"Wait, why are you happy that he's a fool?" I ask without thinking. 'You sure it's not an ego thing?' My wolf asks in return. Well, maybe just a little bit I admit to myself.
"Because if he wasn't a fool, you would be in his arms right now." What. The. Hell? Is swooning an actual thing? What is a swoon, because I think I just did? How the heck does this guy know all the right things to say? Why is he so perfect right now? The logically sane side is losing the civil war it's fighting against the hopeless romantic side. I'm not even sure if it even had a chance to begin with.
I'm going to be in trouble soon.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thorne, myself, and Gavin are sitting on a portable dais that overlooks the main training pit where the challenges are taking place. The three of us worked out that each round would consist of two minutes in which the candidates would fight in their human forms. However, as soon as Gavin blew the whistle, they'd finish the last five minutes of the fight in their wolf to the end or to submission.
To keep the fights fair, each candidate is being kept in the meeting hall so that no one can look for fighting points against their hopeful future opponents. To ensure that this rule was implemented, I had to use my alpha command through the pack mind link an issue a gag order; keeping everyone from discussing the challenge.
I felt like I was a judge on fight night. Round after round, the three of us counted the points that we assigned to each punch and bite. After several eliminations it is getting harder for me not to have a favorite fighter amongst the contestants. There are definitely a few that I think Lincoln would love to have as his Beta.
Aniese Parker, one of the female warriors is at the top of my list. So far, she's undefeated and just finished her third fight. She's quick to bring her opponent to the ground and she's proven herself a clinical attacker. I for one have been very impressed with her performance during the trials.
My other favorite rising star was Jason Gard. He had an immovable way about him that made me want to root for him. He commanded the training field against his opponents and like Aniese, he was the only other undefeated warrior.
So, it was no surprise when hours after the start of the trials that my two favorites were to face off for the top spot. Gavin and Thorne seemed pleased with the outcome as well as we congratulated the two for earning the last place spots for Beta.
All of the contestants that participated in the tournament are now standing before us.
"You all fought hard and bravely, and I only wish that Alpha Lincoln could have been here to witness how much love and passion you have shown for Willowhaven." I speak loud and clear for everyone that witnessed the trials. There were very few wolves who stayed away completely from the fighting. However, everyone seemed to be here for the announcement of the last two contestants.
"I know we all want what's best for Willowhaven, including these last two warriors who fought hard to be where they are right now. In exactly one hour from now, Aniese and Jason will face off for the Beta position of Willowhaven. In the meantime, I ask that everyone allow them this hour of rest and continue about your business. At the end of the sixty minutes, we'll reconvene and have the final fight."
"Excuse me Luna," the word Luna is sneered as if it was a curse to whoever was speaking. I look out into the crowd of pack members and wait for whoever spoke to step out of the shadows. The alpha blood that flows within me boils when I lay eyes on Brittany. The wolf in me bristles with a smirk as if she expected a confrontation from the little girl who thought she could take what was mine.
"Yes Brittany?" I calmly ask.
"I signed up for the competition, but I have yet to be called for my fight."
"And you conveniently waited until the very last bout to speak up?"
Brittany shifts from one foot to the other, her defiance and confidence wanes just slightly. Thorne stealthy moves behind me and places both of his hands on my waist. His touch lends to me a feeling of comfort and support I didn't know I needed until that moment.
"Well let's see. Yesterday, mere minutes after Alpha Lincoln discussed with the pack the reason why we are searching for the best Beta for Willowhaven, you decided it was in your best interest to attempt the same move that Julien did, and take a mate that didn't belong to you."
The color seemed to physically drain from Brittany's face. "Tha...that's not what happened?"
"No? Shall we ask Alpha Thorne's input as to if you asked him out to dinner? We can always ask your two friends that are always with you." I pause long enough to step out of Thorne's clutches and immediately miss the warmth of his embrace as I address the entire pack. "How many of you were in the dining room this morning? How many of you heard my speech about Willowhaven's integrity?"
About fifty hands are raised, including Brittany's and her little cronies. "Now if I value the integrity of this pack so highly, why on earth would I let you be beta after attempting to commit the very crime of your predecessor? Tell me why you should be Beta then."
Brittany could do nothing but give me a hard stare. I didn't even care that she was in the throes of being humiliated. Probably not the best idea when I want to teach everyone to treat others with respect and integrity. But I also subscribe to the notion that if you do something, like try to call me out, in public, then you should be reprimanded in public. But that's just me.
"But if you really want to have a shot, one that I don't think you deserve, I'll give you one. You get one fight to prove you belong in a match. One. If you beat me, you fight the winner between Aniese and Jason. However, if I beat you, you forfeit all future fights. You don’t get another chance for this position."
"That's not fair! You're an alpha!" Brittany protested.
