"So what new ability did you get?" Nate asked quietly as we made our way slowly outside.

"Umm, nothing actually" I answered absent mindedly.

Beta Andrew walked in front of us with his hands in his pockets whistling. He seemed as if he had not a care in the world, where as I felt furious and anxious. How dare Alpha Alex say Nate and I had no skill. Nate had more "skill" than four armed, ambidextrous circus performer. And I could set things on fire with my mind! Damn him and his sour attitude. My martial arts skills had greatly improved and I knew I had skills.

Although I'm not sure how well I will do against the best fighter in the other group, hence the angst.

"But I thought new tattoos meant new powers?" Nate persisted.

"I did too" answered, finally coming out of my stupor, "but I have not felt any different. They just...grew" I said examining my arms.

"Well I'm sure something will come up. Are you ready to beat some tail?" He asked with conviction.

"No. I don't want to hurt someone and I definitely don't want to accidently use my powers. That would be bad. Are you ready to show that whole group that you are an asset to this Pack?" I queried.

"Uhhhh, well I don't really have much of a choice" he said with a sigh. The pack had slowly begun to hear about my lack of ability to shift but they had also heard about my abilities as well. Almost no one had seen them though, excluding the group. Everyone was in for a shock if Beta Andrew said I could use my powers. I looked up at Nate's serene face and I felt myself feeling guilty. I remember asking my grandparents why they had not told my mom about Nate if they knew he did not shift either. They said that they had, and that my mom had done some inquiries, but when she found out he lacked any significant gifts, she went back to focusing on me. Everyone in this Pack might be used to Nate, but they definitely had no idea when it came to me.

We made our way into the yard as the sun began to set and it cast orange sunlight onto everyone. Alpha Sourpuss stood talking to two people a ways away from us. I saw Sophie and the twins standing in the crowd of ridiculously tired looking trainees. I grabbed Nate's forearm and led him to the three of them.

"Hey guys" I said

"Hey!" Sophie squeaked rubbing her arms, "Do you know what we're doing here? I know we're not done, there is no way Alex is that nice".

"Yeah apparently-" I started but Alpha Alex's booming voice rang out over everyone.

"Today we are doing a something a little different. As you know, Beta Andrew has been training Nate Searing and Terri Falana. In order to determine the level of their training, we are going to have a little sparring match between these two and my two best fighters so far, Sienna Long and Jason Crewwe" He announced loudly.

"And, this sparring match is going to be a partner sparring match. My two as a team against his two" Beta Andrew added, and everyone, including the Alpha, looked at him in confusion. Andrew turned and looked at Alpha Alex then slowly looked at Nate and I with a wide grin on his face. Alpha Alex looked toward us too and I felt a cold sensation run up my spine. His looks of disdain could melt metal.

"I do not want to fight Jason" Nate said quietly.

"Is he a great fighter?" I asked

"Yes...but he's also my friend. And Sienna too" He said solemnly.

"Yeah, this is going to stink" I mumbled.

All the other fortunate Pack members who did not have to fight moved outwards toward the edges of the yard in order to make a large clearing in the middle. Jason and Sienna walked up to Nate and I with smiles on their faces.

"Hey guys, don't look so green. This is just typical training. No worries, we will take it easy on you guys" Jason said with a wink. Nate and I looked at each other with slight smiles and I shrugged. They had no idea. I regretted now putting my sweats and jacket back on. I had thought it would be cooler outside but it was fairly warm and now I had to take my sweat pants and jacket off in front of everyone. I pulled my shoes off and rid myself of my outer garments. Beta Andrew came up to us holding a roll of tape and a towel.

"Terri, wrap your hands and wrists" he said, "Sienna is fast and you're going to have to do a lot of acrobatic rotations. Nate, wrap you wrists for support. You know how Jason...and Sienna for that matter...fight" Nate nodded and took the tape from me after I had finished wrapping my wrists. "Terri, are you sure you want to go barefoot? This is ground not mat".

"Yes, Coach" I said stiffly.

"Coach? Are you sick?" he asked laughing.

"No" I glanced up at him, "I just don't want to hurt Jason or Sienna".

"Then control your anger. No fire. No powers at all" he told me. I nodded deftly. "Ok, go beat up the other kids" he said sounding like the proud father of the school bully. With a smile and a clap on mine and Nate's backs, he pushed us forward and then walked backward. We met Jason and Sienna in the middle of the circle and shook hands.

"Good luck" Jason said with an easy smile.

"Thanks. You too" Nate said with a curt nod. We separated and waited for the sign to begin.

