Page 32 of Shifted Fate (Broken Luna #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

“B

ut I want to become a warrior, though.”

“You can do both.” I shook my head. “I know my dad doesn’t have many female warriors, but that is going to change. You won’t be the only one that wants to be a warrior now. But warriors can still live a full life, including kids.”

“I know. But I don’t want to choose.” Cass looked down at her plate.

“A mate, a good mate, won’t make you choose.” I patted her hand and finished my steak. “The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. Mates are supposed to be your other half. I think your mate will understand your want to be a warrior and will support you.”

“You think so?” She looked at me with hopeful eyes.

“I do.” I got up and grabbed more steak. I really was starving.

It’s your body getting ready to shift. You will eat like this from now on. Alpha’s burn a lot of calories because they need to shift more. Nix’s voice filtered through and I nodded.

“You’re eating a lot.” Cass looked at me as I settled.

“Nix said I’m getting ready to shift. Alpha’s burn a lot of calories because we have bigger wolves and need to shift more often.” I ate through my second plate and then turned to Cass, who finished her first. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” We stood and turned to leave, but Cass bumped into Greyson, the second Gamma.

“Greyson, I’m sorry.” Cass’s face flushed red, and he chuckled.

“No harm, little wolf. It’s always a pleasure to see you.” I watched as he trailed his hands down her arms and stepped back. Cass shivered from his touch but just gave a quick jerk of her head before she nearly sprinted out of the dining hall.

“What was that?” I asked as I caught up with her. “Little wolf?”

“Nothing!” she nearly yelled. “It’s nothing. He just calls me that sometimes to make fun of me.”

“Right…but why did you run away, then?” I questioned her further, and she just shook her head and I knew exactly what this meant. “Oh my god Cass, you like him.”

“Shut your mouth right this second.”

“Why? It’s okay, you like him. What’s wrong with that?” I grabbed her arm and tugged her along.

“He’s the second Gamma.” She tossed out.

“Okay, and?” I looked down at her face, and I saw how sad she was.

“You don’t understand. Nothing can ever happen between us.”

“Why not?” I pulled her to a stop and forced her to face me.

“Because I’m not ranked.”

I waved my free hand around her face. “I’m going to need more of an explanation here, Cass.”

“Ranked wolves never mate to unranked wolves.” She stomped her foot, and I sighed.

“That’s not entirely true, Cass. Yes, Alpha’s don’t mate unranked wolves because they aren’t able to do what they have to do.

Although Alpha Vince is mated to an unranked wolf, it doesn’t count because he isn’t faithful to the chosen bond, but that’s different.

It happens all the time, but the ranked wolves reject the unranked wolf and it’s usually the ranked women that reject their unranked men. ”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Plus. You don’t know if he’s your mate or if he would reject you.

You are putting the cart before the horse here.

Why not just see where the friendship goes instead of ignoring him?

Goddess forbid he is your mate and instead of showing him how amazing you are, you just continuously run away from him. ” I poked her forehead.

“Amy. It’s just not in the cards for me.”

“You don’t know that. I want you to try. Even if it’s just a friendship. Greyson is a good wolf to know. He is the head of my dad’s warriors and if you want to be one, he will help.”

Cass ran her fingers through her hair and gripped it. “Okay. I will.”

“Good.” I pulled her to walk again and flipped around to watch her face as I walked backwards. “You know. He is super cute.”

“Shut up.” Cass hit my shoulder and I laughed.

“What? I’m just saying. He is quite adorable.”

“Yeah, he is.” She went all dreamy and smiled.

I grinned as I spotted someone heading our way. “Greyson would make a good mate to any she wolf.”

“He really would. Goddess, Amy. Am I stupid to have this crush on him? I mean, be brutally honest. Do you think the Goddess would make me his mate? Or if she did, would he keep me? I’m no one.”

“Cass-”

“No, before you answer, I want you to think about it. He is a ranked wolf and I’m not. And I know you said that it’s usually a ranked she-wolf that rejects unranked mates, but there is still a shot for him to reject me, right?”

