Alpha by Blood Luna by Fate

Chapter 7

Elder Serena was standing outside her small house, one hand braced lightly on the doorframe, squinting against the morning light. I changed direction without thinking twice.

"Elder Serena."

She turned at the sound of my voice, and her weathered face broke into a slow, fond smile.

"Oh, it's you, my dear little Alpha."

She did not bow. She never bowed. She was one of the oldest members of the pack, old enough to have held me as an infant, old enough to remember my parents in their prime and I had long ago told her she had no obligation to observe that particular formality with me.

"I am not so little anymore," I said, feigning offence, which made her laugh.

"You will always be that little adorable girl to me, Alpha. No matter how tall you stand or how red those eyes glow."

I took her hand gently in both of mine. "Are you getting hot water now, Elder Serena? I heard there was still an issue with the pipes."

She clicked her tongue and reached up to pat my cheek with a warm, papery hand. "Of course I am, my sweet girl. And thank you for troubling yourself with it. You did not have to do that."

"Anything for you," I said, and I meant it entirely.

Liam and I excused ourselves shortly after, finally reaching the far end of the territory garden, a quiet, secluded stretch of green that sat just across from the Alpha family house. My house. Twenty rooms, give or take and I occupied precisely two of them: my father's old office, which was now mine, and the guest room I had converted into my own.

I could not bring myself to use my parents' bedroom. I could not bring myself to use my childhood room either. Some spaces held too much of what was gone to be functional. So I kept to the edges of the house and left the rest to memory.

I watched the young pups on the training ground below small, earnest figures stumbling through their forms under the watchful eye of the pack warriors and felt something loosen in my chest. Something quiet and uncomplicated.

"Time really does fly," Liam said softly beside me.

I felt the ghost of a smile cross my face. "It really does."

I turned to look at him. "Do you remember those training sessions when we were their age? The ones run by that instructor the council head hired?"

Liam let out a low groan of amusement.

"I remember. I also remember how you, Flora, and I used to skip those classes to go and wander around the main town."

I laughed genuinely, freely. "And despite all of it, here we are."

"Here we are," he agreed. Then he looked at me sideways, and his voice took on the careful, deliberate quality that meant he was about to say something he knew I wasn't going to like. "You have really grown up, Kaelira."

I rolled my eyes at him. "What can I say? I was never built for recklessness. I do what I was taught to do. It is my duty to lead this pack well, generously, and with a clear head."

He hummed quietly, a sound of agreement. Then he clicked his tongue and said, as casually as if he were commenting on the weather.

"You know, it would be nice for you to have someone to depend on."

I stopped walking.

I turned to look at him with the particular expression I reserved for conversations I had already had too many times.

"Liam," I said flatly.

"I am just saying…"

"You are always just saying." I dragged my feet forward again, moving away from him. "Why do you always bring this up? I do not want a mate. I have told you this. I have told you this more times than I can count. Why does no one simply accept that and leave it alone?"

He caught up easily with his long strides, falling back into step beside me without missing a beat.

"I am not weak," he said. "Having a mate did not make me weak."

"And I did not say it would make you weak," I said, stopping again to face him. "What I said is that I do not want it. There is a difference." I held his gaze, steady and certain. "I have built the control I have over myself very carefully, Liam. It keeps me calm. It keeps me focused. It keeps me sharp in situations where falling apart is not an option and in this life, that is most situations. I will not hand that over to someone else. I will not give another person the ability to reach inside me and move things around."

He opened his mouth.

"And before you say anything," I continued, "this is not about fear. It is about priority. I have too much to do. Too much that still needs doing. There is no room in what I am carrying for a mate, a bond, or any of the complications that come with both."