Chapter 25

Sarah POV

I turned to see Zane, of course, it was Zane, standing there. I didn’t see any ice cream. Too bad. I would have enjoyed smushing a cone of strawberry in her face.

Chloe got off the boy and ran to me, and Zane walked calmly to my side.

“Don’t cry, Grace, darling,” he said gently, and his daughter nodded and wiped her nose with the rag I think was meant for drying her brushes.

“You rescued me again,” I said, hearing the little note of self-loathing in my voice and hating it. Part of me loved that he cared enough to come to my aid, but a bigger part didn’t love that I kept needing that help.

“She had no right,” he said quietly, looking at the werewolf still on her knees. I looked as well.

It was odd now just how physically unimpressive she looked. Without her screams and flashing eyes, she was just a woman in mom jeans and a red-black-stripped pullover that didn’t match her expensive brown shoes.

“Why don’t you show her the error of her ways?” Zane suggested to me, and I looked at him in surprise. “You didn’t really need me this time, did you?” He nodded at the woman.

I was going to object, but then I remembered what she’d said to Chloe, what her boy had demanded, and finally the sight of that little human boy at the fence looking into a world he should have been able to enjoy.

“You’re right,” I said, looking at the son, who was standing sulkily by his mother. “What sort of a cowardly alpha werewolf picks on a human female and a five-year-old? What kind of mother supports him?”

I noticed we were drawing attention, and I raised my voice. “You called me a thief, when it was my daughter who made my bracelet, the one you stole from me! You called me filth and human scum, but when you saw your son being bested by a girl less than half his age, didn’t you? How did that feel, to know your son was that weak? Is that why you had to attack me?”

I looked around. Quite a crowd was gathering. “If you werewolves are so much better than humans, why do you have to work so hard to prove it? You talk about your superiority, but all I see are bullies!”

An arm flailed in front of my face, and I stepped back. The mother had gathered herself, recovered from whatever Zane had done with his voice, and was ready to come after me again. She shot a look at Zane, but he just shrugged, and with a growl she turned back and squared off against me.

And then the oddest thing happened. My anger dissipated. My rage drained away. I had no wish to hurt this werewolf. I just wanted her to know she couldn’t hurt me.

It was almost instinctive, after watching Chloe for so many years, to pull my lips back in a snarl. My fingers became claws, and I put all the fire I could muster into my eyes. I growled loudly, and I heard a few gasps from the growing crowd.

“Mom,” I heard the alpha boy whimper. “Let’s just go.”

She looked ready to argue, so I spread my arms and crouched, putting on a full display. In that moment, I willed her to surrender, and I felt the support of those around me fill me with authority.

Come at me, I thought, if you really want to see what I can do.

“This is ridiculous,” the mother snapped, taking her son’s arm and turning away from me. She was startled when she caught sight of the crowd, but then her chin went up and she marched away.

I relaxed in a moment, standing there as though nothing of importance had happened. Nothing at all.

“Good job,” said a beta male from the crowd. The people around him nodded in agreement, and there was some light applause before they all broke up—with respectful nods to Zane—and went back to whatever they had been doing.

As soon the mother was out of earshot, I heard Zane start to laugh. I looked at him incredulously, but then he was holding his stomach and laughing so hard I thought he’d get the hiccups.

“That’s the way to do it, Mommy! Chloe said, joining Zane in laughing. Cautiously at first, then heartily Grace was laughing too. After a moment, I joined in.

What else was there to do?

“That was excellent,” Zane told me at last. “A perfectly mimicked werewolf display. I really thought you were going to start howling next.”

“You’ll have to show me how to manage that,” I said, and he laughed a little more.

“I’m serious, little one,” he said to Chloe, who was watching us with delight. “You can learn a thing or two about werewolf posturing from your mother.”

I made sure not to react. He had called me her mother, not her goddessmother. I prayed to the goddess he wouldn’t notice and retract it.

Fortunately, Chloe distracted us all with a frown. “I took on that awful boy and won.”

“Yes, but you didn’t have to fight him. You could have avoided everything with a proper display.” He knelt down to meet Chloe’s confused but serious gaze. “As an alpha, a proper alpha, not like that unfortunate young man, you will have the power to hurt others, and as a proper alpha, you must only use that power when you absolutely must.

“If possible, you must avoid the attack. You must protect others, even from themselves. Their welfare will be your heart, and as angry as others may make you, as unfairly and unjustly as they act, you must guide them to a better understanding of their place in the pack, not remove them. Do you understand what I mean by ‘remove’?”

Chloe hesitated, then nodded, and I wanted to object that Chloe was too young to talk of killing, but I kept my mouth shut. This was one alpha instructing another. I had no business interfering.

“You may need to make others submit to your will; that is the way of the pack. But that submission should come because they recognize you are stronger, not because of their pain or their fear.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

I smiled, but I could not keep the sadness from spreading through my heart as I rubbed the stinging skin on my arm and thought of my lost bracelet. Zane looked at my arm, and then stood up. He stepped over to me and took my arm in his, rubbing the skin gently. I kept my breathing even, which was made easier by my sorrow. I wanted desperately to be held, but I kept my chin up and nodded in thanks.

“I’ll make you another one, Mommy,” Chloe said. “Grace will help, and it will be even nicer than the one you lost.”

I bent down then to give her a hug and a kiss, knowing how lucky I was to have her, to have all of them in my life.

But I knew something precious had been taken from me, and even as I smiled and asked about the ice cream, my heart was sore and sorry.