Ava “So, are you joining us tonight for the pack dinner?” Sally asks as we walk out of the expression room where I have spent my days over the last week since we returned from the gala. I was avoiding Braiden out of sheer embarrassment. After what happened in the hotel suite and the way he brought me to orgasm following that first spanking, brought a ferocious blush to my cheeks even now. Though I didn’t have to try hard to avoid him, he was barely home. I couldn’t tell if he was also avoiding me or if he was just busy. Whatever it was, I was starting to feel insecure. Perhaps what happened in the hotel room put him off—made me look easy. Or desperate. I wasn’t experienced when it came to sex, so maybe that came through, and it was unappealing. Whatever it was, I hated feeling this way, but I was too cowardly to address it with him. Now that so much time had passed, I didn’t even know how to bring it up. “Ava?” Sally gently touching my arm brings me back to the present. “Sorry. My mind was elsewhere,” I answer, the blush blazing on my cheeks. “I don’t think I’ll join tonight. The pack still seems unhappy that I am here and so close to Braiden. I don’t want to cause issues.” “Their opinion of you won’t change if you don’t spend time with them.” Sally’s words are gentle but ring with a truth that makes me anxious. The reality of the situation settles in as we walk past the large training area on our way back to the pack house, where I usually parted ways and continued to Braiden's house. Our house, I could hear his voice echoing in my mind. The training area is large and always busy, with today being no exc eption. As usual, all eyes trail us as we make our way past, with one set in particular making me bristle. Selene. She is standing with a group of she- wolves, their bodies fitted into tight, matching spandex workout clothes. Even in these clothes, Selene looks like a Queen, making my insecurities settle de eper. I don’t belong here. “If it isn’t My King's little pet. Why don’t you come and join us, Ava? Show the pack what you are made of. There must be a reason I was r eplaced with the likes of you.” Selene’s words bring back a flood of insults that were levied at me when I was in my own pack growing up, stopping me dead in my tracks. My eyes meet hers and then flit from one person to the other, standing around and watching the interaction. “Just forget about her, she is just jealous,” Sally says quietly, pulling on my arm in the direction of the pack house. I turn away from Selene, ready to leave. “Just as I thought. No backbone. You are no Queen.” That’s it. That’s all it takes for the anger to flood forward. I never asked for this. I never asked to be Queen. Just like I never asked to be an outcast in my pack back then.
The difference is that I am no longer the small child, unable to stand up for myself. I am a grown woman. Who got through that and so much more. I don’t need to take this. “Sure. Why not,” I say to Selene, the absolute calm in my voice doing more to unsettle Selene than if I had shouted or swore at her. I pull my arm from Sally's grasp and approach the training area to stand a couple of feet away from Selene and her posse. Shoulders back, head high, I remind myself, looking her dead in the eye as I wait for her to throw down whatever gauntlet she thinks will chop me down to size in front of the pack members watching intently. She wanted to prove something in front of an audience. I would oblige. “So, what’s it going to be?” I ask her when she says nothing. She smiles at me, then looks at her posse with a sly smile as if what she is about to say holds some little secret. “Hand-to-hand combat. The first one to draw blood wins. Wolves allowed.” She smiles sweetly at me, waiting for me to either bow out and give her what she wants or agree and also give her what she wants. I don’t like to take the easy way out, so I smile. “Sure,” I say sweetly, already removing my jersey as I turn around and place it on a rock. “This isn’t a good idea. Selene’s parents had her train with one of the senior pack warriors since she was ten. She is very good, as much as I hate to admit it,” Sally speaks quietly, and her look tells me she is very concerned. It almost makes me laugh, but I refrain, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “It will be okay. I promise.” My paint-stained leggings and tank top would have to do, I think absentmindedly as I turn around and survey the situation. News seems to have spread, and as I approach the large open area where I have seen wolves training one-on-one, the crowd surrounding the area increases as more pack members join to observe this little power display. I take my place on one side while Selene takes hers on the other, the sweet smile from earlier r eplaced with a sneer. Perfect. Facades have been dropped, just the way I prefer. Selene was anything but perfect. She was a bully. Someone who demanded respect instead of earning it. She was arrogant, self-centered, and everything I despised. It was time someone put her in her place. And who better than the outcast. Selene lunges first, but her attempt is easy to read, and I dodge it effortlessly, the surprised look on her face making me laugh. Which riles her up further, an angry blush suffusing her porcelain skin. Five attempts later, she has yet to even lay a finger on me, while I have already landed two punches. One to her abdomen and one to her side. Nothing too hard. If I wanted to, I could break her bones. The pack is whispering, and Selene looks uncomfortable and furious. This little display is not doing her any favors. While I have not trained with a senior pack warrior, that doesn’t mean I haven’t trained. In my home
pack, I was physically unable to stand up for myself. When I left, I promised myself never to be in that position again. I trained myself, which wasn’t hard. My wolf was a natural when it came to fighting. Though I couldn’t control her and shifting, I could channel her speed, strength, and agility during combat. Perhaps it was an instinctual fight or flight response that allowed it. Whatever it was, even Nick said it was remarkable. “That’s it,” I hear Selene say before she shifts, her clothes ripping to accommodate a medium-sized brown wolf. How disappointing. I expected her to look formidable. Unique even. But what stood before me was an average-looking she-wolf. The same as so many I have seen. Sally, who is standing slightly behind me, whispers, “Maybe you should call it?” I shake my head in response, bracing myself as I watch Selene crouch low, the fur on her back rising as her teeth are bared. Her claws dig into the ground, and then she jumps, her jaw open wide as she sails through the air, her aim not hard to guess and raising concerned gasps from the entire pack watching. If I weren’t more skilled and able to roll out of the way sooner, she would have clamped down on my neck. The move is only used with one intention. To kill. It was forbidden during training sessions in my old pack and, no doubt, in this one, too, based on the reaction of the wolves around us. She lunges again, the aggression of her growl and the clear attempts to maim me, making more than one wolf shout out for this to stop. The shout distracts me, and Selene takes the opportunity to jump forward, her body smashing into mine and pushing me to the ground. My arms push against her neck as I block her jaw, which snaps inches from my face. I can hear shouting in the distance, the voice familiar, but I ignore it, trying to concentrate on the issue at hand. If I didn’t get this psycho bitch off me, she could end up doing some damage. My wolf is becoming agitated, her need to dominate this she-wolf pushing against my barriers of restraint until I can no longer hold her back. With a surge of power, she pushes forward, sending Selene flying. The bitch lands on the ground with a loud thud which elicits a satisfactory whimper. But before she can get up, we are on her, my hand around her neck while my body weight pins her down. One nail elongates, piercing the skin on her neck as I lean close to her ear. You can hear a pin drop around us. “Shift. Now,” I command her, my voice a mixture of my own and one I do not recognize. One dripping with something I have never had. Power. In this form, her wolf submits, losing its fight and arching its neck to the side, exposing it to me as I have seen wolves do with Braiden. And then she shifts. The eyes that meet mine are filled with anger, hatred, and one emotion I never thought I would see Selene wear. Shame. I stand up, suddenly aware of my surroundings. Gasps echo around the group, and whispers indicate what the cause is. ‘Her eyes.’
My wolf inhales de eply and then growls delightfully, telling me he is here. I look around until my gaze meets with his. Braiden. And in their d epths is one emotion. Pride.