Skye’s Limits Read Online Free PDF Page A

The night before I came here, I realized that I needed help, and I knew that you were the only one who could give it to me. Sure, there were times when I wanted to argue, but I’m not only doing this for me. I’m doing it for Branson and Gage. Gage already had to live with one drunk. He shouldn’t have to live with another one,” Skye said.
    Alden feathered the pad of his thumb over Skye’s cheek. “So that’s why you’ve been working so hard. I wondered why I didn’t get any attitude from you.”
    “I want to make sure that I do this right. I don’t want to fuck up this time,” Skye said.
    It was so important to him to succeed this time. For once in his life, Skye wanted to make things right. He wanted to stop being the screw up and make Branson proud of him. Most of all, Skye wanted to stop being that scared kid in the cupboard.
    Alden abruptly dropped his hand and cleared his throat, then stepped away, and just like that the moment was broken. Skye shook his head slightly. It was like Alden felt they had crossed some line and he’d done something wrong, although for the life of him, Skye couldn’t figure out what it was. It wasn’t like they had kissed or anything. Although, Skye wouldn’t have minded if they had. In fact, he wouldn’t have minded if they had done a whole lot more.
    But then that would have been crossing a line. Alden was his teacher…his mentor, and that was probably a big no-no. For all Skye knew, it could get Alden in a lot of trouble if he got up close and personal with his mentors. The last thing Skye wanted to do was to get Alden in hot water.
    Alden went over and got the sparring equipment. “Let’s spend most of the morning focusing on your hand-to-hand, since that’s where you’re the weakest.”
    “Okay,” Skye said, even though he knew that would mean he would spend most of the time kissing the mat.
    They got into their fighting positions, and, just as expected, Skye spent most of the time facedown on mat. In fact, he got on a first name basis with the damn thing he spent so much time on it.
    That still didn’t stop him. He would spring back up every time and start fighting again. Now that he’d mentioned wanting to be a soldier for the coalition, he was more determined than ever to make it happen. He wanted to be a contributing member to the group, and he could think of no better way. If that meant he had to learn how to fight, then so be it. He would put up with the bruises to his body and his ego.
    Near the end of their sparring match, he even started to get a few blows in here and there. Not many, but enough to make Alden wince in pain. Ha! Maybe he’d think twice about not wearing any padding.
    By that time, they’d gathered a small crowd. At first, Skye was dismayed. That was until he heard some of their comments.
    “Look at him, he won’t stop.”
    “You have to give the little guy credit, he never gives up.”
    “He has some balls, I’ll give him that.”
    “Wow, he’s a fireball.”
    Skye realized they were actually rooting for him. It was enough to push him on to continue to fight. A sweat broke out over his body, and his muscles screamed in pain, but he pushed on. No matter how many times he was thrown down, he got back up and fought on.
    It wasn’t until Alden held up a hand that Skye stopped.
    “Great job. You’re actually improving some,” Alden said. “Let’s go get some lunch.”
    As Skye took off his equipment, he basked in Alden’s praise. All the while wondering why it meant so much to him that he had pleased the Tiger shifter.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    A few days later, Alden was in the middle of training Skye when an alarm went off, followed by a voice on the loudspeaker, “Raven attack taking place. Alpha, Beta, and Cheetah teams scramble.”
    Alden let out a curse. They would have to call out his team when he was in the middle of training a student. It was unusual since his team was one of the most elite and only used in the worst