Page 20 of Owned By Four Alphas

The weather had been more peaceful in the last few days, mild and clear. He enjoyed the breeze ruffling through his fur as he weaved through the trees, the softness of the earth beneath his paws. He didn’t often get to spend so much time in his true form, which in his mind was a nice blend of lion, bear, and stag. It was toodistressingto the Fae, apparently.

He snorted, his breath visible in the cool air. If he had learned anything about the Fae, it was that they were much more prone to the pretense of distress than they were actual distress. He didn’t care. Sometimes, when he lay by the fire, Selena would curl into his side with a book. She said she liked leaning against him, or against Ronan’s wolf, as she read. And she was the only one whose opinion he actually cared about.

He wondered if it was love. He didn’t know if he was even capable of love. But he decided, with a firm nod of his head, that he wasn’t sure what else it could be.

Torn out of his musings, his ears twitched towards the distant sounds of snapping and growling. He briefly considered turning away, centuries of instinct to avoid conflict kicking in,but ultimately his curiosity won out and he slunk into the shadows to creep towards the noise.

Wolves. He could smell them. Aggressive, young,fighting.

His footfalls were silent as he padded closer, his form melting into the dark parts of the forest. He was still there. But they would not see him.

A loud snarl echoed through the trees and his ears pricked up. Ronan.

He sniffed the air. Ronan, his second-in-command Thyrius, and about six or seven young alphas, all in wolf form. Ronan had to be in the middle of a training session.

As he got closer, he could see his packmate surrounded by the young alphas. They were circling him, testing his defenses. Ronan’s ears were flat against his head, his yellow eyes narrowed and focused.

One by one, they launched at him. And despite their speed, their size, their strength, they were no match for Ronan.

As he threw the last one off his back and leapt up in victory, he barked out his appraisal, “That was good, but you moved too slowly. You need to attack in tighter formation. Vallin, your attempt to get behind me was decent, but next time, ensure I am sufficiently distracted.”

The young wolves growled their frustrations, especially a large gray wolf who snapped and snarled. Ronan’s chest rumbled. The gray wolf’s tail thrashed and he paced up and down in front of Ronan. For a split second, Malek wondered if he was considering attacking.

But then he stood down. And Ronan sighed.

“Thyrius, carry on without me, I have some business to attend to.”

“Business, Ronan?”

Ronan snarled in response, leaping away from the group, his teeth bared. His ears twitched in Malek’s direction and he changed course, heading for the trees where Malek hid. As he passed, he growled, “Are you coming with me?”

Malek allowed his form to materialize as he fell into line behind Ronan. He didn’t bother asking how Ronan knew he was there. Probably scent.

Ronan broke into a sprint and Malek followed, struggling somewhat to keep up with the enormous wolf. Malek didn’t know where they were going, as they were heading deeper into the forest, not back to the Marble Halls.

“What business do you have?”

“The business of clearing my head,” Ronan grumbled, his body a blur of dark fur and flashing teeth.

Malek paused before replying, ever cautious of the delicate relationship that had sprung up between him and the wolf over the past weeks. Especially in the last few days. He didn’t want to push Ronan, to risk incurring his ire. He was the closest thing to a friend Malek had, aside from Selena.

“I take it your wolves are…frustrating you.”

Ronan barked out a laugh. “The wolves, Kaelen, Elian, the wholebloodylot of them. Thyrius wants me to go back to our territory, to reassert dominance against the Northern pack, and I fear if I don’t, one of the younger ones is going to do something tremendously stupid like challenge me. I don’t relish the idea of killing one of my people.”

Ronan slowed to a halt in a small clearing, pacing back and forth, an unending growl reverberating from the twisting trunks of the trees.

“But if Ordovic challenges me, then Selena will lose the borderlands to the Northern pack. Ordovic won’t hesitate to launch a full-scale attack on the humans, and we’re not ready for that. We’re not strong enough, or united enough, to fight a war where hundreds, if not thousands, of innocents will die. And if the wolves turn against Selena, how long before other clans do as well?”

Malek let Ronan pace, let him vent, offering only silent support as Ronan got everything off his chest.

“Kaelen’s so bloody focused on trying to control everything and everyone that he doesn’t see the danger brewing. He thinks he can just announce Selena as queen and everyone will bow down, end of story. He’s too focused on putting out little fires amongst the nobles, he can’t even imagine any large-scale threats; he’s too arrogant. And Elian—sometimes it’s a real battle not to rip him limb from limb.”

“That I can agree with you on,” Malek said, tilting his head slightly.

Ronan huffed, “And in the middle of everything is Selena. I want to keep her safe, want to give her the life she deserves. I’m not sure we’re doing that right now. How are we supposed to raise a child in the midst of all this political bullshit?”

“Where else would we go?”

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