He rams Caleb into the tree again, and my lip twitches.
Maybe not to him, but to everyone else. Then everything he’s done to repair what we broke won’t be taken seriously.
That stops me. Trusting her judgment, I reluctantly sit. The king grunts in approval at my decision and reverts his focus back to the only man I ever truly cared for.
“It is both neglectful and naïve to have your son be solely responsible for physically protecting the lives of an entire pack he doesn’t lead. That doesn’t even make sense,” he spits.
Caleb kicks his feet and claws at the king’s grip around his throat, choking and desperate for air. But Caleb’s golden eyes show he and his wolf aren’t giving up, and that’s something I love about him.
See?My wolf says.He’s got this.
I beam with pride.
“I’ve told you before that your father was a fair leader but a fierce one—agoodone—he was not. I’m here to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes.”
Caleb chokes.
“Youare going to be Bloodhound’s alpha. Any pack member’s death is now on your hands.” He drops Caleb, who slumps, landing on his feet.
He clutches his throat, gasping for air.
The king turns and walks away, seemingly done with his lesson, but Caleb growls and charges the king, tackling him. He’s face-to-face mounted on him when he says, “I am not my father.”
With a huff, Caleb leaves.
I stand by in case the king decides to retaliate.
He doesn’t. Instead, he sits up, glancing over his shoulder, shaking his head as he hoists himself off the ground. When he stands, he brushes his hands together. With a raised eyebrow and a smirk, he nods slowly as if he’s impressed by Caleb’s show of force.
“Why does he give Caleb such a hard time?” I turn to Sam, who I imagine knows the king best. I find Sam still slumped, with Taya rubbing the back of his neck.
It seems she’s given him a snack.
“Dax is the best trainer there is. He can see the intentions of others. It makes him a formidable opponent. It also makes him good at figuring out what people need and what motivates them,” Sam says.
Apparently, the way Caleb learns is through insults and a beat down.Huh. Noted.
“It also doesn’t help that Caleb and Dax’s mate used to hook up. Or that Dax found Caleb about to mark her,” Taya says.
“Twice,” Sam adds.
“Oh, yeah—Dax almost killed him that time,” Taya says.
Sam raises an eyebrow and exhales. “Yeah, that was awesome.”
Taya and I give Sam a confused look.
Sam looks between us and hides his grin. “I mean... bad,” Sam says unconvincingly.
I shake my head. I think a moment but ultimately can’t resist asking, “When you say, hooked up, do you mean... ?”
“Oh, yeah. They fucked,” Sam answers.
It doesn’t thrill me to think of Queen Alaina and Caleb having sex. In fact, it made my wolf pace. I take a deep breath and swallow my pride. I remind my wolf he has never been ours to begin with. Everyone has a past. It’d be ridiculous to be upset about something that happened before he met us.
“How long were they together?”
“I wouldn’t say they weretogether.” Taya air quotes. “Caleb couldn’t be with just anyone. It’s always been his duty to find his fated mate.”
