Chapter 26 Mona
"I cannot believe you think this will work," I growl at Grayson, who smiles beside me. It's unnatural. "Why are you smiling? Do you enjoy torturing your mate?"
We both freeze, and he turns to me, his smile growing wider. I can't believe I just said that.
"I mean—" I try to backtrack, but he shakes his head back and forth.
"You said it, no take-backs."
"What are you, twelve?"
He can't say no take-backs in that deep voice of his. It's just not right. It's not fair to the rest of us.
"You called yourself my mate."
I cross my arms and look back at the training course he made for me. Like a fucking psychotic drill sargent, he even has a timer on a rope around his neck and a fucking whistle.
"It was a slip," I argue half-heartedly. "It's not like I forgot you accused me of working with the witches and said I might not be your mate."
He at least winces, but doesn't back down. "I have a responsibility—"
"Yeah, yeah, shove your responsibility up your ass. You told me we were fucking blessed. No take-backs."
He huffs a laugh. Then takes a step closer, invading my personal space. As if his scent isn't too much already. Reluctantly, I force myself to meet his gaze. I raise one eyebrow but keep my arms crossed.
"I'm sorry, Mona. I need you to know, it's not that I didn't trust you.
But when I realized how many… mysteries surround you, I panicked.
And I'm not in a position to—I'm not the type to panic.
I have a lot of wolves I have to keep safe.
It was never about not trusting you. I was just worried the witches may have spelled you somehow—"
"Yeah, I got that," I snap. I thought I'd gotten all the hurt out of me, so I'm surprised to find how much it still stings.
Listen to him. He's apologizing, Beep pleads.
I thought you said he was supposed to grovel at my feet?
She perks up at that, and it makes me laugh. Grayson narrows his eyes, and I see the moment it dawns on him that I'm talking to Beep. Again, all I give him is an eyebrow raise.
"You're talking to her now?"
I nod, challenging him.
"What's it like?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
He turns to look back over the course he designed for me.
It's set against the field behind the enforcer's gym.
A few acres back, it hits the forest line, and through the trees, continues.
He told me the course will bring me all the way to his cabin—our cabin, was what he actually said—to the bluff overlooking the back of the house.
And once I get home, I can rest. But not before then.
In the distance, behind Grayson, I see another shifter, much further back than all the others. A woman. Tall, blonde. Glaring.
I thought Andrea was still in the kitchen. But before I can ask why she's here if she's not an enforcer anymore, Grayson pulls back my attention.
"I just can't imagine it. Is it overwhelming? Is it constant, or just at certain times, that she speaks?"
He actually seems curious instead of suspicious. So, I try to answer as best I can.
"I named her Beep because it sounded like an annoying beep in my head."
Grayson's eyes widen in surprise, then he laughs.
I feel Beep snarl inside me, and it makes me chuckle too.
"She wasn't too happy about it," I admit.
"But she kept leaving all my clothes, money and food behind.
It took us a while to find our groove. But we've figured out how to coexist. And no, it's not constant.
Not the conversation, anyway. But I always feel her there. " I tap my temple with one finger.
"That's how it is with all shifters. Their presence is constant. Comforting. Or it should be," he adds pointedly.
I nod in agreement. Satisfied—at least for now—he turns, gesturing to the training course. "Your longest holds were when you were in danger, but you couldn't shift quickly, so you often didn't. But you can half-shift when attacked."
I wince, remembering Grayson's reaction to the shifting report he asked me to write up after we left the kitchen this morning.
His knuckles went white around the pages, green eyes narrowed to slits the further he read.
I actually thought it was a good idea when he suggested I write everything I could remember in chronological order, but when he got to the part about the wolves who caught us at that truck stop diner—the truck crashing, the chase through the woods and my subsequent, unwelcomed arousal that drove the other wolves into a frenzy—his jaw clenched so tight, I could hear his teeth grinding.
The scent of his rage filled the air between us, but I nudged his arm, forcing him to read on.
There were other times I partial-shifted, too. And I hadn't noticed the pattern, but we did better when we were under pressure.
Which makes me even more nervous about whatever he has planned here.
"So, your wolves are going to attack me?"
"Yes."
"Are you joking?" Given his deadpan look, he's not joking. "Grayson, I don't think—"
"Why didn't you shift when Andrea and Stance attacked you?"
