Damon’s POV:
I stood amazed at Bevin as he fought with Alec. Although his rank was below his, he held his ground so damn well. His moves were swift, and his strength was that of a lead warrior.
When Alec brought him to the training field, I had thought he was going to introduce him to the other warriors. Instead, he asked Bevin to stand opposite him and ordered him to fight as a way of testing his skills. Knowing how most warriors acted, I thought Bevin would avoid his command out of fear. But he surprised me when he easily agreed. Now I understood why; his fighting technique was very unique and different.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Alec groan in pain. The side of his lip was slightly busted, and he looked exhausted.
“You are good in hand-to-hand combat, I have to admit. Is it because…”
“No, it’s not because I’m Asian. My race has nothing to do with how good I am at something,” Bevin answered with a glare as Alec burst out laughing.
I too laughed a little because I was so sure that wasn’t what he was about to say.
“Damn, you think too much. I was about to say, ‘Is it because you train hard whenever you have free time on your hands?’ Look, I don’t know why you responded like that, but in this pack, we don’t look at race but skills and loyalty. I’m a dark-skinned man, yet no one has ever told me that my strength was based on my race. That would be so disrespectful and annoying. I would actually kick that person’s ass, whether he is an Alpha or not,” he said, then looked at me with a raised brow.
“Is that your way of inviting me to a friendly fight, Alec?” I asked.
“You standing opposite me in a friendly fight would be amazing, Alpha Damon. Since you and our Luna became too close, you have neglected your training, and it’s not sitting well with me,” he answered loudly as the warriors all laughed at his childish complaint.
It was clear how much he missed me, yet he couldn’t just find a normal way to say it. If not for Bevin, he would have kept it in for as long as he could because that was who he was.
“Do you realize that I can kick your ass?” I asked loudly for everyone to hear as I moved closer.
“I’m really looking forward to it, since you and I usually have a friendly fight in our wolf form,” he answered with a grin.
I moved my hand to Bevin’s shoulder and gave him a slight pat.
“You were amazing, Bevin. Truly amazing. No one can stand against Alec in arm-to-arm combat besides me, but now it seems you can as well,” I said as he smiled.
“I am flattered, but I think the Beta was holding back most of the time,” he answered as I smirked.
So he was also a good observer. Now that I was close to him, I could see that his standing stance and fighting stance were different.
“He was holding back, as he usually does whenever he is testing each warrior’s skills, but none of them has ever gotten him this exhausted, let alone land a powerful blow on him to the point of busting his lip,” I said honestly.
“Oh, I see,” he muttered in a low tone.
“Bevin, there is something that I want to ask you. Were you a lead warrior in your previous pack?” I asked curiously.
He hesitated, then nodded.
“I wasn’t a lead warrior, but I was supposed to take over immediately when my father stepped down,” he answered.
“That’s great because my pack has no lead warrior. If you don’t mind or don’t think it’s too much work, I would like to welcome you to the position as well as my pack,” I said as the rest of the warriors cheered loudly, startling him.
“Why?” he asked after a minute of looking around. The noise instantly died out.
“Why what?” I asked back seriously.
“Why aren’t the warriors giving me angry looks? Why are they accepting me so easily?” he asked with a frown on his face.
Everyone was giving him sympathetic looks at his statement, and I felt bad as well.
“Look, I don’t know how your pack handled things or treated you, but what I do know is that my pack is different from most packs. Here, we love seeing one of us take a step further, and we love encouraging each other. We usually show respect to each other as well as work hard together. We all have pasts that were hard and unpleasant, yet we survived it all and chose to live a different life full of peace and love,” I answered.
He looked at me, then raised his hand and wiped away a tear that was about to roll down his cheek.
“I promise you all in the name of the Moon Goddess that I will work hard and prove my worth. No matter what, I will be someone you will look up to and be comfortable with,” he said.
“Now that’s the spirit!” Alec shouted as everyone clapped.
“How about we throw him a manly welcome party?” I asked loudly.
“Yes!” Some of my men’s voices came through.
“You all know the rules of this party by heart. Those who are mated or have someone special, no she-wolves will serve your cup besides your lovers. Those that aren’t mated or have someone special, you will be served by she-wolves that will volunteer. When I say volunteer, I mean serving you wine and dancing to give your eyes a feast. Under no circumstances should you touch a female with disrespect or force your hand on her body. You will lose your head if the alpha and I find out,” Alec said loudly, then looked at me.
“Now you are all released from training, so go and spread the word around the pack. Maggie will talk to the she-wolves that will tend to us, and in the next hour, the arrangements will be made. Food and drinks are no problem for us, so don’t worry. Let’s meet in the pack house around 8 pm, and don’t forget to come with your lovers. That includes you, alpha,” he said as I nodded.
“Bevin, you heard the man. Don’t forget to bring Mika along. Maggie will look after your little girl,” I said as he smiled widely, then gave a bow.
“Thank you so much, Alpha, for being so kind to me,” he answered.
Of course, he was now part of my pack. He went through all the trouble of telling me the truth. The least I could do was accept him as one of us.