Jaded Hearts
Chapter 59

Taylor

When we got back home, I was relieved that so much progress had been made. When I woke up that morning, my parents were still in limbo, waiting for me to get my s**t together. Thankfully, I had people in my life who refused to leave me behind and forced me to move forward. And now I had a ton of energy that I needed to burn off.

Usually, that would mean getting Matt naked as soon as possible, but not this time. I walked into the living room and found Tyson, Matt, and Kade lounging on the couch.

“Who wants to spar with me?”

The looked at each other, then back to me like I was speaking some foreign language.

“You want to spar? Seriously?” Kade asked.

“Yes. So, which one of you will be my partner?”

“Why do you want to spar, and why wouldn’t you ask Morgan or Alaia?” Matt chimed in.

“I feel like fighting, like I need to learn to fight actually. Morgan is still learning, so she can’t really teach me yet, and Alaia has three babies to look after. You three are sitting here doing nothing.”

“Tesoro, how about I ask one of our female warriors to work with you? How about that?”

I shook my head. “No. I want one of you three. Besides Xander or Alexi, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it, so who will it be?”

“When do you want to start?” Matt asked.

“Right now. I’ll go upstairs and change.”

I heard him sigh and push up off the couch. I turned and ran upstairs, excited to be doing something to take my mind off everything that was going on. When I was changed, Matt walked into the room and stood in the doorway.

“Are you alright, baby? You sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, I promise I’m fine. But life is short, and I can’t just hope that I’ll always have someone here to protect me or Genesis. I need to know how to do it, and I need someone to teach me.”

“Alright, if you’re sure, then you can train with both me and Tyson. He knows techniques that I don’t; that no wolf does, actually. It would be good for you to know as much as you can.”

“Don’t pull punches either. I’m a wolf, and I can take it. I want this to be real, so if you see a shot, take it. That’s how I’ll learn.”

“I’m not going to hit you, and neither is Tyson. We will teach you everything we know, but we’re firm on that point, Angel. With your background, I wouldn’t ever allow a man to place his hands on you. I don’t care who he is. If you want full contact, you have to train with the females.”

It was worth the shot, I guess. I’d just have to pull Alaia or Morgan in on a few sessions when they had the time.

“Fine. Let’s get going. Genesis is fed and down for her nap, so I’ve got at least a couple of hours before I’ve got to be back up here.”

Down in the gym, Tyson was already there and warming up. This was going to be fun.

“Hey, Tyson. You ready?”

“I’m always ready, sunshine. It’s not like I have much choice anyway. You wolves are constantly using me for my skills or my body. I see how your dude used to feel before you got here now.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it and get distracted. I started stretching my arms and rotating my torso to loosen up and noticed both guys snickering.

What was I missing?

“You gentlemen mind filling me in on what’s so funny?”

“Nothing, tesoro. You’re just so excited. I’m happy to see that.”

“Lies. What’s going on?”

“You’re small, sunshine, really small. But you’re standing here like you’re a heavyweight about to enter the ring. It’s cute, that’s all.”

“Small but fierce, so stop laughing and start training.”

“Alright. I’m sure Morgan has told you that I start off all sessions with a five-mile run. You good with that, Matt, or did you want to start somewhere else?”

“Seven miles sounds better. Let’s go, angel.”

“Can I shift and run as my wolf?”

“Nice try, but no. We’re working on your stamina, skills, and strength, not Ariel’s. You can let her out for a run later if you want, but for now, it’s just you on your own two feet,” Matt told me.

“Running is stupid …” I muttered before I took off after Tyson with Matt close behind.

About forty-five minutes later, we were back at the gym, and I wasn’t nearly as tired as I expected I’d be. Don’t get me wrong, I was exhausted, but I didn’t feel like I was going to die any second, so I took that as a win. And the fact that both guys looked like they could go another seven miles with no problem made me a little jealous.