"Fight!" Alpha Alex yelled. I dropped into my ready stance, keeping an eye on Sienna who had squatted onto her haunches, very similar to a territorial animal stance. Jason went after Nate first. Jason threw his body at Nate's waist, taking them both backwards. Nate quickly had Jason pinned to the ground though, easily putting him into a choke hold. But Jason created enough space between he and Nate to throw his head back and hit Nate's nose. Nate released him and grabbed his nose as he went back to his ready position. I had been shifting my feet and moving in circles with Sienna, trying to keep an eye on my partner and her at the same time. Sienna was...assessing me, I think. She was examining my bare feet and the way I kept my hands palm up. Without warning, she sprinted and jumped in the air, flinging her right leg upward in a roundhouse kick aimed at my face. I ducked her kick then reached out with my with my left hand and grabbed her left leg, ripping it out from underneath her. She hit the floor and quickly rolled away from me, back handing me in the face in the process. She put distance between and I used that time to let my face recover and glance at Nate. He was holding a struggling Jason in the air above his head. He threw him across the circle, but as Jason was flying away, he kicked Nate in the face. It seemed Nate was having the same problem I was. Even competition.

"Hey Nate" I said, spitting out blood from my mouth.

"What?" he growled, never taking his eyes off of Jason.

"Remember how we fought inside?" I asked.

"Yeah" he gruffly answered.

"Let's do it again. Uneven grounds. Tag team" I said. Nate stared at me, then held his left hand out to me and gave me a nod. I ran and grabbed his hand right as Jason charged Nate's side. Nate flung me around in a complete circle and slammed me, feet first, into Jason. He released me then went at Sienna. Jason went flying and rolling in the grass, stopping on his stomach. He coughed once and began to get up one body part at a time. Once he was standing, he cracked his knuckles and smiled at me.

"That wasn't very nice of you two" and he sprinted at me. I set my legs and met his charge head on. He hit me so hard I slid back a few feet but I clasped his hands in my hands started pushing back.

"You shouldn't have switched" he chuckled.

"Yes, we should have" I said and twisted my hands quickly to put a death grip on his wrists. I twisted my body so that we were forced back to back. I put all my strength in heaving his body over me and slamming it into the ground. He grunted and attempted to get up with a groan. I quickly jumped on top of him, wrenching his arms behind his back handcuff style and pressed one knee into his back, effectively pinning him.

I looked over to Nate and Sienna to see Sienna sitting on Nate's back with his head in a choke hold. Nate was trying to pull her off but she wouldn't budge. Nate stopped moving for a second then glanced at me out of the corner of his golden eyes.

"Be careful!" I screamed at him and he deftly nodded before throwing himself backwards onto the ground, Sienna under him. She hit the ground so hard a dent was left in the ground and when Nate hopped up, Sienna stayed in the crater, unconscious.

"Tap!" Beta Andrew yelled a little too enthusiastically. I slowly stood up, then grabbed Jason by the elbow and helped him up, throwing his arm over my shoulders. Nate scooped up Sienna in his arms and carried her toward Jason and I.

"Geez Searing, did you have to kill her?" Jason said, slightly out of breathe, with a chuckle.

"She's not dead! She's just...passed out. She was choking me!" Nate looked panicked.

"I'm kidding Nate. Calm down" he whispered as we reached Alpha Alex and Beta Andrew.

"Good job you two" Andrew said to us, taking Sienna from Nate's arms and passing her to a tall red haired woman. I held one fist out to Nate and he bumped it with an affectionate smile. I looked Alpha Alex in the eyes and waited for him to acknowledge our skill. He glared right back, attempting to stare me down, but I was not going to back down. Jason looked between the two of us, then slowly inched out of my hands, backing away. Beta Andrew glanced continued to observe the Alpha and I curiously.

A low growl started to rumble from Alex's chest, and for a split, unimaginable second, I found Alex oddly attractive. But I threw that thought to hell in an instant. He was an ass.

"Break eye contact" he growled.

"No" I said back. I felt my hands growing warm. He took a step toward me, really making me feel how short I was compared to him. He pressed his large chest against my shoulder, looking down at me. I could feel, rather than hear, his growl now.

"Now" he said.

"No, you-" I went to yell at him but Beta Andrew threw his hand over my mouth.

"That's great! Good job, way to kill people. Go clean up for dinner. Everybody, we're done!" He said, forcibly turning me and pushing me into Nate's arms while projecting his voice to everyone. "Take her home" he said with a wink to Nate, and then he looked toward Alpha Alex. I couldn't see Alpha Alex's face, though, because Nate was already dragging me away. I was so angry, I had to calm down. I brought my hands up to my face to see how red they were and I found them completely...

Cold? When had they cooled off? I remembered they were getting warm but now they were fine.

"Nate!" I yelled, and he quickly stopped walking and looked down at me with concern.

"What?!" He asked.

"Something is wrong with me" I said with a scared look.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading and voting! On the side I put a song I listen to a lot when writing and another picture of Terri. I also went back and put music on all my other chapters. This is music that I listen to all the time, especially when I write, so if y'all want to check them out, go for it! Also, comment on this chapter what you think is going on with Terri and her power instability, I'm curious to see what you guys think.