Chapter 68 : Wolf's Awakening

Karenina

As they left, she was surprised to see Helga waiting outside. To be honest, she had forgotten about her friend. Karen gave her a smile, but she kept her eyes glued to the ground, even as Helga bowed to her as they passed. Karen frowned, not understanding her actions. She was acting just as she had when she first met her maid, except for the fear.

Looking over her shoulder, Karen noticed that Helga was following a few feet behind them. Then she realized that she must have been following her all along.

She wanted to talk to her friend about her strange behavior, but she knew it would have to wait until her... date?... with Xavier was over.

There was a part of her that didn't want their date to end.

Still aware of the man walking beside her, Karen used their time together to walk in silence to his private training room to keep her raging lust at bay. She had to make sure that what had happened there would not happen again.

In truth, she already felt guilty for kissing Xavier when thoughts of Rylan intruded, but somehow she couldn't really feel remorse, not like before. She wasn't sure what had changed, but she loved being around Xavier and enjoyed his touch, even if she didn't want to.

Before she knew it, they were walking toward another building surrounded by a large courtyard where she saw many warriors practicing with swords or fighting with their bare hands. Many were shirtless and sweaty, drawing her attention to the muscular male bodies and mocking her attempts to quell her lust.

Then again, a girl could get used to all that testosterone, she thought with a smile. If Xavier noticed her ogling his men, he didn't let on.

As they climbed the few steps that led to the walkway that seemed to surround the entire building, Karen thought they were going inside, but instead he turned left. They walked along the wooden walkway, away from the man who had caught her eye - a little disappointed - before arriving at another door.

A guard bowed before opening the door, and they entered a large room with various weapons hanging on all four walls.

When the door closed behind them with a quiet click, she realized that Helga hadn't followed them in, as she had when they were in the place.

He let go of her hand and stepped away from her. "Do you enjoy watching a man practice fighting, Karenina?"

He continued walking towards one of the walls where various weapons were stored, while she stared at his retreating back in confusion.

"Uh..."

Before she could find a suitable answer, he said nonchalantly, "You were watching my men as we passed."

He considered his options for a moment before picking one up from the wall, then turned to her, her face flushed.

I guess he noticed that I was checking out his warriors, she thought with a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"If you want to see a man practice his skills, you can join me, right here."

He was not happy when he realized that Karen was watching his men with great interest while he was standing there. If she wanted to watch the shirtless men perform moves to perfect their fighting skills, then she just needed to join him.

With that goal in mind, he placed his sword on the wall and stood upright in front of her. Raising his hands, Xavier began to unbutton his shirt, watching her every reaction.

She was stunned to see how he reacted. He sounded almost... jealous. Really?

Wait, what is he doing?

Unable to look away as he took off his shirt, she asked in a low, hushed whisper, "Why are you taking off your clothes?"

Unable to look away, she watched as he carelessly tossed his shirt at his feet before moving to remove the last shirt covering his chest.

He didn't answer her question as he slid the shirt off his shoulders, and she could see his muscles flex with the movement. She swallowed, her throat dry as he stretched his arms out, letting gravity do the rest, exposing his toned muscles to her admiring gaze as they fell to the floor, forgotten.

His body was ripped, there was no denying that. He wasn't overly bulky, but his shoulders were broad and powerfully sculpted, as was his chest. She stared down, savoring all of his flawless, smooth skin, her eyes blazing with desire at the sight of his waist tapering to slender hips. His abs were a work of art.

Xavier was hairless except for a thin line of grayish-black hair that started just below his belly button and ran down until it disappeared under his pants. Damn, how she wanted to caress that hairline, to pull it gently. She clenched her fists. She imagined scraping her nails across that tantalizing belly. And that hip bone? Yes, she wanted to bite into it as well.

And here she thought it was sinful to look at his men. Even though they were nothing compared to the great shape of Xavier's body.

Since she was still busy raping him with her eyes, she missed his smirk.

When Xavier turned to get the sword of his choice, having left his personal weapons and sword in his room, he gave her a perfect view of his muscular back.

She was almost breathless and he hadn't even touched her yet! Her earlier lust resurfaced and was now familiar. She was on the verge of a moan, a very real moan. She wanted to touch him so badly that she was trembling. And it didn't help that she knew Xavier would let her.

