Waking up the next morning was difficult. I had the most wonderful dreams about being with Victor and Gray again. I didn't want to wake up and go back to the reality of my cold bed.

Last night they asked if they could sleep with me. I told them no because I had said that I wouldn't make love to either of them until the curse was ended. I had to stick to my guns, no matter how much I wanted to give in. And I really wanted to give in. I quickly got dressed for training. With luck, that would quell my body's desire to get physical. I wanted them both so much, I thought I would explode. I didn't know I could feel like this.

In the yard, Jean-Claude was talking to everyone about what trainings would be like. Sean looked pretty tired. He probably wasn't used to getting up this early. He waved at me and I went to stand with him.

"You look exhausted. Are you going to be okay?" I asked quietly.

"I want to be stronger. I want to kick Rosario's dad's ass. If training like a werewolf will get me there, I'm gonna do it." He replied.

"It's partly my fault. I kept him up last night." Rosario winked.

"Will you stop telling people that?" Sean growled.

"It's true." Rosario grinned.

"That doesn't mean you have to tell everyone you see!" Sean hissed.

"I remember training after being kept up by my mates. It'll be tough, but you'll do fine." I replied wistfully.

"Don't encourage him by acting like this is normal. I need at least eight hours of sleep before physical activity. I only barely passed gym class." He groaned.

"Sean, Rosario, Echo! Pay attention!" Jean-Claude shouted.

We jumped a little and looked at him. I felt badly about letting myself get distracted. He appeared mildly annoyed.

"I don't like repeating myself, but I will this once. Pay attention in training, it could save you from punishments." He warned.

"Sorry." We said.

"As I was saying, we start training with a run to wake us up. Vampires, three laps around the property, that includes you, Echo. Werewolves and fae, two laps. Humans, one lap. Try to run at your top human speed everyone. Sean and Preston, you can take time to walk if you need to. Try to run as much as possible. Val, I want you to go two laps with the rest of the wolves. Meet back here when you're done everyone. Let's go!" Jean-Claude called out.

I rushed to run by Talia. She was the one who set our pace. She never ran at her top speed, just so I could keep up. That didn't mean she didn't push me. I think she ran a little faster each day to build me up.

We ran around the path. It was really pretty in the dim early morning light. I always enjoyed our run.

Soon, we were passing Sean, who looked like he was about to die. He was trying as hard as he could. Uncle Preston was farther ahead. A while after that, we were passing Rosario. He was pretty far behind the werewolves, but not struggling as much as Sean was. When we passed my sister and brother, I waved to them. They smiled and waved back. Gray stumbled a bit as he watched me run. It made me feel really good to see that I had that effect on him.

Talia poked me. "You're going all red, is that from the running or from seeing your mate nearly face-plant from watching you run?"

"A... little... of... both." I puffed.

"It's much easier when you don't need to breathe. You'll get there. You're already running as fast as a young vampire. We'll slow down for the last lap." She said.

I nodded, not wanting to exhaust myself with talking. I learned pretty quickly that I couldn't run and talk at the same time. Everything started burning a little in the third lap. I was used to it and thankful that we slowed down a bit.

When we went past Sean again, he was dark red and listing quite a lot. I didn't think he'd make it all the way around. I slowed to match his pace.

"Are you alright, Sean? You don't look so good." I asked.

"I don't feel so good." He panted.

I stopped in front of him. Talia came back from where she'd been running ahead. I never stopped on our runs, and it made her curious.

"Get on my back, Sean. If you get sick, you won't be able to finish training for the day." I told him.

"Echo, I should do this on my own." He puffed, putting his hands on his knees and looking like he was going to be sick.

"This is a few miles, Sean. You're not even halfway there. Come on. I can get you back to where we work out and you can rest before the wolves finish their run." I pushed.

"I really am useless." He sighed.

"No, you're just not ready for this level. I'll talk to Jean-Claude. We need to think of you and your health. You won't learn anything if you burn out. Get on my back, Sean." I ordered.

Sean grumbled, but did as I said. I figured out my balance and started running. Talia laughed as she followed.

I picked up the pace as I went. Nothing was burning as much anymore. The little break had been enough for my vampire abilities to refresh my body. I ran as if I wasn't carrying a whole other person.

