Wolfsfoot (Kingdom of Wolves #1)

“But the pack was your grandparents’ and parents’ pack. Youbelong at Blackshadow.” Connell insists.

“I maybe belonged when my grandparents and parents werealive, but it’s not true any longer. I am better treated by the rogues inWolfsfoot Town than I’ve been treated by my so-called pack. I have new parents,people that love and care for me. Friends that will fight for and with me ifneeded. You can go back to your pack and tell your disgusting Alpha he’s lostthe bloodline and, more importantly, he has lost my inheritance.” Standingbefore Connell can reply, I give a respectful nod to Alpha Walker and turn towalk out of the office.

Hearing a nasty growl, I turn and Lyle is standing behind menose-to-nose with Connell. Alpha Walker steps from behind his desk and looks atLyle, communicating through the pack link. Lyle turns and holds his hand out tome, which I take, and we walk out of the office, closing the door quietlybehind us.

“They will not stop coming for you. The shifter councilneeds to step up and put an end to this.” Lyle snarls through his teeth.

“Is there no other way to stop them?”

“Only if you find your mate or become mated. That mate thenhas the last say in which pack you will live, meaning yours or his. But sadly,I’m not your mate. I wish I was. We need to find your mate and then the councilwill have to stop Alpha Torrance or put him down like the feral dog he is.”

“Come on, let’s grab something to eat because Chief Glen iswaiting for us.” Quickening my pace as we head toward the dining hall.

“I’ve informed Chief Glen we had to go into the office, sohe knows we’ll be another half an hour while we eat. Let’s get a move onbecause we don’t want to make him annoyed. He’s not a pretty picture when he’sannoyed.” Lyle chuckles and I follow him to the assortment of lunches on offer.Lunch was over fast and we change and make our way to Chief Glen to head out onpatrol.

“Okay, you two stay close to me at all times. I don’t wanteither of you to disappear from my sight. If you do, I’ll put you on punishmentduty for another week, and that means you will stay here longer than youthought.”

I side-eye Lyle and he’s doing the same back to me, but whenI look at Chief Glen, I can see it’s not gone unnoticed by him either. “Okay,we will go into the forest away from prying eyes before we shift. That’s thebest I can do to protect Ebony from all the eyes that want to see her. We’ll goback to that spot when we return as well. Questions?”

“No. We stay with you at all times.”

Nodding, Chief Glen shifts into his wolf Outlaw, who is asable wolf with black flecks on his legs and has Glen’s hazel eyes. Lylequickly shifts and Hunter comes forth. He is a stunning silver wolf with nearlyblack eyes.

Ebony quickly comes forward and we are ready for the patrolto start. This is good fun, Tati.

‘Yes, keep up with Outlaw and Hunter. We don’t want to getlost.’ It is so natural now to speak with Ebony that it feels like I always hadher with me. I wouldn’t want to go on without her now.

I feel the same, Tati. We are one.

‘We are one.’ I agree, then slide back to the recess of mymind for Ebony to patrol. I know she’ll retreat if she needs to speak to me orI need to come forward.

Through Ebony’s eyes, I watch where we run, and the speed atwhich we run surprises me. Meeting with other pack members on patrol isinteresting. They each give Ebony a show of respect and she preens somewhatbecause of it, much to Hunter’s amusement.

Chief Glen shifts back and looks over at Hunter and Ebony,raising an eyebrow before telling us to ‘shift’.

“We are nearly at the border of the Blood Pearl pack. Wedon’t want them to see more of Ebony, so we’ll head back. I want to put youthrough some paces, Tati, and see how far up the training ranks you will be.”

“Okay, Chief Glen. I’ve been doing a lot of buildingmuscles, energy, and strength, as I was undernourished and weak when I left theBlackshadow Pack. Fighting has not been my main training up to now. But Draketold me when I get back, we will do far more than I have up to this point.”

“That’s good. But we’ll see how far you’ve got,nonetheless.” Walking away at a brisk pace, both myself and Lyle tag alongbehind, and when Chief Glen shifts to Outlaw, we both shift and maintain ourdistance behind him.

Back at the pack, we are standing in the area where the packwarriors train. Lyle is grinning at me and watching the few warm-up exercises Irun through. Chief Glen is standing with his arms folded over his chest,watching with interest.

Chief Glen shouts at one of the warriors I was introduced toand he smiles at me. “I’ll go easy on you, Tati.”

Ebony growls low in my throat and I cough, trying to coverit up, but see Lyle chuckling, then shout. “Eli, you’ll have to watch her.She’s a tricky one.”

I squint my eyes at him, feigning anger before turning asweet-as-sugar smile at Eli. “Oh, I see what you mean.” Eli laughs.

“No hurting each other. I want to see your technique morethan anything. It will show me how far you have progressed in your training.”Chief Glen states, giving me a piercing look.

Nodding, I turn back to Eli and begin walking around him, myeyes checking his stance, looking for a weak spot that I can use against him.

Eli rushes forward, throwing his arm forward, but I slip tothe side and elbow him between his shoulder blades as he lurches past,following the weight of his own punch.

“Oh, tricky.” Eli grins, but I don’t respond. That’s one ofthe rules: never respond to a taunt.

Jumping into the air, flicking a leg forward, I drop justbefore his foot hits the side of my head, and sweep his other leg, effectivelytaking him down.