Satisfied that she was watching him, her intoxicating passion unable to cool his ardor, Xavier stepped into the center of the room and began to swing his sword in beautiful arcs.

Meanwhile, Karen had just moved across the mat to the right to sit against the wall, keeping her eyes on him as he began to slice the air with his sword. She sat mesmerized by his graceful movements, the flexibility and tension of his muscles as he lunged, twisted, and slashed at imaginary enemies.

She smiled regretfully to herself. After all the remorse she had given Mike for his perverted behavior, here she was, watching Xavier with her eyes. Maybe when she saw her friend again, Karen would talk to him and tell him that she understood.

While trying to take her mind off Xavier's sweaty body, she asked, "So, when did you start practicing? I'm sure you had a teacher who taught you when you were a kid."

Without stopping, he continued to kick, parry, and dodge, answering without sounding tired. "My own father taught me when I was a child. I learned at a young age because it takes years of diligent practice to perfect swordplay techniques."

She knew he spoke the truth. She had read about how children in those days could barely walk before they were taught how to hold a sword. The thought of little Xavier learning the steps to protect himself and kill others made her chest tighten. She remembered that those times were filled with war and bloodshed.

"You must have hurt yourself in training," she said in a low tone as she pictured him.

"Every injury is as important a lesson as mastering a new technique," he said, spinning on his heel and swinging his sword in a curved motion.

Picturing him scarred and bleeding as a child quickly dispelled her lustful thoughts. She knew it was an important lesson, but she was still saddened that the boy had to grow up too fast.

Just then, she thought about how her mother would react if she picked up a sword at her age. Almost to herself, she said, "My mother would be furious if I went near a sword as a child."

Later, the memory of her mother made her think of Xavier. There was obviously a huge cultural difference between the two women, so she didn't have any bad thoughts about his mother. Still, she asked, "How did your mother react when you were hurt?

Surely she would at least be concerned.

Normally, he wouldn't answer these nagging questions, but after realizing that the only way to get her to agree to mate with him was to reveal a bit of his past, his life, he told her the real facts.

"The few times I had worse injuries, she insisted on taking care of the wounds when I was unwilling to go to a healer."

He said as he lunged again. Another blow with his sword.

"You mean you refused to go to a healer? Every single time?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

Even as a child, he had a proud attitude, she thought, not at all displeased that his parents allowed him not to see a healer when he was injured during training. However, she refrained from saying anything. This was a different situation, with different rules and ethics than her own.

She decided to save the other questions for later and let him practice in peace.

As time went by, although it was fun to watch Xavier swing his sword, she couldn't help but notice how her wolf reacted to him. Until now, she had tried to ignore that part of herself since his attempts to bring it out had been successful, but now, as his wolf aura pulsed around her in gentle waves as he moved, it seemed impossible.

Karen, more curious than ever, tried to enter the aura, to explore it. Closing her eyes to block out the tempting distraction of Xavier, she used the meditation method that Healer Rose had taught her when she showed her how to channel her spiritual energy.

Feeling her fill with the energy of the wolf's aura, Xavier stopped his movements and turned to look at her. He knew immediately what she was doing, and he was further encouraged by her willingness to explore this part of herself. He knew that if she used more of her wolf aura, it would help strengthen his influence over her.

As Xavier lowered his sword, letting the point touch the mat, he looked at her warily.

He could sense nothing of his own in her wolf aura energy, even though he had channeled his own energy into the girl to generate his own. It was as if her wolf aura energy had sucked up his own energy and consumed it completely.

Immediately, she frowned as her wolf aura refused to respond quickly to her efforts. All she wanted was to feel the aura pulsate around her, just like her spiritual energy did when she used the same meditation method to better understand her powers and develop her control.

Thinking she just needed a little 'push', she tried harder to force the wolf's energy around her. A few seconds later, after applying more force, she was surprised when the energy surged forward like a tidal wave.

Something wild, animalistic, and uncontrollable flowed into her, similar to the feeling when Xavier forced the wolf aura into her, but instead of going in, it wanted to come out. It was like an angry beast trying to get out of its cage.

At that moment, her spiritual energy clashed with the energy of the wolf aura, perceiving the huge energy of the wolf as a threat to her and subconsciously trying to protect herself by purifying the negative energy. But how could she purify herself?