The Professor's Mate Clause novel Chapter 37

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CHAPTER 37

FREYA’S POV

Twenty minutes later I am sweating and frustrated and Adrian has not even broken a sweat.

“Again.” He stands in front of me with his arms crossed. Looking completely unbothered while I am dying. “You are dropping your guard. Keep your hands up.”

“I am trying.” I wipe sweat from my forehead. “This is harder than it looks.”

“It is supposed to be hard. If it was easy everyone would be good at fighting.” He moves closer. Adjusts my stance with his hands on my hips. “Wider. You need better balance.”

His touch makes my skin heat for entirely different reasons than exercise. I try to focus on what he is teaching me instead of how close he is standing. How good he smells even covered in sweat.

“Better.” His hands slide up to my waist. “Now when I come at you, you are going to block and counter. Just like I showed you.”

“What if I mess up?”

“Then you mess up and we try again.” His mouth curves into a smirk. “I will go easy on you. This time.”

He moves. Fast. His fist comes toward my face and instinct takes over. I block. My arm comes up exactly like he showed me. His fist stops inches from my face.

“Good!” He actually sounds excited. “Now counter. Hit me.”

“I am not going to hit you.”

“Yes you are. Right in the ribs. Hard as you can.” He drops his guard completely. Exposing his side. “Do it.

I hesitate. Then I swing. My fist connects with his ribs with a solid thunk.

He does not even flinch. Just grins at me. “Harder. You punch like that and you will just make them angry. Put your whole body into it.”

“I do not want to hurt you.”

“You cannot hurt me. I am an Alpha. I have taken hits from wolves three times your size.” He taps his ribs. “Again. Harder this time.”

I plant my feet like he taught me. Twist my hips. Put everything I have into the punch.

This time he grunts. Steps back. His grin gets wider. “There it is. You have power in you. You just need to learn how to use it.”

Pride swells in my chest. I did that. I actually hurt him. Just a little but still.

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“Can we do that again?” I bounce on my toes. “I want to try again.”

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“Look at you. Getting cocky.” He moves back into position. “I like it. Come on then. Show me what you

got.”

We go through the sequence five more times. Each time I get a little faster. A little stronger. By the end my knuckles are red and my arms ache but I feel amazing.

“Break time.” Adrian tosses me a water bottle. “Drink. Catch your breath.”

I gulp down half the bottle. My heart is racing. My whole body feels alive. “That was actually fun.”

“Fighting usually is. Once you get past the fear.” He drinks from his own bottle. His eyes never leave me. You are a natural. Most people freeze up the first time. You adapted fast.”

“I had a good teacher.” I set down the water. “What is next?”

“Next I teach you what to do if someone gets you on the ground.” He moves to the center of the mat. Most fights end up there eventually. You need to know how to defend yourself from that position.”

“Okay.” I walk over to him. “How do we do this?”

“You are going to try to pin me. Use whatever you can. I will show you weak points. Places you can strike to get away.” He lies down on his back. Looks up at me with challenge in his eyes. “Come on. Pin me.”

This feels like a trap. But I kneel down next to him anyway. Try to figure out where to even start.

“Use your weight. Get on top of me.” He says it so casually. Like he is not telling me to climb on top of his half naked body.

My face goes hot. “This feels wrong.”

“It is training. Nothing wrong about it.” His eyes flash blue. “Unless you are thinking about something else?”

“I am not thinking about anything.” The lie is obvious even to me.

“Liar.” He grabs my hips. Pulls me on top of him in one smooth movement. “There. Now try to hold me

down.”

I am straddling him. My hands on his chest. His hands on my waist. This is definitely not just training

anymore.

“Adrian…” My voice comes out breathy.

“Focus.” But his grip tightens. “Pin my arms. Do not let me move.”

I try to grab his wrists. He flips us so fast I barely process it. Suddenly I am on my back and he is hovering over me. His body pressed against mine. His face inches away.

“See? You left yourself open. I could have done anything.” His voice is rough. Strained. “You need to be

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smarter than that.”

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“Kind of hard to think when you are on top of me.” The words come out before I can stop them.

His eyes go completely blue. “Is that so?”

“Adrian we are supposed to be training.”

“We are training. I am teaching you about distractions.” His nose brushes against my neck. “Teaching you to stay focused even when you want other things.”

“This is not fair.” My hands are pinned above my head. I could not move if I wanted to. “You are cheating.”

“All is fair in fighting.” His lips graze my jaw. “And in claiming what is mine.”

The door to the training room slams open.

“Alpha I need to… oh.” Marcus stops dead in the doorway. Takes in the scene. Me pinned under Adrian. Both of us breathing hard. The obvious tension. “Am I interrupting something?”

Adrian does not move. Does not get off me. Just turns his head to look at Marcus with glowing eyes and a very clear back off expression.

“What do you want Marcus?” His voice comes out as a growl.

“I can come back later.” Marcus is trying not to smile. Failing completely. “When you are done with your training session.”

“We are training.” I try to sound convincing. Also failing.

“Oh absolutely. Very intense training happening here.” Marcus leans against the doorframe. “Is pinning your mate to the ground part of the curriculum now? Because I do not remember that from my lessons.”

“Marcus.” Adrian’s voice drops dangerously low. “Leave.”

“I am leaving. I am leaving.” Marcus holds up his hands. Still grinning like this is the most entertaining thing he has seen all week. “But for the record? You have it bad Alpha. Never seen you like this with

anyone.”

“Get out before I make you run laps until you cannot walk.” Adrian finally moves. Gets off me. Helps me sit up. “And if you tell anyone about this I will personally ensure you regret it.”

“My lips are sealed.” Marcus backs toward the door. “But Clara owes me twenty bucks now. I told her you would not make it through one training session without getting handsy.”

“You bet on me?” I stare at him.

“We all did. The whole pack has a pool going on how long until Adrian loses control and claims you.” Marcus shrugs. “Smart money was on less than a week. You are holding out longer than expected.”

Adrian moves so fast Marcus does not have time to react. One second Adrian is next to me. The next he

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has Marcus pinned against the wall by his throat.

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“You bet on my mate?” The words come out as pure Alpha command. The air in the room gets heavy. Oppressive. “You made her a joke among the pack?”

“It was not like that.” Marcus does not fight back. Just takes it. “We were just having fun. No disrespect intended Alpha.”

“Fun.” Adrian’s grip tightens. “You think betting on when I claim my mate is fun?”

“Adrian.” I stand up. Walk over to them. “Let him go. He is your friend.”

“He disrespected you.”

“He made a stupid bet. It is not worth killing him over.” I put my hand on Adrian’s arm. “Please. Let him go.”

Adrian stares at Marcus for a long moment. Then he releases him. Steps back. “Get out. And tell the pack if I hear one more word about betting on my mate there will be consequences.”

Marcus rubs his throat. Nods. “Understood Alpha. It will not happen again.” He looks at me. “I am sorry Freya. He is right. That was disrespectful.”

“Just go.” I sigh. “Before he actually hurts you.”

Marcus leaves quickly. The door closes behind him.

Adrian stands there breathing hard. His hands are shaking. “I should not have lost control like that.”

“He was being an idiot. You had a right to be mad.”

“I could have killed him. Over a stupid bet.” He turns to face me. “This is what you do to me. You make me irrational. Make me want to destroy anyone who even looks at you wrong.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“I do not know anymore.” He runs a hand through his hair. “All I know is that you are mine and I will not share you. Not even in jokes. Not even with my own pack.”

The possessiveness should scare me. Should make me want to run again. 1

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