Chapter 29

Vedant

The last guest leaves and my father rounds on me immediately. “How could you reject Alice so casually? She comes from the second strongest family in this pack. She is the best choice!”

My voice is thick with anger when I reply. “I want to mate for love, and I could never love Alice, not like that! I don’t care if she’s ‘the best choice,’ she’s not my choice!”

My father sighs. “Okay, someone else then! I was in love with your mother, that I can understand, but you need to choose somebody! You didn’t even try to get to know anyone else at the party!”

My voice rises to a shout. “I couldn’t love them either. They’re only after the title of Luna!”

He growls. “Not all of them. You didn’t even try Vedant!”

“I don’t need to try. I already know who I want.”

“ENOUGH! I am tired of hearing about this internet girl. She is holding you back from your potential. You need to let her go!”

I shake my head. “I won’t. I’m going to find her.”

“And if you don’t? Then what? You need a mate. You are not strong enough to lead this pack without one!”

It feels as though he’s struck me, and I take a step back. He lowers his voice, but his eyes are still fierce. “You’re too stubborn, too selfish. Your inability to put the needs of the pack above your own wants shows me that you are not qualified to lead this pack.”

With that he walks past me in the direction of his room. I sigh. This is not the first time we’ve had this fight and I’m sure that it won’t be the last. In his eyes I will never be good enough.

I had always suspected that he wished Owen had been the older brother, and now, after his death, I’m sure. Since Owen and mom’s death my father had only become harsher, his expectations for me tougher.

I’ve never been enough for him, and now without Mom and Owen to mellow him out, I am left to feel the full force of his disappointment.

I try to clear my thoughts. It doesn’t matter. I will prove my strength to him.

I spend a long time thinking about what I can do to prove myself, but suddenly it comes to me. There is a competition coming up soon where pairs compete against one another. If I ask Chiara to join the competition with me, I can draw upon her strength as my fated mate.

I suppress a groan when I realize that he’s right. I do need my mate’s strength. Regardless, I can use the competition as a chance to prove myself to him.

Monday rolls around and I think of the best way to ask Chiara to help me with the competition. I haven’t exactly been kind to her recently, so I’ll need to think of some other way to convince her to team up with me.

I think about the other day when I found her trapped on the training field and shake my head. She really does have the worst luck. That’s it.

I forced Chiara to withdraw from the Warrior Training Program that night. If she agrees to be my partner for the competition, I will allow her to sign back up for the class.

I wait until the end of the day to make sure that we’re alone when I ask. Her cleaning duty means that she will be the last student allowed inside until they lock the doors for the night. The final bell rings and I hang back until everyone else has filed out before approaching.

She avoids my gaze as I approach, and I do my best not to let it bother me. “Chiara, I’m glad I caught you.”

She rolls her eyes but quickly turns her head as if trying to cover a mistake “You’ve assigned me to cleaning duty so here I am.”

I pause for a second, feeling awkward. “Right. Well, I wanted to tell you that I’ve changed my mind. You can reregister for the Warrior Training Program if you can prove to me that you can handle it.”

Chiara raises her head looking me in the eye for the first time since I approached her. I’m taken aback by the hope in her eyes. Does she really want to be a warrior?

Her voice is hesitant. “What do you want me to do?”

“It’s simple. I want you to be my partner for the upcoming doubles competition. If you can hold your own while we train, then I give you my full permission to participate in the warrior class.

She looks lost in thought for a moment before answering. “You want me to be your partner?”

I nod. “Yes. Do you agree.”

“Yes, but-”

“You’re excused from cleaning duty in order to train for the competition.”

I turn and walk away before she can ask any more questions.

I meet Chiara the next day on the training field after school. She looks nervous as she approaches, but she doesn’t avoid my eye.

I nod at her. “I think we should spar.”

She stops walking. “What?”

“I promise that I won’t hurt you, but if we are going to train effectively, I need to see what you can do.”

She takes a deep breath and nods. “Okay. Sure.”

“Good.” I lead her over to the middle of the field and count off. “Three. Two. One. Go.”

We circle each other, and I’m surprised to see the focus in Chiara’s eyes. She’s sizing me up.

I lunge right hoping to knock her off balance, but to my surprise she sidesteps easily as if she anticipated my move. Interesting.

I turn until we are facing each other once again and watch her, this time more intently. I follow her eyeline to my right knee and smirk. She’s going to try to trip me up.

I move forward again, and she swings her leg out. I manage to avoid it, but I am surprised by her speed. I saw it coming so it should have been easier to dodge.

She has potential. I hold her gaze. “You need to work on keeping your intentions off your face. You would have had me if I hadn’t predicted what you were going to do before you did it.”

We continue in this manner for some time, neither one of us fully getting the upper hand. I’m surprised. She’s faster than I thought.

She needs to work on attacking, but she can dodge with the best of them. As we continue to spar, I catch myself smiling. I’m having fun.

It’s not the usual hand to hand that I’m used to, but it’s challenging in its own way. I’m reminded of when we used to play together as kids. She always used to beat me at tag.

After a while I call it. “You did better than expected.”

She looks like she wants to say something, but I don’t want to dwell on the compliment. I walk away, leaving her staring after me on the field. Chiara is not as helpless as I thought.