mean you have to stop being a good person and that you have to harden. But like it or not, it will change you in some ways. You can still be the person you are now, but with an ability to cross right over any ethical lines when you need to. When you’re involved in a fight with Glory, you will need to. So, can you do that?”
“I can do it.” Jaime set her jaw.
“I don’t know how long it will be before Glory finally appears again, but I think we can be pretty sure that she will. So until then your training won’t involve exercises or practicing. I’m going to be asking you to do something much harder than that. From now on, there’ll be no more sparring.
There’ll only be attacks. Not just with me, but with the guys, too.” Jaime smiled evilly. “Good.”
“You might be thinking that this will be fun, but believe me when I say that they won’t go easy on you. They will hurt you, and they will continue until you either yield or pass out, unless you can give as good as you get. You can’t afford to care that these are your packmates. You can’t afford to care that hurting them will be hard. In fact, hurting people close to you would pain you ten times more than hurting Glory. You do everything I taught you—you fight dirty, you cheat, you make them bleed.
They’ll do exactly the same to you, as will I. Are you ready for this?” After a few moments, she finally replied in a strong voice. “I’m ready.” Jaime had done better than Dante ever would have imagined. He was pretty sure the guys were just as surprised. While Jaime was hesitant and awkward during her first fight, Marcus hadn’t held back at all. She had therefore learned the hard way what happened when she let her feelings distract her. After that, she had been merciless. She hadn’t said one word at any point, as if she had taken herself into some sort of zone where the only thing that mattered was survival—and that was exactly what Dante had been hoping for.
He had purposely left Dominic until last, knowing how close he and Jaime were—something Dante would never be happy about. Although there had been the briefest flicker of unease in her expression, it had quickly disappeared, and Jaime had fought just as dirtily as she had with Marcus, Trick, Ryan, and Tao. As expected, Tao got it the worst. The second it was all over, the enforcers enveloped her in a hug. Not a comforting act, but a show of respect.
Trey, who stood a short distance away and had observed the entire thing, looked truly impressed with Jaime. While the enforcers were still fussing over her—all of them tended to joke with her as if she was one of the guys—Trey approached Dante. “You did good with her.”
“I can’t take all the credit. She worked hard. She only tried to kill me twice.”
“She’d make a good enforcer. But…I think she’d make an even better Beta female.” Dante’s gaze shot to his. “What are you saying?”
“Just that I’m no longer so troubled about her staying. I admire anyone who shows that much strength and determination. And she puts you first. You don’t put yourself first to anything. You’ve been too focused on your role as Beta—you deserve to have something of your own too, and I know you want to imprint on her. Although you don’t need my approval or blessing, you have it.” With that, Trey turned and walked away.
That had been a surprise. Trey was right, Dante wouldn’t have sought his approval, but he was glad to have it. Now all he needed was Jaime’s approval. Dante swerved his head to see the female in question— his female—jogging over to him, smiling. She was bruised and covered in scratches and bumps. If he hadn’t known they would heal in a matter of hours, he would have freaked.
“My wolf’s feeling really smug right now.”
He returned her smile and pulled her to him. “I’ll bet.”
In response to the strange look on his face and the strain in his voice, she cocked her head.
“You okay?”
He kissed a spot on her forehead that wasn’t smeared with blood. “More than okay. I’m proud of you.” But I have no idea how to tell you I want to imprint on you without scaring you off.
“Good. Let’s go take a shower.”
Dante told himself, as he