The next day, we started sparring training, but I didn’t see that going any better than the prior morning. We sat down at the table that evening to eat.
“You guys stink!” a female voice came from behind us. I turned around and saw the Delta’s daughter and a few other she-wolves behind her cover their noses with their hands while they scrunched their foreheads in disgust. I peered over at Sawyer, watching as he rose from the table and started to chase after her. She screamed, which brought attention to them both as he caught her and wrapped her up in his arms to carry her back to the table.
“Sawyer! Put me down! I’m now going to have to take another bath! Sawyer!”
“Now, now, Danika, is that how you talk to an Alpha?” he taunted her. She growled, and he chuckled loudly. He sat her between us and then started to eat. She kept her hand over her nose, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at her face. The other she-wolves seemed disappointed that he’d raced after her, but they went to their regular table to sit, leaving Danika between us.
“You both really need to take a shower before going to my dad.” Her voice had changed since she held her nose closed, trying to keep from smelling us
“Yeah, perhaps we do.” I could smell myself. Getting up, Danika let out the breath that she’d held in her lungs.
I put my plate in the dirty bin and made my way back to my room. I stripped out of the joggers, t-shirt, and underwear and climbed into the shower. The hot water felt amazing on my sore muscles. I stood there under the steaming water before grabbing a loofa and body wash; I slathered it onto my body, making the muscles I never knew were there scream with every movement. Rinsing off, I grabbed the bar of soap and used it to wash my face.
Stepping out of the shower, I dried off, put on some fresh clothes, and headed back to Delta Eric’s office. As I walked down the stairs, the Alpha’s daughter sat on the steps, her head in her lap. I started to walk past her, but something pulled me to her. I stopped and watched her for a while before sitting beside her. “Hey, you, okay?”
She peeked up at me, her amber eyes red and puffy. I grinned at her, and she smiled sadly back at me. Her eyes pulled me into them while tears clung to her eyelashes. Her lashes were the longest things my eyes had ever gazed upon. She shook her head and laid it in her lap again. Her body shook as she quietly sobbed. I didn’t know what to do for her, so I just sat there for a moment, looking around. A group of boys sat in a circle near a corner, their backs to us as they laughed and cut up with each other. Turning back to face her, I raised my eyebrow, questioning her. “Can I do anything?”
She glanced back at me with a slight hiccup. Her eyes seemed to brighten at my offer. She pointed over to the group of boys. “Can you get my dolly back from them?”
I nodded and got up from the steps; as I went up to them, I noticed they started cutting the doll’s hair and were drawing on its arms and face. One boy laughed, and I grabbed the doll from him, he turned with a growl before seeing who I was, and it died on his lips. He and the other boys lowered their eyes and bared their necks to me. Taken aback by this show of submission, I stood there for a moment, before I fixed my face and glared at them. “Is there a reason you took her doll from her?”
They all stayed silent until the one who’d growled at me spoke up, “It was all in good fun, Nolen. We didn’t plan to do all of this.”
I growled at him, and he whimpered. I didn’t know where the noise came from. This was not how I acted at my pack. I was never this sure of myself. “So, taking a little girl’s doll. A girl that deserves your respect because she is of alpha blood, is all in good fun because she’s littler than all of you?”
“No, sir. We are sorry, it won’t happen again. We promise,” another boy piped up, his eyes filled with tears as he glanced up at me.
“Since you defaced her doll, I expect you to buy her another one by the end of the week to pay for the one you destroyed.”
“Yes, sir,” they chanted to me and ran off down the hall of the packhouse and through the doors. There could be repercussions for my actions, but at the moment, I didn’t care.
I turned and went back to her. She gazed up at me, and once she spotted the doll in my hand gave me the impression that she would cry again, tears building up in her beautiful eyes. Kneeling in front of her, I held out the doll, giving her a grin. “Hey, don’t worry, I told them they needed to replace it.”
She gawked at me with those breathtaking amber eyes, and then she smiled, lunging into me as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I stood there, stunned at first, but it felt right as I enfolded her tiny body with my arms.
Chapter Two: Voices
Four in the morning rolled around quicker than expected, and I got up, pulling my joggers and tank shirt on. I had been here about two months now and was capable of running quicker than Beta Adam, almost as fast as Sawyer, and I lifted more than Sawyer now.
I made my way to the dining room and sat down. An omega sat the same bland food and water down before me, and I thanked him and began eating. Sawyer came down a few moments later and plopped down in front of me. Another omega brought him a plate, and he mumbled something that sounded like ‘thank you.’
I finished my food and water, took my plate and cup to the dirty bin, walked out of the room, and made my way to the porch. Beta Adam approached the steps, and as his scent wafted to me I glanced over my shoulder, hoping Sawyer got here soon because I didn’t want to run an extra two laps this morning.
Feeling great in my skin and more confident now that I’d started showing more definition, Beta Adam was proud of my progress. I had impressed Delta Eric as well since I started with him after being late due to helping the Alpha’s daughter, Amora.
I hadn’t tried to make an excuse and told him that it wouldn’t happen again. He hadn’t questioned me, which I thought was weird. So, I’d gone with it. I had sat down beside Sawyer, and he’d seemed to be sniffing me the entire time. He kept giving me looks but finally chilled out. The Delta’s class had gone by pretty quickly that day, but it’d become more challenging each week.
Just as the Beta’s scent became more potent, Sawyer came out the front doors. I sighed, knowing we had barely escaped being punished. I glanced at him, and he appeared to have woken up more since I saw him in the dining room. Sawyer had become another person that I looked up to; he wasn’t like the other ranks in my pack, but he also hadn’t known me for most of my life. These four years were sure to be torture if Sawyer and I hadn’t become friends.
Sawyer started to stretch as he peered over to me, “Hey, dude, how did you sleep last night? Want to go to a party tomorrow with me?”
“Party? Are you sure?” I had never been invited to a party. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, as the wolves here didn’t treat me like my pack did, but it was always in the back of my mind that it might be a trick.
Sawyer cocked his head to the side as he stared at me with a smirk while he continued to stretch. “Yeah, me and a few of the warriors always go to this human’s parties, and we kinda just crash it. But they don’t care. The girls love it when we come around.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him as I began to stretch. My muscles were loose, and they gave me added weight. The training had really bulked me out.
“My sister talks about you a lot.” I turned to him and stared at him. My heart started to accelerate at the mention of his sister. Sawyer stood back up, giving me one of his knowing grins.