The Unwanted Wolf

“Have you ever thrown a punch before?” Reyland asked, moving on in the conversation to prevent more awkwardness.

“A few times. Mark has been working with me on my skills, but he has been teaching me more self-defense skills,” I explained.

Reyland nodded. “You have a good mate there. He’s a good alpha, too. Why don’t you show me how you punch, and we’ll go from there. If people are targeting you, I want to make sure you know how to attack them. Self-defense is great and all, but sometimes the best defense.”

I nodded and got into my fighting stance. It felt a little weird to prepare to attack someone who wasn’t my enemy, but I knew this was good. I hadn’t had much practice with initiating an attack, but it would be good practice. I looked at Reyland, a little hesitant to swing at him. I didn’t want to hurt him. Well, a small part of me did. I wanted to believe that I was past everything that happened when I was sixteen, but standing here in the presence of someone I once looked up to made all of my feelings start to bubble up.

My chest tightened as the feeling of abandonment grew. I curled my hands into a fist, and I swung at the hand Reyland was holding up. I winced instantly and shook my hand out. It felt like I was swinging at a brick, and my hand stung.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m okay. I just wasn’t expecting it to hurt so much.”

“Hitting someone will hurt on both ends. The most important thing is you are doing more damage than you are taking. Here, let’s try it again and focus on fixing your form. When throwing a good punch, you want to make sure you have a wide stance. One foot should be a little back to make you more sturdy. Now make your hands into a fist. Make sure your thumb is on the outside. When you swing, you want to use your entire body. Follow through with your movement, and you’ll find you are packing a harder punch.”

Reyland demonstrated the stance that he wanted me in. I did my best to copy his form. He ended up correcting me, shifting my feet a little, and adjusting my hands.

“Better,” he said. “Now try hitting me again.”

I didn’t hesitate to swing this time, keeping everything he said in mind. I moved my entire body as I swung. This time the impact with Reyland’s hand was more powerful, and I ended up losing my balance. Reyland quickly caught me and steadied me.

“That was much better. Next time, try to stay on your feet though.” Reyland had a sly smirk on his face, and nostalgia overwhelmed me.

It was the same look he gave me when he messed around with me when I was younger. I loved those soft moments. He was a firm parent, but he was never overly strict. He just knew that it was a lot to be the daughter of an alpha, and he never wanted me to be caught off guard. The one thing I knew when I was younger was that he loved me. There were times when I questioned whether that was true of my mother.

Reyland’s expression changed. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, feeling my cheeks. I hadn’t realized I had started to cry. “No, I’m fine. This is just a lot.”

Reyland stiffened at my words. “I can have a different warrior work with you if you prefer. I want to make sure you get proper training.”

“No,” I said faster than expected.

Reyland paused and looked at me, confusion etched into his face.

“I was just thinking about when I was younger. I miss those moments,” I admitted.

Reyland looked at the ground. “I miss them, too. I missed too much of your life, and that will always be my biggest regret.”

Part of me wanted to give him a hug to comfort him, but I wasn’t ready for that. “I think I want to see if we can repair this relationship, but it’s not easy for me. You broke my trust and made me feel like the most unwanted daughter. That doesn’t just go away because you say you’re sorry. I need time, and I don’t know if I will ever be fully healed from that.”

Reyland nodded, the corner of his l*p turned up ever so slightly. “I completely understand. I will wait as long as you need. I’m just glad you are willing to at least give me a chance.”

I let his words hang in the air for a moment as I processed everything. I wanted this to be real and true. I wanted to rebuild my relationship with Reyland. My memories of him in my childhood seemed so vivid, and as he stood in front of me, I saw him as two different people at the same time. To the younger me, he was my father, my dad, the man I looked up to as a kid. To the current me, he was Reyland, the alpha of Pack Lyna who was here to help make sure I could have a future, hopefully one that included him.

“Okay, so what are we going to work on next?” I asked.

“We need to make sure you can throw a proper punch without falling on your face before moving,” Reyland said, a smirk dancing on his lips.

–

I dragged myself to bed at the end of the night, my mind and body both pushed past their limits. I couldn’t remember another time when my body was this exhausted. My feet ached with every step I took, and my bones creaked with even the slightest movement. The stairs were the worst and took much longer to get up than normal.

I was grateful for all of the training Reyland helped me with. We worked together, even after the training session ended. He insisted that I work harder to get up to speed faster. He wanted me to be a skilled warrior, which was still a weird thought. He had been absolutely against it when I was a child, so him insisting on extra training now showed me he was not the same person as before.

