Page 36 of Make Me

“The group you’re tracking is about ten people,” Mylo said once they started eating. “They are probably a half day ahead.”

Zack nodded and swallowed his bite. “That’s great news. Do you know where they are heading?”

Mylo shrugged. “I was tracking a disturbance in the forest until I caught Bethany’s scent. I’m not sure where they’re heading, but I have some ideas.”

Bethany’s cheeks flamed red, and she dropped her eyes to her plate. Cody held in his chuckle. It was going to be fun watching Bethany get flustered under the attention.

Zack’s lips quirked, and he studiously didn’t look at Bethany. “Sounds good. We can talk on the way, then.”

They finished breakfast quickly and packed up. By the time Mylo was done with their campsite, it looked as if they had never been there. It was smart. They didn’t know who was ahead of them, but they didn’t know who was behind them either. That second group of escaped prisoners was still out there. And they had to convince Bethany to trust them enough to handle anything their parents or the Realm could throw their way.

He didn’t necessarily blame Bethany. It wasn’t going to be easy, and she had spent her life trying to please her mom. His dad wasn’t going to be happy but would eventually get on board. Sadara was going to be the biggest obstacle here. But he had hope. Even if Bethany didn’t believe in them yet, he had seen some changes in her over the last few months that gave him hope.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CODY

Age 21

A few days after the Summer Solstice

Clank!

The metal weights hit the packed sand of the pack’s training arena. Cody blew out a harsh breath. He took a few moments, letting his aching muscles relax as he sat back in the chair, surveilling the others. A few pack members were running laps around the arena, their harsh breaths echoing in the air as they ran by him. Cody had run at the start of his workout before attacking the weights for the last hour. His muscles screamed at him, but he welcomed the ache. It was the only way to tire out his wolf and keep him docile enough that he didn’t go charging into pride land to claim Bethany.

The mate pull was growing stronger and harder to ignore. The proximity to his father reinforced His Alpha Command, which helped dull the ache but still wasn’t enough. So Cody had resorted to pushing himself to the limits with every workout. It served two purposes, though. Not only was it tiring out his wolf; it was making him stronger. And in a Realm that valued strength and power, Cody needed to be stronger if he could ever dream of claiming his mates. Both of them.

Cody heaved himself to his feet and ignored the ache in his muscles. He restacked his weights for the next person and headed towards the door. The arena was large, large enough to hold the circular track around the inside and outside. A variety of weights and workout machines littered the inner circle, surrounding a large roped-off area for hand-to-hand combat.

A group of wolves were in the combat area. Cody avoided looking at them as he passed. It was a group of the pack’s Deltas, and Cody had no desire to be roped into conversation.

“Cody!” one of the Deltas called as he approached the door.

It was Peter, one of his father’s newest Deltas and one of Cody’s tormentors growing up. That was one of the things Cody hated about the pack. Everything was a constant dominance fight. He didn’t have friends growing up outside of Bethany because every other kid in the pack had something to prove to him. Peter was a frequent instigator of those ‘play fights’ growing up until Cody had turned twelve and started putting him on the ground in only a few moves.

Cody slowly turned towards Peter. From the gleam in Peter’s eyes, he wanted to try his luck again against the Alpha Heir.

“Come spar with us.” The challenge was clear in Peter’s voice.

Cody wanted to decline, especially after he’d pushed his body to the limits these last few hours, but if he did, it would be viewed as a sign of weakness to Peter and his friends. And if his father heard that he’d declined a fight… Well, he wouldn’t only get a lecture, but his father might put him in additional training. And Cody wanted to save every spare minute he had this summer for Bethany.

They’d hung out more this summer than they had in a while. It wasn’t easy for either of their animals knowing that their friends were in danger, especially Claire, who was about to head to the Elven Forest searching for answers. Both their animals and the people missed their friends terribly. Zack wrote to him almost daily but hadn’t brought up in any of his letters anything about their time together at Summer Solstice a few days ago. Cody was dying to bring it up with Bethany, but it didn’t feel right to do it without Zack.

Cody’s wolf missed Zack fiercely; their stolen moments at Brandlevine hadn’t been enough. But he wasn’t going to be able to do anything about that until he got stronger and could break his father’s Alpha Command. Then he could claim both of his mates. His father wasn’t the only person he had to convince. And first, he had a challenge to win.

Sure, it wasn’t an official challenge, Cody thought as he ducked under the ropes that separated the combat area from the rest of the arena. But that didn’t stop other wolves from stopping their workouts and gathering around the edge of the arena.

Peter’s eyes gleamed as Cody straightened and faced him. The Delta must have been watching Cody’s workout and decided to challenge him to a sparring match after he thought Cody had exhausted himself. But when Cody straightened, his wolf woke up and flooded his body with new strength. He would be damned if he let this cocky little shit beat him.

“Wolf or man?” Cody asked Peter shortly.

“Wolf,” Peter answered, confirming Cody’s suspicions. It took a bit of Energy to shift, and it was Energy Peter was banking on Cody not having.

Cody just nodded. “First blood?” It was common for most fights in the training arena to end at first blood.

“Till the other submits.” Oh, Peter was really going for some added humiliation, too.

Cody tilted his head from side to side, stretching out his muscles before he shifted into his wolf. Gasps and whispers sounded around the arena. A side effect of his training meant his shift had gotten faster and took less Energy to complete. His wolf shook out his coat and growled at Peter. Cody let a sliver of dominance slip into the growl, just enough so Peter could feel the pressure. Peter narrowed his eyes and slipped into his own wolf form. A sleek dark gray wolf with amber eyes stared back at Cody. Cody’s wolf was quite a bit larger than Peter’s. His training showed through in the added muscles of his wolf form.

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