Derrick was still shaking his head in disbelief at my antics when we pulled up to a regular looking house. There were four cars in the driveway and a few along the street. He gave me a slight grin as he got out of the car.

"You ready for this?"

"Sure. You've got me curious as to just how good you are." I paused as we walked up to the door. "I'm curious about how good I really am compared to others as well."

There wasn't a television or any decorations in the living room, just a few heavy couches and bare walls. The kitchen had a table and one chair. I could hear the sound of a punching bag being used from what used to be a bedroom. Opening my senses up, I could smell hints of blood and disinfectant coming from down the hall. I guessed a first aid station. The whole place smelled of sweat and testosterone. Calling this place a gym was a gross understatement.

Derrick watched me take the place in.

"Still want to come in?"

I just looked at him, considering I was already in. I caught his meaning though. One last chance to back out before we got to where the action happened.

"Lead the way."

The wolf in me was ready for a good workout. I almost chanted dad's litany.

Vigilance. Caution.

I could use the wolf, but not enough for anyone to notice. I would have to seriously control myself.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the basement, I began to wonder if this was a mistake; and yet, I was honestly ready to truly test myself in a way Derrick wouldn't understand.

Our presence got the attention of the six men already in the basement. It wasn't the biggest guy who stepped forward, though he was bulging with muscle, but what appeared to be the oldest. Not old, just older, maybe early to mid-thirties. He looked at us with narrowed eyes.

"Derrick?" The question was practically a growl. Authority rolled off the man.

Derrick hesitated, and in that hesitation, I got a sense of things. Derrick might be out of the military, but he was still under the command of whoever this bodybuilder guy was.

I walked up to the big guy. My approach changed from simply walking up to the more careful preliminary steps a challenging wolf would do. My eyes evaluated the muscular man in front of me, taking in the military tats. I circled around him, eyes unblinking, arms loose but at the ready, steps light and ready to move in any direction. I made sure he understood that Derrick hadn't made a mistake in bringing me here.

He turned with me, recognizing the challenge I was giving him. My eyes didn't leave him until I was between him and the sandy area where two guys had been fighting when we walked in. All of a sudden I relaxed my pose and grinned.

"So this is where all the fun happens?"

I kicked my shoes off as I walked over. Barefoot now, I walked into the center of the area, still grinning.

The two guys that had been fighting there just looked at me.

I turned around, slowing taking in the size of the area I had to work with. I made a subtle shift, mostly around my shoulders. In my second slow spin, I moved around, swinging low. I was now behind the two guys, crouched down, one leg out, one fist in the sand, looking up, waiting.

The guy in charge had one hand on Derrick's shoulder, stopping him from moving forward. He motioned with his other hand.

"Henry, Ed, give him what he's asking for. No weapons."

Both guys threw a few knives off to the side. I grinned again, ready for them.

The one guy was built a bit more than me and came straight at me. I had a slight height advantage on him, but not much. As he took a swing at my head, I stepped into his embrace, ducking in under his arm. I latched my arm around his shoulder, lifting my feet to use all of my body weight to throw him off balance. As he stumbled, I swung my feet up over his other shoulder, making the big guy land heavily on his back.

I turned my own momentum from the fall into a backward somersault that I didn't quite get to finish. The big guy rolled after his fall and was practically on top of me. In my current position, I was able to bring my knees up, shifting my hips slightly to make my legs come in faster than normal into a position that was more normal for wolf legs. I wasted no time shifting my hips back in time to plant my feet along the bigger man's hips, using my arms to lift him enough to throw him over me, or so he thought.

Once he was committed to be thrown, I leveraged my one elbow against the ground, digging it into the sand. Changing my body once again, I altered my hips once more, along with my lower back, to change my center of gravity. My legs automatically came around, helping me roll sideways. With effort I pushed, feeling the sand slide beneath me, barely managing to shove the guy sideways, blocking the other man's approach.

The second guy was smaller, wirier but still well-defined, and older. I used my first opponent's body to help pull myself into a roll with him. I focused for a moment on reverting back to man once the roll was started. Pulling on his shoulders, I leveraged myself up enough to have my right knee dig into his solar plexus. Letting all of my weight push in at that one crucial point, I pivoted myself around on that knee until my other knee was on his throat, my fist swinging into his midriff. His one hand came up to jab at my kidneys while his other hand clawed into my triceps.

I could hear the approach of the smaller man, who simply plowed into me with no finesse, ramming his shoulder into mine, loosening my hold on his friend. I went with the motion, having been rushed at often enough by my dad.

