Page 63 of The Alpha’s Heir

Marcus looked at Roman, as if asking permission. I hadn’t realized he outranked him, but I guess I should’ve figured that out with the brooding sense of responsibility Roman seemed to carry wherever we went.

Roman gave a slight nod.

“Not much to my story,” Marcus said. “I joined the military just out of high school, way back when LT here was a boot like me, and then married my sweetheart Daisy. No kids yet, but maybe someday. There’s a… genetic issue in her family.”

Justus snorted. “Maybe don’t go around saying stuff like that out loud.”

Marcus stared back at him. “What exactly are you going to do about it?”

The idiot at my side realized his predicament. “Nothing. Just looking out for you, man.”

I was too busy staring at the way Roman’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the wheel to process everything Marcus had said.

“You and Roman went to high school together?” I asked.

“No.” Marcus got quiet for a minute, like he realized he might be oversharing. But Roman didn’t say anything, so he continued, “Lieutenant Miller here is from a lower level than me, if you can even believe it, but we did go to boot camp at the same time before he went and worked his way up to becoming an officer despite all the odds being stacked against him.”

There was true pride in the way Marcus spoke about Roman, and damn if that didn’t make my heart flutter.

Told you he was worth it.

It’s only one story.

“He didn’t need to go to public school when he had me.” Justus puffed up a bit. “Right, Roman? We learned enough together.”

“Wait…” My brow creased. “You didn’t go to school at all? Or you went with Justus?”

“No.” Justus rolled his eyes as if I was the stupid one. “Lower levels get basic education, but they stop to learn trades early. Since his father worked at our house, Mom found a loophole to get Roman assigned there too so we could hang out together.”

“I see,” I said, watching the way Roman didn’t even blink at hearing his past discussed like this. My heart broke a bit for my mate.

“And your basic education,” I had to ask. “Did they tell you the truth about what it’s like out here?”

Silence descended in the vehicle as we looked out the windows at the passing desert landscape that would give way to rolling hills just up ahead and the woods beyond. I always thought this open landscape just outside Cerberus Territory was pretty.

“No,” Marcus said. “They didn’t.”

I figured as much.

Despite all my aunts and Mom did to make sure the humans in the purist city knew the truth about our world, and despite how welcoming our packs had been to curious travelers, the fear of the wild and unknown still ran deep.

Wasn’t that the problem with magic anyway? Why they clung to their science? Because they couldn’t control magic, couldn’t explain it, and so it must be wrong.

Their prejudices kept them locked in their walled cage, ready to hurt others over the thought of a mutant in their midst, and angering the gods with the unbalance of nature.

Are we so very different?

I thought of Alec and Skoll and the others. How much they hated the humans. That kind of anger ran soul deep.

Who were we to think a simple union between a human and wolf shifter would be enough to fix the madness of this world?

But maybe Morrigan was right and this was a good start. Though I was beginning to think there was more to the story than we were being told.

Sighing, I patted Justus’s knee in an attempt to comfort the idiot. “I promise to cook any raw flesh before I feed it to you.”

*

Relief and lightness filled my chest before we turned on the road that would take me home. My wolf’s tail started thumping once we crossed into our territory. I kept my thoughts to myself, hoping to surprise the pack, but I should’ve known better.