Chapter 38: Alpha

The training field was quiet except for the wind moving through the trees. Roan and Zariel stood across from each other on the hard-packed earth, the rest of the pack watching from the sidelines. Kiran sat in his chair, still pale and looking like he might be sick again at any moment, but his ears were perked forward with worry. Cass stood beside him, arms crossed tight over his chest. Khepri lingered a few steps behind them, shifting his weight uneasily.

Roan rolled his shoulders once, then reached over his back and unstrapped his training sword. He tossed it aside without ceremony. It landed in the dirt with a dull thud.

Zariel’s icy blue eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”

“It won’t do anything anyway,” Roan said calmly. “You said so yourself.”

Zariel’s jaw tightened. For a moment he looked like he might argue, but instead he dropped his own weapon. The wooden blade clattered against the ground between them.

They began to circle.

Kiran shifted in his chair. “This is a bad idea,” he muttered under his breath.

Cass didn’t take his eyes off the two wolves. “They’re both too stubborn to back down now.”

Khepri glanced between them. “Zariel’s been acting different since he got back from the Trials. I think he’s gotten too much of an ego perhaps.”

“He has,” Kiran said quietly. His voice was hoarse from being sick, but there was real concern underneath it. “And Roan’s not gonna let that slide forever.”

The fight started without warning.

Zariel moved first, lunging forward with a powerful swing. Roan ducked under it and drove his shoulder into the bigger wolf’s ribs, using Zariel’s own momentum to throw him off balance. They grappled hard, muscles straining as they fought for control. Zariel was stronger, there was no denying that, but Roan was faster and more precise. He slipped out of Zariel’s grip and landed a solid strike to the white wolf’s side before dancing back out of reach.

Zariel growled low in his throat and came at him again. This time he managed to grab Roan around the waist and lift him clean off the ground. For a second it looked like he might slam him, but Roan twisted mid-air and drove an elbow into the side of Zariel’s head. They both went down hard, rolling across the dirt in a tangle of limbs.

“Roan’s holding his own,” Khepri muttered, sounding surprised.

“For now,” Cass said. His ears were pinned back. “But Zariel’s not fighting like he usually does. He’s not holding back.”