Page 29 of The Silent Mate

I couldn’t contain my frown, my head jerking to look sideways at Emerson. “Roman forces his younger brother to fight his own battles? That hardly instills any faith in him as alpha.”

Emerson’s eyes widened, and she scanned our surroundings as if she expected someone to be eavesdropping. She lowered her voice. “You don’t know? Roman is not the oldest. Malik is several years older than his brother.”

My steps faltered. If Malik was older than Roman, then…

“Why is Roman alpha, then? Did he defeat Malik in a fight?” I asked, more of a demand than a question.

Even as I spoke the words out loud, I knew they couldn’t have been true. It seemed so obvious now. Staring at the two males side by side, it was clear that both possessed alpha’s blood. Even so, Roman could hardly compare to Malik’s sheer size and muscle mass.

Emerson worried her lip, eyes flashing to every bush and tree that someone might’ve been hiding behind. “It was decided long ago by the former alpha, their father,” she whispered. “I don’t know anything else.”

My heart pounded against my ribcage, adrenaline pumping through my blood at the injustice. As the firstborn son of analpha, Malik should’ve been next in line, unless Roman managed to defeat him in a duel. From Emerson’s explanation, no such battle ever took place.

So how had my mate come to serveunderhis younger brother?

We walked in relative silence the rest of the way to the infirmary, my mind too preoccupied with the information Emerson disclosed to conjure up any semblance of conversation. More than once, I caught my hands curling into tight fists.

Though I’d only been at theIntonat NoctePack for two days, I’d seen enough of Roman to know that he didn’t deserve to call himself Alpha. His arrogance and cruelty overshadowed any semblance of kindness he’d displayed in my short time here.

When we arrived at the medical building a short distance from the training grounds, I forced myself to push the warring thoughts from my head. I needed to make a good impression on Estelle if I wanted the nurse to allow me to practice alongside her.

Emerson led me into the clinic, and my mouth fell open at the impressive facility.

At least a dozen beds lined the main room, each with an immaculately organized station beside it that held an assortment of bandages and salves and stitching materials. The scent of alcohol and fresh linens washed over me, masking any trace of death or disease within these walls. Several hallways stemmed away from the large open space, leading to doors labeled ‘Radiation’ or ‘Operating Room.’

In my awe, I laughed. “This is incredible.”

“I’m glad you like it,” a woman’s voice sounded from behind me.

I spun around to face the newcomer, a tall woman with mocha skin and tight black curls. Her warm brown eyes held notrace of the hostility I’d come to expect from mostIntonat Noctemembers.

“I’m Estelle.” She extended a hand to shake, her palm dry from countless pumps of hand sanitizer throughout each day. “You must be Aria.”

Nodding, I clasped my hands together in front of me. “Your clinic is beautiful. I’ve never been inside one so big.”

She chuckled and winked. “Well, let me show you around and introduce you to everyone. We’re having a slow morning since training hasn’t started yet, but maybe we’ll get some patients by the time we’re done.”

True to her prediction,several young warriors were brought into the clinic from the training grounds an hour later. To my surprise and excitement, Estelle allowed me to treat my own patient—a teenager with a broken collarbone that needed setting before her body could heal incorrectly.

“That was quite impressive,” Estelle praised when we stepped away from the injured teen. “When did you begin working with your pack’s physician, again?”

“Goddess, I think I was… thirteen?” I washed my hands at the sink, smiling at the fond memories of building my craft. “Of course, we hardly saw more than two patients a week back home.”

Since I walked through the doors this morning, four patients had cycled through the hospital beds. All of them were teenagers who’d only recently begun training with the established warriors.

Estelle hummed. “Even so, you clearly know what you’re doing. If you’d like to be added to the full-time schedule here at the clinic, just say the word.”

There was no concealing my elation. A beaming grin spread on my lips as I turned to face the lead nurse. “Yes, please.”

Estelle chuckled. “Good. We’ll be especially busy for the rest of the week making preparations for Friday night.”

“Friday night?”

She cocked a questioning brow, as if surprised by my ignorance. “The full moon. It’s always the busiest night of the month.”

I blinked. The full moon.Goddess,it’d completely slipped my mind since arriving at theIntonat NoctePack.

Just as the moon impacts the tides, it holds considerable power over shifters. At the height of the lunar cycle, the lines between humanity and primitive instinct blur, and our species reverts to its lupine roots.

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