“Very few, I think,” he replied. “This isn’t something you want getting out until you have some control over the change.”

It was going to be hard enough when it eventually became common knowledge. Not only could I shift into a creature that had killed a number of my people…there were a fair number who had been bitten just like me and given no chance at survival.

Sorin led me into a large, open room. The floor was stone, the walls brick, and there was a stretch of open windows high above my head. It was cold, even though a fire raged within the hearth.

“Since we must use discretion, we’ll train in here,” he said.

“What is this place usually used for?”

“Fencing, mostly,” he said.

I was a little surprised and laughed. “I cannot imagine you following the rules.”

“I never said I participated,” he replied and faced me.

I knew it was time to begin, and I realized I had dreaded this moment because I did not want to be what I was. I did not want to face it.

“How did you shift the first time?” Sorin asked.

I paused, uncertain if I should be truthful. I still remember how I had woken up, desperate to fuck and so hot. “I…was having sex with Adrian.”

“Huh,” he said, an amused look in his eyes. “Have you tried that again?”

“You know, Sorin, turning into a dog is usually the furthest thing from my mind when I am fucking.”

“It was only a question,” he said. “Everyone has different sexual tastes. I am not here to judge.”

I glared. “I will stab you. I have no qualms.”

“No one knows that better than Isac,” he said, and then he sighed. “I suppose we will have to do this the hard way.”

I started to ask him what he meant by the hard way when he attacked.

I had not spent much time watching Sorin fight, but he was fast and nimble. I barely saw the flash of his sword as he brought it down on me, and all I could do was block it with the daggers I kept strapped to my wrists. They were a laughable weapon compared to his, but I managed to cross them and stop his blade.

“What do you think you are doing?” I seethed.

“What does it look like?” he asked.

He unlocked his blade, and I barely had time to escape, dropping to the ground to avoid his blow. I freed the hilt of my blade from its brace and swung, but Sorin jumped back. The distance allowed me to rise to my feet. I weighed my options quickly, wondering if it would be worth throwing my dagger, but I did not trust I would hit my mark with his speed.

“You have more than one strategy for defense,” Sorin said. “Use it.”

“An animal cannot hold a weapon,” I said.