Free Beyond by Mary Ting

and pulled him toward the door like a puppy on a leash. From the corner of my eye, I saw her huff a “ how dare you ” sigh.
    “ Hold on a minute, ” Austin said, stopping suddenly so that his weight anchored my progress . “ What was that for? I was enjoying my conversation. That was kind of rude. ” He straighten ed the section of his T-shirt I had tugged.
    Suddenly I felt horrible. What was wrong with me? This was not who I was …at least , I didn’t think it was .
    Austin saw my apologetic expression. “ Hey...I ’ m flattered that you ’ re jealous. ” H is lips and brows twist ed into a smile.
    “ What? No. I was not jealous. I got a bad vibe from her , that ’ s all. ”
    “ Uh huh. ”
    “ Seriously…I don ’ t know what it is, but something isn ’ t right, ” I whispered this time , a fraid she may hear our conversation.
    “ That ’ s okay. You don ’ t have to admit that you ’ re jealous , e ven if it was for a split second. I ’ ll take it. ”
    “ No, I wasn ’ t, ” I fibbed , t hough I knew a part of me was . I would never give him the satisfaction.
    “ Yes, you were. ”
    “ No, I wasn ’ t. ” My tone was strong and adamant.
    “ Yes, you were. ” His tone was light and confident .
    Ahhh…this conversation was going nowhere. As I turned to argue, I froze when I saw all their eyes on us. I swallowed a big lump. How silly we must look, sounding like two children arguing back and forth. Great!!! And we are supposed to be the leaders. Great going Claudia, I thought, wishing I wasn ’ t t here. I could feel my whole body blaze with heat from embarrassment, but it didn ’ t seem to faze Austin at all. I guess he didn ’ t care much what they thought; after all , he was Katherine ’ s son.
    Seeing what I was observing, Austin held up his right hand. “ Back as you were. ” Everyone turn ed and mind ed their business as they had been , practicing their skills with their partner.
    Unexpectedly, a venator walked toward us with beaming emerald green eyes and a smile that could light up th e room. He wore jeans and a navy button polar shirt. Looking directly at Austin he said, “ I ’ m the new Alpha team leader. ” Austin practically dropped his jaw and didn ’ t look pleased at all.

Chapter 7

    Davin saw Claudia and Austin walking in to the training room at Nubilus City. Having her intoxicated and not knowing him was one thing, but to see her t here, alert and awake , made him nervous . How could he look her in the eye knowing he knew who she was, but she knew nothing of him? What if he sa id the wrong thing? He knew the risk , but h e wanted to be t here, and keep the promise he ’d made to Michael.
    But then there was this Austin issue. He didn ’ t like the way Austin was taking advantage of this open opportunity with Michael out of the way. Clearly it was possible to fall in love with your guardian angel…he guessed. What did he know about falling in love anyway? He didn ’ t even know what it felt like.
    At first he kept his distance so he could observe from afar. He could feel some kind of connection between them. One thing he knew for sure, it was more one sided , and this made him happy. Even with Claudia ’ s selective memory loss, he had faith that she would find her way home—to her home—to the truth of her past and who she really was.
    Might as well get this over with , he thought. Sooner or later he would have to face her. But he couldn ’ t help the strong urge to run up to her and squeeze her as he always ha d .
    When he heard Austin and Claudia arguing about something, he decided it was time to step forward. A nxious, he walked toward them , hoping Claudia wouldn ’ t be able to see right through him. But he couldn ’ t wait to see the look on Austin ’ s face when he told him the great news , and that alone made him smile .
    “ I ’ m the new Alpha team leader, ” Davin said , gloating, ready to catch the look on Austin ’ s