We passed Uncle Preston who shouted 'no fair' at us. I laughed. Sean squeezed me a little harder. Rosario did the same as Uncle Preston. They were far enough along that I didn't worry.

Normally, on a run, I slow down to join the wolves in the final stretch of their laps. This time, I went right past them.

"That's cheating! They're cheating!" Cam shouted.

"If you can yell, you can run faster, Cameron." Jean-Claude called back to him. "Echo, what are you doing?"

"Sean can't run the distance you set for him. He was looking really bad, so I'm giving him a ride back to the yard." I explained.

"Fair enough, how far did he make it?" He asked.

"About a third of the way. Maybe he should just do laps around the house while we run. We can talk about it later." I said as I started running faster.

Once we reached the training area in the yard, I let Sean down. He plopped onto the grass and laid back. I sat down next to him.

"That was fun." Sean laughed. "I'm sorry I was a burden on you."

"I've never carried anyone while I ran. That was definitely different." I chuckled.

"You actually ran faster than we were running before, Echo." Talia said. "I think you've been holding back. You ran almost as fast as an adult aged vampire. As fast as Victor."

I looked at her, my mouth open in shock. I didn't think I was running faster, it seemed like a natural pace to me. I was pleasantly surprised.

"I just knew I needed to get Sean back here. I wasn't paying attention." I admitted.

"You were paying attention before?"

"Yes, I was trying to keep up with you and your pace." I replied.

"I think, maybe, you shouldn't pay attention. Tomorrow, I'll run at my normal pace and you run at whatever pace feels right. I'm betting you're going to be a lot faster and less tired. I think you've been slowing yourself down and that's what is causing your struggle." She said. "You think so? I'll try my best." I smiled.

"Today, when you're sparring with Dillon. Don't think. Just act. I bet you'll surprise him." Talia chuckled.

I nodded and talked to Sean for a little while. Soon, he was sitting up, too. By the time Uncle Preston trailed in, Sean wasn't a purplish green color anymore and was able to stand.

Jean-Claude told everyone where they'd be going. Talia and Gray went to the front of the house to work. It kept him from getting distracted by me. Everyone else was going to do what Amy called repetitive motion training. They would repeatedly work on the same move a certain amount of times, then another, and after three moves, they would be combined and everyone would do the same fighting combination.

Dillon and I would join them for that, then move farther off for our sparring when they broke up for the same. I thought about what Talia said. If I didn't think about what I was doing, would I move better?

After we finished practicing our moves, Jean-Claude started teaming people up for sparring. Dillon and I went to our usual sparring place. He was grinning.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked.

"Amy called last night. She's pregnant. I can't wait to be an uncle again! I was thinking, after this assignment, I would talk to Jean-Claude about adopting. I want a little pup to look after and raise with my friends. Maybe we can get a few. A little one, a medium one, and a teen. Just poof a whole family. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" He gushed.

"I'm glad Amy got what she wanted. That seems like a lot of work. I was thinking I'd give it a year or so before talking about kids with Gray and Victor. I have a very long life ahead of me." I smiled.

"True. You're going to be here long after I'm gone. I hope you bring your babies to see ours. I want to see what a baby dhampyr looks like." Dillon winked. "And a little hybrid pup."

"They look just like any other babies, Dillon." I laughed. "You're so weird."

"Are you ready to fight?" He asked.

"Let me take a moment." I requested.

He nodded and I closed my eyes and took a breath. Don't think. I cleared my mind. Opening my eyes, I nodded to him and assumed my stance.

Instead of focusing on him, I focused on me. On the things that I felt. The urges inside me and what my body said I should do.

I found myself moving almost as if I was in a dream. The world slowed down around me. I wasn't as caught off-guard by Dillon's movements and it was like I barely had to flex and my body would do what it needed to do. I was almost in a meditative state. "Fuck! I give! Damn it, Echo. You're going to dislocate my arm if you don't stop!" Dillon shouted.

Startled, I looked down. My foot was in the middle of Dillon's back and he was face down on the grown with his arm twisted behind him. I let go and jumped away.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" I asked.

"That was fucking perfect. I couldn't land a single hit on you and every punch you threw landed. How the hell did you learn to fight like that, cookie?" He said.

"I just didn't think about it. Are you sure you're alright?" I asked.

