Page 65 of Psycho Shifters

Her small, upturned nose, high cheekbones, almond eyes, and unfashionably large lips made me want to ravage and protect her at the same time. Even with the stony expression on her face, she was adorable.

Like a little kitten with claws.

I knew from having five sisters that if I ever dared tell her she was cute, her saber-toothed beast would likely rip my face off.

Women didn’t like to be told how adorable they were. Which was too damn bad because, from my towering perspective, she was tiny.

She was too tiny. Everything about her triggered my instincts, and I couldn’t help but think she’d been trained to do so.

My thoughts were all over the place. No one woman should be so tempting. She had to be a spy.

She was also an alpha.

Reminding myself she was a fellow war general, sent a cold dash of fear streaming through my chest. I had to prepare her for war when all I wanted to do was keep her safe.

At the same time, I had to protect myself and my men because she wasn’t what she seemed.

My head was scrambled, and I tried to focus on contracting my muscles and not the little alpha. It was an impossible task, and my mind drifted back to yesterday’s events.

Everything had gotten out of control last night when I’d helped Cobra transition out of his beast. Alpha pheromones had swirled hot and heavy, and we had all lost our heads.

When Sadie’s alpha scent of sweet cranberries had filled the room, I had nearly lost all control of myself. Cobra had tensed beneath me, and I had felt him clench around me. He’d also been affected.

Fucking cranberries. Her alpha scent was intoxicating.

Never mind Ascher, who had been so out of his mind with lust that he had goaded the little alpha like an idiot. His taunting had worked us all up.

My mouth watered just thinking about it.

I hoisted the thousand-pound dumbbells quicker and grunted loudly to release my frustration. My orderly training regimen was starting to feel more chaotic every day.

The rest of the training session flew by in a blur of weights and trying not to stare at the little alpha. Cobra didn’t bother. He criticized almost every one of her reps, and Ascher made rude comments about the “princess.”

A few hours later, we sat in the battle tactic classroom, listening to Auntie drone on and on about formations.

Auntie was the old crone who was in charge of helping us prepare for battle.

It was a waste of time; in the heat of the moment, everything always went to shit, no matter what you planned beforehand.

I didn’t know why the elderly beta required everyone to call her Auntie, and I didn’t ask. ABOs had extended lifetimes, and it was rumored that she was over three hundred years old. I believed it.

Sadie still had a blank expression on her face, and I watched with annoyance as she smiled when a beta named Aran came up to talk to her. He was one of our newest betas and hardest workers.

I dug my fingernails into my palm to stop my chest from rumbling with displeasure that she was talking to the younger beta.

My beast’s protective instincts were out of control.

I reminded myself that she was suspicious and probably a harm to Cobra, but my beast ignored me.

Auntie singled people out and asked them how they would handle hypothetical situations. It was her favorite way to teach.

“Can anyone tell me how you would defuse this situation? Three betas defect from battle and run off into the woods. You come across the three of them together. What do you do?” Auntie asked, her wrinkled jowls shaking as she squinted back and forth, looking across the small room.

I was convinced she couldn’t see anything and that the squinting was for show.

“Cobra?” Auntie looked at a beta on the opposite side of the room from where Cobra sat. She was slightly insane, and always looked at the wrong people.

I smiled over at him as he rolled his eyes at her antics. He hated Auntie, and I was pretty sure she hated him back.