"Oh baby, please tell me where everything in life has to be fair? Was it fair to Julien's mate that he chose another? Was it fair to me that you wanted my mate?" I shake my head as I hop down from the dais and take steps closer to her. "Was it fair that my parents died at such a young age? News flash princess, life isn't fair. The goddess isn't fair. And if you think this deal has to be fair, you're definitely not fit for Beta. Tell me a one word answer, right now. Yes or no?"
"You can't do this." She stands up to me defiantly with her hands on her waist.
I smirk up at the girl since she stands a little taller than me. Brittany is really a pretty girl, though she's also the typical blonde girl-next-door type. And unlike the blonde stereotype, she's usually much smarter than this. Usually, being the operative word.
"Hmmm," I simply say before turning and returning to the dais and standing in front of Thorne again. I am freaking purring like a cat when his hands cup my shoulders. "Like I was saying, in one-hour Aniese and Jason will fight. Once the dust clears, we'll see who our new Beta will be."
"You said I could fight you for a chance." Brittany tries to run up on me, but Thorne and Gavin block her. The pack whispers around us, but I don't care to hear whether they approve of me or not. I have full faith that if my brother was here, he'd fully support anything I was doing at the moment, so the pack's approval was not required. Though judging by some of the looks that are being thrown Brittany's way, I don't think it's me that they disapprove of.
I move the hands of my protectors, Gavin and Thorne, to their respective sides and stare Brittany down full on. I've never been afraid to go toe to toe with anybody, big or small, and I sure wasn't going to back down now. "So not only did you try to take another wolf's mate, but you also seem to be hard of hearing." My jaw clenches with each step towards her, but just when I think I'm going to be right in her face, Brittany backs away with two steps. How she could ever thing that she was Beta material is beyond me.
"I said to give me a one-word answer, and you presumed to think that you can tell me what to do. So far, I have seen very little of the qualities of a Beta in you. I could ask you once again to tell me why you think you'd make a great Beta for Willowhaven; but this isn't an interview. You failed the test, more than once." I can feel my wolf coursin
g through me, the sharpened eyesight is a clear indication that my wolf was just as aggravated with the girl as I was. "You don't have what it takes to be a beta of yourself, let alone a beta of a pack," I growl out.
My hair whips behind me when I turn around but apparently that was the last straw for Brittany because she grabbed a solid chunk of my hair and yanked me to her. On reflex, my wrist grabbed the wrist that held onto my hair and I found a pressure point. My thumb slammed into the tender spot and Brittany cried out as her grip loosened on my scalp. Twisting her arm as I twisted her body so that she was in front of me, I drop her arm and bring both my hands up so that I had her in a chokehold.
Brittany taps on my arm closest to her throat, but I don't relent. Striking an alpha, unless in training, is a death sentence. She should have known better. But Brittany was operating on emotion, irrational emotion at that. She'll deserve this punishment. When she goes unconscious in my arms, and her entire body goes limp, I gently lay her down on the ground.
"Brittany Sestrom is hereby banished from the Willowhaven pack," I cry out in my alpha command voice. The pack and I around me feel the immediate loss of a pack member that's forced out. It's like a pressure in the pit of your stomach that suddenly feels empty. I seek her parents from the rest of Willowhaven. I can't help the feeling of rising guilt that settles around my heart as I take in their shocked expressions.
I walk slowly to stand before them. "I'm sorry, Mr. And Mrs. Sestrom. You are more than welcome to stay at Willowhaven, but I understand if you would like to leave with your daughter. If you decide to stay, she will be brought to the border with some of her belongings, clothes, and some money. However, if you decide to leave with her, I will call my cousin in Blood Moon and arrange for safe passage and transfer for the three of you. That would be for your comfort, not hers."
I flinch when Mrs. Sestrom's hand reaches out for me. I thought she was about to slap me, for what I did to her daughter. But her palm rested on my face and a sad smile twisted the corners of her mouth.
"I know you did what Alpha Lincoln would have. But thank you for not killing her. She hasn't been right since her mate died." I gasp at the shocking news. There was never word to me that Brittany had even found her mate; let alone that he died. "They never sealed the bond, he was killed in a rogue attack. I only found out about it after she came home after visiting her grandmother's pack in California."
Mr. Sestrom looks down at his mate's eyes before looking at me. "We should have told you, and we're sorry. Brittany insisted she was fine, and I guess we wanted to believe it."
"If I had known, I could have helped her somehow. I had no idea." I plead with them to understand. My wolf tries to tell me that they do, but part of me needs to hear it from them.
"It's our fault for not mentioning what our little girl was going through. I think we'll take you up on your offer. We can try to get her some help in Blood Moon." I nod with the knowledge that Brittany will get the help that she deserves. Mrs. Sestrom gives me an awkward hug that I'm too sad to return. When she withdraws from the one-sided embrace, another sad smile graces her tired face. "It's not your fault dear. You didn't know, and yet you still showed her mercy, even when you were in the right not to. You will always have my thanks. We have a second chance to have our daughter back."
