Stronger, Faster, Better

Callie's POV ...

My back hit the mat hard.

"Come on," Isabel said from above, "you are too slow. I could have killed you if I was the enemy."

I groaned, "can you take easy please?"

It was my third day of training and my body felt battered and bruised. I had been working on hand-to-hand combat with Isabel for the last two hours. If I had thought that she wasn't holding back last time, I had been mistaken.

This Isabel was ruthless, unforgiving, and lethal. I could see why she was one of

Kameron's top warriors.

"Damien won't hesitate to mark you. You need to be more alert," she readied her stance, "'now get up and defend yourself."

Kameron had asked Isabel to take a stricter approach to my training. He wanted me to toughen up because the people we were about to fight would not play fair.