Rafe was halfway between me and Owen, not growling or seeming mad.
I put out my hand to him and let him sniff it before rubbing his nose, our usual way of saying goodbye to one another.
Krew was leaning up against a tree, his arms crossed while he chatted with Owen. Something about his relaxed body language just did it for me.
“Morning,” I offered.
Krew didn’t move. “Morning, love.”
“At least Rafe isn’t growling at you,” Owen offered to Krew.
“No, but the other one is. Apparently not all has been forgiven and forgotten.”
I looked back toward the black wolf, who was watching Krew cautiously. I smiled at Krew, knowing that what he’d had to do to Rafe in releasing him in the forest had killed him. “I thought you had a meeting with your father this morning.”
“I do. I just wanted to see the wolves training with you for myself.”
Owen and Krew exchanged a glance as if they were the ones able to speak telepathically.
“What?” I asked, grabbing my knees for a moment and trying not to outright pant. My lungs felt no longer in my body as I couldn’t seem to find any air.
“Nothing,” Krew said with a smirk. “Owen and I just think the wolves understand who feeds them.”
I got the feeling there was something they weren’t saying, but then Krew was giving me a kiss on the temple and leaving back toward the castle for his meeting.
Owen flicked a finger at the food dishes. Rafe and the black wolf usually only ate out of the one dish, leaving the other for the rest of the wolves who we assumed came by to eat later.
We quickly made our way to our new spot in the forest for training. With the lake area getting lots of traffic from the king’s guards checking on the healed trees, we decided it best we find a new area. It was only about a half-mile walk from the meadow and in the opposite direction as the lake.
I’d barely even stopped walking when I felt my skin buzzing and threw out some magic to block off whatever object Owen was chucking at me that time.
“Rude,” I told him. “I wasn’t even ready yet and that wasn’t exactly a small stick.”
“I trusted you to stop it,” Owen offered.
I glared at him while I sent a breeze to knock him backward. “You know my husband doesn’t like me to be covered in scratches.”
Owen let out a laugh and kicked up a series of rocks my way. “How you didn’t figure out he wanted you way back then is beyond me.”
I thought back to how Krew acted after the attack in the forest by the men Michael Noyer had hired. At the time I thought it was just because he was feeling protective over all the consorts.
And then Owen picked up speed and intensity with what he was throwing at me, causing me to stop talking and concentrate. What no one had really told me before I had magic was how much concentration it took when you were first learning how to use it. It was very hard to keep your focus on your magic, to will it to do different things, and simultaneously do something as mundane as carrying on a conversation.
I was in awe of Keir and Krew every day.
At one point, I was able to take control of a large log Owen had sent rolling toward me and send it back at him. Just when he jumped to avoid it, I hit him with a breeze that had him rolling on the ground.
I couldn’t help the laughter that spilled out of me.
But then he sent my wooden sword flying at my throat. I had to stop it, take control of it, and then grab it, all while Owen was sprinting at me full speed with his own wooden sword ready to take my head off.
I narrowly managed to escape, jumping back and then swinging around because instinct told me the second hit would be right on the heels of the first.
On and on we went, my magic training mixing with my physical training. But what Owen had just done did give me an idea.
I continued deflecting Owen’s advances, moving this way and that, trying to back my way near a bigger tree. I tried to do so without eyeing the tree or focusing on it, for fear Owen would catch onto my plan. But I must have been a little distracted because Owen did pop me in the arm once.
“Sorry,” he offered, and lightened up a bit on his attacks.
