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As she watched the training session go on and felt herself unconsciously becoming more invested in people she didn’t want to know, she found herself resenting Adrian. How dare he force her to care and invest herself in the lives of people she should know nothing about.
She wanted to go back in time, returning to a point before the mating bond formed. If she could just advise herself not to cut through the clearing, she would. It would’ve avoided this entire situation.
But despite herself, she watched in fascination as Gregory hit Adrian with more force, and Adrian seemed to be going less and less easy on him. Granted, as soon as Adrian went a little bit too hard and Gregory wasn’t able to block in time, Adrian found himself apologizing and calming him down.
She watched the interaction and wished it reminded her of her childhood. She could only remember impatient sighs when she didn’t catch on quickly enough and teachers who quickly gave up on her. She never had one-on-one instruction, or teachers willing to humble themselves for the good of teaching her a lesson.
What’s more, the alpha of her pack had never taken it upon himself to interact in small capacities like training sessions or meals. She saw Kernon at pack meetings and not much else.
Luna found herself huddled over the stump, fiddling with her thumbs. She sat deep in contemplation.
“Are you ready to go?”
She looked up to see Adrian standing over her, smiling.
FOUR
ADRIAN
“Are you ready to go?”
Adrian stood with his hand outstretched, offering once more to help Luna off the stump. He figured it was a moot point as Luna stood to her feet, ignoring the hand.
“So you’ll take me to my cabin?”
The children and enforcers were ready, waiting to follow Adrian back to the den village. A cool wind blew through, bringing with it the faint chill of the coming winter.
Adrian nodded. “But first, I’d like to show you around.”
He sensed Luna’s silent protest.
“Please just take me back to the cabin,” she insisted.
He could tell how the training regimen had worn her down. She was now less defiant and more impatient.
“Of course,” Adrian said. “But first, I’ve got to take these pups home. You understand.”
It was a good excuse for his ulterior motive. In actuality, he wanted to ensure that Luna, the one fated to be with him, met the rest of his pack.
As Adrian led her away from the training grounds, she followed closely behind, never wavering from the path. Everybody in the group moved as a caravan, each protecting the other and never breaking formation.
Then the forest thickened, and they walked over and under branches, reaching the denser, more obscure parts of the woods. The entire time, he worried that showing her this part of the pack, so walled off from the rest of society, might not be a good idea.
“Are we going the right way?” Luna asked, looking out over the vast, cluttered forest.
“Just a little farther,” Adrian said, never faltering.
The young pups laughed among themselves at her insistence.
Then, the forest dwindled once more, and the night gave way to a series of familiar torches still covered by the dense canopy. As they moved forward, a series of cabins and small shops revealed themselves, with several villagers outside hanging laundry or tanning hides.
They did like to stay out late. All hours of the day, it seemed somebody in the pack was doing something of interest.
“This is unconventional,” Luna said.
Adrian nodded. “We don’t like outsiders to know where we are, most of the time,” he said. “But no secret is too well-kept among shifter-kind. We usually wind up having guests either way.”
They stopped by Gregory’s house, delivering him to his mother, who quickly clocked all of the minor scratches on his face. She was a robust woman with a strong temper and a curly head of hair.