The smaller guy and I managed to get to our feet while the first guy took a second to catch his breath. As the bigger man lumbered to his feet, I used my hip to thrust the smaller guy into him, throwing him off balance again.

The smaller man was quick to recover, stepping toward me. I reached down, blocking the man's arms with my back and shoulder, while I wrapped my arms around his one leg, bringing it up and sending it over his head, literally flipping him. My toss gave the bigger guy time to come at me, and I managed to spin enough to face him head-on. He caught me slightly off-balance, making it hard for me to execute a move against him.

While the bigger guy and I still grappled, the smaller one came in to take a swing at my abdomen. I grasped the big guy I was still struggling with, holding tight to his shoulders while moving my body out and bringing my feet up high. My change in position startled the bigger man. Before he could lock me into a bear-hug, I let go of him, pushing off against his chest with my feet, breaking his hold and shoving him back a few steps in the process.

My movement propelled me into the smaller man taking a swing at me. Falling on top of him, I grabbed him, my hands sliding from the sweat that had broken out along his body, finally locking around his middle, bringing him down with me.

I rolled clear, feeling the adrenaline rushing through me. Crouching and circling, I put space between me and my antagonists.

Wolf stare took in their movements, the hint of curved claws dug into the sand.

I stood up, relaxing my posture, finding humor in the looks the two guys gave me. I hoped their looks were because of my skills and not because they had noticed anything wolffish.

I figured that was enough of an introduction. I glanced over at the guy in charge. He had let go of Derrick, who was just staring at me.

"Actually I came to work out with Derrick, if you don't mind."

My feet brushed through the small troughs made by my nails on my way over to stand in front of them. Odds are it wouldn't be noticed, but I wasn't going to take the risk.

I was proud of myself. I had only made a few minor shifts adjusting various joints and hips; small adjustments to give me an edge. My body ached slightly in a good way. I'd have to keep working on it, practicing on shifting even smaller areas than I'd ever tried. I'd also have to keep aware of the wolf within me.

I met the big guy's stare easily. I was relaxed, waiting, no challenge from me because this was his territory, but no backing down either.

His look was evaluating, measuring. He finally gave Derrick a little shove.

"Get in there then."

I couldn't resist teasing Derrick as we headed over to the sandy circle.

"Now I get to pay you back for that wisecrack about my tea. But if you win, I'll let you take her on an unsupervised date."

Derrick just gave me a look, suddenly grinning himself. "That's all the motivation I need to win. But if you win I'll buy your tea for a month as an apology."

I laughed out loud, a sound I was sure these walls probably never heard. I was having fun.

This fight was more fight than wrestling. Derrick was good. He did everything he could to avoid prolonged contact I could use against him, using quick jabs, in and out.

I had to change my gameplan.

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I drew on my heritage, both Native American and wolf. I began dancing. Feet pounding, body spinning, almost ignoring Derrick. I moved, ducking, coming up, bringing my fist up with me. After landing the blow, I spun away, circling out instead of in, swinging in, using the speed of my momentum to increase the force of my next blow. Swinging low again, staying low this time, I put my weight on my hands, using my legs to kick his feet out.

Wolf listened for his breathing.

He started using every move he knew, his fists darting out, his feet kicking fiercely, but now I was full of wolf hearing, wolf reflexes. Nothing he sent at me connected, many barely sliding against my skin as I twisted my body to avoid him, time and again.

The wolf danced aside to avoid Derrick's attacks. The wolf would normally go for legs to cripple its prey. Human arms snapped out instead of wolf jaws. I swung off of his kicking legs, bringing him down. I spun into his punches, jamming my elbow into his side. My moves blended with his moves.

While I managed to land a few more hits, my blows at this point weren't very powerful. It was really hard to convince myself to pound into him. The wolf didn't know anything about punching.

It became easier and easier to knock his feet out from under him. Every time he tried to kick, I'd work my moves up under his landing or managed to tangle his legs with my arms where I could get him down and wrestle. Every time I got him down, I held him for a three-count before rolling away from him. Derrick stopped trying to kick.

The big guy finally called a halt to our fight.

Derrick put his hands on his knees, breathing hard. He was looking up at me in disbelief.

"What kind of fighting do you call that?"

Wolf in a man's body looked back at him. Words. I needed words. Two times two is four, four times four... I didn't need wolf reflexes right now, I needed a human brain. I needed to speak. I just grinned to give myself time before I could finally get the words out.

"The kind that gives me a month to hang out with long-legs at that coffee shop," I finally managed to get out, laughing.