I don't know what it is about her words, but they strike a chord with me. Silent tears leak from my face and it isn't until my eyes focus on a hard and very broad chest that I register that Thorne is standing in front of me. I come out of my stupor and see that everyone has dispersed from the training field. I didn't even notice when the Sestrom's left. I feel like I'm losing my mind.
"Don't be too hard on yourself."
I step back away from Thorne and glare at him. I ask incredulously, "excuse me?"
"You made a call, a good one. A damned good one even with no information, you chose not to kill someone when you very well could have."
"Are you recruiting me right now? Are you seriously working me? I already agreed to be your Luna, stop pushing me!"
"What? Baby no, that's not what I'm doing. Listen, even from where I was, standing behind you, I could see that you needed reassurance for your decision. I don't want you to ever second guess yourself. I don't have an angle with you."
Thorne's eyes do the rest of the pleading, but I can't function beyond being frozen by what he said. 'Baby.' The word flowed so naturally from his mouth. Are we at pet names already? We've only just begun to scratch the surface of knowing each other. Does he already see me as his? Or is this his way of forcing a bond between us?
And then I begin to wonder how much I am overthinking this? Overthinking us? He literally just said he doesn't want me to second guess myself, but isn't that what I'm doing now? Am I giving too much power to a problem that doesn't need to exist in the first place?
I don't need my wolf or anyone else to confirm my questions. I think so too.
Three deep breaths are all it takes for me to relax into his hands that are rubbing my arms up and down. The friction warms my spirit along with my body. Absentmindedly, I nod and look up into Thorne's face. Though hard with sharp edges, it was also very soft. Soft, but not with fat; more so with compassion for me. All of this tenderness from him, or anyone in general really, was new for me.
"Do you want to go on a run with me?" I blurt out undiplomatically.
"Lead the way," Thorne holds out his hand in a manner that reminds me of Vanna White. Thorne follows me to the border of the forest where we slowly strip and hide our clothes. We only have less than an hour so once we're completely ready for our shift, shaking out the ruddy orange fur of my beast. One look back and I see, Thorne didn't waste anytime shifting to his wolf either.
Thorne continues to follow behind me, letting me lead the way. Where I want to take him isn't far away though surprisingly, not many venture there. My wolf's tongue is practically hanging out of her mouth as we run towards the cliff. Thorne, not knowing what I was trying to do, starts to nudge me with his muzzle. His whines have little effect on me as I run full speed ahead. Thorne is about to tackle me, but a quick burst of speed finds me outside of his clutches as I leap into the air.
It's the only time my wolf gets to fly.
Just before hitting the surface of the water, I shift back into my human skin. My wolf may not mind getting wet, but she hates being submerged in water.
Life is so serene beneath the surface. There's still light from the waning day, and the sun is still strong enough to light the way underneath. I see where the fish have scattered, and the underwater cave my brother and I would race each other to when we were younger. But reminiscing underwater isn't that great of an idea when you don't have any snorkeling or diving gear on you.
I take a huge unattractive breath of air the second I break the surface of the very cold water. Thorne stands, still in his wolf form, at the top of the edge, fifteen feet above me. It's not a huge drop but if you don't know that there's water underneath, you'd never jump.
"Come in! The water is nice. Well a little cool, but it's nice." It truly was considering it was about ninety degrees right now even in the early evening. The water was extremely refreshing on such a hot day.
Thorne's wolf whines before he lays down on the ground. His head shakes when he rests and I remember that if he shifts, he would be naked. It's sort of endearing that he shies about being naked around me, considering I've seen most of him already. Try as I might, I can't completely hide the smirk on my face as I turn my back towards Thorne. Moments later, I hear a precise splash behind me and I turn around to come face to face with Thorne.
Water drips from his hair, leaving trails down his face and neck. I feel his hands pull me in closer at my waist. However, there's a slight disappointment on my behalf when he doesn't pull me flush against his body. The turquorise green water somewhat displaces my view of him beneath the water line, yet does nothing for my breasts which are a lot closer to the surface than...
Oh, my godd
ess, I'm an idiot.
How am I just realizing now that I'm skinny dipping with Wesley Thorne? The intensity in which he stares at me is a little unnerving, but mostly thrilling. There is literally nothing between us right now, except this little bit of space. If I could just close this distance. I try to lean in but Thorne holds me at bay.
"We don't have a lot of time right now, and I know you don't want to start something you can't finish," I nod disappointedly. He's right, of course he's right. I don't even know what kind of relationship I want with Thorne. I can't initiate something physical and we never develop past a friendship stage. I can just blame it on the pregnancy hormones that are making me act foolish. "It's beautiful out here."
The Rejection (Luna of the Pack Series) Page 13