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“We all would,” Destini professed, pretending to swoon into Sarah’s arms. Sarah caught her, and we all giggled out loud, causing a few other wolves to glare at us; my mother shook her head and smiled at me.
I nodded as we continued to stare in my brother and Nolan’s direction. Girls were touching him, and one was rubbing up against him; I couldn’t deny it made me a little jealous, until he kept backing away from her, and she fell on her ass. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, which caught her attention.
Nolen tried to help her from the ground, but she slapped his hand away and got up. Her face was red with anger and embarrassment as she stalked toward me and got in my face, growling; I never wavered as I looked her in the eyes. “What are you laughing about?”
Shrugging at her question, I gave her a little bit of sass that my brother Sawyer always told me to keep at a minimum. There was no way I was going to let this female come at me and try to dominate me. I’m of Alpha blood—that shit was not going to fly with me anymore. “You, I mean, you keep putting yourself onto him, and he keeps trying to move away from you. So, it would be best if you learned when to stop.”
I spotted my brother and Nolen making their way up to me. The weak little girl when Nolen first came here no longer existed. Nolen was the reason I’d decided I wouldn’t be the girl who got trampled on. He had shown me that there was no time like now to make changes. I’d finally talked Dad into letting me train with the warriors, and oh how I excelled in it. I even took down wolves a little older than me, so she didn’t scare me.
“You mouthy little brat! You don’t know if he likes it or not!”
I started to say something back to her when Nolen came up beside me, and Sawyer stood on the other side. Their auras radiating off them, causing the lower ranked wolves to cower. But not me. I wouldn’t let them do that to me. My brother’s alpha voice sounded out beside me, trying to get me to submit. “Is there a problem, ladies?”
I could not for the life of me say anything with Nolen being so close to me. He gave off this crazy amount of power, and it caused goosebumps to run down my body. I took a chance to gaze up at him, catching him glancing at me. I swore that I spotted his eye color flicker from his dark blue. I gazed back to the she-wolf who was in front of me, her hard eyes on mine. “I have no problem with this bitch.”
The she-wolf in question snarled and started to come forward when a deep growl to my left gave her pause. She glanced over to Nolen and then back at me. She huffed, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the room. I heard Sawyer sigh beside me, and I turned to him with a glare; they both always did this. They always came to my aid when I didn’t need them to. Always treating me like a little girl!
Sawyer ran his hand down his face before gazing down at me. I always seemed to get under his skin, but this would have been fine if I was a boy. “Amora, you are going to have to stop doing that.”
“I didn’t start anything. It wasn’t my fault she decided to land on her ass. I would have been able to take her; you both didn’t need to come to my rescue,” I replied, glancing between my brother and Nolen. My gaze lingered on Nolen a little longer than I intended because that feeling swept through me again. I was so confused, but this wolf seemed to exist to make me feel things that I didn’t think I should allow myself to feel. My heart started to race, and his head cocked to the side as if he heard it in my chest. Goddess, why did you make this wolf so damn gorgeous!
Nolen’s parents came up to him then, and I realized he had grown taller since he came to my pack. He was now almost as tall as his father, and they nearly passed for twins, if not for his father’s grey hair. I bowed my head in respect to them, and his mother smiled. Without a doubt, he had his mother’s demeanor, and I hoped he would continue to keep it when he took over. These packs didn’t need another tyrant to run them. Though Nolen’s father wasn’t a tyrant, he was still a little more forceful than Nolen.
“It’s about time to eat cake. Are you ready, Nolen?” she asked him. Her voice was like the swift but gentle water in the creek.
He turned to his mother and father and nodded. He glanced back to me but walked off with them and my brother. I watched them meet up with my parents and realized he would be leaving for his pack in a year and a half to finish his training with his father.
I would never see him again unless in passing, and even that would be rare. He would become Alpha, and when he shifted for the first time, he would find his mate. The tears bubbled up in my eyes and I fought them back.
I would not cry, he was a good friend, and I was glad I had been able to meet him. The thought of losing that friend made me sad, but his destiny would win over my feelings. Would it be too much to ask to be his? To be able to stay with him for the rest of my life? Was it wrong I considered asking him to be my chosen mate? It would be selfish of me, right? Moon Goddess, please guide me down the right path.
I walked up to the group standing between my brother and Nolen as he blew out his birthday candles, a contagious smile on his lips. His smile always warmed my heart, making me smile with him, and when he glanced over to me, my cheeks burned, turning my skin red.
Chapter Five: Challenge
Nolen
I continued my training with the Beta and the Delta, trying to soak in everything they taught me. They told me I learned quicker than most trainees, and no wolf would be able to stand in my way once fully shifted.
I had not told them about Sarge coming to me early. He had been insistent that no one should know but me and that he would be concealed by the Goddess herself. No, I hadn’t been able to shift yet, but he existed there in my head, giving me pointers and helping me put the older wolves who decided to spar with Sawyer and me on their asses.
On the days we had to ourselves, I spent them resting and reading books in my room. I would sometimes hang out with Sawyer and other times Amora. But things were getting weird when I spent time near her.
I couldn’t help but be protective of her, and I chalked it up to the time I stood up for her. Just like Archer used to stand up for me. The intense need to protect her filled me, not because she happened to be a good friend of mine but also because she was my best friend’s sister, which made her like my sister.
Whenever she was around, this pull to her became more intense. Like how a moth flew to a flame. When I left before my eighteenth birthday, I discerned that I would probably never see her again, and when she turned eighteen and shifted, she would find her mate.
Someone who would take care of her, would give her strong pups and make her happy, because if he didn’t, I would make sure he never hurt her again. She always talked about saving all her firsts for her mate, which made me wonder if mine had the same ideals.
I mean, hell, I was still a virgin, not that she-wolves didn’t want me now. That’s all they wanted to do was take me to bed with them. But not Amora; she still treated me like she always did. Though I had caught her staring at me a few times, which boosted my self-confidence. Smiling to myself, I shook my head and tried to return to my studies.
She is very pretty, Nolen. You shouldn’t worry about things like this right now. When we shift, we will see, Sarge commented as he seemed to lay down inside my head.
I understand, Sarge, but it’s just weird with her right now. I sense this pull to her, and I don’t think I should. The urge to be right beside her all the time is becoming more intense each day, I reasoned with him. He just lay there, his ears at attention. I sighed. I could never find out anything from him about Amora and these crazy-ass feelings I had. I glanced up and realized that the Delta was standing above me, his arms crossed over his chest.
I panicked and started to fumble with my papers and my book on my desk, glancing up to the board to see if I might be able to pick up on what question he had asked me during my daydream. After a few seconds, I gave up and looked back up at him. “Sorry, sir, can you repeat the question?”
“Nolen, I have been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes. What is going on in that head of yours?” His facial features were full of concern as we stared at each other. Then he shook his head, covering his face with his hand.
