Her Promise

Her Promise | Chapter Three

MADDOX

All of this had to be some extraordinary fairy tale. I couldn’t believe we were actually doing it. After all the time I spent with Damien, Felix, and Liam, I thought I had a decent handle on everything involved in running a pack, but there was more than I thought. I was eager to learn, though.

Ronin was great. He was a little soft-spoken and seemed like a guy who avoided fights, so I could understand why Langston hadn’t picked him to be the Alpha successor. But he was smart and solid, and it didn’t take long to figure that out.

Now that we were officially members of Serenity Waters, I intended to let Tom out and get to exploring very soon. Our whole morning was covering primary Alpha duties. Some of it I knew, while plenty of it I learned. Langston also mentioned that Serenity Waters probably did things differently than Blood Eclipse because all pack’s made their own decisions. While we went over things, I could tell Missy was nervous, so the first moment I could, I made sure to pull her close and calm her.

Our tour of the pack made me want to explore even more. Ronin showed us around and pointed out plenty, but it would take a while to get used to everything. I knew I would need to learn every inch of the territory to make a decent Alpha. I wanted to make sure Missy and I visited every store and place to eat and met as many pack members as possible before we took over.

Langston mentioned that Emma wanted to have a party to introduce us to the pack formally and announce his intention to pass the Alpha title on to me. Missy was going to hate it; she was not a fan of being the center of attention, even if she was used to it being the Alpha’s daughter. I figured I would ease her into the idea later.

Meeting Vera and Valen was interesting. I couldn’t figure them out, and I wondered how much we were going to be seeing of them. Ronin mentioned that they were cousins of Langston’s, and I noted to ask him how closely related they were later. I tried to be as approachable and nice as I could while we spoke to them to give the best impression. I didn’t want to become an Alpha that my pack didn’t feel they could interact with.

When we got back to the packhouse, we quickly got ready for training. I was interested to see what it looked like for Serenity Waters. Missy decided to sit the first one out, and I didn’t push her. I knew she was just probably feeling overwhelmed. She mentioned she might call Sol, so I gave her a kiss and left her to it.

Ronin was waiting downstairs for me when I was ready. “Training doesn’t usually happen here. But it isn’t far,” he said. He headed out the front door, going toward his car.

“So, do you go to training every day?” I asked him. I hadn’t gotten much chance to actually find anything out about him other than some basics. He was only two years older than Missy and I. He lived with his uncle because his parents had passed, and he found his sister very annoying, but he loved her. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, so he started helping his uncle and Langston during his senior year of high school and never stopped. He still hadn’t found his mate either.

“Um, not really,” he admitted.

“Can I ask why? I don’t mean anything by it; I’m just curious. Not everyone likes training and working out, but it seems like you might want to since you help Langston and Joshua so much,” I asked him. I wanted to pry a little to get to know him better, not make him feel bad if he didn’t like fighting.

“Well, there isn’t training time every day for one,” Ronin told me. I looked at him in shock as he turned into a parking lot. “Alpha ramped up training really hard for the war, and afterward, everyone was mad and tired. I don’t think a lot of the pack wanted to get involved, really. Especially after Alpha came back hurt.”

“Wait, so before the vampire stuff, did your warriors have daily training?” I asked.

Ronin shook his head. “Maybe 4-5 days a week but not every day. And Alpha was only there once or twice. My uncle said he has slowed considerably over the past few years. He’s just been Alpha for too long.”

“I didn’t realize,” I said, sitting back in my seat. Ronin put the car in park.

“Alpha is an incredible leader,” Ronin said, his hands fidgeting with the steering wheel. “He really cares about our pack and everyone in it. But we both know that Alphas have a prime, and he has led far past it. I think not having pups also hurt him. Serenity Waters needs someone ready to pick up the mantle and remind everyone how strong we are.”

I nodded slowly. It felt like there was more under his words. I looked up to Langston just as much as I did Liam. They were amazing wolves in my eyes. Langston was thoughtful and selfless, and I was sure a lot of that came with his lofty experience in his position. He had been in charge of this pack since before Liam was born. But I worried if Ronin was trying to tell me that things had grown stagnant for the pack.

“Let’s go. Training with the warriors that come will be good for the next Alpha,” Ronin said, snapping out of his thoughts. We exited the car, and it looked like we were at a park with open fields and woods. Ronin motioned for me to follow, and we headed into the woods onto a worn path. We hiked in for about five minutes when we reached another open field.

