Alpha Queen (Claimed by Wolves #4) - Callie Rose Page 0,39

all the way home.

Watching Cleo fight her sister in that memory taught me something I didn’t know before, and it’s a truth that makes me fear taking the battle to her. Cleo was bullied into being powerful by her shitty father. She didn’t just train and hone and practice until she could destroy anyone and anything for shits and giggles. She did it because he hurt her. Because her sister kept beating her.

Somehow, I think that becoming a stronger witch out of a need for vengeance is a much, much more dangerous thing.

Amora meets us at the outskirts of the East Pack village as if she sensed us coming. Knowing how long she and Ridge have been friends, it’s highly likely she did. She waves at us the minute we come into sight, looking like a dark-haired warrior in her army green cargo pants and black tank top.

Ridge shifts to human form, and the rest of us follow suit before stopping in front of Amora’s smiling face.

She greets the men with a nod and then wraps her arms around me, ignoring my nakedness. “Welcome back. You’re earlier than I expected.”

“Change of plans,” Ridge offers.

I squeeze her one more time then release her, still floored by how easily she offers me friendship. I’ve never had a girl friend, and Amora’s happiness to see me makes me feel all warm inside.

Ridge steps away to dismiss his pack members, and the rest of my mates follow, giving me and Amora a moment to chat.

“How’d it go?” she asks me. “With the training?”

“I think I had a breakthrough!” I blurt, excited to tell someone who wasn’t there when it happened. I describe what I did on the street in front of Ridge’s house, particularly gleeful about my last triple-spell that annihilated the soda bottle.

Amora makes all the appropriate sounds and expressions, even gasping when I tell her how the bottle disappeared in a puff of smoke.

And I decide I love her for it. I’ve worked so hard to accept my witch, all while knowing that many of the shifters aren’t there yet, so the way Amora totally embraces my powers feels like a victory.

She takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “You’re going to be the most powerful witch in Montana. Bet me.”

I laugh. “I don’t think I’ll take that bet, since it’s a losing one. But thank you for the vote of confidence.”

My mates return a moment later, and Ridge lifts his chin in Amora’s direction. “Anything I need to know about? New developments since we’ve been gone?”

Amora drapes an arm over my shoulders and shakes her head. “Nah, it’s been pretty quiet around here. Trystan’s little committee has been putting pressure on his whole pack though. It’s been awe-inspiring to see. They’re persistent.”

“They’re loyal to him,” I add, tossing him a proud smile.

Trystan returns my grin, and I swear it almost looks like there’s a rosy hint of a blush in his golden skin.

I get a bit of a reprieve for the afternoon. Ridge, Trystan, and Archer have to meet with their respective pack elders, and nobody suggests I take the time to train. Since my whole body still hurts from Cleo’s attack yesterday, I decide to eat lunch and take it easy. Though Archer offers to let Dare come with him, he declines, and I know innately that it’s because he doesn’t want to leave me alone. Not after Cleo’s attack, no matter how much stronger I am now.

So Dare and I crawl into the hammock in Archer’s backyard and nap, arms wrapped around one another beneath the warm sun. For a while, it’s a bit of paradise—solitude, Dare’s strong, quiet presence, his fingers brushing idly against my skin, and his heart beating beneath my cheek.

There’s something utterly unassuming about being with Dare. He doesn’t need to chat. He doesn’t need coddling or caring for. He’s content with the feeling of our skin warming together beneath the afternoon sun, and the silence of a love that transcends anything material. I don’t feel compelled to make small talk or be anything more than who I am when we’re together. There’s only the breeze, the sunlight displaced by the branches shading us, and the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek.

But paradise can’t last forever. Ridge returns with the news that the three alphas have called a meeting of the packs to discuss a few things of note—but mainly, it’s to revisit the subject of whether or not to merge the