Page 79 of Two Years Gone

“Hmm?” I looked up to meet his eyes, which had begun to darken.

“I can smell your desire. You’re going to drive me crazy.”

I gulped.

“Desire? Gosh, the only thing I desire is for you to take a shower. Nasty man smell.” I waved my hand in front of my nose with a coy smile.

Zane smirked, resting his hands on my hips.

“You could always come help me.”

“Oh darn, I’ve already showered today,” I replied innocently, enjoying teasing him a little too much.

Zane growled before brushing his lips against mine. He turned and walked up the stairs, leaving me a puddle of mush in the hallway.

That evening, Zane and I turned in for bed. I hadn’t told Zane about my training session with his father tomorrow. I wanted it to be a surprise.

And I knew that if he knew about it, he’d want to be there, and I would be too self-conscious to learn in front of him like that.

Zane entered the room and made his way to the closet, walking out with a garment bag.

“So I have a request for you…”

“Okay?” I looked at him skeptically.

“You can say no. But I thought I’d ask.” Zane unzipped the garment bag to reveal a beautiful white dress.

“This was the dress my mom wore to her luna ceremony. I thought you might like to wear it.”

I smiled, tears welling in my eyes.

“Zane, I would love to wear it. It’s beautiful. Thank you!” I threw my arms around him and kissed his cheek.

We only had one more week until the ceremony. I was sad it had been postponed, but now that it was getting closer, I was excited, ready to take my place beside my mate.

The next morning, I woke and quickly got dressed. I put on some athletic leggings and a sports bra under a loose tank along with some running shoes.

I pulled my long chocolate waves into a French braid to keep it out of my face and made my way downstairs, grabbing a bottle of water and waiting out front for Alpha Daniel.

After a few minutes, he stepped outside, smiling.

“Ready?”

“Ready,” I replied, my voice full of determination.

As we walked down the hill, Daniel explained our plan for the morning.

“Okay, so we’re going to do some warm-ups first. Most of training and fighting is building up your endurance. You especially need that now since you’re recovering from injuries.

“We’ll run some laps and do some stretches and basic drills. Then we’ll work on hand-to-hand combat skills. Sound good?”

I shrugged.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll try and do whatever you want me to.”

I worked hard through the drills and stretches, determined to gain my strength back and then some. I wanted to die, and my lungs were on fire, but I knew I needed to do this.

I was determined to prove Mariah wrong. After the drills, we began training.