"I'm great. I think this means you need to train with a vampire. We should see if Marius can start training with us, so he can train you." Dillon grinned.

He worked with me a little more on striking through the target and not at the target. I was excited to tell Victor how well I did in training. He would be proud of me and I loved that feeling.

When training was done, we met up with everyone in the main section again. Uncle Samuel was looking at Harmony and Val with pride. I knew they had to have done well.

Cam had his arm around Harmony and was whispering something in her ear. Whatever it was, it made her giggle. Rosario was fawning over Sean, who appeared to have a black eye. Uncle Preston was near them apologizing.

I walked over to Sean and took his face in my hands. I closed my eyes and thought of the way Sean normally looks. I imagined the swelling going down and the bruise going away.

"I will never get used to that." Rosario gasped.

Opening my eyes, I saw that Sean looked completely normal. Uncle Preston seemed relieved. I patted Sean's cheek and turned away. Just in time to see Gray come from around the house.

It was like the whole world fell away. He'd taken off his t-shirt and there was sweat covering his body. It sparkled in the early morning light, like diamonds on his skin.

There were darkened patches of skin, that I knew were bruises, but, somehow, made him look more attractive. A little dangerous. The knowledge that he'd just come back from fighting a vampire wasn't lost on me. I knew the tremendous strain he had to have put on himself.

He picked up a bottle of water from the cooler Lisa had brought out while we were running and drank a little before pouring some onto his face and body. My own body reacted to that. My eyes tracked the rivulets of water as they cascaded over his muscles.

I desperately wanted to lick one of them. I wanted to taste him so badly it hurt. I pressed my thighs together, trying to control the pounding urge between my legs that told me to tackle him and ride him until I couldn't ride him any longer. "Damn. What a show off. I could do that if I wanted to." Rosario groused. "Stop staring at him, Sean."

"Sorry, what was that, babe? I got a little distracted." Sean replied.

Licking my lips, I turned away from Gray and his wonderful water show. I needed to get a grip on myself. I couldn't go panting after Gray at every turn. That would severely undermine my decision to wait until the curse was ended. "Echo, how was your training?" Gray said from right behind me.

I jumped and squeaked. He had been so close I could practically feel his breath on my ear. It sent a shiver through me that ended right between my legs. A heat settled in my lower stomach.

"I didn't mean to startle you." He chuckled and sniffed the air. "Mmm. I love how you smell today, Echo."

"I need to go get ready for school." I replied and walked away.

"Yeah. I could use a nice hot shower after all that working out." Gray murmured as he followed me into the house. "Do you need someone to help you wash your back, angel?" "No, thank you." I told him and ran as fast as I could to my room.

Once I was safely in my room, I locked the door and breathed a sigh of relief. My entire body felt hot and I stripped off my clothes on my way to the bathroom. I'd pick them up later.

I turned the water on a little cool. I needed something to take the heat out of my body. It was getting annoying. All I could think of was the fact that Gray was in his own shower, naked.

Stepping into the water, I basked in the cool, clean, water removing the grit of dried sweat and dirt off me. I cleaned my hair thoroughly. The water finally started making me feel normal again.

After I was clean, I dried off, picked up my clothes, and dressed for the day. I headed down for breakfast. Victor met me at the dining room door and led me to the seat next to his. Gray was in the seat on the other side of me.

I sat down and both Victor and Gray each took one of my hands and kissed them. I felt the heat growing in my stomach again. I almost moaned as each of them kissed and nibbled my fingers, palm, and wrist.

They suddenly released my hands and turned their attention to chatting with each other. I squirmed in my seat with the uncomfortable feeling growing deep inside me. Val walked into the room and I suddenly knew why they'd stopped like that.

The ache and heat stayed there for the rest of the meal. When Victor hugged me and gave me a kiss before I left for school, I practically melted in his arms. I could feel his hardness pressing against me as he sniffed deeply and groaned.

Gray did the same thing before I got in Val's car to head to school. I didn't trust myself in the car, alone, with Gray. It was a wise decision that I hated every moment of, but I was not going to give in to my urges.

I was going to resolve this curse and spend a whole week doing everything I dreamed of with my mates. It was the only thing I could think of to relieve the dull ache that was starting to become part of my daily life

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