Heather

The only problem was that once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. From my past, and embarrassing lack of friends, to moving to Texas and meeting Brent—even about my visions. She sat on my bed and listened, with a blank look on her face.

When I finished, she didn’t say anything for a minute. I chewed on my nails as I waited.

Finally, she leaned back on the bed and let out a huge breath. "Wow. No wonder you snapped. What Brent did is unforgivable. Inexcusable. And completely unlike him. I mean, it’s unbelievable. After I met you I didn’t believe all the stuff about you seducing him, you just seem more real than that. But I thought it was at least consensual." She got up and started pacing beside the bed. "Why would he do that? What was he thinking! To risk his life and yours...I can’t believe it. It doesn’t make sense."

I opened my mouth, ready to defend myself, but she held up her hand.

"No. No. I believe you. But I’m blown away. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now. I thought you were just having trouble adjusting, but your reactions make so much more sense now." She collapsed on the bed.

I don’t know what I’d expected when I started telling her my story, but for some reason, I didn’t think it’d be sympathy.

"And I have a working theory about your visions."

I laughed. "Let’s hear it."

She held up a finger. "One, I think they’re going to come back. Some of the really powerful werewolves have special abilities. There’s a Were I heard about that could move things with his mind. But since you’re different now, they might be different."

The sense of relief was palpable. "Really?"

"Yep." She held up a second finger. "And tied to that is my second point—werewolves have stronger minds. We’re not like humans, open for anyone to take a peek. It’s why we’re such good hunters. I mean what if there was a bad witch around? How would we be able to sneak up on her?"

This made sense, in an insane way. "Seriously?"

"Totally. I bet once you get settled with your wolf, you’ll be able to see more and you’ll have more control than you did as a witch."

"I wasn’t a witch."

"You might not have known it, but that doesn’t make it untrue. And now you’re like a werewitch or something."

Oh God. I wasn’t touching that one. I had more than enough issues to deal with.

"By the way, forget what that idiot Nikki said. In case you didn’t notice the resemblance, she’s Callista’s little sister."

It made so much more sense now. "What a bitch."

"I know, right? I’ve never gotten along with those two or any of their crew. You should’ve heard what they said when I put the blue streaks in my hair."

She patted my leg. "Get up."

"What? Where are we going?"

"Last class of the day and we’ve got it together."

"No way in hell am I going." I put a pillow over my face. "I’ve had enough for one day." It came out muffled, but I didn’t care.

"You can’t hide. You can’t let them win." She took away the pillow and stared down at me. "This will be good for you. You’ll punch and kick all that anger out, and then the yoga will center you. It’s a must. Plus, I’ll be there and so will Xander, Leslie, and Adrian. It’ll be fun."

"Martial arts really isn’t my thing."

"It might not have been, but it is now. Trust me."

"But doesn’t Brent teach—"

"Crap. I didn’t think of that." She paced beside the bed. "I hope Mr. Langdon is smart enough to sub out Brent from our class, but if not, we need a plan." She stopped mid-step. An evil grin spread across her face. "Oh. I’m brilliant. I was going to pair up with you, but if Brent is there, you have to pair up with Xander. It’ll drive Brent crazy."

"Wouldn’t that be using Xander?"

She waved a hand through the air. "He won’t mind." She went through my drawers and pulled out my usual yoga attire—stretchy fold-over pants, a sports bra, and a tank. "I’m going to get changed. I’ll be back here in two and you’d better be up and ready to do some damage."

I shed my jeans and T-shirt. The thought of doing martial arts in front of class was incredibly intimidating. Not that everyone would stop to watch me make an idiot of myself, but they could. My day so far had included more than my fair share of being stared at.

I was slipping on my kicks when she rushed back into my room. "Let’s go," she said as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the door.

"I’m coming. Jeez. This can’t be that exciting."

"If Brent’s there, it’s going to be more than exciting."

Oh, perfect. She just wanted to watch the drama unfold. "For you, maybe."

"No maybe about it."

"Glad my drama can entertain you."

She pulled her blue and black hair in a high ponytail. "Me too. It was way more boring here before you came."

I probably shouldn’t have liked that, but I did. Making someone else happy made me feel good.

Maybe this class wasn’t going to be so bad. I trusted Serena. She was the first person, not counting family, that knew about my abilities, and she hadn’t freaked out.

How hard could it really be to get through one martial arts class?

The scent of sweat, plastic, and new wax hit me when Serena opened the door to the gym.

The center of the shiny hardwood floor was covered in bright blue mats. A fight was going on in the middle of them. They were moving so fast that I almost couldn’t make out their faces, but Xander and Adrian were kicking each other’s ass. They were stripped down to a pair of gym shorts. A few guys had their shirts on, but that seemed to be the norm for most of the guys there.

They were managing to block all the hits, until Xander flipped Adrian on his back. The slam echoed off the walls. A few people clapped and cheered as Adrian kipped-up effortlessly and punched Xander in the stomach. The sound of flesh hitting flesh made me break out in a sweat.

Shit. They weren’t kidding about fighting. They were amazing.

And there was no way I could do this. I started to walk back out the doors.