Page 181 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Flynn smiled grimly. “Good. Then fucking show me.”

His words settled across us like a thick blanket. I cast my eyes across the field to Dustin and Ivy. They saw me and nodded toward Flynn in respect. The guy really knew his shit, and it appeared to be sinking in with the others.

“Let’s break into groups,” Flynn said. “Twos and fours. I’ve seen what you can do in wolf form. Now show me what you can do hand-to-hand in human form.”

The next hour was spent with Langston and Flynn moving between the groups, instructing, adjusting, and coaching us on technique. It astounded me that the two of them managed it with over a hundred shifters.

“That’s enough for today!” Flynn shouted above the commotion of training men and women. “Mingle a bit. Get to know the people who may end up relying on you to survive.”

Wiping sweat from their foreheads, the groups from the other packs sat down on the grass, resting and shooting the breeze with people they rarely got to interact with. The mating party happened every year, but most people went to that hoping to find a mate instead of making friends.

Flynn strolled over to me. “I hope I didn’t overstep at any point. I guess I slipped back into my military mindset.”

“Absolutely not,” I said. “That was far more than any of us could have done.”

“Good. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers.”

“Nope. I think Ivy and Dustin were pretty impressed. Seems like everyone’s happy.”

Flynn nodded, studying the gathered shifters. “They need work,” he admitted. “But I’m confident we can get them whipped into shape pretty fast, especially with Langston’s help. He knows his shit.”

That was true. For a few seconds, I had a little crisis of conscience. What was my role here now? With Flynn’s arrival, I no longer had to challenge Eren for control of the pack. Langston and Flynn could train everyone. Did they even need me at this point?

Before I could dive too deep into that, my skin prickled, and Flynn’s head whipped around. Kirsten stepped out of the woods to join us. Her magic wasn’t cloaked, so several other shifters craned their necks to see where the surge of power had come from. Many had never been in the presence of a witch, and most stared at Kirsten with a mixture of awe and wariness. It wasn’t surprising. The power flooding out of her was even stronger than Flynn’s alpha aura. She was the strongest person in the vicinity by far. As her magic continued to manifest itself and grow, there was no telling what kind of force she’d eventually be. She’d already gone from gardening and simple potions to shooting bolts of magic from her hands.

That made me feel even more useless. What good was I? A weird sense of impotence settled over me. My whole life, I’d always been the strongest, the best. Now, I’d slid down the pecking order a bit. I’d never thought I was so shallow to feel upset by something like that, but irritation bubbled up out of nowhere. My brows creased, and a dark mood settled over me.

Kirsten waved at me, giving me one of her beautiful smiles. “I came to see if you needed me for anything.” She wiggled her fingers, and red sparks burst from her fingertips like she had a handful of sparklers in her hand.

My irritation grew into a roaring flame, and before I could stop myself, I opened my mouth. “If we’d needed you, we would have called for you.”

My voice was much louder than I’d intended, almost a shout, and the clearing went dead silent, every head turning to us. Heat rose in my neck, the embarrassment fueling my anger.

A flush rose up Kirsten’s neck, and her magic aura pulsed out in a flux that carried over the clearing, making Flynn’s aura look like nothing. It was the difference between a summer shower and a massive, thundering tornado. Multiple shifters in the crowd tucked their chins low as if someone had slapped the backs of their heads.

“Do you want to try that one more time?” Kirsten hissed at me, her voice full of ice. “Maybe put a little less shithead in the tone?”

Beside me, Flynn shifted around uncomfortably.

I sucked in a deep breath. I’d fucked up. But I couldn’t shake the sensation that I was somehow less important than I’d been a few weeks before.

“All I meant,” I said slowly, “is that we’re fine. You didn’t need to come all the way down here.”

Kirsten stared at me for several long moments, her face tight with barely controlled anger. Finally, she gave one short nod. “I guess I’ll go back to the house. Since my presence is no longer wanted,” she spat, then turned on her heel to leave.

You fucking idiot, I hissed at myself. Stop her. Apologize!

“Kirsten, wait,” I called, but she ignored me and stalked back into the forest.

Waylan and Langston hurried over to me. “Bro, what the fuck was that about?” Waylan asked.

He looked disappointed in me. That was like another kick in the balls.

I shook my head. “Nothing. I’ll fix it later.”

“You sure you want to wait until later?” Langston asked. “Maybe you should go now.”

“It’s fine,” I lied. “Let’s get back to training. I need to blow off some steam.” I turned to Flynn, who still looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. “You good to keep going?”

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