I collapsed onto the grass, gasping for breath. Jared had been my sparring partner for the last thirty minutes, and his punches were as soft as a feather. Truth be told, I was the one inflicting more damage on him than he was on me. I was aware he was pulling his punches, and it irked me. Adam never treated me like a fragile doll.
To Adam, I was an equal. But to Jared, I was something delicate, something that could shatter at any moment.
“Is that your idea of fighting?” I asked, turning to look at him as he plopped down beside me. He grinned, his chest heaving with exertion.
“Believe me, one punch from me could put you in a coma for days. I don’t want to deal with Alaric’s fury.”
I rolled my eyes at his response.
“I’m the one you’re supposed to be training, not him,” I shot back.
“He’s your mate. If I hurt you, he’ll want my head on a platter. And we both know that being on his bad side isn’t a good idea.”
“Coward,” I teased, and he just smiled. The sun was a bright orb in the clear sky, causing sweat to bead on my skin and trickle down my back. This was the longest summer I’d ever experienced, but it wasn’t unusual. The Highlands were known for their unpredictable seasons.
“I heard about your disagreement with the luna.”
I sighed. I couldn’t believe Ophelia had the audacity to tell me to stop fighting and focus on running the household.
“I’m not against it. I’m against her telling me to stop fighting. She doesn’t understand how important fighting is to me. If I wasn’t a fighter, I would be dead by now. Can’t she see that?”
“You’re the future luna,” he reminded me.
“Just so you know, Alaric and I aren’t mates,” I clarified. That was the rule. If I was ever going to be the luna of this pack, I needed to bear his mark, and I was far from letting him anywhere near me like that.
“You know that the pack expects you two to sort out your issues, right?”
“There are no issues to resolve.” I was waiting for the day he messed up so that I could leave and never look back. But as always was the case with me, I had no such luck. Alaric was behaving so well that I couldn’t even spot a mistake. It was unsettling.
“Maybe,” Jared replied. We sat there for a while, soaking up the sun.
“We should head back,” he suggested, getting to his feet. I followed suit.
“I’ve got to see my son. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing.”
“That’s life. You seem to be warming up to Wendy.”
“She’s trying to be the perfect mom, fussing over me even though I’m a grown woman. And I can’t deny that she’s the perfect grandmother to Rollin.” I stared at the sun, blinding myself. Some might say I was biased. Why forgive Wendy and not Alaric? Well, Alaric and I were making progress. I didn’t hate him anymore, which was a step forward, but I was scared. What if it was all an act? What if his real self was still in there and he was playing with me to hurt me again? I had a lot of questions about him. It was unnerving.
“That’s good,” Jared said. As we reached the pack house, we ran into Alaric. He glared at Jared like he wanted to rip him apart, but when he turned to me his face softened, but I could sense that something was troubling him.
“What’s wrong?” Why did I care?
“The alpha and beta families in the West have been killed.”
“What?” Jared and I exclaimed in unison.
Alaric frowned, but continued, “Yes, the only surviving member of the beta family delivered the news.”
“Who would do that?”
Alaric looked at me, his gaze intense, as if he wanted to tell me something.
“Apparently I thought I killed Phineas.”
“But I just learned in my office that he might still be alive because they never found his body,” he said, his black eyes glinting with malice. That man was alive? And he was killing people, but why would he do it? He was a constant star in my nightmares and now my reality, too?
“Why would Phineas kill them?” Jared voiced the exact question I had.
“My guess is that he wants to become the ultimate alpha, but that’s just an assumption.”
“If that’s the case, then another pack is next.”
“We’ve sent warnings to the other packs to tighten their security, but I don’t think that will help with this person.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He infiltrated the Western Pack unnoticed and left the same way. They don’t even know the number who went in.”
“Goodness,” Jared said. A maid passed by, throwing us curious glances, but continued on her way.
“I’m going to meet my father and tell him this. In the meantime, Jared, take Conan and the other men and patrol. You see anything strange? Inform me at once.”
Jared nodded and left.
“How was training?”
“He hits like he doesn’t want to,” I said as we started walking.
“Good,” he said, laughing.
“There’s nothing funny about this. Adam was way better than Jared.” Gosh, I missed him. I made a mental note to call him.
“You can train me,” I suggested.
“No,” he said, looking appalled by the idea.
“Why not?”
“You think I can hurt you? I hurt you in the past. I’ve no desire to repeat it, even if it’s playful.”
This was the Alaric who scared me the most. The Alaric who acted like he cared. I couldn’t help but think all this was a show.
“It’s just training,” I reasoned.
“I will pass.”
“Come on,” I tried coaxing.
“That tone won’t change my mind.”
I gave up after that. No use fighting a losing battle.
“Have you informed—”
“I did. They promised to be careful from now on,” he said, and I was grateful. The Southern Pack was my family. If anything happened to them, I would be shattered.
