One heartbeat, she stood before me, sharp and graceful. The next, the space was empty, just a puff of dirt settling where her paws had pressed to move.
I took a quick step to my left and watched as she appeared, trying to rake her claws along the back of my shoulder. I reached for her wrist, but she jerked back too quickly.
"Ah-ah, young Thomas. No touching without permission." She smiled at me from a safe distance and taunted.
But to her surprise, I disappeared from her eyes the same as she liked to do to me. She spun around to see if I would appear there, but I didn't. If she had kept looking forward, I would have been nose to nose with her.
I flicked her in the back of the head, causing her to yelp in surprise and jump forward. When she jumped, she also tried to kick backward to keep me from capitalizing on being behind her.
I caught her heel on my forearm and shoved it aside before it could connect, the force rattling through me but not enough to unbalance.
Her tail lashed once, annoyed, and she turned with a smirk that didn't quite mask the spark of irritation in her eyes. "Cheeky. I see the tiger has claws after all."
"Claws?" I grinned, circling her the way she'd done to me. "That was just a finger flick."
The crowd around us chuckled, Dorje the loudest, though even his laughter carried a note of disbelief at what he'd just seen. Matching a fox at her own game wasn't something most would dare attempt.
Hu Mei dropped lower, her stance shifting, sharper now. "Very well," she said, voice smooth as silk but edged like a blade. "No more games, Thomas. Let's see how long you can keep up with me."
She lunged again, faster this time, her movements sharper, testing if my trick was skill—or luck.
She lunged, faster this time, her claws a blur. I slipped aside, my dial still held steady inside me, keeping the fire from tipping me all the way over. For a few breaths, we were nothing but streaks of motion — her tail flashing, my fists darting, claws raking just shy of flesh, knuckles grazing fur and fabric.
Gasps rose from the crowd. They weren't used to seeing someone match a fox's speed unless they were half-shifted already. And I wasn't. I was still standing here in my human skin.
Hu Mei hissed when I caught her wrist mid-swipe and forced it wide, but she twisted with inhuman grace, slipping out of my grip like smoke. Her tail covered my sight as her right leg landed a solid hit into my side, as she spun, knocking me back a half-step.
I grunted, then drove forward with a straight punch, halting just short of her chest. She froze, eyes wide, her claws hovering an inch from my throat.
The crowd was silent. For a heartbeat, the only sound was both of us breathing hard, locked in that moment where one move would end it for either side.
Then Hu Mei's lips curved into the faintest smile, though I could see the tightness around her eyes. "Interesting," she murmured, pulling her claws back first.
I lowered my fist, chest still heaving. "Not bad for fresh grass, right?"
That earned me a ripple of laughter from the crowd, Dorje's booming voice carrying over all of them. But behind their amusement, I could feel the unease. They'd just watched me go toe-to-toe with a fox in her mixed form — without shifting at all.
And Hu Mei? She didn't look angry. No, what glinted in her gaze as she studied me was far more dangerous. Calculation.
"I am no herbivore, Thomas. No, at the very least, you are fresh meat. Just the way I like it."
With that, Hu Mei left the ring, and I released the dial in my mind. There was no reason to release it, now that I had control, but there was also no reason to stay in that state either. However, I do expect it to become my natural state when I finally go home. Finally, Edythe won't have to worry about crushing me with her strength.
As the crowd began to disperse, Dorje caught my eye and gave me a nod. Rohan walked up to me, as usual, with little expression on his dour face.
"Your training is finally bearing fruit. To keep up with the strength of a half-transformed Fox isn't hard, but to match their speed and still be in your human form... That's unheard of."
I shook my head, "I don't think she was really giving it her all, she seemed like she was testing me more than anything."
"Still an impressive feat, Thomas. Keep it up."
I just nodded, not bothering to tell him that I was already making progress on that very thing. As we spoke, the other clansmen drifted back to whatever their pastimes were—arguing technique, nursing bruises, trading bets about who could beat who—but the ripples the match had left didn't settle.
Ready to retire for the day I said my goodbye to Rohan, but he had more to say.
"Don't rush too much, Thomas. Testing the tether to the mountain so soon, or too much could harm you more than help you."
I just waved him off, Rohon's habit of doling out information in rationed bites irritated me. It made me feel like he was trying to control my growth, and I didn't like that.
When I reached the hut I was staying in, my attention was pulled to a drawing I had done the previous day. It was my memory of the day Edythe showed herself under the sun to me. The drawing was done in charcoal, so everything had soft edges, but I knew what I was looking at, so it was easy to make out.
I sat at the table, massaging my forearm where a kick had landed, when my phone lit up. I crossed the room and looked at the number calling and saw it was Edythe. We had spoken often after the conversation where she told me that they had moved from Forks, and I had to admit that she had little choice in the matter.
Her family had been everything to her for so long that she would stick with them even when they were making a mistake. If only to keep pointing out that it was a mistake at every available opportunity. She knew that I would have some words for Edward when I saw him, but I knew where to draw the line.
I picked up the phone as a warm, simple relief flooded my mind. "Hey, love."
"You sound tired." Came her reply. A large smile took over my face at the sound of her voice. "Training?"
"Always." I said. "You?"
"We are unpacking at the new house."
I chuckled, "Where did you guys decide to settle this time?"
"We are in Ithaca, New York. The house had already been bought by Jasper. He and Alice wanted to go to Cornell to study philosophy. Carlisle has already picked up a night shift in a nearby hospital."
"How's everyone else handling the new house?"
She laughed, "Esme is upset she can't remodel the house with us all here. But she has already started looking for a new project in the area. She thinks I don't know, but she hopes to get a house for you and I to move into if you come here."
I laughed at the thought. "Well, I am doing all my schoolwork through correspondence courses right now, but college shouldn't be hard to get into. I am still hoping to get back before the end of the school year to officially walk the aisle."
"Everyone else is the same, minus my stupid brother. He is either sitting in a dark room staring at the wall or off trying to hunt down Victoria. He isn't very good at it, though. He thought she was in both Texas and Colorado at the same time last week. Jasper had an... old friend help Edward track her through El Paso before she lost him for good. Now he is waiting to hear the next rumor to go chase. He is actually kinda pathetic."
We talked for about an hour, some laughter and some worry. She didn't like the little I told her about the feeling that Hu Mei gave me. But settled for telling me to be careful and learn more about the clan politics. No way there weren't any with a Tribe as diverse as this one.
Eventually, my phone sounded off that the battery was about to die, and we had to say our goodbyes. When we finally hung up, the hut felt both empty and lighter. I curled up in my cot and let my mind wander until sleep finally pulled me under. I was hoping to dream of my copper-haired beauty.