“You good?” Pete called.
“Yeah.” I gave Trevor a cocky smirk that was sure to piss him off. “I’ll try to take it easy on you.”
He snarled and swung at me. I blocked his punch and landed my own against his chin. He recovered fast and kicked me in the side as I was deflecting a blow from Gary. Pain lanced up my side, but there was no time to worry about it. Spinning, I ducked one fist as I kicked out and connected with the back of Gary’s knee.
Gary went down, howling in pain. With him out of the fight, I focused on Trevor, who looked less cocky without his buddy. He would not give up, though. I knew his type. His pride wouldn’t let him back down from a pup, especially since he was a Beta candidate.
Trevor feinted left, but his eyes gave him away, and I blocked the strike aimed for my throat. It was a dirty move, one that could have crushed my windpipe, and it made blood roar in my ears. We were taught that nothing was off-limits when fighting vampires, but pack members didn’t fight like that amongst themselves.
I struck the center of his chest hard with the heel of my hand, and he wheezed. Not waiting for him to recover, I grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back, forcing him to his knees.
“Yield,” I commanded, anger making my voice deep.
“Fuck you,” Trevor spat.
“Roland, behind you,” Pete shouted.
I pushed Trevor to the ground and held him with my foot as I faced the other man I’d seen laughing with Trevor and Gary in the meeting hall. He curled his lip and took a step toward me.
Enough of this shit.
I locked eyes with the man, and a low growl rumbled from my throat. He froze and tried to back away, but the only way to end a stare down was for one of us to submit.
A feral power filled my chest as my wolf reared up inside me, demanding the other wolf’s submission. My wolf had fought against Brendan, but that was nothing compared to the fierceness in him now. It was all I could do not to shift and let him take over.
The man gasped and broke eye contact with me, sinking to his knees. With him no longer a threat, I looked down at Trevor and Gary. Now what to do with these two?
“What is going on here?” boomed the commanding voice of the Alpha.
Everyone went still as his power surrounded us. Maxwell’s eyes were on me, and I had a feeling I was in for another one of his lectures, the kind that were usually followed by a brutal training session.
Lydia pointed at the two men at my feet. “They started it. Gary hit Seth, and when Roland stepped in, Gary, Trevor, and Rob ganged up on him.” She related everything as it had happened, and Maxwell’s expression grew darker.
Maxwell gave the three men a look that would have made them curl up with their tails between their legs if they’d been in wolf form. “You three, go back to wherever you’re staying. I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”
Trevor stood and helped Gary to his feet. They kept their eyes averted from Maxwell, but Trevor gave me a look that promised retribution as the pair of them limped past me, followed by Rob. I didn’t bother to tell Trevor I was the least of his concerns. I knew what Maxwell’s punishments were like, and once Maxwell was done with Trevor, the man would forget all about me.
Maxwell looked at Seth, who was holding his bloody nose. “Is your nose broken?”
“Yes, sir,” Seth said in a nasal voice.
“Lydia, take him to your place so he can heal,” Maxwell told her.
Lydia nodded, and Maxwell turned to me. “Are you hurt?”
I ran a hand over my aching side. “A bit bruised, but nothing a shift can’t fix.”
“Good.” He stared at me for a few seconds, and I waited for him to tell me he’d see me tomorrow, too. But he walked past me and entered the house without another word.
Pete and Shannon came over to me as soon as the door closed behind Maxwell. Pete’s grin told me what he thought of the whole incident.
“You kicked ass,” he said. “I don’t think those guys knew what hit them.”
I shrugged. “Guess all that training with Maxwell paid off.”
“You’ll definitely make Beta after this.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to become a Beta with everything else I had going on.
Shannon gave me a sympathetic look. “Um, Roland, don’t look now but…”
“Roland, we just heard what happened!” Lex ran over to hug me.
I winced when she pressed against my bruised ribs, and she pulled away.
“Oh, you poor thing. Let’s go inside, and I’ll take care of that for you.”
I had little doubt how she wanted to take care of me. I gave Pete a helpless look and found him trying not to laugh.
“I’m okay, Lex,” I said. “Thanks.”
“Did you really take on four guys at once?” asked a blonde girl whose name I couldn’t remember.
“No, only two.” I wondered how the story could have already changed in the five minutes since it had happened.
“Three if you count the one you stared down,” said my traitorous cousin with a barely concealed smirk.
“Three? That’s amazing,” the blonde gushed.
I sighed inwardly. I’d come here tonight hoping to keep a low profile, and all I’d managed to do was draw more attention to me. I used to love parties and girls, but the last few weeks had left a bad taste in my mouth. I longed for a quieter place, somewhere I could be myself without all the complications.
“Roland?”
Lex’s voice dragged me from my thoughts, and I found her and the others giving me questioning looks.
“Sorry. What were you saying?”
“It’s almost time for the pack run, and we thought it would be nice to get started early,” she said. “You’ll heal faster.”
It was normal for younger or unmated wolves to start the run ahead of the rest of the pack, and I could see some people already walking to the woods. But the last thing I wanted was to let my wolf out around all these females before I had to. Unfortunately, I could think of no excuse to wait.
“Yeah, sure.”
The group of us, including Pete and Shannon, walked to the edge of the trees where everyone began to remove their clothes. For the first time in my life, I felt uncomfortable getting naked around other wolves, even though it was as natural as breathing to us. It might have had something to do with the heated gazes I felt on me as I stripped.
I really hope Mom and Grandma are right about you knowing my heart, I told my wolf as I let the change take me.
We decided to head to the lake. I stayed at the back of the group, and I soon found out that was a bad idea. If I thought being surrounded by eager females in human form was bad, it was nothing compared to their boldness as wolves. They took every opportunity to rub against me or nip at me playfully or, in Lex’s case, suggest we go off alone and have some real fun.
By the time the lake came into view, my mood was as dark as the sky, and I was having trouble not snapping at the girls. It wasn’t their fault I wasn’t into this like they were, but it was hard not to be annoyed when one of them was constantly touching me.
I finally got a reprieve when Lex suggested we all go for a swim. The girls shifted and dove in while Pete and I stayed in wolf form, watching them.
This is insane, I grumbled. Did I really go for girls like this in school?
Pete shook his head. None of the human girls were as bad as this. Female wolves are not afraid to go after what they want.
If I could have laughed, I would have. That’s an understatement. Lex tried to get me to go have sex with her on the way here.
Lex is a bit much, but they’re not all like that. Some of them are pretty nice.
I followed his eyes to where Shannon floated on the water, talking to another girl. You like Shannon, don’t you?
Yeah. We met at the party last Saturday. She saved me from an ambush after you deserted me.
I sat on my haunches. I think she likes you, too. Maybe she’s the one.
He let out a low sigh. With my luck, I’ll imprint on someone like Allison. She’s nice and all, but way too giggly for me.
Watching his wolf stare at Shannon, I had little doubt who he’d choose.
It would be my luck to imprint on one of the others. The thought sent a shiver through me. Even my wolf seemed repulsed by the idea, which was a little comforting. Like me, he didn’t want to be here.