Page 17 of Bonded Beyond Trickery

I’ve met a lot of Alpha’s daughters throughout the years, both as Alpha and before I took over the pack, and there are far too many of them who rest on the laurels of the power of their family. They shop, care more about themselves than anything else, and the last thing they do is train.

“You train?” I know I sound snarky, judgmental, and full of disbelief, but I can’t help it.

Tilly rolls her eyes before shrugging one shoulder while kind of folding in on herself. There’s nothing but understanding in her voice, “I get it. You’ve met a lot of pampered princesses who think that the positions of their fathers or brothers make them better than everyone else in the pack.”

I let out a low groan because she’s absolutely right and the way she isn’t bothered by my surprise and assumptions tells methat she’s had the actions and behaviors of others reflect on her. Even though they’re off base.

I let out a grunt of agreement and rub the back of my neck. “Sorry. It’s just,” I shrug one shoulder, unsure of what to say, “but if you’ve met other Alpha’s daughters then you probably understand where I’m coming from.”

“Yeah,” she breathes, “I have.” She glances at me, the tips of her lips pulling down in a small frown; I hate it. “Any time I’ve been around most of them, I’m the outcast. While I like dressing up and wearing make-up sometimes, I don’t care about designer labels or wearing the most expensive thing in the room. That’s not the way you care for a pack. What good does it do for me to flaunt my position and some idea of wealth when it’s not even mine?”

I come to a screeching halt, amazement filling me. We’re closer to the packhouse than the training grounds, which is where we just came from. I saw the gleam in her eye as she took in the end of the training session.

“You thought our mate was checking out the other males. You were jealous,”my wolf taunts me even though I’m frozen in stunned silence.

He’s not fucking wrong either. I was jealous and I wanted to tear through all the warriors as my mate watched on. It was irrational, possessive as hell, and dangerous. I barely held onto my control before leading Tilly away from the area.

It didn’t even cross my mind that she was interested in training.

Tilly keeps walking for a few feet before realizing that I’m not at her side anymore. She whirls around, the wispy tendrils of hair that have fallen from the messy bun on top of her headtaking flight around her face. Her steps are tentative as she walks back to where I seem to be stuck in place. Her blue eyes assess me critically before her lips press into a thin line, but I can see the way she’s trying to hide her amusement. It’s there, dancing in her eyes.

My voice is rough when I finally find my voice, “You want to train here?” She nods, the movement tentative, but not without bravery. “When was the last time you trained?”

A beautiful smile spreads across my mate’s face, and it takes my breath away for a moment. “Yesterday.” She crosses her arms across her chest, showing me a little sass that I have a feeling she’s been suppressing because of our situation. “It wasn’t easy to train while I was in college. I kept up with it as much as I could and stayed in shape in the athletic center, but I couldn’t exactly spar with humans. I was a little rusty when I came back to Golden Summit because of that, but it didn’t take long to get my form back.”

“Spar?” Is that my voice? It’s far too high and thready to be my voice.

Tilly arches one eyebrow, the challenge easy to read on her features. “Yes,” her words are slow and measured, “spar. The only person who I can’t beat is Crew.”

My heart skips a beat while starting to pound and I’m pretty sure I’m having a heart attack. Which isn’t really possible because, well, wolf shifter. I’m not sure if what she’s just said is the hottest thing I’ve ever heard or the most terrifying.

I squeak out, “You take on warriors?”

“I do,” she nods, her chin going up in defiance. “I realize that I’m a woman, but I saw other females out there training. Areyou surprised because I’m an Alpha’s daughter or because I’m a female?”

“Neither,” I choke out. “I just can’t decide if you training and sparing is the hottest thing I’ve ever heard or the most horrifying.”

Tilly smirks and lets her arms drop to her sides. “I’ll make you a deal,” she offers. I give her a jerky nod, my cock throbbing and desperate to be buried inside of my mate. Fuck, the bond is wild. “How about we set up a time to spar and then we can talk again about training.”

“Fuck,” I grit out through my teeth and reach down to adjust my painfully hard length in my jeans.

Tilly’s eyes flit down to the obvious bulge in my jeans before her eyes snap up to meet mine. A blush steals across her cheeks and makes her look so damn innocent. As much as I didn’t want to think about it, I resigned myself to the fact that she probably didn’t wait for me since she was around humans for years. They wouldn’t have been able to satisfy her the way I’ll be able to, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

The way she won’t meet my eyes now has me rethinking my assumptions about her. Again.

“Mate hasn’t allowed another to touch her,”my wolf sounds satisfied as fuck.

“How do you know?”

“I just know,”he insists before huffing and looking through my eyes to take in the stunning glory that is our mate.

Tilly, ignoring my dick which is trying to punch a hole through my pants to get to her, meets my gaze and waits me out. Right. Her offer.

“Deal,” I grunt and am granted with a wickedly sinful grin from my mate.

I nod toward the packhouse, and we fall into step with each other. “Breakfast is still being served. Are you hungry?” I watch her out of the side of my eye, unable to help myself.

“I’m starving,” she admits, her cheeks turning the most luscious pink. “I couldn’t really eat anything before. I was too nervous.”

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