"Umm…" I try to think back, and though it was barely a week ago, it feels like it was ages. "They were already there. It was too late."
"It wasn't too late. You didn't trust her."
"She doesn't trust me!"
It goes both ways, Beep snaps.
"Well, Beep, you're the one always telling me I don't trust you, but when Andrea was kicking the shit out of us, you told me no!"
Grayson, shocked that I'm talking to her out loud, staggers back a step.
No, I told you to shift. Before she dragged you to the cage, before things got too bad, I told you to partial shift like we did with the man on the cliff.
And then I told you to just shift. And you wouldn't. And then it was too late.
You were too beaten, you lost all our energy.
You are the one who wouldn't shift. You didn't trust me.
"Because we couldn't, Beep!"
Why couldn't we?
"Be-because… because we never can. We can never shift that fast."
When we are in trouble, as our mate has observed, we can shift.
You should have trusted me. I could have done it.
It may not be seconds, but you are always putting me down, denying my abilities, making fun of us like we are useless.
Not me, we. You still haven't accepted this as your fate. You are a shifter, Mona.
Is she right?
Have I been denying this part of me, even still? I thought I'd accepted my fate.
In the hospital, you said we are a freak. You think we are wrong. I am a part of you, Mona. I always have been. I'm sorry I wasn't there when your father was feeding you poison. But—
"What?"
The medicine Mona.
"He gave me medicine because I was sick. You weren't there!"
She goes quiet. Grayson, too. I'm afraid to look at his expression, to see judgment in his eyes. Another red flag that something's wrong with me.
"Mona," Grayson starts. "Maybe we should—"
"Nope. Let's do this. Let's see how in sync we are." Beep is still pissed off, but it's only fueling her fire.
For the first time since I met him, the typically overbearing alpha seems hesitant. "Mona—"
"Come on, Grayson. You wanted to put me through this. You got all these wolves ready to watch this humiliating fucking spectacle. Come on, don't hold back now."
He groans, wiping his hand over his face. That's more like it. An irritated Grayson. That's what I need right now.
"Alright. Orion is at the finish line. I suspect he'll be pacing the woods near the cabin. Get through this course and home to him, then we're done for the day. I'll collect notes from my enforcers, and make adjustments, and we'll go again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" So soon?
"And we'll keep doing it until you can shift confidently."
One of his enforcers strides across the field toward us. Though leaner than my mates, with every step closer, I can feel his intense alpha energy. I've grown used to Grayson and Orion's presence—maybe it's because they're my mates, but I feel warm and safe with them.
But this stranger's energy radiates the same predatory intensity as all those men on the road. I suck in a shallow breath. Grayson registers my discomfort, but before he can say anything, the man approaches.
And he does something unexpected. He pauses directly in front of me and bows, tilting his head slightly, baring his neck, like I've seen less dominant wolves do around Orion and Grayson. A gesture of submission.
"Omega," he says reverently. He smells of rosemary.
Earthy and a little sweet. His voice is soft, and with his fists planted behind his back, he steps away and looks up, nodding once more.
"Mona. I'm Eli. Grayson's third. Head enforcer.
We are honored to have you join our clan.
Thank you for your gift. We will not let you down. "
My mouth drops open. Grayson is smirking, and he flicks my shoulder, like I'm supposed to say something.
They owe us respect. They are lucky to have us and duty-bound to pay homage, Beep explains.
I hope she can feel me rolling my eyes. No one else has done this, I point out.
You have not formally met any other enforcers or alphas. Only betas. They show their reverence in other ways.
I clear my throat and stick out my hand. And like when I met Hilde and Doc, he takes mine in both of his, closes his eyes and takes a deep inhale. I nearly pull away, glancing at Grayson who surely would have a problem with another man touching me like this.
But instead, he seems to approve. Not smiling, not frowning, just observing. Like he expected this.
I feel like a battery with the way Eli's eyes light up. He smiles wide and his intense alpha energy bursts out of him.
"N-nice to meet you," I mumble.
"My mate, Kellen, has been wanting to meet you as well. He's an enforcer on the course today. When he heard our omega needed help, he was the first to volunteer."
"How many people did you tell?" I growl at Grayson.
He smirks and lifts a shoulder. "Things like this aren't secret." Then he turns to Eli. "Are we ready?"