Chapter 29
Gabriel
The one thing I had to my advantage was that no one knew these woods like me.
Unfortunately, Caroline was cunning—her move of transforming last seemed to have been a ploy to stay by my side. And it had worked so far.
I tried to lose her jumping over a downed tree, but she ducked under the trunk, yelping as her tail snagged on a branch. She huffed ahead quickly, keeping close, a tuft of hair missing now.
With a snarl, I took a tight turn and hit a shallow stream. Just a few seconds behind, I heard her splash through, and without hesitating, I made my next move—leaping up, digging my claws into the trunk of an oak, and settling quickly into the lower branches.
Wolves almost never climbed trees.
My father, who I ran with most of my childhood on full moon nights, had made fun of me often for it.
But why not climb trees as a wolf, when I climbed them as a boy? I thought.
It was a habit that stuck with me into adulthood. And now I was glad it was serving a purpose.
Balancing carefully on four paws, I waited as Caroline darted below, her feet churning up the soft earth. It took a few minutes for her scent to slowly fade from the surroundings, and then I leapt down, landing silently on a bed of leaves.
The betas wouldn’t be far behind.
Tradition allowed them to run with me and the competitors, but they were supposed to give us space.
I shook my coat out before turning and following the stream in the other direction, a path that would lead back past where we’d started.
I shouldn’t be doing this, I thought to myself, but continued at a lope.
There was an undertone of guilt in my mind.
I knew my mother needed me to pick a mate tonight.
There was no other option. For my own safety, as well as hers, I’d have to choose one of the young women running out in the woods now.
And probably fighting, from the sounds of it—far off I could hear snarling.
As I neared the area where the crowd and Queen would be waiting, I slunk off deeper into the forest, padding softly. I would go back. I just needed to run the uncertainty out of my system for now.
Tonight, would be the night I chose a mate.
Tonight, would be the night I was tied to this—ruling as Alpha. Being constantly scrutinized. Trapped in the rambling, spacious, gorgeous walls of the Kingdom.
A scent on the wind made me stop, paws dragging long ruts in the dirt. The moonlight broke through the treetops, and I lifted my nose.
It was a wolf, but I knew that scent.
I’d smelled it the night before on her, half-transformed. I’d smelled her the second she’d stepped into the garden.
Valarie was running flat out with her ears pressed back against her head. I hesitated only for a moment before running after her.
She was chasing a rabbit that darted out ahead of her, kicking up leaves and twigs in its panic. The wolf panted but I knew as soon as I was tailing her that she wasn’t putting her all into the chase; this was just a game. The realization sent a thrill through me.
With one long bound, I was up beside her, and she glanced at me only briefly, ears coming up in confusion. Would she react like everyone else in the pack and stop, submit, grovel?
But no.
Valarie snarled out a happy sound and jerked sideways into me, knocking me off balance. When the surprise wore off, I straightened out my stride again and sped up.
The rabbit was forgotten quickly. It was a race between the two of us now—who was faster, who was sneakier.
It was obvious that Valarie was the one better at sparring. Despite being an Alpha, I’d never actually full-on fought anyone; just practiced in the ring with trainers. No one ever offered to fight their King.
But Valarie didn’t hold back now. She let me get ahead and then snapped at my ankles.
I spun on her, jaws open in mock anger, and took her down easily. Too easily.
Body beneath mine, her feet kicked into my stomach while she bit into the ruff around my neck. I struggled against her and then managed to kick her in the head.
She rolled to her feet and pounced, but I met her halfway, the two of us snapping at each other as we stood on our hind legs, hair raised.
To any non-wolf it would’ve looked like a fight but transformed we could read each other easily. The set of her ears and her grinning mouth made it clear she was enjoying herself. This was playing.
For a long time, we forgot ourselves as we raced and fought in the woods. I could feel I would be bruised in the morning, in a satisfying way, and covered with bites.
I laughed at this thought in wolf; bruised and bitten by a female, but not from sex.
Val stopped mid-spin and cocked her head questioningly. I finally got a good look at her now that we were both still.
