I turned back to the pan on the hob, checking our dinner wasn’t about to burn, before facing him and crossing my arms.
He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
I’d been thinking about this for the past few weeks. “I have a favour to ask you.”
“Anything. You know that.”
“You don’t know what it is yet.”
Dathal shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. If it’s within my power to give it to you, then you know I will.”
I did.
Which is why I had no hesitation in saying, “I want you to teach me how to fight.”
* * *
Talis
“You still okay to guard Axel tonight?” It was a loaded question, and Rys pinned me with hislookas I entered the kitchen. He didn’t inject any alpha power into his voice, but his eyes boring into mine had pretty much the same effect.
Or maybe it was the fact we’d been best friends way before he became alpha.
Either way, I stopped and leant against the door. “Yep, I’m good.”
I’d guarded Axel for three out of the last five nights. I’d be on guard duty every night if I had my way, but for one, Axel would not be happy if he found out, and two, there was no way Rys would let me.
The conversation about what had happened—wasstillhappening—between me and Axel had been a long time coming. That didn’t mean I wanted to have it any time soon though. Rys had given me space to come to him in my own time, as long as it didn’t affect pack dynamics, and I’d gone out of my way to ensure it hadn’t.
But maybe it was time.
Maybe talking to my best friend, or my alpha, was what I needed to get through this.
And over him.
Rys took a seat at the table and gestured for me to join him. He’d already made tea and set two mugs down between us. “After tonight, I want you to take the next three nights off from guard duty.”
“No, I’m fine—”
“It wasn’t a suggestion.” There was the trace of power that made me want to both snarl and bare my throat. What was wrong with me lately? Up until recently, I’d never reacted that way to Rys’s orders. But then again, he’d never had to resort to using that tone with me before either.
He smirked at my reaction and pointed a finger at me. “That right there is the reason you need to step away for a bit.”
I wanted to huff, roll my eyes, and tell him I had no idea what he was talking about. I did none of that though, because I’d never outright lied to Rys, and I never would. “I can handle it.”
His gaze never left mine, but it took him a good few seconds to answer. “I don’t doubt that. But at what cost?”
“What do you mean?”
Rys stood and closed the kitchen door. A signal for anyone else currently in the house to not listen in on this conversation. “Axel is in danger.” He stated it matter-of-factly, but those four words set my whole body on edge.
My wolf, so dangerously close to the surface, stirred and prowled under my skin, a promise of the coiled strength poised to burst out at my command. I wasn’t all that surprised when my tongue caught the sharp edge of not-quite-human teeth.
It happened so often these days, I barely noticed the pain.
And yes, okay, I saw Rys’s point.
Even if I didn’t like it.