I knew I had gained a lot of important skills, but my body was screaming at me to stop. The nice thing about being a werewolf was my muscles would heal much faster, so my body should feel better by the morning.

I opened the door to our bedroom, and my heart sank when I saw Mark passed out in the chair in the corner. He was not in a comfortable position by any means. I knew he had tried to stay awake until I came back, but he hadn’t been sleeping much the past few days. His body must have taken over and shut down once he sat down.

I was afraid to wake him up, knowing he would want to stay up with me out of guilt. So I grabbed a blanket and draped it over his body. Then I tucked a pillow behind his head, so he wouldn’t wake up with a kink in his neck. I hoped we would get to spend some time together tomorrow.

Apparently, the patrols found some sort of strange trail surrounding the pack house, and that took up Mark’s entire evening. They were concerned it was someone scouting out the place, so they wanted to set up extra precautions. Mark checked in on occasion, but he wasn’t able to get away to see me, like he wanted.

I crawled into my bed after placing a k**s on Mark’s forehead. It felt good to finally relax, and I could feel my eyelids growing heavy.

The bed feels too empty without our mate, Shadow whined in my head.

I know. He’s working hard, though. We’ll be okay for one night.

Can’t we just wake him up or crawl into his lap? Shadow asked.

I’m too tired to move.

Even if I decided to wake him up, I was confident I wouldn’t be able to move now that I was lying down.

It didn’t take long for me to fall into a deep slumber. I opened my eyes and found myself in my subconscious, but something felt strange. The normal white background was almost pitch black, and there was a loud pounding echoing in the air. Pressure in the air was making it hard to breathe.

“Adira!” Moon shouted.

I turned and saw her running directly towards me. She leaped into the air, and I caught her in my arms. Her heart was pounding.

“What’s going on?” Moon asked, panic clear in her voice.

I looked around, taking it all in. Ginger taught me how to block others from entering my mind without my permission, and I was grateful for it at this moment.

“I think the Son of B***d and Magic is trying to enter.”

The dark magic was surrounding the walls I had put up, and he was putting pressure on me. He was desperate to make a connection with me. I could feel his desire for me was greater than anything else. I swallowed hard, afraid of his intensity. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I focused on my love for Mark and the future I was determined to have with him. I imagined the barriers in my head strengthening, and the pressure grew lighter.

“He’s backing off,” Moon said. She hopped out of my arms, and a sense of relief washed over the two of us.

“He’ll be back,” I said, feeling it deep in my bones. There were only two ways this thing with the Son of B***d and Moon would end, and I would do everything I could to make sure it ended my way.

–

I woke up suddenly, a wave of nausea washing over me. I ran to the bathroom before it was too late. When my body had expunged everything it could, I rinsed my mouth and checked the time. It was only two in the morning, much too late to be awake. I headed back to my bed, checking on Mark on the way. He was still fast asleep, and his mouth was opened wide. There was a small stream of drool coming out of his mouth, which made me smile.

Before I made it back to bed, an uneasy feeling washed over me. Something was wrong. I instantly went to Mark, trying to shake him awake. He was in a deep sleep, and my attempts to wake him were unsuccessful. Unsure of what to do, I grabbed a robe and wrapped it around me. I wanted to find someone to go with me to figure out what was wrong. I was not about to go out on my own.

I scurried down the pack house to the warrior who was supposed to be on guard at the front door. I was surprised when I didn’t see anyone. My first thought was that the warrior had just taken a small break, but Mark made sure that security was tight and the patrols were always in position. I doubted the warrior just left like that. The sinking feeling in my stomach became even greater.

I moved around the pack house, an eerie quiet filling my ears. My feet moved even faster, as I grew desperate to find someone. I had no luck, and then I heard a noise in the backyard. I knew there was a patrol stationed outside that entrance, so I hoped it was just them.

I walked slowly, making sure I was ready for what I found on the other side of the door. I slowly opened the door, but I didn’t see anyone outside. I looked around, trying to figure out why this place was a ghost town. I shut the back door and locked it behind me. Whatever was going on, I was not about to try to face it on my own. I decided to go back upstairs and do whatever I needed to wake Mark up.

Turning around, I jumped, surprised to see Jori standing behind me. Before I could scream, he put a hand over my hand and pressed me against the wall.

His lips nearly touched my ear as he whispered, “Don’t do anything I’ll make you regret.”