📎A/N. Hello my lovelies. As promised, the second half of the chapter :)

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Have a wonderful day...

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Kaitlyn's imagination was bombarded with an astounding array of possible reasons Murphy was standing in the middle of the large back yard, half naked, jeans riding sinfully low on his hips, dirty blond hair and usual three day growth framing his onyx eyes, as stunning as the rest of his virile body.

She had seen the man naked before, but due to the circumstance surrounding the moment, she had barely registered the physical aspects of the man. Her mind had been otherwise occupied with the transformation she had witnessed.

How the hell did I not pay attention to that?

But now, in the dim light of the late afternoon sun, she could not help but notice his physique. The man looked as though he had been carved from a perfect slab of granite.

The Werewolf was perfectly proportioned in every sense of the word. The contours and muscles that adorned his exposed upper body were as sinful as his eyes. He had the body of someone used to physical exertion and hard work, not bulky or over developed.

From the brief physical contact she had had with him, she knew his body was pure masculine power. But nothing had quite prepared her for how she would react to seeing his physical form in all its splendor.

She was rooted to the spot, transfixed on the perfect specimen standing before her.

Good lord! Are they all like this?

Murphy's smooth voice broke into her wayward thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Clearing her throat and embarrassed at being caught ogling, she quickly looked away. "Yes, no problem," her voice came out croaky and suspicious - even to her ears.

Now having more control of her erratic thoughts and back on point she moved the focus back on to her instructor. "What exactly are you going to show me?"

"Werewolves bones," he began, "are denser and can bear a lot more pressure than humans. We have more strength, stamina and speed. Our hearing and eyesight are far superior."

She raised an eyebrow at him. Clearly now irked at his continued dismissal of her abilities. "Are you bragging, or is there a point to this?"

Ignoring her tone he continued. "So far you have been thinking you can match us in the very thing we are naturally better at. You need to learn how to strike us at our weak points."

Kaitlyn snorted in a very unlady like fashion at hearing this. "According to you, you don't have any."

Murphy glared in irritation at her.

She held up her hands in surrender. "Sorry, please continue."

"I am going to teach you how to strike at some of our vulnerable pressure points. With the limited force you will be able to inflict, it won't disable a Werewolf. But it should cause enough pain to halt them temporarily - enough to give you a chance to run."

"And now exactly will I do this?" her voice dubious at his statement to say the least.

"You will need to target precision strikes at certain groups of muscles. Provided you perform them correctly, the muscles around the lungs will contract violently taking air away, sending pain signals to the brain."

Kaitlyn was now listening intently. This was something that she could do. This was her chance to learn how to level the playing field. Forgetting her agitation with him, she gave him all her attention.Murphy closed the distance between them.

"The first combination you need to learn is precision strikes to the Brachial Plexus and Trachea."

Then grabbing her hand, he placed it on his chest over his collar bone. "Feel here," he said putting pressure on her hand and fingers, then moving it slightly, "and here. Apply enough sudden and pinpoint force it will cause the nerves to send the desired signals to the brain."

If Kaitlyn wasn't already hot and bothered from the workout, she most certainly would be now. His skin, smooth and warm was sending tiny shards of energy up her arm with each touch. As her fingers felt the area he was indicating, she could feel the sinewy muscles, hard and unyielding.

"Can you feel it?"

"What... Pardon?" she stammered as she again, was caught out.

"The nerve area you need to concentrate on?"

Pulling herself together, Kaitlyn refocused on the lesson rather than the very male instructor.

Get a grip. You'd think I'd never seen or touched a hot guy before!

Oh My God! Since when did I start thinking he was hot?

Murphy very efficiently continued showing Kaitlyn the optimal way in which to hold her hands when striking each group of muscles, as well as where to strike. Once he was satisfied she was performing this sufficiently and efficiently, he instructed her to practice on him.

"But won't that hurt you?" she asked in horror.

Instead of replying, Murphy gave her a look that clearly told her he had no confidence she would come close to actually hitting anything that could affect him.

Determined to prove him wrong, Kaitlyn refocused her energy on putting into practice the moves he had just shown her.

"Faster, you need to move faster," he growled out after they had been at it for what seemed like a lifetime.

Her arms were now sore and heavy with the repeated moves. Her hands were in agony. It was like she had been hitting a brick wall.

Seeing her flexing her fingers, Murphy grabbed her hand and began to gently massage the tension from her fingers and wrist. "Once you hit the nerve you need to make contact with the Trachea an instant later. Any longer than that, it won't have the desired affect."

The sensations from his ministrations were sending another round of warmth through her body. Each time his thumbs placed pressure on the back of her hand in a circling motion, her insides began churning in time to his gentle but firm touch. It was if a horde of deranged butterflies were trying to escape from her stomach.

Kaitlyn looked up to find Murphy gazing at her with a strange and unreadable expression. One that she had not seen before. Her hand, still encompassed in his felt safe and secure. The gentle soothing movements against her skin ceased, and they stood transfixed, neither speaking, or moving. She found herself caught in the pull of his dark gaze, unable to look away and, if she was being honest with herself, not really wanting to.

