average human’s Reviews > Clash of Claws > Status Update

We’ve just seen what can happen against a fucking magical simulation, which, as you have shouted repeatedly at all of us, isn’t even real wraith combat. You refuse to shift when you’re injured, and I can’t promise that you, as a female, won’t always be a target for the backwards, small-dicked assholes among us, whose beast brains can’t handle a female in battle. At some point, it isn’t worth it.”
Sexy tingles—gone. Rage hackles—up.
“After everything I’ve done since the day I showed up to this ridiculous school—” I said, seething. “My performance in training. Putting down student challenges. Helping your sister.” I looked down at my feet where they dangled over the edge of the table, wishing I didn’t care so much. “You still don’t believe in me.”
“What I believe is that I’m tired of watching you get hurt!”
He stood up suddenly and began to pace the small space between us.
I sighed. “It isn’t your concern⁠—”
“It is agonizing, Avery.” He stopped pacing, his stoic face slipping into something that looked almost despondent. “I just want it to stop.”
We stared at each other. I didn’t know what to say to that, and I wasn’t going to give him the answer he appeared to want, which was something along the lines of, “Okay, Daddy, I’ll put down my swords, quit the Guardians, and go back to pretending to be a well-behaved latent female just here for some bonds and a degree in Literature.”
But I didn’t like that my tendency to get banged up was hurting Heath. I didn’t ask for him to care about me like that, but I couldn’t pretend the thought didn’t make me gooey in my girly center.
And if I sat with my own feelings for two seconds instead of trying to pretend they didn’t exist, I’d probably find the idea of Heath being seriously injured in any way was pretty agonizing to me too.
What the hell was I supposed to do with that?
We were saved from having to continue this conversation when a nurse bustled in and announced that I’d been discharged. I slid from the table and made my way to the door. Heath followed silently behind me.
In the waiting room, I found a very surly Ian glaring at Wyatt from his seat in an uncomfortable-looking plastic chair. Wyatt leaned against the wall across from him, arms crossed over his black T-shirt, cocky smirk affixed to his handsome face.
Brody sat on one side of Ian, and my swords and gym bag occupied the chair on his other side.
“You can’t watch me 24/7, Gale,” Ian was saying, his tone taunting. “You gonna become Mahoney’s bodyguard full time? I won’t even need to lift a finger. I’ll just ask my buddy George to slither through Mahoney’s window and suffocate him in his sleep. You know he’d do it for my sister.”
Wyatt rolled his eyes. “George doesn’t take orders from anyone, Baxter. You need to chill the fuck out. Your boyfriend and I both agree that your sister will burn down the school if we let you run off and get yourself killed by Kace Mahoney.”
“He’s right,” I said as I strode into the room. “It’s been dealt with for now, Ian.”
He launched himself out of his chair and threw his arms around me. “Fuck this, Aves. That was the second-worst thing you’ve made me watch in the past three months. I can’t do any more.”
Wyatt shot me an incredulous look. “What the fuck happened to you that was worse than this⁠—”
Nope, not talking about the reason I was in this entire mess to begin with. I ignored him and squeezed my brother. “I’m sorry,” I told Ian, really meaning it. “But Dr. Lee fixed me up. Make me one of your painkiller elixirs after this, and I’ll be right as rain.”
Ian released me, took a moment to scan my body for any stray damage, and then he waggled his blond eyebrows. “Dr. Lee came to give me a status report earlier. I think I might let Mahoney maul me if that man will be the one to put me back together.”
Brody sighed wistfully. “He healed my broken leg once. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to break the other one.”
Heath grumbled some kind of annoyed nonsense.
Wyatt snatched my hand and pulled me away from Ian, who huffed irritably. He looked me over, his gaze caressing my entire torso, and I became acutely aware that I still did not have a shirt on. “Better now, Wildcat?”
“Yep, I’ll live.”
His jaw tensed, and his eyes flashed a red hue as he ran a gentle hand over the bandage on my shoulder. “I would hope so.”
I stepped away from him before I caved to the urge to melt into those strong arms. I was very tired, and it would be very easy to let Wyatt carry me out of here and all the way to my bed.