My eyes flicked over her shoulder. “There is a chance. But I think the first thing you need to do is talk to the man. Who is to say he would reject you if you turned out to be his mate?”

“I’m terrified. He deserves better than me.”

“Who says?” A deep voice sounded behind us and Cass froze.

I watched Cass pale, and I wanted to hug her. So I did. “Give him a shot. He might surprise you.” I whispered in her ear and then I gave him a small wave. Cass’s arm gripped my hand.

“Come on, little wolf, I think we have something to talk about.” Greyson stepped up next to Cass and wrapped an arm around her waist.

I pulled my hand from her hand as her eyes pleaded with me.

But I just gave her a wave and took off.

I turned back in time to see Cass finally turn to face Greyson.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he darted in and kissed her.

I jumped a little before running the rest of the way to training.

“You okay?” Tina called over to me as soon as I reached the training ring.

“Yeah. Perfect. Why?”

Tina raised an eyebrow. “You dad said you weren’t feeling well the past few days, which is why you missed training.”

“Oh right. I’m good now.” I smiled at her and dropped down to stretch next to her. “How has training been?”

“Good.” Tina bounced on her toes. “Mostly, anyway. Aurora and Amanda have been giving us some push back, but Cass has really come into herself. A few others too. It’s been amazing to watch.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” I finished up my stretching and stood next to her. Lynn made her way over to us.

“Welcome back.”

“Thanks. Now, from this point forward, I want us to separate the girls into new groups.”

“Another one?” Lynn looked up at me and furrowed her brow. “We already have the shifted and non shifted.”

“Yeah, but this is more the opinion of the girls.” I leaned against the fence surrounding the training circle.

“What is it?” Tina leaned next to me.

“Today I want all of us to gauge who might want to become warriors, and who are here for just regular training. This way we can set up a second training session for those who want to train harder.”

“Female warriors? Here? Your dad has turned me down every time I asked him.” Tina dropped her head back. “It’s been frustrating, and I don’t want to get their hopes up again.”

“Again?”

“Last year, a group of females came to Tina and me to put in a word to the Alpha to let them train to become warriors. We promised we would fight for them, but your father shot us down multiple times. And well…” Lynn shook her head.

“We had to break it to them that their Alpha didn’t appreciate their dedication.” Tina nearly growled out.

“One second.” My mind-linked to my dad. Did you really turn down women from training to be warriors?

Amy? Why are you asking?

Answer my question, Dad.

Well, yes. But why are you asking?

Because I am starting a female warrior training program to be run after I leave. It’s 2018 Dad. Women can fight. And they can be better than some males. Get with the times. I nearly growled at him, and his chuckle ran through my mind.

Yes pup.

Do you promise to allow the women to join the warriors?

Yes pup. I know Tina and Lynn brought it up, but I didn’t think there were a lot of girls that wanted to join.

What does it matter?

I don’t know. He sounded a little bewildered. But I promise you they will be tested just like the men and if they make it, then they are in.

Good. Love you Dad.

Love you too, pup.

I closed off the mind-link and looked at the women. “He just agreed. He seemed a little confused that there were more than a few wanting to join.”

“Why does it matter how many want to join?” Tina tossed her arms up.

“Men are stupid.” Lynn grumbled.

I just nodded and waited for the rest of the girls to show up.

Once I saw a beat red Cass run into the training ring, I walked up to the group.

“Ladies. Today we are going to continue with our training, but there is one extra thing. When one of us comes over to check on you, if you want a chance to join the ranks of warriors in this pack, let us know. I’m going to have a second training session in the morning put together for those interested in getting ready to test to become one of the warriors.

Once you make it, if you want to train harder, it will be up to Ronnie and Beck to train you to get into the elites. ”

“You think we can become elites?” Tara called out.

“Why not? One of the best elites employed by the council is a female wolf. Her name is Clair. You can do anything you put your mind to.” I looked over and made eye contact with Cass. “Anything.”