Page 9 of Owned By Four Alphas

“Should we follow them?” asked Thyrius, his eyebrows knitting together.

Ronan pinched the bridge of this nose between his finger and his thumb. “They’ve not even been here an hour and they’re already pissing me off.”

“You’ve been gone a while,” suggested Thyrius, his tone measured, but Ronan caught the hint of worry. “Perhaps they need reminding precisely why you’re alpha of the clan.”

“If I resort to violence every time a young alpha gets testy with me, I wouldn’t deserve to be the dominant alpha. I trained most of those boys from pups. While they’re here, I’ll spend some time running through the old drills with them. Remind them that some bonds run deeper than a bit of distance.”

Thyrius nodded, even if he didn’t seem entirely convinced.

Ronan ignored him in favor of following after his young charges.

The ringing of metal had stopped by the time Ronan and Thyrius turned the corner into a courtyard near what Ronan could only assume was the soldiers’ barracks. There, shirtless and sweating, soaked from the rain, was a group of young dragon alphas twirling their swords about and squaring up to the growling wolves.

“I recognize you,” Vallin snarled at the biggest dragon, an alpha with shoulder-length dark hair and wicked amber eyes. “You’re the son of a bitch who keeps crossing the border.”

“At your service,” the dragon grinned, bowing at the waist. “You must be the pesky gray mutt that always seems to run off with its tail between its legs.”

Vallin bellowed in outrage, closing the space between them in two angry strides. As a wolf, Vallin was taller andbroader, but the young dragon didn’t even blink. If anything, his lazy smirk grew wider.

“Nothing to say for yourself, mongrel? I should have expected as much. You wolves never were very eloquent.”

“Shut your mouth,” Vallin snarled, and the other alphas, both wolf and dragon, drew in closer, sizing each other up. Thyrius made to move forward, but Ronan stopped him with a hand around the bicep. The young dragon’s eyes flicked upwards.

“Not going to control your pups, Ronan?” he said, raising his voice.

Ronan’s jaw clenched, and he didn’t answer. As much as he may want to, it was the way of things to let such brawls play themselves out. If he got involved, his wolves would resent him, and the dragons would read it as weakness. So instead, he just crossed his arms over his chest, letting his scent and posture speak for him.

“Phane.” One of the young dragon’s friends stepped towards him. “Kaelen won’t be happy if we get into it with them.”

“Kaelen’s not here,” replied Phane, his gaze flicking back to Vallin, “and someone should teach these dogs some manners. Barging in like that while we’re only trying to train—it’s uncouth.”

“Unlike you, we don’t need any poncy swords to fight,” snarled Vallin, “just our fists.”

“Like I said,” Phane threw the sword to the side, where it skittered over the stone, “uncouth.”

“Phane, really, we shouldn’t,” the other dragon said again, throwing a disgusted look at Vallin. “As tempting as it might be.”

“Always the voice of reason, Anor,” Phane replied. “I’m happy to let the matter drop, if our friends here apologize for interrupting our sparring.”

“D’ya hear that, boys?” Vallin crowed. “The dragon’s too scared of us.”

The wolves laughed, their scents spiking. Ronan sighed. The dragons snarled, closing ranks.

“Vallin,” he growled, and the wolves turned to him with a mix of fear and annoyance. “Drop it.”

Vallin didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. His eyes were a raging pit of fury and aggression. At that moment, Ronan understood exactly why none of the older alphas had accompanied the wolves on their trip. They were seeking to test Ronan.

“Ronan! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for—oh…” Caeda, Elian’s pretty Fae sister, stepped out into the courtyard, careful to remain under shelter from the rain.

Instantly, something shifted in the air, with every one of the young alphas suddenly very interested in the omega in front of them.

“Fuck,” Ronan muttered under his breath, and Caeda looked at him with apprehension.

“Your clan members never made it to their quarters,” she said, glancing at the group of alphas, a slight blush on her cheeks. “I came to make sure they hadn’t got lost.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Ronan turned, trying to shield Caeda from the view of the alphas. “We’ll be along in a minute.”

“What’s the rush?” Vallin called, his tone leery. “Why don’t you stay and watch us remind these lizards why we’re the guardians of the Forest?”

---