Page 23 of Cruel Alpha

We sipped our coffee in silence, watching the twins stuff their faces with blackberries on the other side of the room. In a rush, I realized that I felt more at home here, in Julia’s little cottage, than I ever had before, either here or on Arbor.

“Hey, Julia?” I ventured.

“Mmm?”

“Thank you—for letting us into your home, for not questioning that the twins are your family. I’ve never really had a friend before,” I confessed. Julia smiled knowingly, reaching out to take my hand.

“Me neither. I’m glad you’re here.”

The moment was interrupted by an insistent and familiar knock on the door. Julia rolled her eyes.

“Speak of the devil,” she said before raising her voice to yell, “It’s open!”

Caleb grumbled as he entered.

“It shouldn’t be. Anyone could just walk in here.”

“Evidently,” Julia said. “Is there a reason you’re bothering us this morning, brother dearest?”

“Alyssa needs training with her wolf.” I’d been expecting this at some point, but Caleb had neglected to provide me with a schedule.

“Alyssa is right here,” I said. “She’s drinking her coffee, and she’s got kids to look after.”

“Julia can watch them,” Caleb said, as if this was a foregone conclusion.

“Oh, can she?” Julia smirked. I knew she was always more than happy to look after the twins, but she also never let an opportunity to rile her brother pass.

“Does she have other pressing business?” Caleb asked, clipped and irritated.

There was a pause, and then Julia sighed.

“No.”

“Great. Come on, Alyssa.”

“This can and must wait until after my coffee,” I insisted, but Caleb would not be put off.

“Bring your damned coffee, then.”

There was no arguing with him when he was on this kind of warpath. I spared a moment to give the twins a kiss and let them know that Auntie Julia would be looking after them today. They squealed in joy; the last time I’d left them with Julia, I’d returned home to find them hopped up on sugar playing “the floor is lava”, so they’d have a great day even if I had to suffer for it later.

I had to jog to keep up with Caleb as we made our way over to the hall, and I was grateful that Julia had tipped my coffee into a thermos flask before I was dragged out of the door. I took a couple of nervous sips. Training with my magic was one thing, but my wolf was—quite literally—another beast entirely. Perhaps she would have the same miraculous resurgence as my magic, but I doubted it. Unlike with my magic, there had never been a time when I felt confident in my wolf form, when I could keep her skin for longer than a few minutes. Sometimes, I wondered if the historical animosity between witches and shifters was something more primal than political, that the two halves of myself simply could not coexist, and I had to pick one or the other.

Like last time, the hall had been emptied of its usual tables and chairs, leaving us plenty of space.

“Why don’t we just do this outside?” I asked. “There’d be more space and less risk of property damage.” My eyes flicked to the scorch marks that my magic had left on the walls and floor from our last training session.

“It’s too risky. We could be caught off guard,” said Caleb, and I should have guessed that, really. “Plus for this… I figured you’d appreciate the privacy.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. In the morning rush, I hadn’t even considered that training with my wolf would require me to undress. It shouldn’t be an issue: shifters were used to nudity. It shouldn’t matter that the last time he’d seen me naked, he’d been between my thighs, kissing me, touching me—but I couldn’t think about that now.

“Right,” I agreed. “So do you have a pep talk you want me to sit through, or should I just…” I trailed off, tugging the bottom of my sweater.

“No, you can—” Caleb waved his hand in a way that clearly meanttake your clothes off.I didn’t know if I was comforted or offended that he seemed just as awkward about this as I was. “I just want to test your reflexes as a wolf, see what you’re capable of, and talk you through some defensive moves.”

“Why do I have to be a wolf at all?” I grumbled, my sweater half over my head.

“Because you might be a talented witch,” he said, “but no human is quicker than a wolf. You need to be comfortable in your wolf form if you’re gonna stand a chance against an Arbor hunter. Of course, I’d rather it didn’t come to that, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

---