After a quick dig through my gym bag, I located a long-sleeved T-shirt. I pulled it on, and then I carefully affixed my swords to my back, the press of their weight between my shoulder blades soothing the itchy feeling within me.
“Let’s go,” I said to my brother. “I want ice cream, a bath, and ten hours of sleep tonight.”
He grinned. “Coming right up.”
I left the infirmary with Ian and Brody flanking my sides like two adorably unnecessary sentinels. I didn’t have to look back to know that Heath and Wyatt watched me until I disappeared through the front doors.

76%

I laid my swords on the bench that had the fewest trees surrounding it. The moonlight bathed my steel blades, and the rune etchings on the steel sparked with a soft glow, beginning their charge. Next, I dipped into the pocket of my hoodie and retrieved my drypoint etching needle. I placed it next to my swords and then sat down on the ground in front of the bench. I’d need to meditate for a few minutes, establishing my connection to the Moon’s magic flowing through me alongside my beast.
I’d been in this quiet mental space for ten whole seconds when the sound of light footsteps on the sidewalk behind me told me I was no longer alone.
“Avery?”
My beast unfurled her body and flicked her tail.
“Aiden,” I said, releasing a resigned sigh. I glanced over my shoulder, and sure enough, there he was. Professor Blackwell, dressed in nice jeans and a long-sleeved shirt sporting the college’s coat of arms, the strap of his leather messenger bag draped across his body. Draped in the other direction was the strap of the leather harness that held his sword, the handle of his saber just peeking over his shoulder.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, creeping closer.
“What are you doing out here?” I retorted.
He arched an imperious brow. “I was in my office, catching up on the work I did not get done yesterday because I had to show up to Guardian training. And because I had to watch Elijah after… what happened.”
“After I was attacked by my own teammate, you mean?”
His eyes sparked turquoise for a second, and then he blinked it away. “Yes. You don’t need to remind me. I was there.”
I turned back to my swords and picked up my needle. The thin wooden handle was smooth and comforting in my grip. “Is Elijah okay?” I asked casually.
“He’s fine.” More footsteps sounded, inching closer. “We had a dicey couple of minutes after Mahoney first attacked you, but after that, it was more about keeping human Elijah occupied. Elijah’s beast isn’t the only part of him capable of murder.”
That gave me a little shiver, and it wasn’t from fear. “I see.”
“Are you blessing your blades?” he asked, suddenly eager. He shrugged off his bag and sat down on the ground next to me. We weren’t touching, but his knee hovered about an inch from mine. Reaching behind his head, he unsheathed his saber. “Let’s do mine too.”
“You’ll need a drill⁠—”
He pulled a handheld rotary drill from his bag. “I come prepared,” he announced with a smug grin. “Most runes teachers have something for permanent etching.”
“How convenient,” I drawled. “What do you need a Moon-blessed blade for, Professor? Planning on dipping outside the state’s best wards during curfew to try your hand at killing something that can actually kill you?”
He gave me a droll look. “Are you going to impress me with your magical prowess or are you going to be a brat?”
I bristled, but my beast rumbled a little purr and flicked her tail. Quit that.
“Fine. Do you have the sequence you want to use?”
He peered at the etchings on my swords. “I like yours just fine.”
Runes used for any given spell would differ by practitioner, and the Moon blessing was no different. I presumed everyone stuck within a standard theme, but the real trick was in the casting of the spell and channeling the Moon’s magic into your blade so that it was a) lasting, and b) strong enough to kill a high-level wraith.
My sequence started with Lifeforce, which shifters associated with the Moon herself. Then I went with Strength/Power, followed by Heritage, as a nod to our ancestors, the First Guardians. Then came the rune for War/Victory, and finally, the death knell—inverted Strength/Power and inverted Lifeforce.
“Cheater,” I said without any heat. “I don’t chant, by the way. I just whisper a prayer as I channel, and it hasn’t failed me yet.”
“Interesting,” Aiden mused. “The Guardians’ rune specialists chant. There’s power in the combined voices, I think.”
I shrugged. “When I become a Guardian, I won’t be handing over my blades to anyone else to bless. I like my way.”
