Chapter 12
Rowen
Thalia had taken the phone from me earlier this morning.
Even though the screen had turned black not long after Wolfe said goodbye, I still wanted to keep it nearby, which was silly.
Still, she whispered she would get me my own, and I went through my training with Killian and Cody with such enthusiasm that Killian cornered me and demanded to know what I was up to.
Thalia had confessed before Killian and I had come to blows, and when Killian had stormed off, mumbling about females and never understanding them, I had turned to Cody for an explanation, but he was in a glare off with Thalia until he also walked off, muttering.
“I didn’t mean for you to get into trouble,” I said to Thalia in apology.
“Pft.” She waved me off. “I’ve been in trouble with those two since I was a child. Trust me, their grumbling is all for show.”
“So, they’re not mad?” I asked, thoroughly confused.
“If they were mad, they’d be kicking my ass in the training area and not yours.” Thalia came into the fighting square. “Want to spar with me?”
I looked up the hill to where I could still see Cody’s retreating back. “Is that ok—” My head snapped back as she punched me.
“You think your attacker is going to wait for your attention?” she asked as she circled me. “You ready?”
I shook my head a little, clearing it from her blow, my fists raised and my grin eager. “Let’s go.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw others in the pack come forward to watch as Thalia and I circled each other, barefoot over the packed dirt, the air suddenly thick with anticipation.
Thalia was already moving; she didn’t waste time feeling me out—she lunged like she meant to end this before it had even started. I barely twisted out of the way, her fist grazing my ribs hard enough to rattle my insides.
Okay. No courtesy to be shown.
She pivoted fast, faster than I expected, and drove her elbow toward my jaw. I dropped, rolled, came up behind her, and swept her leg. She staggered, caught herself, and grinned at me like a wolf with blood on her teeth.
She spat to the side and then came in again—quick jabs and tight footwork. She was about my height but more compact. Years of fights, no doubt. Years of fights with Cody, Axel, Killian, and her whole pack. Stonefang were born into this. Her strikes weren’t messy, they were tactical. Controlled.
I took a hit to the shoulder. Another to the ribs. The second one knocked the wind out of me for a second too long.
I ducked under her next punch and threw my weight into her torso, slamming her back a step, maybe two. She grunted, off-balance just long enough for me to drive my knee into her thigh. I landed a punch when she lowered her head with the impact.
We broke apart. Circled.
I could taste blood in my mouth. A split lip from the first hit. She had a shallow cut just above her brow now. Small, but it dripped red, streaking down her cheek like war paint.
The others watched. Silent. Stonefang didn’t cheer.
Thalia’s next strike came high, but I caught her wrist, twisted, and flipped her over my hip. She hit the ground hard enough to shake the dirt.
But she didn’t stay down.
She rolled. Kicked. Her heel connected with my thigh, and I stumbled. Her shoulder slammed into my ribs before I could regain balance, and we both went down in a tangle of limbs and fury.
We hit the ground. I tasted dust. Her hand was at my throat.
Mine was already fisted in her tank top, my fist drawn back to fly forward.
We held there. Breathing hard. No one moved.
Then she let go.
I did too.
We both stood, bruised and filthy. Thalia swiped blood from her brow with the back of her hand. Gave me a single nod. Not submission.
Acknowledgment.
I dipped my head in return and then she walked off without a word.
The circle around us dissolved.
But I stayed a little longer—feeling every ache, every bruise. Every set of eyes that now looked at me like I wasn’t just the alpha’s mate.
I was earning something by being here. By showing up every day. I didn’t know what they called it. But I knew what it felt like.
And I liked it.
I turned and saw Killian watching me.
“You lean too heavily to the left before you throw your punch,” he said. “It’s a tell we need to correct.” He walked into the fighting area. “Shift. Then we go again.”
I looked at him warily. “I thought Cody was my sparring partner?” I asked cautiously.
“You bloodied Thalia,” Killian said with a shrug. “Cody will be busy for a while.” He saw my confusion. “She bleeds, she wants to fuck. Trust me, Cody will thank you later.”
“Oh.” Not knowing what to say, I pulled my top off, then my pants, shifted, healed, and returned to my human form, put my soiled clothes back on, and took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Killian drove me harder than Cody, which I expected.
He was also very thorough when he saw something; he pulled back immediately, corrected my stance, raised my arm, or pushed his palm down on my shoulder to drop it.
