Chapter 26

Luka

Mia was telling me about the sections of the training facility and the names of some of the people, but it just went in one ear and out the other. All I could think about was Caleb.

He barely said anything to me when we left. Was he eager to get away?

Looking at him from behind my shoulder as Mia took my hand, I yearned for his dancer’s body. As much as I’d wanted to fight with the group before, now I felt I was foolish by giving up the one-on-one time with him.

But it seemed like he was glad.

“Luka?” I realized Mia had been waiting for a response.

“I’m sorry, what was the question? I’m a little tired…”

“Is that so?” Mia asked provocatively. “Too much excitement in the evenings to sleep?”

“No,” I said too seriously. “Just a lot of work restoring my strength. But that’s boring. What were you saying?”

“Oh, that this is Clementine, one of my best friends since…since when, Clem?”

“Since always. We were in our mom’s wombs at the same time, and they were best friends.” Clementine had bright red hair and the same impish demeanor as Mia.

“Clem is married to James, Caleb’s beta.”

“Oh! I feel like I know you already in that case,” I said.

“Same here,” Clementine told me, which made me a little uneasy. Was I a topic of everyone’s conversation?

“I was asking about that beautiful sword,” Clementine said. “It’s just gorgeous.”

I had forgotten I was carrying it. Was I supposed to spar with it? I didn’t even ask Caleb, and he didn’t tell me. There was so much I felt he hadn’t shared.

I held the sword up automatically, which made Clementine and Mia step back.

“Careful where you aim that thing!” Mia laughed.

I stuffed it into one of the many weapons storage racks lining the walls of the facility every few feet. The pack had so many weapons on display, I couldn’t imagine how many they had socked away in the armory.

“Oh, I didn’t mean that you should put it away,” Clementine said. “I was admiring it. Where is it from?”

I held my hands together nervously. “From the alpha king. He gave it to me today, as a gift for making enough progress to join the pack for training.”

“The ‘alpha king?’ Not Caleb? So formal,” Clementine observed.

“Angie! Hello!” Mia ran up and hugged another woman approaching the group.

“I don’t know if you’ve met Luka yet, but she’s wonderful. She’s like a sister already.” Mia gave me a fateful look, like we shared a secret.

I felt so unsettled, not knowing what any of these people knew about me or how they felt about my presence. But Mia’s public relations campaign on my behalf, made me feel better.

“All I’ve heard about the last few months is Luka this, Luka that,” Angie said with a big smile. “I was beginning to think you were a figment of her imagination. It’s great to meet you, and to have confirmation that my dear friend Mia isn’t crazy.”

Mia swatted her friend playfully. “Angie always has the latest gossip, so anything you want to know, just talk to her.”

“Or things you don’t want to know,” Clementine added.

“It’s a pleasure,” I said, feeling self-conscious. I think now, officially, this was the largest number of people I had ever spoken with at a time.

“We’ll speak to you later, girls,” Mia said, whisking me away so quickly that my head spun.

“I didn’t mean to make you leave, Mia. You can stay if you want.”

Mia waved a hand dismissively. “I see those girls all the time. Right now, this is about you. There are traditions you should learn here at training.”

“Thank you. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

The grunts of training and metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the hard-wood facility, with brick walls covered with mirrors.

“It’s nothing, I promise. This is such an important part of being here. I even get lost in the manor sometimes.”

“Really?”

“Sort of. I have a terrible sense of direction. I hope I won’t lose you.”

My face dropped with fear.

“I’m kidding, Luka. I won’t.” Mia pointed to different parts of the facility. “So, Luka, there are different areas corresponding to different skill levels. I think you’re extremely talented for a beginner…”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “But I have as much experience as you did when you were five…”

“I wouldn’t put it that way…” We both laughed.

“I would,” I remarked. “At least I’m not competing with kids, though.”

“Well, there’s a whole separate kids facility…”

“Ahhh. Cute.”

“I’m going to train near you, watching you spar. You’re doing great, though. I’ll be nearby.”

“You want me to go over there alone?”

Mia took my hand and started walking to the beginner area. “It’s discouraged to spar with beginners when you’re advanced, unless it’s specifically teaching. It’s not a rule, it’s a convention, really. But it can be dangerous. And as a member of the royal family, I never want to abuse my status.”

“This is Luka,” Mia said to the beginners already there. Some were teenagers, others were adults who were new to physical combat.

The two sparring with each other were Douglas, a teenager whose family had squired for Red Moon Pack for generations, and Melanie, who had come from a disbanded pack.

Jordyn was my sparring partner. They discovered after a lifetime as a boy that they’re a woman, and they wanted to start training anew, from scratch, at the age of 25.

We worked on a few holds and evasions. It was fun, like playing tag—not that I’d ever played tag before.

“I was intimidated by you, you know,” Jordyn confessed, out of breath.

“Me? Intimidating? A mouse could beat me in a fight…”

“Well, just, you being with the alpha king and all. But you’re so nice.”

I wanted to hug them. “You are too.”

“The alpha king is a great man, you know,” Jordyn said quietly. “Most packs, they would banish someone like me. King Caleb and Mia were more accepting of me than I was of myself.”

I looked over at Caleb on the other side of the training facility. I could barely see him, but I could detect him from his scent.

“He deserves happiness,” Jordyn said.

I agreed. I just didn’t know if I was the person who’d show it to him. Lately, it didn’t seem like it.

Jordyn’s partner, Devin, came up. “We have a scheduled court time, Jordyn, on the tennis field…”

“I completely forgot. Devin, this is Luka.”

“The Luka?”

I blushed. “I guess so.”

Devin took Jordyn by the waist to usher them quickly out, and they said their goodbyes.

I stood there awkwardly, alternatingly looking out at the hordes of people and looking down at my feet without a sparring partner. I started doing stretches.

I felt a weird unease, but it was good for me, I reasoned. I was meeting more people than I ever had. It was time to learn how to interact with people like a normal human.

Someone came into my sparring circle, and I was excited to meet another beginner. I looked up, and discovered this was no beginner at all.

It was Olivia.

I looked away, assuming she’d leave. Then I realized she was getting closer.

“I thought I smelled something rotten.” Olivia sniffed dramatically. “At first I thought something had died. Then I saw you.”

She got into my face and sneered.

“Olivia…”

“Do not say my name, Omega. Didn’t I tell you that before?”

“I don’t know…”

She started circling, the way wolves do when they’re hunting for the jugular.

“Oliv…I mean…I don’t want to fight you…”

“Why are you on the sparring court if not to fight? To whore yourself out some more?”

She pounced, kicking my side and grabbing my shoulders. I swung my leg to ward her off, not wanting to hurt her, just wanting her to leave.

“Try your hardest, peasant. You can’t hurt me.”

I held up my hands protectively, not wanting to take the bait. The last thing I needed was her claiming I attacked her.

She tripped me, destabilizing me, and a force like a freight train knocked me to the ground. I felt my ankle snap. Worse, the sound was revolting, like a twig breaking in two.

Olivia’s face was maniacal, like the devil welcoming a new demon to hell.

“Are you okay?” Caleb. I knew then that he was holding me up. I could smell him.

“I’m not sure if I am.”