He was quiet for a moment, as aware as I was that my place in the program was no longer secure. “I don’t want you to fail, Avery,” he said softly, “but yesterday was hard to watch.”
“It was even harder to experience, but I’m still here, Aiden. I haven’t changed my mind.”
“I didn’t dare dream that you had.”
I blew out a frustrated breath and rolled my shoulders. To business, then. “You’re distracting me. Get ready to etch.”
He chuckled, and I felt the sound low in my belly. “Yes, ma’am.”
I closed my eyes and settled in, doing my best to ignore the heat of Aiden’s body and the scent of heady leather and masculine spice. I rolled the wooden handle of my drypoint needle between my fingers, and then I reached for the current of bright magic flowing within me, both separate and apart from my beast, who was curled up for a nap. Under the Full Moon, the magical current roared.
I opened my eyes and began tracing the runes on my first sword, using my will to suffuse the blade with magic.
I began to pray, my voice low and soft:
“Goddess above,
Hear my plea.
Bathe my blade
In your glorious light.
May it shine through the dark
And be worthy of your gift
So that I may protect my kind
From the horrors of the night.
Bless this steel
With your strength and might
So I may honor your blessing
With courage and fight.”
I repeated my prayer once more as I scratched over the runes on my second blade with my needle. Aiden worked next to me, engraving his blade with runes to match mine, his lips moving in a quiet prayer of his own.
As I released the current, my blades glowed with a soft white light, the runes themselves shining a molten silver for a few seconds.
Aiden finished his prayer, and his blade began to glow, his with a bluer hue. Different flavors of magic, I supposed.
“Wow,” he said, a grin stretching across his handsome face. “It worked.”
“Maybe I should be tutoring you in runes,” I quipped.
He snorted. “Calm down. You’re excellent with the few spells you use regularly, yes, but your grasp on theory is middling at best.”
That particular gripe of his was getting old. “Theory doesn’t protect us from soul death, Aiden.”
“I would beg to differ.”
He rolled to standing, nimble as always, then held out a hand. I grasped it, and he pulled me to my feet.
He didn’t release my hand right away. His grip was warm and firm, his palm the rough and calloused one of a swordsman, not the smooth and soft one of a professor. Soft turquoise flames lit his eyes as his gaze dipped to my lips before skirting away.
“Thanks for letting me do this with you,” he said. “It really is impressive that you’re able to cast a strong and effective Moon blessing, especially as a shifter sharing magic with a beast soul.”
It was useless continuing to play coy about the existence of my beast, so I didn’t correct him, and I didn’t really want to. His praise was like a stroke down my back, and I preened under it.
“Thanks, Aiden.”
He smiled, and it was a little cocky. “Good night, Avery.”
He released my hand and collected his stuff. I sat down on the bench next to my swords and watched him walk away.
Aiden, at his core, wasn’t really the haughty, uptight professor he appeared to be. He was a talented, respectable male with a powerful, impressive beast. He was also a caring older brother and quadmate, a good teacher, and he was going to make an excellent Guardian.
His future bonded mate would be a lucky girl.
For the first time, I let myself admit, only for a moment, that I wished she could be me.

81%

His gaze finally strayed down to my chest and then to the sliver of exposed stomach between my top and my jeans. He leaned in to whisper in my ear, his pine scent surging. My beast huffed irritably. “I like controversial. It’s sexy. Intriguing. I want to know more⁠—”
“Step away from her, Julian, before I rip out your spleen and throw it in the pool.”
He stiffened, and I blew out a resigned breath. My beast’s ears perked up, her pleased rumble echoing deep within me.
Definitely fucked.
Wyatt stood in the wide doorway, a lazy smile on his face that did not match the red sheen rolling over his eyes. He’d either just arrived or wasn’t planning on partaking in water activities, because he wore his usual dark, distressed jeans, boots, and a white V-neck T-shirt that showed off the tattoos that decorated his neck and chest.
Julian shifted a bit, but he didn’t abandon his spot next to me at the railing. “What’s this, Gale?” he said, lifting his chin, his tone hostile. “Are you pissing a circle around the new girl? Since when does a Prime bear from a fancy quad have any interest in a shifting female?”
