was beginning to think she might actually lose to him.

            Her breaths came out in sharp gasps as
her braid swung around her head like a mace.

            “Nora, are you still coming to class
with me? It’s getting late,” Remy called from somewhere behind them.

            “What do you mean late?” she refused to
take her eyes off of her target, it had only been twenty minutes since they’d
started their fight.

            “I mean you two have been at it for over
an hour. We couldn’t get close to getting a hit on Memphis so we finally called
it quits for the day. Tessa is still down there somewhere dying, she’s too
tired to make it up the hill,” Remy laughed.

            Over an hour?

            “Time flies when you’re having fun,”
Quinn winked.

            Was she having fun? Now that the
statement was out there, she couldn’t deny it, she was having a blast.

            “Give us a few more minutes,” she
responded, knowing she was no closer to beating him than she was an hour ago,
but she wasn’t ready to stop the good time she was having.

            “I can probably stall for another hour,
but after that they’ll start without you. Have fun you two,” she called coyly
as she walked back to the embassy.

~

            Quinn had never seen anything as sexy in
his life as Nora doing everything in her power to kick his ass.

            Her cheeks were slightly flushed and her
eyes wild with her own competitiveness. The light sheen of sweat over her body
made her shirt cling to her breasts and loose strands of hair stick to her lips
and neck.

            If she was like this with everything he
needed to find something to challenge her on daily.

            Her refusal to back down had him
captivated. She wasn’t some helpless damsel in distress waiting for him to come
along and rescue her, she would knock him out of the way to slay her own
dragon. In a fight she wouldn’t want him to protectively cover her, she would
want to fight by his side.

            “What are you smiling at?” she growled,
slashing at him wildly.

            “You,” he cocked his head to stare at
her, “you’re not like anyone I’ve ever met.”

            She was nothing like the high school
girls who had fawned over him because he was
so cute
and because they
needed him to boost their popularity.

            Not a thing like the college girls who
had looked at his full athletic scholarship like a meal ticket they couldn’t
wait to cash in.

            He couldn’t read minds like Tessa but it
wasn’t hard to see through to their true intentions. Every woman who had ever
wanted him had only really wanted to use him as a tool for their own gain.

            Looking at Nora now however he realized
she didn’t need him for a damn thing. She knew she looked like an overly
competitive nut case, but she didn’t care about his opinion. Mate or not, she
was going to stay true to herself. It didn’t matter to her that it was obvious
she couldn’t beat him, she wasn’t going to back down.

            His mate didn’t need a man, he thought
proudly, she didn’t need anyone.