“Say what?” he grumbled, dusting himself off.
“I know you have something to say, Jarik.”
He looked me up and down and then glanced away, his hands on his hips. Riled up.Angry. He sniffed as he looked back at me. “This isn’t Stonefang’s fight. You’re fighting hard to prove yourself,Alpha,” he said with a sneer. “More than you seem to be for your so-called mate, if you don’t want her, why the fuck are we still here?”
Silence.
Just the sound of wind and the echo of blood pounding in my ears. I stared across at him. “What did you say?”
Jarik took a step forward. “I said?—”
I hit him. Not in a rage. Not wild. Controlled. Direct. Fist to jaw. A single, brutal crack that dropped him back to the dirt with a groan.
I stood over him, my chest rising slowly.
“I don’t explain myself to wolves who spit poison in the same breath they call me alpha,” I said, voice low. “And if any of youthink I’d let the woman tied to my soul fight alone, you’re either blind, stupid, or you’ve forgotten who the fuck I am.”
No one moved.
Jarik spat blood into the dirt and didn’t speak again.
I looked around at the others.
“You think I’m distracted because she’s not here? You think I don’t want my truematehere?” I growled. “Am I any more dangerous because she’s not here? Or do you think that until that bond is sealed, I’ve got something to prove to every goddamn one of you?”
The circle stayed silent, and I wanted to hit someone again.
“Train harder,” I said, pulling my shirt back on. “Or don’t train at all.” I looked around. “The fight is coming, and thisisyour pack. Iexpectyouallto fight for it.”
I walked off. Not because I didn’t have more to say, but because if I stayed, I’d start breaking bones…and Ireallywanted to break bones.
I walked as far as the front yard of our house and leaned against the fence post beside the small path that would take me into our empty house. I still felt that I was breathing harder than I wanted to admit. The wind had picked up—mountain air sharp as ever. My knuckles throbbed from the hit.
I hoped I cracked his jaw, but I also hoped they heard me. Let them all think on it. The crunch of boots behind me made me turn, expecting another scolding from the druid or someone looking for an apology they wouldn’t get.
Instead, it was Henry.
Rowen had a soft spot for him, and it was easy to see why. He was young but still sharp-eyed. I frowned, sizing him up. He walked as if he were trying to make himself smaller. Henry hadn’t been shy about wanting to spend more time with the new shifters from Stonefang, and I’d seen the looks he received from his elders for doing so.
“Alpha,” he said, stopping a few feet away.
I nodded. “How are you, Henry?” I could smell his uncertainty, and I made it easier for him. “You saw what happened in the training ring?” He gave me a small nod. “You got something to add to that?”
He blinked. “What? No. I just…I saw how he talked to you.”
“And?”
“And he was wrong.”
I turned fully then. Studied him. “And what makes you think that?”
Henry licked his lips, shuffling his feet before he spoke again. “I think you should know not everyone agrees with him.”
I raised a brow. “Are you speaking on behalf of the whole Hollow?” I asked, trying to hide the amusement in my voice.
The flush on his cheeks spread to the rest of his face. “No.” His face screwed up as he struggled to find the words. “I just think…” He looked away, uncertain. “I think they forget we’re not the only ones trying to survive.” He kicked his foot against a clod of dirt. “It’s scary right now. My mom is scared to come outside. She cries when I go on patrol?—”
He was on patrol? I needed to talk to Brand.