You know, with all the beatings I’d taken this semester because I refused to shift, it was tragically funny that everyone had declared me a shifting female anyway.
Wyatt’s smile slipped. “Fuck off before I make you.”
Julian tried valiantly to hold Wyatt’s wild red glare, but it was no use. He dropped his stare to the floor and swore loudly. “See you around, Avery,” he muttered, and then he slunk off.
I crossed my arms over my chest and reclined against the railing. I lifted a brow, inviting Wyatt to explain himself.
The red in his irises cooled to his usual bright green, and his lazy smirk returned. He held my stare with all the authority of one of the most powerful and desired males in school for a few long seconds, and then he finally spoke. “You and I have business, Wildcat.”
My brow went higher. “Do we?”
He lunged for me and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers together. He began to pull me back into the house. “Come here.”
“Wyatt!”
“Just for a few minutes.”
I tossed a pleading look over my shoulder at Mal, who smiled and raised her glass. She was draped across Allen’s lap, and he could only shrug helplessly at me. No one on this balcony was going to tangle with Wyatt Gale, and Ian—who would have no such qualms—was inconveniently in the hot tub many stories below us.
Wyatt led me down a long hallway, home to what I presumed were a fraction of the twelve bedrooms in the mansion. All the doors were closed, and my enhanced hearing allowed me to pick up a hint of the activities going on behind those doors. Wyatt better not have been planning to invade any of these rooms because I didn’t desire to accidentally glimpse a classmate’s bare ass.
“Moondamn all these horny assholes,” Wyatt muttered.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded. “And where are the rest of your overbearing band of brothers?”
He tried a door handle and swore when he found it locked. “Aiden doesn’t come to college parties anymore, babe. He and Heath went home to covertly chaperone another date Clara is being forced to go on tonight.”
“Oh.” My relief for Clara distracted me for a solid two seconds. “Good.”
“And Elijah’s around here somewhere. Last I saw, he was shooting the shit with the avians. The raptors are less afraid of him than most—ah, jackpot.” He shoved through an unlocked door and yanked me inside.
“Wyatt—”
He flipped the light on. We were in a laundry room that was damn near the size of my whole dorm room. Pristine custom cabinets lined one wall alongside a sink and small refrigerator. On the opposite wall sat a large washer and dryer, a white granite countertop fitted across the top of both. A window overlooked the vast lawn that sloped down to the lake. A plush rug covered the cold tile floor.
Real home-improvement-channel porn right here.
“Can’t believe no one’s fucking in this room,” I mused. “Look at all this space.”
“Their loss is my gain.” Wyatt grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me onto the countertop above the washer and dryer.
“Wyatt!” I yelped. “I am not going to fuck you. Obviously. Come on.”
“I know that, Wildcat.” He slotted his body between my legs and wrapped his big hands around my thighs.
I gripped the edge of the counter, frozen in place. Fire burned in my belly at his nearness. His eyes blazed—not red, but a bright, shimmery green—as he searched my face. A lock of his dark red hair had flopped onto his forehead, softening the dangerous predator between my legs into something a little bit boyish.
“But I’ve decided,” he went on, “that I’m ready to collect on our bet.”
“What?”
He tutted. “Nice try. I never got that kiss you owe me from when my bear bested you.”
My stomach swooped. He was right.
Wyatt’s nearness had my beast purring like a chainsaw, which drowned out all my common sense.
He lifted a hand to brush my hair away from my face. That sweet gesture morphed quickly into something more as he threaded his fingers through my hair and gripped it tightly. I couldn’t turn away from him even if I’d wanted to.
“Say yes,” he whispered, his eyes darkening.
“Has anyone ever told you no?” I whispered back.
A deep chuckle. “Not a heterosexual female.”
Of course not.
“One kiss,” I said. I meant to sound firm, but my words just came out all breathy and stupid.
Another chuckle. “Sure, Wildcat.”
He cupped the back of my head possessively, and he pressed his lips to mine. I melted into his hold, the heat burning low in my belly, making my body soft and pliant for him. He growled his approval, and his tongue pressed against the seam of my lips, demanding and sure.
