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My chest spluttered oddly at his use of a nickname for me. Nobody had ever called me that. I quickly decided I liked it and went to the table next to the kitchen, pulling a chair out before sitting. “Thanks. Though my wolf should get most of the credit. It’s like the world’s best drug letting her fight for her place at the top.”
He chuckled. “Spoken like a true Alpha Supreme.”
The way those words made my heart soar had a smile growing on my face. I’d never pictured this life for myself, but damn if I didn’t want it with a fierceness now.
I just wish I could know what, exactly, “this life” included.
Was it asking Markus and Lia to stay here with me even after all this was over? Was it keeping this bond with Grayson like my initial thoughts wanted? Or was it rejecting him like I thought my wolf wanted?
I hadn’t completely shut down the idea that I was possibly meant to do this on my own. Alone for the time being, showing the world who Kinsley Ash was.
Of course, I wouldn’t truly be alone finally belonging to a pack, but without a mate… Picturing that made my stomach churn, and, for the first time, there was a sense of longing from my wolf.
Maybe she was finally seeing things from my perspective.
Grayson chose that moment to walk inside the house. His dark eyes landed on me first while he closed the door with a soft click.
His chest expanded, then settled slowly. He took tentative steps toward me that had my heart pounding in my chest.
It was that look and slight hesitation in his movements that had me wanting him more.
He never took from me. He was continuously waiting for me to give him permission to touch me…to make me feel so fucking much.
A complete contrast to the man I’d first met, but that didn’t make him any less intimidating, given what I knew he was capable of.
The best part was he was starting to learn what I was capable of as well.
“How was your chat with Ryder?” I asked as he sat across from me, staring more at my chest than my face.
He made a grunting noise, then finally met my eyes. “I wanted to talk to him about something I overheard the other wolves speaking about today.”
I raised a brow and leaned forward with my hands folded on the table. “And what would that be?”
“There was another fight between the other two factions today,” Grayson answered. “The leader of the North group challenged the East for the second time. He’s won both times.”
I glanced back at Markus. “Didn’t you say there hadn’t been an Alpha Supreme selected yet because none of them could win continuously?”
My half-brother wiped his hands on a towel and nodded. “I wonder if the fight was staged. Someone could have told them that I was still here or even about you. If word is getting around, that could make the others desperate, but I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong.”
Lia moved to Markus’s side and wrapped a hand around his arm. “You just said how well Kinsley is doing in training. Why doesn’tshechallenge the leader of the North faction?”
“She could,” Markus replied. “With how strong her wolf is, I don’t think there’s anyone here she couldn’t beat.”
Grayson stood abruptly, hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I’ll fight him first, so we can better prepare Kinsley to begin going against these other wolves.”
I shook my head. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. What did Ryder say when you brought this upwithout me?” I spoke that last bit pointedly.
Grayson at least had the decency to lower his chin. “He said that you were ready and tomorrow we could do one last test fight just to be sure.”
Well, at least my mate wasn’t in the business of lying right to my face, even when I knew the words were hard for him to say.
I took a deep inhale as I saw Lia and Markus finishing up with the dinner they’d been cooking. “Then we’ll worry about the rest later. For now, I’m going to enjoy a good fucking meal and then we’re not going to talk about tomorrow, because there’s no sense in anyone getting worked up about anything tonight.”
Grayson took a steady breath and rubbed a hand over his jaw. I expected him to say something to contradict me, but instead, he stepped around the table and reached a hand out, helping me from my chair before we entered the kitchen to grab our dinner.
After the first day, Ryder had given us access to proper food. Normally, our protein came from chicken, but tonight’s steak smelled like heaven and had my mouth watering.
I piled potatoes, steamed veggies, and a slab of meat onto my plate before heading back to the table.
