“Theo, bro, calm the fuck down,” I say.
“I’m fucking done with this shithead.” Theo turns and smashes the bench before he walks off, ignoring Dad’s command.
Ares shakes his head. “Fuck you all!” He storms off, leavingthe three of us with Dad.
“Anyone want to tell me what the hell just happened?” Dad growls.
I shake my head. “I don’t even know.”
Renji shakes his head. “Same. I only came halfway.”
Carter sighs. “Theo said Ares needs to fix up, considering what’s to come, and Ares told Theo he doesn’t need to step into Jayce’s shoes. Does Ares think he’ll be the next Blood Moon Alpha? Theo told him to shut the hell up,” Carter begins explaining as Renji nods.
“And that’s when I showed up. They started arguing, and well, then Jayce and you turned up, and that’s about it. Just too many hormones and nowhere to release them.” Renji grins now, glancing at me. I simply arch an eyebrow, shoving my hands into my pockets. Dad nods.
“Right, you two, go get some rest. You have to return to the Academy tomorrow. Jayce, a word?”
I knew this was coming.
Carter glances between us before he walks off, and Renji follows, whistling. Just another day with the fucking Westwood Quints. But I don’t know, it seems like the fighting is becoming far more frequent.
“Sienna?” Dad asks, looking at me.
“Yeah,” I say quietly.
“Jayce, is this-”
“I really hope you’re not about to ask me if I’m playing or if I’m serious because I’ll take it as an insult. You know me better than that.”
Dad sighs. “Ok, I won’t ask you that. I will trust that you’llmake the right decision, but what if you find your mate?”
My decision would have been the same, even if I didn’t already know that she was my mate. “If I had to choose between a fated mate and Sienna, I’d choose Sienna every single time, no matter what. Only her, and I’ll forsake everything for her.” A soft wind blows through our hair as Dad watches me, a slight frown creasing his brow, his scar drawing my attention.
“Well said.”
Dad and I both turn to see Grandad walking towards us. He’s shirtless. He must have been asleep until he was disturbed. But despite that, there’s a twinkle in his eyes and a warm smile on his face.
“You would say that,” Dad says with a smile.
“Walk with me, both of you,” Grandad says as we both fall in step with him. He runs his fingers through his hair as we head towards the trees.
“Did the boys disturb you?” Dad asks.
“They did wake me, yeah, but it wasn’t an issue – reminded me of them when they were younger.”
“I don’t think we fought as much when we were younger,” I say.
“You will be 20 soon. You boys are at that age where you all want to find your place. It’s normal. Of course, I didn’t have brothers, but Aaron and Liam – they were like my brothers, and we fought at times. We’d usually settle it in the boxing ring, though. Ares has a temper, but he doesn’t mean harm.”
I don’t agree; something is off with him.
“And if a sparring match didn’t work, we’d try to push through the other’s walls. Find out the problem and work onfixing it. Often it’s something deeper. There is nothing on this planet that can’t be fixed.”
“Words of wisdom,” Dad says.
Grandad cocks a brow. “That goes for you, too, Liam.”
Dad shoves his hands into his pockets. “Got it.”
