Forest and I stop and turn around. “Thank you!” I smile brightly at her. “That was so attentive of you.” I walk closer to her and accept the scarf back before reaching out my hand. “You are?”
“Emily,” she says. “Emily Harrod.”
Harrod… Harrod… The name rings a bell. “You are part of the accounting team here, if I remember correctly?”
“Yes,” she exclaims. “How… I mean, it’s an honor that you know who I am.”
“Her mate is one of our warriors,” Forest tells me all of a sudden, making my heart take a gigantic leap. I am so glad he spoke up. I didn’t know he would, but he must have subconsciously grasped the chance. “He is in the advanced group now, but if he continues the way he does, he will be one of our elites soon.”
Emily turns bright red with joy, while the guy next to her suddenly seems to grow a few inches. This must be the mate Forest mentioned.
“Thank you so much, Alpha,” he stutters. “I did not expect… I mean…”
He must have had no idea Forest was following the training of his warriors, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to say it out like that. It could be considered impolite. Yet, I can’t chime in on the discussion now. This is on Forest alone. I’d just make him look weak if I intervened now.
To my surprise, though, someone else helps, someone who can do it much better than I could. “The alpha follows all training schedules,” Martin explains. “And when he can’t watch himself, I give him a detailed report.”
This certainly piques the interest of his warriors now. I can see some heads perking up, and a lot of male pack members suddenly seem to be more interested in our conversation.
And now Icanintervene and help a little. “I didn’t know that,” I say to Forest.
“Oh, as their future alpha, my warriors are the foundation of our whole defense,” Forest tells me. He is a strong man, and I know he likes to spar and train. This is exactly his forte now, and I can see how keen he gets all of a sudden. He loves this! Good to know. It means I can build on that in future interactions with his pack members. “A pack is nothing without its warriors. The best security system doesn’t help if the warriors don’t know how to fight,” he smiles happily. “And ours are very good. I have beentrying to improve their schedules a bit and make sure they can lean into their strengths. I hope I can be a little more present during training, from now on.”
Good thing he mentioned that, as this was exactly my plan. “Now that I am here, I can take over some of the bureaucratic tasks,” I offer.
Forest’s eyes light up. “I hadn’t thought about that yet, but you are right,” he chuckles. “I tend to forget that there are two of us now.”
“I can help, as well,” Martin offers. “My beta training has been wrapped up.”
“Right.” Forest shows Emily and her mate a warm smile. “I will see you in training soon.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Now, that went well!
When we continue walking through the dining hall, Forest is much more relaxed. Also, the pack members seem to be getting bolder. Many of them greet me and quite a few of his warriors wish Forest a good morning.
We are almost at the dining table for the ranked members and alpha family, when I see a young woman approaching us in strong, quick strides.
Here she comes!
Finally! I was waiting for this!
Now thiswillbe fun.
I have had more than a little experience with Jordan prancing around with his conquests in front of me; unfortunately, I always missed the moment to call him or them out, but now I know how important it is to have the upper hand.
“Forest,” Lissa exclaims, pretending she doesn’t even see me, and makes a show of hugging him. Next to me, I see Martin frown slightly.
Forest pushes Lissa off him, looking at her, confused. “Lissa, what’s gotten into you?” he asks, stunned.
That’s funny. I have noticed that when something surprises him, he reacts naturally. It doesn’t look like he is doing it on purpose either. He genuinely finds her peculiar at the moment. His natural response to these incidents is actually his strong point. It makes him look genuine.
I don’t waste any time. Talking to his warrior was Forest’s playfield, but this is mine.
Pushing past Forest, I approach the young woman. “You must be Lissa,” I say thoughtfully, chuckling slightly.
She stares at me while the other pack members look at us curiously. This is the kind of drama everyone enjoys.