And they both looked good. Really, really, good. Two gorgeous, half-naked, tall, extremely fit and toned men covered in a thin layer of sweat. It was sexy, and I could see the appeal of having two mates.

Wait … what?!

No! Focus on the task—nothing else.

“You good over there, sunshine?” Tyson asked when he saw me checking the two of them out.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I’m good. What are we doing now?”

“Now it’s time to get down to business. And I’m going to show you how to kill a wolf.”

* * *

Matt

“You’re going to do what?” I couldn’t have heard him right. There was no way.

“You heard me. The whole point of this is to make sure she can protect herself. Obviously, killing isn’t step one to protection, but she will need to know the quickest and easiest way to take down a wolf.”

“Since when do you hold ‘wolf killing’ workshops, and why didn’t any of the hundreds of wolves you live amongst know about them?”

“Chill out, man. You knew who and what I was when you asked me to help train her. Hades knows how to kill wolves, bears, humans, vamps … the list goes on. I’m guessing sunshine’s biggest enemy would, unfortunately, be wolves, one psycho-a*s wolf in particular. If he comes for her and we’re not there, she needs to take him out. Am I wrong?”

He wasn’t wrong. Maybe I was just uncomfortable with the idea that he knew how to “kill wolves” and didn’t have a problem letting others know.

“No, you’re not wrong.”

“So, are you cool with this, or should we start with something simpler?”

I looked over to Taylor, who had a strange, dreamy look on her face. “Tesoro? Are you alright, baby?”

I heard Tyson chuckle, making Taylor immediately turn her head to hide her face.

“Taylor?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry.”

I didn’t believe her. Not at all. “Come here.”

She walked over but kept her head down, not wanting to make eye contact with me.

Tyson walked to the bench on the wall and stretched out.

I tilted her head up so I could look in her eyes. “What’s wrong, baby? Do you want to take a break?”

“No! I want to do this, I do. It’s just …”

“Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

She sighed the threw her hands in the air.

“You and him! Him and you! Both standing here shirtless, sweaty, sexy, and looking like you just stepped out of my dirtiest dream. Debating over what I should and shouldn’t be learning, or what’s best for me. The testosterone levels in this room are insane, and I’m just a woman, damnit. It’s hot, are you hot? Maybe I’m in heat again—that has to be it. I need water. I’ll be right back.”

She turned around and ran out of the room, leaving Tyson and me alone.

“What the hell was that?” I asked aloud.

“Hey, I’m completely innocent here. I saw the way she was looking at us, but I wasn’t going to say anything,” Tyson said from the bench.

“You knew?!”

“Knew what? That two good-looking guys were in the same room with a woman with eyes? Yes, I knew that.”

My head was swimming. What the f**k was going on? “How long has this been going on?” I asked, getting more and more pissed by the second.

Tyson pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. “About four minutes by my calculations.”

“f**k you, man!”

“Again, I’m innocent here. All I did was what you asked me. That’s all I’ve done since I’ve been here. You know how I feel about sunshine, everyone does, but I’ve never made any inappropriate moves towards her. At the end of the day, all a man has is his honor. That means something to me.”

I snatched a towel off the shelf and wiped my face and chest. I needed to calm down.

“You’re right, and I apologize. I know nothing’s happened between the two of you. I trust Taylor and know that she’d never do anything to hurt me. But if I’m being honest, I’m not totally surprised.”

“That makes one of us. Sunshine hasn’t shown me the slightest bit of interest since I’ve been here. It’s probably just her dealing with the loss of her parents. Maybe losing them makes her want to keep everyone else who means something to her as close as possible.”

“Or maybe your partner bond is stronger than you thought it was. Maybe her losing her parents opens the door for her to love someone else. Someone like you.”

“Or maybe you two need to stop speculating and ask me directly,” Taylor said from the door.

Tyson sat up as she walked further in the room. “I want to explain myself, and my outburst. So here it goes …”