Read Mating Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel for Free Online Page B

another that the pack members had some privacy, but overall, the ranch reminded her of a small village.
    As she entered the barn, where she and Aiden usually met before training, she looked around in confusion. Most of the horses were gone, which made sense since she guessed most of the males were out patrolling, but she didn’t detect the scent of her trainer. Even with the other scents of hay, manure, and animals, she could usually pick his out.
    Walking the length of the building, she froze once she reached the other end. Jayce was nearby. Something earthy and all primitive male tickled her nose. Before she could turn to search him out, two muscular arms grasped her and tackled her to the ground. All the air rushed from her lungs, but oddly the fall didn’t hurt. Her attacker had rolled their bodies so that he took the brunt of the fall before moving back on top of her.
    For a moment all she could do was stare up at Jayce, wondering what the hell he was doing. Just as quickly, annoyance surged through her. She shoved at his chest, and to her surprise, he nimbly jumped up. When he offered his hand she ignored it and picked herself up off the ground.
    “What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked as she wiped dirt and pieces of hay from her hands.
    “Lesson one. Always be aware of your surroundings,” he said, as if what he’d just done was perfectly normal.
    “Lesson
one
?”
    He gave a short nod. “You’re training with me today, not Aiden.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “Does Aiden know about this?”
    A slight smirk touched Jayce’s lips as he nodded. “He doesn’t have much of a say in the matter.” Before she could respond, he continued. “If you want to continue training with him, go ahead, but you and I both know who the better warrior is. So, do you want to be trained by the best or not?”
    Kat gritted her teeth at his arrogant tone. Some prideful part of her wanted to tell him to shove it, but she held off. The arrogant wolf was right. He
was
the best. He wouldn’t be the enforcer for North America if he weren’t. Even though he might drive her insane and would probably distract her, she could learn a lot from him.
    Keeping her anger toward Jayce contained would help her learn the type of skills that he could give her. And she desperately wanted that. The need to be able to protect herself in any situation ate away at her. She couldn’t sleep without having torturous nightmares. Maybe Jayce could give her back some of the normalcy she so badly needed. “What’s lesson two?” she asked in a muted tone.
    His eyes widened for a split second, as if he was surprised that she wasn’t arguing. Just as quickly, a calm mask fell into place. For the first time since she’d met him, she felt like she was getting a peek at his more militaristic side. “First we’ll go over my rules. Then your lessons.”
    Despite her desire to remain calm around him, annoyance bubbled up inside her at his egotistical tone.
“Rules?”
    “During training sessions, you listen to me. If you have a question about something, fine, but this isn’t time we’re going to spend arguing. Your training is about you honing your skills so you can defend yourself in
any
situation.”
    Defend?
She didn’t want to simply be able to defend herself; she wanted to be able to hold her own, to attack any threat that came her way. She shrugged. “Fine.”
    He paused again, sizing her up, as if he didn’t quite believe her agreeable attitude. Then he continued. “Rule number two. The saying that all’s fair in love and war is true. When you’re fighting for your life, fair fighting is bullshit.
Anything
can be a weapon. Today I’m going to show you how to use your bare hands to defend yourself against humans.”
    The way he said “humans” made her pause. “Who else would I need to defend myself against?”
    “Fighting with humans is different from fighting with vampires or the fae or even other shifters.”
    “How so? And why