He consumed me then, and I let him. My arms found their way around his neck, and his hands wandered up under my shirt, rough fingertips skimming the skin over my ribs. He was leisurely with his kisses, exploring, probing, plundering. He took what he wanted, and I gave it willingly.
“Mmm, this is well worth all the holes you put in my bear when we sparred,” he purred against my cheek.
I stifled what would’ve been an obscene moan as he began to trail his lips down my throat, nipping and then soothing with his kiss.
“Wyatt,” I gasped as he yanked the straps of my top down my arms, taking the built-in bra with them and exposing my breasts to the cool air.
“Fucking perfect, Wildcat,” he rumbled, kissing down my chest.
“This is not one kiss!”
He paused and looked at me, green eyes blazing as he cradled my tits in his hands. “Do you want me to stop?”
“I—”
The door clicked open. I let out a tiny squeal, and Wyatt pulled me against his body, concealing my naked chest from the intruder. He whipped a look over his shoulder, his expression murderous.
A split second later, he relaxed, his chest rumbling against me as he laughed.
“There you two are,” Elijah said with a wicked grin. He wore one of his usual unbuttoned linen shirts, ratty jeans that molded to the taut muscles of his legs, and no shoes. He locked the door and leaned against it. “Dove, you look flushed and delicious.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes at Elijah. “Can you keep it together near her like this?”
Elijah’s irises went molten gold, and his pupils narrowed. “Yes. I’ll stay over here,” vowed the sexy, terrifying monster, whose sole focus was now on me. “Is that okay, Dove?”
I swallowed roughly. “You want to… watch?”
He gifted me with a gorgeous, fangy smile. “Please.”
The need within me was a blazing inferno now. “Okay,” I whispered.
“Fuck yes,” Wyatt said. He stole another blistering kiss, feeding me his tongue, and I moaned into his mouth.
He dipped his head and wrapped his lips around my nipple, sucking hard. He rubbed his thumb gently across the other nipple as he licked and sucked. I gasped, shutting my eyes and reveling in Wyatt’s touch. His body was hot and hard between my legs, and he smelled like a crackling fire.
Wyatt switched breasts, groaning happily, and I opened my eyes, locking stares with Elijah. Those eerie, glowing yellow orbs drank in what Wyatt was doing to me like he needed every drop to survive.
“Gorgeous, Dove,” he said, his words ragged. “I think Wyatt should make you come.”
A growl ripped from Wyatt’s throat. “Fuck.”
“I said one kiss,” I moaned despondently. “Why can’t I think straight around you four?”
Wyatt licked my nipple one more time before bringing his lips back to my face and kissing along my jaw. “All four of us, huh? That’s convenient, baby.”
No, it wasn’t. It was so inconvenient, and it was starting to make me want things I couldn’t have.
Wyatt’s fingers went to the button of my jeans, and I had to decide if I was doing this.
Again.
I let out a tortured moan. “Wyatt⁠—”
A loud knock sounded behind Elijah at the door. “Avery Baxter! I know you’re in there with Gale!”
Wyatt’s fingers froze. He heaved a frustrated sigh and dropped his forehead onto my shoulder.
Elijah, however, was unbothered. “I can send your brother on his way, Dove. I’ll be nice.”
“Avery! That bear better not be touching your bikini areas. I will go get my sword out of the car.”
“Why is your brother such a cockblock?” Wyatt muttered into my shoulder.
“He is normally very supportive of me getting laid,” I said. Elijah’s sly smile slipped, and Wyatt’s hand tightened where it was wrapped around my thigh. “But he thinks you guys are particularly bad news for me.”
Wyatt pulled my shirt up over my chest and secured the straps on my shoulders. He smoothed the fabric almost reluctantly, and then he stepped away, officially releasing me from his clutches. He shot me an apologetic smile. “He’s not wrong.”
Lust fog—cleared. I returned his tight smile. “Right.”
Another aggressive knock. “Aves!”
I hopped down from the counter and headed for the door. Elijah watched me curiously, opening the door to allow me to slip past him.
“Have a good break, Dove. See you soon.”
“Bye, Elijah.”
As he shut the door behind me, I met my brother’s accusing stare with my tired one. “Can we go home?”
His face softened immediately. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”