The moment was broken when Joshua's voice boomed across the yard announcing that dinner was ready. Both Murphy and Kaitlyn quickly recoiled from each other as if stung.

Unsure of what to say or do, Kaitlyn quickly bent down and grabbed her Taser. By the time she had retrieved it, Murphy had put his shirt back on and was already heading towards the house.

Taking a deep steadying breath, she too began to head in the same direction. Her mind unable to process what had just happened, chose to ignore the matter. For now.

As expected, the majority of the conversation at dinner was carried by Joshua and Kaitlyn. Murphy choosing to remain quiet unless directly asked a question.

By the time dessert had been served, Kaitlyn knew something was up. Joshua had become more nervous with each passing moment during their meal. The fact that he attempted to engage Murphy in the conversation on numerous occasions was testament to this.

Placing her fork on her half empty plate, she pushed her chair back slightly and folded her arms.

"Okay, so spill it," she demanded.

Joshua threw a desperate look towards Murphy, who had not yet finished eating. "Don't look at me," the younger Werewolf said as he took another bite of food.

Fidgeting slightly, Joshua reached over and grabbed Kaitlyn's empty glass. "How are you doing for a drink, Katy? How about a top up?"

An uneasy feeling began to well in the pit of Kaitlyn's stomach as Joshua poured her another glass of wine. She narrowed her eyes and continued to stare at her grandfather who appeared to become more flustered under her gaze.

Joshua, for his part, was struggling with where to begin. He had not yet actually worked out how he was going to tell her they had been summoned back to pack land and make sure that Murphy would keep his promise to go with them.

"Oh, for Christ sakes!" she exclaimed frustrated at his delaying tactics, "just damn well tell me what's got your knickers in a twist."

Something resembling a sharp laugh was emitted from Murphy's side of the table. Turning in the direction the noise had come from, she met his usual bland stoic expression with her own. "Don't you start," she snapped at him, "what ever is going on, I can guarantee you are part of it. And I'd lay bets on you actually causing the problem."

His eyes went wide in surprise at her astute guess, the fork halted mid air as the piece of apple pie balanced precariously on it. Quickly regaining his composure, he looked between Joshua and Kaitlyn. "We're going on a trip," he said as the food successfully made it the rest of the way to his mouth.

Kaitlyn's eyes narrowed and her face took on a suspicious look. "What trip?" she questioned, "And who exactly - is we?"

Joshua, now seeing his opening, began to explain the situation. "Remember, Katy I told you that Werewolves live by certain laws. And these laws are enforced by the Packs and the Alliance?"

"Yes," she said slowly. The feeling of dread that had begun to grow earlier was starting to escalate.

The feeling grew exponentially as Joshua haltingly explained that they had been summoned to Tudor Falls and why.

The silence hung thick in the air for a long while after Joshua had finished speaking.

"So let me get this straight," Kaitlyn began, once her initial shock had worn off, "If I don't go and see your Alpha; and if Murphy doesn't vouch for me, a bunch of Werewolves from your government are going to track me down and kill me. All because I am human."

She lent back on her chair fidgeting with her napkin. "Does that about sum it up?" she asked looking from one to the other her voice rising a notch, "Yes, I think that about sums it up."

"Now don't panic honey, that won't happen. We are going to Tennessee to sort it out and everything will be fine."

"Whose, panicking," she snapped, "I only have a bunch of mythical creatures trying to murder me for knowing something I didn't ask to know."

She glared at Murphy. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"Nothing is going to happen to you," Murphy said calmly.

"And how can you be sure about that? Joshua just said that my life is possibly in danger. And, as you have been so frequently pointing out - I am unable to physically defend myself in physical combat against you - you 'Immigrants'!" she shouted, fury now taking over.

Murphy rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. "I already said, nothing is going to happen to you."

"How can you be so sure?"

He looked directly at her, his previous calm replace by something entirely different. "Because they would have to come through me to get to you," he grounded out.

Banging his fork on his now empty plate, he stood and towered over them. "Now I've had enough of this conversation. We are going to Tudor Falls this weekend. We will get Nathan to sign off on you and then we will get the hell out of there and get back to finding Elijah. End of conversation."

Picking up his plate he threw it in the kitchen sink and stormed out of the room.

"Well I think that went well," murmured Joshua a slight hint of humour in his tone, "should make for an interesting weekend."

"I don't know why you're looking so smug. What if your Alpha doesn't like me?"

Joshua began to laugh. "Oh my dear, there is no chance that he won't. It's just a formality."

"Then why the dramatics? Why make me believe that I could be in danger?"

"Because, dear Katy," he smiled, "I needed you both to agree to go."

Kaitlyn's mouth pursed into an angry line as she stood and began looking around the room.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, noticing her valiant search.

"Where's my damn taser?"

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A/N. So what did you think?

...Now how did she not notice him the first time round... he sounds a little but yummy... what do you think?

...And I wonder why Joshua wanted to make sure Murphy when back with them?

Don't forget to vote. Each one counts :-)

Till next time. Have a great week. Next chapter should be up on Saturday. :-)

M.