It was one lesson, and yet by the time that he stepped back to say the lesson was over, I felt like a new fighter.
“You can shift if you need,” he said. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.
“I’m okay,” I told him, using the back of my forearm to wipe across my brow. “How are your grandparents?”
Killian gave me a look of amusement. “They’re doing fine.”
“Do you…” Goddess, I felt like a teenager with a crush. “Did Wolfe tell you I spoke to him?”
“I don’t speak to the alpha every day,” he said, his voice clipped. “He trusts me to run his pack in his absence.”
“I didn’t think he didn’t.”
Killian blew out a breath. “I did speak to him earlier, but he never mentioned you spoke.”
“Oh.” I dropped my eyes so he couldn’t see my reaction. Why was I so disappointed?
“He did say he knocked Diesel flat on his ass for the way he spoke to you.”
I looked up in surprise, and Killian rubbed his jaw. “The only person I’ve ever seen to knock D down was Wolfe.” He looked at me in assessment. “Might need to go easier on you.”
“Don’t you dare!” I said, my temper flaring at the thought he was going to take it easier on me just because of Wolfe. I was not some frail thing to be protected. Killian grinned at my response, and I let out a laugh. “Sneaky,” I admonished him, catching him in his trick.
“You want to wash up before dinner?”
I nodded and Killian and I walked up the hill. At Wolfe’s door, he handed me a phone. “I put his number in it. Mine, Cody’s, Thalia’s, and some others.” He saw my look. “Alpha’s orders. He said to tell you he might not always have it on him, but he’ll let you know if he’s calling.”
I turned it over in my hand. “Thank you.”
“There’s a charger inside.” He showed me the socket on the phone, then pointed to the top right of the screen. “When this turns red, plug it in. Don’t overcharge it, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He pointed at one of the small squares, where the picture was a square beside a triangle on its side. “This allows you to FaceTime. It’s like talking, but you see each other.”
I peered at the small square. “Why?”
Killian looked away, biting his lip. “I reckon you’ll find out soon.” He opened the door to the house. “See you at dinner.”
I went inside and hurried through my shower, eager to be clean so I could spend more time with my phone. The gray squares in the message changed to reveal punctuation, and I learned how to use capital letters. In a short time, I was happy knowing that I could send a proper sentence to Wolfe.
Me: I got a new phone.
No dots appeared, and when Killian called from outside to ask if I was ready, I reluctantly put the phone down as we headed for dinner. Throughout the meal, I kept wondering if he had replied. Eventually, Killian set his fork down and groaned.
“Is this what humans suffer through with their children?” he asked no one in particular. “Rowen, please, go.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, forcing myself to stay in the seat.
“Go see if your mate has called you,” Killian said with an exhausted drawl. “Please, put yourself—and me—out of your misery.”
I was already heading for the door, grinning as laughter followed me.
“I’m training you twice as hard tomorrow!” Killian yelled after me, but I was already jogging up the hill and didn’t care if he went three times as hard tomorrow.
I threw myself through the doorway and launched myself at the phone, my enthusiasm dwindling as quickly as a drain in a storm when I saw he hadn’t replied.
Sitting down with a thump, I pushed back the wave of disappointment as I told myself it was fine, he was busy. He was an alpha.
Later, as I lay in bed after getting up to place my phone far from my reach so I stopped staring at it, I decided phones were stupid, manipulative things, and only the Goddess should be able to hold such power over one’s emotions. Not stupid pieces of plastic.
It was embarrassing how quickly I leapt from the bed to snatch the phone from on top of the trunk when I heard it beep.
Wolfe: Rowen, you there?
Me: Yes.
I dropped the phone when it rang. The screen was different from before, and when I pressed accept, Wolfe was staring back at me.
“Oh, wow.” I knew my mouth was open.
His smile was slow and sexy. “Hey, princess,” he drawled, his gaze flicking over my shoulder. “You’re in bed.”
I nodded, and he pulled the phone away, and I recognized our bedroom. “Me too.” He was lying back against the pillows, one hand behind his head, the other holding the phone low. Shirtless. Hair a little messy. Half-shadowed but still unmistakably him.
I drank in the sight of him. “This is so…strange.”
His mouth twitched. “Good strange?”
I nodded again, seeing myself in the bottom right-hand corner. “How does it work?”
He gave a lazy shrug. “Too technical for my brain. I just trust that it does.” His upper lip curled. “You like it?”