She wasn’t nearly as large as I was, but she was big for a female.
Her undercoat was almost as light as mine, but there was much more light brown, her ruff and tail tipped in darker brown.
As she moved, I could see her muscles sliding beneath the thick coat and knew she must do this often—run as a wolf. The thought struck a longing in me.
Even on full moon nights, I rarely got out to run in full form. I wanted to, but there were often too many duties or traditions.
If I showed up anyway as an Alpha wolf it would change the atmosphere immediately. No one would really enjoy themselves around me. They’d all be keeping an eye out for opportunities to submit. It made for a lonely existence as both a human and a wolf.
But tonight was one of the best nights I’d ever had since my father had passed. He was the last one—the only one—I’d been able to be freely myself with as a wolf. And now Valarie stood before me with her delicate forelegs and dark eyes, ears swiveling in question.
Then we both heard the howling.
It was a message to anyone else out in the forest: a fight had broken out.
I stared at Valarie for a moment before turning and trotting toward the sound. Glancing back, I saw her reluctantly pacing between the trees. Then she dipped off to the right and I heard her running flat-out.
We couldn’t show ourselves together, wherever everyone else was gathered, so I let her get a lead on me.
In only a few minutes, I came up on the fight.
Caroline had Sophia pinned to the ground and was snarling above her, spit shining in the moonlight. Sophia’s ears were back and flat, but she wasn’t kicking or struggling. She looked concentrated.
The betas were gathered around in a loose circle, egging the alphas on with pants and short huffs.
Movement behind me revealed Charles, which was surprising. He was an omega. A very dark wolf, smaller, with a tight body. He glanced at me and showed his teeth in submission quickly before glancing to the left, where a wolf I recognized as Edith was licking at a wounded leg.
Sophia’s teeth were bright as she snapped up at Caroline and just happened to catch her ear. With a yelp, Caroline backed off just enough for Sophia to roll into a standing position and begin circling again.
I surveyed the small pack quickly.
No sign of Daniele, which wasn’t that strange. I was almost sure she’d dropped out quickly. She had no interest in becoming my mate but making it this far, to the night of the actual Hunt, would be a source of pride for her pack.
Valarie was at the far side of the circle.
She shook leaves out of her coat and avoided my gaze, eyes locked on Sophia as she continued to fight Caroline.
It was a well-matched fight. Caroline didn’t seem to be as good at sparring as Sophia, but she was quick.
I gathered quickly that Caroline had actually been the one to start the fight, taking Sophia by surprise as they ran, and cutting her back legs out from under her.
Caroline’s coat was dark like Charles’s, and it was obvious they came from the same pack, even if I hadn’t already known it.
Charles’s mother had been from the Sturgeon Pack, a sea wolf small in stature.
She’d married into the Alpha Pack almost as soon as she met Charles’s father, both of them omegas but with amazing work ethic.
It was obviously a trait of the Sturgeon Pack. Caroline kept at it even as Sophia slowly gained the upper hand.
Blood tinged her dark coat now, hard to see in the night, but it gave the hair a wet look.
Sophia had a gash to her snout that she seemed to be relishing.
The longer the fight went on, the more excited she seemed to be by it and soon, Sophia was lowering herself to the ground, tilting her nose up to lick at Sophia’s chin and open mouth.
The feel of another wolf brushing up against my haunches made me turn.
Charles was behind and to the left of me, his gaze heavy.
It had to end then. Almost halfway through the night, and everything had to end. I wouldn’t run like this again.
Starting forward with my head low, I broke into the circle and trotted up to the two females. They both whined lightly, Caroline in a more submissive tone.
Sophia circled me quickly before nosing my chin. I let her, stiff with unfamiliarity, realizing that this was the wolf I would spend the rest of my life with.
What had happened to the plan of sleeping with as many of them as I could?
Aside from my drunken transgression in the garden, Valarie was the only one I’d been with for weeks. My body, even in wolf form, longed for her where she now stood across the small pack.
But Sophia circled again and herded me back toward the trees.
We’d run the forest for a while longer as a pair, and then return to the edge, where my mother was waiting for the news.