Malcolm shifted, confirming her observation.“Reading my body language again?And here I thought you were concentrating on the challenge.”
“Some of us can multitask.”Larissa turned to face another question, though the scent of him was making it hard to concentrate.“Though, you’re making it unnecessarily difficult by standing so close.”
“Tactical positioning,” he quoted her words from patrol back at her, his voice alone making her pulse quicken.
“Ms.Everett would be appalled at your strategy.”Their elementary teacher had always tried to keep them at opposite ends of the classroom, claiming they were “destructively distracting” to each other.
“Ms.Everett thought we’d either kill each other or—” Malcolm broke off abruptly.
Larissa didn’t press Malcolm to finish his sentence.She remembered the knowing looks their teacher used to give them, the way she’d shake her head when they’d argue.
Anyway, Nick had returned, preparing to ask another question and forcing Larissa’s attention back to the challenge.
Even as she focused again on Nick’s questions, part of her mind lingered on the unfinished sentence, on possibilities she’d never let herself consider before.
Stop it, she ordered herself.Pay attention to the questions.
As the challenge continued, moving into practical application scenarios, Larissa excelled.Her encyclopedic knowledge of pack law and history served her well.But several times, she caught herself considering how Malcolm might approach a situation, wondering if perhaps there was merit in his more flexible, compassionate style.
How had the man who’d wanted to be the strong pack leader managed to become the compassionate one?
During a second brief break, Larissa moved to stand near the edge of the mesa, gazing out at the darkening landscape.
“Quite a view, isn’t it?”Malcolm’s voice came from beside her, startling her out of her reverie.
“It is,” she agreed, struggling to keep her voice neutral.“It’s easy to forget how vast our territory is until you see it spread out like this.”
Malcolm nodded, scanning the horizon.“Yes.”
“It’s a big responsibility,” Larissa said softly.“Leading all this, protecting it.”
“It is,” Malcolm echoed, his deep voice holding a note of conviction that made Larissa’s skin tingle.“That’s why we hold to our traditions, follow the old ways.They’re the bedrock that’s kept our pack strong through countless challenges.”
Larissa studied his profile, fighting the urge to reach out and shake some sense into him.“But don’t you see?”she pressed, unable to keep the passion from her voice.“Those same traditions nearly destroyed us under Vincent.The world is changing, Malcolm.Maybe it’s time our approach to leadership changed with it.”
She watched a series of emotions flicker across his face—uncertainty, consideration, and something else that made her heart race.She’d always found Malcolm most compelling when he actually listened to her ideas, even if he disagreed with them.
“Even you argued for change when you said you’d take the individual pack member’s reasons for their actions into consideration before banishing them,” she added, pressing her advantage.
“Change can be dangerous,” he said carefully, his broad shoulders tense.“These laws, these traditions—they’ve protected us for centuries.”
“And they’ll continue to be part of who we are,” Larissa conceded, stepping closer despite her better judgment.“But not if we cling to them blindly, refusing to adapt.A true alpha needs to look forward, to understand when innovation serves the pack better than rigid adherence to the past.”
To her surprise, she saw Malcolm begin to nod, something shifting in his expression.The sight sent a warm flutter through her chest.
Alarmed by her response, Larissa forced herself to step back.“We should rejoin the others,” she said, working to keep her voice steady.“The final round will be starting soon.”
She saw something flicker across Malcolm’s face—disappointment?Frustration?
She pushed the thought aside.She couldn’t afford to let her growing attraction to Malcolm distract her from her mission to lead the pack into a new era.
Even if part of her wished he could be key to that future.
THE FINAL ROUND OFthe challenge was intense, with high-stakes scenarios that tested not just their knowledge but their ability to think on their feet and make difficult decisions.
Despite her large reservoir of knowledge to provide comprehensive, well-reasoned answers, Larissa repeatedly considered how Malcolm would approach the situation.More than once, she tempered her instinctively strict interpretations of pack law with considerations of individual circumstances—a clear influence of Malcolm’s earlier arguments.
As Nick posed the final scenario—a complex situation involving interpack politics and potential threats to their territory—Larissa paused before answering.She glanced at Malcolm as he considered the problem.
