We are only ever granted one mate by the Moon Goddess, so I figured he was just pining for the mate we had and lost, even though she wasn’t a good person. But now that he’s interested in Nyx, I’m not sure what to make of it all.

“She’d make an amazing Luna,”he muses softly like he’s trying to coax me into agreeing with him.

What’s not to agree with? I have no doubt she’d be a Luna that people would look up to and admire.

“We don’t deserve a mate,”I remind my wolf.

“Speak for yourself,”he snarls.“Wonder what her she-wolf looks like,”he’s on the edge of sounding fucking dreamy and it’s setting my teeth on edge.

“What about Aisley?”I point out,“She is Nyx’s number one priority, which is how it should be.”

I know I’m just grasping at straws here, but I don’t want my wolf to get his hopes up. Not only do we not deserve a mate, but Nyx may never get over the pain of losing her Goddess-given mate. They had a real mate bond with real love.

“What are you trying to do asking about the pup? Pup is beautiful, like her mother. Pup could be ours,”he pouts.

I’m fucking stunned which is why Dalton is able to land a punch to my jaw. When I meet his gaze, his eyebrows are so high on his head that they’re almost flying free. I don’t blame him, if I were paying attention there’s no way he would have landed that hit.

I’ve worked really fucking hard to be more than just the Alpha of this pack by name, but to be at the top when it comes to defending our pack against whatever comes our way. It’s not like I was a slouch when it came to training when I was the pack’s Beta or anything, but now the stakes are even higher.

Nyx is just too damn distracting.

“You’re not the only one distracted,”my wolf chuffs, clearly amused.

My gaze roams over the other wolves training and more than one unmated male are checking Nyx out. I’m barely able to swallow down the growl that’s threatening to come out. I should not attack my pack because they’re looking at a beautiful she-wolf.

Possessiveness rears up inside of me and takes my breath away. It’s not an entirely new feeling, but the ferocity of it almost takes me out.

My vision goes red and the next thing I know, I’m landing a punch and kick combination on Dalton that takes him by surprise and is far too much for the lighter training we’ve been doing.

“Fuck,” I mutter and step closer to him. “Sorry, man. I don’t know what came over me.”

Dalton’s gaze shifts to something over my shoulder and the corners of mouth twitches like he’s trying to hide a smile. He shakes his head before shrugging. There’s not even a hint of anger in his voice when he reassures me, “No worries. I have a feeling I know what has you distracted.” When I arch an eyebrow in question he nods towards where I know Nyx is sparring with a female warrior. Yeah, I don’t have to look to know and that kind of pisses me off. “You’ve been distracted since Nyx started coming to training,” he points out gently.

As I shake my head, my voice is filled with warning, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Beta.”

Dalton holds his hands up, but the small smirk on his face tells a story. I already have my wolf trying to make me consider things that I shouldn’t. I don’t need anyone else playing matchmaker.

“Let’s take a stroll around and see how everyone is doing,” I suggest even though it’s far from a suggestion.

Dalton gives me a chin lift and heads in the opposite direction of Nyx, but he’s not fast enough to hide the grin on his face completely. I’m sure he can feel the way I’m glaring at the back of his head. He’s smart not to turn around.

My Gamma, Connor, is more than capable of running the training, but since I can’t concentrate, I might as well see how everyone is doing. I like to train next to my pack members. I might be above them in rank, but I’m not above putting in the work and working just as hard as them, if not harder.

If they follow my example, I want it to be a good one.

That’s something this pack lacked for so fucking long. The people at the very top were corrupt and only focused on power and status. It left a huge disparity between the top and the bottom. It allowed for an environment where no one could speak up when Serenity was being abused. Hell, it allowed some people to join in who never should have even considered it a possibility.

The pack is supposed to be a family.

We’re getting closer to that every day.

I turn on my heel and head closer to where Nyx is training with Samantha. It’s clear that Nyx is going easy on the she-wolf. As much as I admire it, that’s not going to help Nyx.

Even though Nyx is moving slower than she’s capable and pulling her punches, I can see the extent of her skill in every movement. Her body moves like a fucking dancer and it’s hypnotizing.

When Samantha drops her guard, Nyx immediately stops and shakes her head. “You just left your right side open, Samantha,” she’s gentle with her correction.

She grabs both of Samantha’s fists and pulls her arms up and back into the right fighting stance. When she kicks the inside of her foot, it’s clear she wants Samantha to widen her stance slightly. Samantha is, clearly, taken by surprise.