Looking around, there was a worn path around the squared edges of the field. On the far side, it looked like there was a dirt ring big enough for individual sparring, and the rest was just open grass. Two people stood at the center, talking.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, looking at my watch. Training was supposed to start in a couple of minutes, or so I thought.

“We might see a couple more come by,” Ronin said.

“A couple more. I’m confused. Langston said we had a healthy stock of warriors to protect the pack. The only ones not here should be ones running patrol right now, and that group should change regularly so they can attend training,” I exclaimed.

“Shhh,” Ronin said, turning around to block me from the other wolves’ view. “You need to calm down. Coming in here like a tyrant telling everyone how it should be won’t get them on your side!”

“What do you mean? You just told me physical exercise for the wolves tasked with protecting this pack is optional. They should be doing strength and agility training, fighting practice, team drills,” I listed off.

“Like I said, Alpha pulled back to ease tension after the fighting was over. I’m sure Alpha Liam doesn’t have a 100% approval rating, and there of plenty of older families in this pack that don’t love Alpha and Luna’s camaraderie with Blood Eclipse,” he said. “Just go with it for now. You need people on your side.”

I looked over his shoulder. Another wolf had joined the two waiting, and they were walking toward us. “Whose this?” one called.

Ronin turned around. “Hey, Parker. This is Maddox,” he introduced me. I reached out my hand to shake theirs. “Maddox, this is Parker, River, and Tanner. They are all on the same patrol team.”

“How do you guys do?” I asked.

“You looking to test in?” Parker asked.

“Test in?” I asked Ronin.

“To be a warrior. You have to pass a test,” Ronin clarified.

“If he isn’t here to be a warrior, what is he here for?” Tanner asked.

Before Ronin could answer, I cut in. “Langston chose me as his successor. When I’m done with Alpha training, I’ll be taking the title,” I told them. “I wanted to start training with all the warriors as soon as possible, so I made Ronin bring me.”

“All the warriors will be a stretch,” River scoffed. Parker looked at his watch.

“Should we warm up and do some drills then? I don’t think Lex is going to make it,” Tanner asked. “Maddox and Ronin can switch in as a substitute for him.”

“Lex is the last man on their team,” Ronin linked.

“Lead the way,” I smiled at them. “I’m down for anything.

-

“You look frazzled,” Missy said as I entered our room. I went straight to the bedroom, not giving her a direct answer. “What’s wrong?”

Missy followed me. “I have half a mind to run back to Blood Eclipse right now and see if Damien or Felix are busy,” I sighed. After a very underwhelming ninety minutes of no physical exertion, I needed someone to try and hit me.

“What do you mean?” she asked, leaning against the doorframe. I ducked into our closet and grabbed some fresh clothes, not that I had gotten these very dirty.

“Want to know what ‘training’ was tonight?” I asked rhetorically. “Three wolves showed up. Three. Plus Ronin and me. Then after a very mild warm-up only consisting of a few laps, it was mainly running formations. That was it. They didn’t even think about hitting each other.”

“I thought there were plenty of warriors in the pack?” Missy questioned.

I threw up my hands. I was just as confused by this whole thing. “Ronin said something about Langston easing back after the war. I could see some pullback, but this is nuts.”

“Maybe you should talk to Langston about it tomorrow?” she suggested. “Maybe he doesn’t know all the details because he can’t participate.”

“I don’t know if I should,” I frowned. “We’ve been here a day. I don’t think I should start complaining about things yet.”

Missy came over and circled my waist with her arms. She looked up at me, her soft brown hair falling away from her face. “Maybe today was just a bad day. Maybe word will spread that you are there, and more people will come.”

I leaned down just enough to kiss her forehead. “You’re right. This is new, and I just need to give it some time. At least I have you,” I told her, grabbing onto her. “Did you get to talk to Sol?”

“No, she didn’t answer. I don’t know what her schedule looks like yet,” she sighed. “She might still be getting settled in.”

“Sol is a big girl. I’m sure she is okay. Like you and her talked about, leaving the pack for a while is probably healthy for her after everything that happened,” I reassured her. “You could call Ally.”

“Maybe later. Right now, I have you,” she smiled brightly. That smile always transfixed me. My frustration started to melt away.

“And now that you do, what shall you do with me?” I teased.

“I have a few ideas,” she laughed.