AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was just leftover terror from a life I’d left behind.
I spread honey butter across my warm, soft dinner roll. These men might be chaos personified, but at least I had carbs.
"The best driver in the pack, though," Stone said with a teasing note in his voice, "is definitely Teresa."
"No." Teresa said firmly, cutting him off, before she bit into her fried chicken.
Aiden tensed, his knuckles white as he gripped his fork and knife. Rose ducked her head, her long light brown hair falling around her face like a curtain. Both of them expected violence after hearing such a bluntno.Saying no to an alpha could be dangerous.
Stone grinned. "Oh, come on. You are a great driver. You can't still be sore when we bring up that one time you drove into the lake."
She pointed her chicken leg at him. "That was your fault."
"I was in the backseat!"
Teresa leaned her elbows on the table, her gaze catching on Rose's face. "Listen. Whatever you hear in this house stays here, all right? It's different tonight than it is tomorrow when you come to training. Then, I'm your instructor and Stone is your alpha. Nothing more."
Rose nodded. She still looked tense.
What else was Stone to her? Tonight? The thought that Stone might look after my siblings warmed my heart, but in the most tentative way.
"Training?" I asked, confused about who had decided my sister was going to start martial arts training too.
"Mm. Your little sister's going to learn to be useful." Teresa said it in a tone that implied that would make us two very different people.
Stone gave her a look that could've withered a rock.
Teresa cleared her throat. "I'd like Rose to join us tomorrow, and we'll see if she likes sparring with the cubs."
Shaw snorted. "No one likes it."
"It's better than when we were young," Cole said.
"Did you train too?" I asked Karissa curiously.
"Yes," she said. "Though as little as possible."
"You didn't think you might ever have to step in as alpha?" Teresa asked curiously.
"Nope," Karissa said. "You couldn't pay me enough to be alpha."
That made me think of all the trouble with Joshua and his attempt to overthrow Stone–at my expense–and all the trouble I feared was coming down the road.
"I don't want the job either,” Stone said. Then he cleared his throat as if he had caught himself. “I didn’t, at first.”
“If mates can step in, can siblings protect an alpha if he can't fight?" Teresa asked lightly. “Cole and I never can. So we rely on you to protect our…” Teresa glanced at Stone as if she was stuck on the right word, perhaps betweenfriendandalpha.
"Stone can always fight," Karissa said. "It's his one great strength."
"It's not Stone's only strength," I disagreed before I could stop myself.
Karissa grinned as if she were gratified by my defense of her brother, and I expected further mockery from Shaw--who was recreationally mocking--but they let it pass.
I just caught the faint flash of Stone's eyes on me, and a look that I couldn't quite read.
As if I'd surprised him for once.
CHAPTER29
