Garren’s POV:
“Forward,” I instructed Kyle as he moved swiftly and hit the rolling ball with ease.
“Perfect,” I said loudly.
He stood upright, taking a labored breath and brushed his hand through his hair.
“I’m so fucking tired,” he whispered softly.
“You shouldn’t show such weakness or speak that way when you are an Alpha,” I warned seriously.
He looked at me from head to toe, then took a few steps closer.
“Why do you act as if we have been friends for a long time?” he asked as I smirked.
“Because you are my mate’s younger brother,” I answered in a low tone.
It’s not like I didn’t feel the same way. This was our eighth time training together, yet it felt like we had been doing this for a very long time.
Since I came to the training field and saw him training, I couldn’t help but notice how some of his moves were reckless.
When I pointed it out to him, he challenged me to show him some of my perfect movements, which I gladly did.
Since then, he decided to show me some of his moves each day, and I did the same in return.
“Should we call it a day then?” he asked.
“Is that your way of admitting defeat?” I mocked playfully, then frowned when I heard noises coming from the pack house.
“Call it whatever you want, but I won’t kill myself over nothing,” he answered with a smile, then walked past me.
I wanted to remind him how it wasn’t for nothing because we were going to face the elders of the coven soon, but I decided to keep quiet on the matter.
“You know, that kid shouldn’t come along because he is soon to be Alpha. If Ian dies, he will have to take over,” Roman said, and I felt annoyed at his words.
“It’s not something we should be okay with, Roman. If Ian does die on that side, our mate will be sad and hurt,” I answered.
“Whatever,” he whispered, and I frowned.
“Wait, why the fuck are you calm? Do you even realize that we might die too if they have a secret weapon against us?” I asked as I walked to the pack house.
“Them killing us is impossible,” he answered with pride.
“That’s exactly what will get us killed: pride,” I said as I walked past the pack members and entered the pack house. I usually avoided talking or looking at them because every time I did, their eyes had a hint of anger, disgust, or fear.
When I reached the door to my room, I stood outside inhaling Roxanne’s scent deeply. She was definitely inside my room.
I sighed softly, then opened the door.
The past few days, I avoided her, but mostly her family, because I didn’t want them to think I was standing between their time together. I didn’t want to be the bastard who came to take her away from them, even though I was going to eventually do that. For now, I wanted them to spend as much time as they could as a family.
I walked in and stopped for a second, looking at her.
She was lying at the edge of the bed with my shirt in her arms.
I closed the door carefully so as not to make a sound and moved closer. I stood next to her, looking down at her beautiful face.
Due to her loud breathing, I could tell that she was pretending to be asleep.
I leaned in and brushed my fingers against her cheek gently, as tingles spread through my body.
“How long will you pretend to be asleep?” I asked softly.
She opened her eyes, then shrugged.
“Are you here to invite me to dinner with your family again?” I asked.
She sat upright, then moved the shirt to her chest without saying a word.
I slowly stood up, then moved to sit next to her.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, concerned because I could see how sad she looked.
“I miss you,” she whispered without looking at me.
“But I’m here,” I answered.
She looked at me, and for a second, I saw anger in her eyes.
“You know what I mean, don’t you?” she asked loudly.
Yes, I did, but I didn’t want to admit it.
I grabbed one of her hands and linked it with mine.
“I miss you too,” I whispered honestly.
“Then why are you acting this way towards me?” she asked.
“Because I don’t want to be a selfish bastard who keeps you away from your family right now. Soon we will be going to war. We both don’t know how it will turn out. That’s why I want you to spend quality time with your family,” I answered softly.
She pulled back her hand, dropped the shirt, and moved onto my lap, sitting there.
“You are my family too,” she said softly as I embraced her.
“And you are mine,” I answered in a whisper, then closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of her body heat.
“How long do you go without feeding?” she asked while she pulled back to look at my face.
“I have told you before. Have you forgotten?” I asked seriously.
When a minute went by without her responding, I went on to answer.
“It depends. When I eat human food, I can go without drinking blood for a long time, say a month. But if I don’t consume food regularly, then I require drinking blood at least two to three times a week,” I answered.
“Then how about drinking from me?” she asked as my expression turned cold.
“No, I can’t. Werewolf blood isn’t delicious; it’s rather disgusting,” I lied.
Werewolf blood was bad and disgusting, but her blood was the best I had ever had. I couldn’t figure out if it was because she was my mate or a virgin.
“Baby, you can’t lie. Your handsome face betrays you,” she said as I pointed a finger at myself in shock.
“Baby, me?” I asked with widened eyes.
“Yes, would you prefer I called you sir?” she asked as I chuckled softly.
She really had no idea that her calling me a certain name would do wonders for me.
“Sir is nice, but how about calling me something cooler than that?” I asked as she kept quiet, then frowned as if thinking hard.
“What would be cooler than sir?” she asked innocently.
“Ian’s title,” I answered as she looked at me in a daze, then gasped loudly.
“Alpha?” she asked.
“No, the other title,” I answered.
She frowned deeply, then moved her hand to her mouth, covering it.
“Something tells me you know what to call me now,” I said.
She dropped her hand and exclaimed.
“Dad?”
“Close,” I whispered.
“Daddy?” she asked in a low voice.
“Perfect,” I answered as her cheeks heated up. She quickly moved her hands to cover her eyes in embarrassment.
I laughed softly, then moved her hands from her face, leaning in and kissing her lips.
She really was so cute and naive at times.
Obviously, I was getting excited over her reaction.
With time, I was going to make her my baby girl.