“In that case, could you give me an hour?”
“Will your wolf give you a break if you ask? No. And nor will I. So let’s start. One thing that every enforcer has to be an expert at is stealth—and it’s something that is very good at helping with self-control, so I’ll be teaching it to you. At a later point, I’ll be testing you on this, possibly by bringing some of the guys to help.”
“Why?”
“Because if you know I’m going to do that, you’ll be sure to take this seriously. I know you well enough to know that you won’t show weakness in front of anyone, especially your own pack.” He was right, the ass**le.
“You’ll have to be good to fool them, because believe me when I say that the enforcers are experts at this. They have to be. Let’s say that one of them does a lap of pack territory and finds evidence of intruders. They can’t just run over there and take on the problem alone. They need to alert the team and, if possible, wait. If it’s not possible, if their intervention is needed right then, they need to act. Shifter hearing can pick up a lot of things. They need to be able to move undetected, even by other shifters. In order to fool them, so will you.”
“Move undetected,” echoed Jaime, nodding. “Panting won’t help me with that, huh.” She straightened and made an effort to calm her breathing.
“That’s why we’ll be improving your fitness level and helping you to control your breathing better. No matter what, you never hold your breath.” Dante put his hand on his abdomen and gestured for Jaime to mirror the act. “First, learn to breathe from here rather than from your chest. It means you can take more air into your lungs. So, what you want to do is take a slow, deliberate breath through your nose until your hand moves as you do.” He gave a satisfied nod when Jaime followed the instruction. “It’s always quieter to breathe through your nose. If you need to do it through your mouth or need to breathe heavily, open it wide and take deep, slow breaths.” Ten seconds later, Jaime’s breathing was under control and the panting had stopped.
“Good, very good. An important aspect of stealth is blending. You’ve probably noticed that when they’re on patrol, the guys tend to wear clothes that are dark but never black. Black looks unnatural and outlines your silhouette, which makes you easier to see.” Jaime’s expression indicated that she hadn’t considered that. “You want to wear dark greens, dark browns, dark grays, or dark blues, but never black. You want to cover as much skin as possible and for your clothing to be tight—nothing that rustles as you move. In the future, wear something like that for training.”
“Dark clothes that don’t hinder movement. Got it.”
“You need to be constantly aware of your surroundings. Always utilize your senses. You not only want to be careful of how much noise you make, you want to be sure you’re alert to any noises around you so that no one can sneak up on you. Also, notice the direction of the wind—you don’t want others to be able to pick up your scent.”
“So I don’t want to be heard, seen, or scented.”
“Exactly. Always be patient. Being stealthy doesn’t mean moving slowly, but in some instances it’s imperative that you do. If you’re im patient, your movements will be jerky and uncoordinated. That’s when you risk your presence being detected. Patience helps you remain silent.
Remaining silent helps you not get caught. And so we begin your first exercise in stealth. You’re going to stand absolutely still and keep your breathing quiet for an entire half hour, as if you’re merely a foot away from one of the enforcers.”
Jaime wasn’t impressed with the exercise. “You want me to just stand still and be quiet for thirty minutes?”
It wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded, but Dante wanted her to figure that out for herself. “It means no fidgeting, no shifting your weight from foot to foot, no whistling, no sighing—nothing. Each time you move or make a noise, we begin again.” With that, Dante sat on one of the patio chairs behind her and watched. Three minutes into the exercise, she cleared her throat. “You made a sound, now you’re caught.”
“Fuck.”
“Again.” Eight minutes went by and she began absentmindedly drumming her fingers on her thigh. “Nice tune.”
“Goddammit.” She released an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”
“I know you didn’t, and that’s bad. You need to be fully alert. You need to be fully aware of every sound you make. If you can hear you, you can damn well bet the enforcers can, too. Now, we start again. Ready?”
Jaime released the tension from her shoulders and nodded. For a shocking eighteen minutes, she managed to remain still, but then she involuntarily bent her knees a little to relieve the stiffness in her legs. Instantly she realized what she had done and cursed. “It’s a lot harder than it sounds.”
“I know.” Dante rose from his seat and went to her. “You did well. Don’t worry, we’ll do a little at each session. It’s actually something you can practice anytime. Just see how long you can go relatively unnoticed in a room, or how long you can cope with staying out of the conversation at the table. Whatever. It is important.”
“Okay, let’s practice some more, then.”
“No, we’ll try more of that at the next session. Right now, I’m going to introduce you to the art of moving stealthily. You’ve seen the way the guys and I walk: fluidly, balanced, softly, evenly—”
“And in your case, cockily.” She’d never admit that his cocky strut was sexy as hell.
He gave her a mockingly castigating look. “You have to involve your whole body, but you also need to get the footwork right.” Physically demonstrating the move, Dante told her, “Place your heel down and then roll your foot along the outer side to the ground.” Jaime replicated the move. “Like this?”
“Perfect. Walking this way makes it easier to instantly halt if you need to.”
“I would’ve thought that the best way is to walk on the balls of your feet.”
“That does help you move quickly and quietly, but you need great balance and steadiness for that. Once we’re further into your training, we’ll try it. For now, we’ll stick to this.”
“Do I have to learn that weird sneaking crouch-crawl thingy?” asked Jaime, scrunching her face up.