Nico’s strength was in his speed. Because he was part witch, his magical talent and affinity towards earth let him use the earth magic itself to sprint. He had power from magic and his wolf. Adalyn was strong, so strong that I was shocked that she wasn’t part of the actual hierarchy and blessed by the goddess. I thought she should have been the Enforcer, but I didn’t know much about the ongoing relations of the Aspen Pack.
My wolf, however, did not cower to either one of them. It should have. It didn’t matter that they were my friends and family. My wolf should have lowered her gaze. But I didn’t need to. It didn’t matter that I knew I was more submissive than them. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have the strength and power that they did.
My wolf was just weird.
Broken.
And that was my secret.
I waved them off, embarrassed that I had even lashed out as I had. They’d been teasing and didn’t deserve my attitude. “It’s fine. I didn’t mean it like that. I was snarking because I don’t like you insinuating that I have any thirst for the Alpha.”
“Oh, cousin, I don’t believe Adalyn mentioned thirst.” Nico winked as he said it, and I knew he was trying to cut the tension, but I cringed.
“There is no thirst.”
Adalyn buffed her nails on her shirt. “I don’t know. Chase is quite tasty.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You and Chase?” I asked, aghast.
Adalyn just threw her head back and laughed, looking gorgeous as ever. I saw Nico narrow his eyes, and now I wondered exactly what was going on with these two, or if I was just seeing things because I needed to.
“Nothing has ever happened between Chase and me. I’m not even sure Chase knows how to relax enough to let his wolf play like that. He’s far too busy being the perfect Alpha.”
“Okay, now I’m curious.” I leaned forward. “What’s wrong, Adalyn?”
She gave me a soft smile. “That’s not my story to tell, and I probably said too much. But Chase is good. He’s just focused on our Pack, as we all should be. The fact that Audrey found her mate Gavin as she did after everything that happened is a blessing. The mating bond with our Beta at so high in the hierarchy brings us strength, just like you know that mating brings strength to your Pack.”
“We do,” I said at the same time as Nico.
“Although we don’t have as many matings in our new generation of wolves as we do with the old guard,” he added.
That was true. Unlike with the Talons, and even the Aspens, our new generation of hierarchy hadn’t come into power because of death. My aunt and uncles had held the mantles of Omega, Healer, and Enforcer for over a century. Because they had, when the next generation had come into power, the moon goddess shared responsibilities between the two. While we technically only had one of each title now, our uncles and Aunt Hannah all helped in some way. They still retained some of their power, making us stronger than most Packs even now.
We hadn’t had to lose our family in order to bring power to the new generation. That was so unlike most Packs these days. It brought hope to most of us.
But that also meant that only our cousin, the Enforcer, Gina was mated. The rest of us were all unmated, though the older generation balanced us with their matings.
In the end, we were stronger for it, and most wolves didn’t find their mates in their twenties and thirties. So none of us were worried that we hadn’t found our mates. Sometimes it took centuries to find the person—or people in some cases—that were perfect for you.
“So you’re not out there looking for a mate then?” Nico teased, and Adalyn rolled her eyes before picking up her sword again.
“Okay, Skye, it’s time for you to show me your sword skills.”
“I have a penis joke in that, but I’m just not in the mood with my cousin around,” Nico teased.
Adalyn’s gaze went gold, her wolf at the forefront. “Maybe later, wolf.”
I cringed but let the two flirt before I pulled out my sword and got ready.
“You know my mother taught me. You better beware.”
“Oh, I know Cailin taught you. I want her to teach me, as well.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Excuse me? No. I’m going to be the one that teaches you. You don’t need my mother.”
“Them’s fighting words,” Nico called out from the outside of the training ring.
“Damn straight,” I teased.
“Well then. You’ll teach me the sword, Audrey will teach us both knives, and I guess I’ll have to find something to teach you,” Adalyn added.
“I can think of something!” Nico called out.
I quickly flipped him off, and as he laughed, Adalyn and I began to move. It was sword against sword, blade against blade. Even as sweat began to slick down my back, I kept moving, my feet in perfect harmony. It was like dancing to me, moving with the blade as if I’d been doing it for years. And I had been. Most of my siblings and cousins had learned other weapons, a sword being something of an ancient practice. But my mother had loved it, as her mother had taught her. So she taught me.
I was my mother’s daughter, my mother’s mother’s daughter. I was of the earth, of wolves, and I was of magic.
And as the clash of steel rang out into the air and my wolf ran to the forefront, I knew I would find my purpose one day.
But for now, I would move with the grace I was born with.
And I would fight.
Even if I wasn’t sure who I was fighting for.
Chapter
Three
Chase
I ran my hand through my hair and paced my bedroom, willing my wolf to calm down. I was the Alpha, after all. I had to show control of my wolf and the power in my veins.
It wasn’t that my wolf wanted to take over and rampage the den as a rogue would. It was more that I needed to run again. But that was how I had gotten in trouble in the first place. How we had even found the nest of vampires recently. I needed time in the wild. I needed to feel the wind on my face and in my fur. And I needed to pretend that I was okay.
No longer did I want to remember the touch of steel and silver along my body as I hunched in a too-small cage, trying to find my way out. I could no longer be that person. I had to be stronger than that.
My wolf pawed at me, finally calming down.
“We’ll go on a run soon. Though probably with Steele or Cruz.”
My wolf huffed, mollified, and I shook my head.
Not everybody had the same connections to their wolves that I did. Shifters had been born unto the world by the moon goddess herself. Long ago, when she’d come upon a hunter killing a wolf for gain and not food, she’d bound their souls to save the wolf and teach the human about life. From there, the shifters were born, two souls within one body, a delicate balance of strength and heart.
I knew some Packs could even talk to their wolves, as if the soul that shared their body spoke to them in full sentences.
I didn’t have that, but when I had been locked alone in a cage thanks to my father’s attentions, my wolf had been my only friend—the only one who could keep me safe and keep me company for all of those years.
Others had come into the cages beside me, some had never left. Audrey had been there, of course, but she had been the one to escape. The one who had come back to save us all.