“Because I’m not ranked.”
I waved my free hand around her face. “I’m going to need more of an explanation here, Cass.”
“Ranked wolves never mate to unranked wolves.” She stomped her foot, and I sighed.
“That’s not entirely true, Cass. Yes, Alpha’s don’t mate unranked wolves because they aren’t able to do what they have to do. Although Alpha Vince is mated to an unranked wolf, it doesn’t count because he isn’t faithful to the chosen bond, but that’s different. It happens all the time, but the ranked wolves reject the unranked wolf and it’s usually the ranked women that reject their unranked men.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Plus. You don’t know if he’s your mate or if he would reject you. You are putting the cart before the horse here. Why not just see where the friendship goes instead of ignoring him? Goddess forbid he is your mate and instead of showing him how amazing you are, you just continuously run away from him.” I poked her forehead.
“Amy. It’s just not in the cards for me.”
“You don’t know that. I want you to try. Even if it’s just a friendship. Greyson is a good wolf to know. He is the head of my dad’s warriors and if you want to be one, he will help.”
Cass ran her fingers through her hair and gripped it. “Okay. I will.”
“Good.” I pulled her to walk again and flipped around to watch her face as I walked backwards. “You know. He is super cute.”
“Shut up.” Cass hit my shoulder and I laughed.
“What? I’m just saying. He is quite adorable.”
“Yeah, he is.” She went all dreamy and smiled.
I grinned as I spotted someone heading our way. “Greyson would make a good mate to any she wolf.”
“He really would. Goddess, Amy. Am I stupid to have this crush on him? I mean, be brutally honest. Do you think the Goddess would make me his mate? Or if she did, would he keep me? I’m no one.”
“Cass-”
“No, before you answer, I want you to think about it. He is a ranked wolf and I’m not. And I know you said that it’s usually a ranked she-wolf that rejects unranked mates, but there is still a shot for him to reject me, right?”
My eyes flicked over her shoulder. “There is a chance. But I think the first thing you need to do is talk to the man. Who is to say he would reject you if you turned out to be his mate?”
“I’m terrified. He deserves better than me.”
“Who says?” A deep voice sounded behind us and Cass froze.
I watched Cass pale, and I wanted to hug her. So I did. “Give him a shot. He might surprise you.” I whispered in her ear and then I gave him a small wave. Cass’s arm gripped my hand.
“Come on, little wolf, I think we have something to talk about.” Greyson stepped up next to Cass and wrapped an arm around her waist.
I pulled my hand from her hand as her eyes pleaded with me. But I just gave her a wave and took off. I turned back in time to see Cass finally turn to face Greyson. She opened her mouth to say something, but he darted in and kissed her. I jumped a little before running the rest of the way to training.
“You okay?” Tina called over to me as soon as I reached the training ring.
“Yeah. Perfect. Why?”
Tina raised an eyebrow. “You dad said you weren’t feeling well the past few days, which is why you missed training.”
“Oh right. I’m good now.” I smiled at her and dropped down to stretch next to her. “How has training been?”
“Good.” Tina bounced on her toes. “Mostly, anyway. Aurora and Amanda have been giving us some push back, but Cass has really come into herself. A few others too. It’s been amazing to watch.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.” I finished up my stretching and stood next to her. Lynn made her way over to us.
“Welcome back.”
