Chapter 97 At My Pace pt 1
Seren
I had just gotten the hang of pairing air and water, a beautiful ribbon of shimmering liquid swirling in a circle in front of me, when a loud bang echoed through the courtyard. I immediately lost my focus and turned to face the sound. The water that I was manipulating whipped through the air toward the noise and slammed into…Duncan?
“Oh, my Goddess!” I ran over to my mate, who was now flat on the ground and soaking wet, a huge smile on his face. My mother, watching from her observation spot across the courtyard, was laughing uproariously.
“Are you okay? Duncan, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to. I don’t even know how that happened. Are you hurt?” I patted my hands all over his chest and ran my fingers through his hair, frantically searching for any injuries. He just kept looking at me with a goofy grin on his face. Finally, he sat up and grabbed my hands, squeezing lightly and stilling my movements.
“Little wolf, I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than fine.” He released one hand and wiped water from his face. “That was…a refreshing wake-up call.” He grinned. “After the day and night I’ve had, I needed that. Not to mention, you pack a punch. That’s good to know.”
“Wait…what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at Blood Moon.” Mom’s light steps carried through the air as she joined us. Her laughter had calmed to the occasional giggle now.
“My dear daughter, I’d venture to say that someone told your father and your mate about your little adventure yesterday. Am I right, Duncan?” Mom raised her eyebrow as she looked down at him.
“You’d be right, Queen Gwen. Cian sent me back, along with Gideon and a few others, to follow up on yesterday’s attack and to make sure that Seren was safe,” Duncan said. He climbed to his feet, shaking off the occasional drip here and there, as he smiled at Mom.
“Come now, Duncan. If you can call Cian by his name, certainly you can do the same for me?” Mom’s eyes twinkled as she teased him.
His cheeks grew pink. “I’ll try. It just feels wrong—almost disrespectful. You’re the queen!”
“How about Mom then? Would that be easier?” She reached out and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You’re mated to my daughter. That makes you my son. An excellent bonus son, in my opinion.”
He nodded even as he reached for me. “I’ll try. Now, we were sent with instructions. We’re to start Seren’s physical training, and Gideon is supposed to join you for elemental training. Cian will stay at Blood Moon until the Elders arrive and he gets things settled for them, then he’ll be returning here.”
“Well, the first thing we need to do is get you dry. Then have some dinner—it’s already getting late in the day. We can make a plan for my training after dinner.” I twined my fingers in his as we turned to the doors. “We were basically done here for the day, anyway. Elemental magic burns through energy, and I’m already feeling the need to eat again.” My stomach punctuated my statement with a loud growl.
Mom laughed again. “You’re doing wonderfully, Seren. You’ve taken right to it. The concept for reaching your fire and earth elements is the same, but it may be prudent to wait for your father to return to train with those.”
The scent of wood-smoke and peat carried on the breeze as Gideon walked around the corner of the pack house, heading in our direction. “Alpha Aidan said you’d be back here,” he said as he approached us. He paused, looking at Duncan. “What happened to you?”
“Your sister,” Duncan answered dryly. “I surprised her when I entered the training grounds, and she slammed me with a water missile.”
Gideon’s laughter burst out of him. “I’d have paid to see that.”
“Admission was free. It was absolutely worth it.” Mom bumped shoulders with him as he stepped up beside her.
We continued to tease and banter with each other the whole way up to the Alpha floor, where Duncan quickly changed. “I’ve linked the omegas and asked them to serve dinner in our private dining room for the night. This way we can discuss everything that’s happened and needs to happen without worrying about listening ears,” Duncan said as we exited our suite.
We walked the few steps down the hall and entered the cozy space. Despite being large enough to hold a party of sixteen comfortably, the space was incredibly inviting. The low light, emanating from fixtures that resembled antique lanterns, certainly helped. A crackling fire in the hearth cast dancing shadows on the exposed brick, further softening the edges of the room. It smelled faintly of pine and something else…something savory, promising a delicious meal.
Before long, others started wandering in. Mom came in with Gideon, followed by Aidan and Cat. Julian, Kayla, and Louise were next. Lucian followed in with Tristan, and Eric and Alex were not far behind them. Mom’s main guard, the man who pulled me behind him for safety yesterday, walked in with another of the Royal Guard beside him. Mom made the introductions. “Everyone, this is my head guard, Elias, and one of our squad leaders, Blake.”
Once the introductions were made, we all turned to the small buffet line that was set up on one side of the room. I filled my plate high with slices of prime rib, macaroni and cheese, asparagus and broccoli, then added a slice of the warm, crusty bread that was off to one side. Everything that I’ve eaten since coming to Crescent Moon has been absolutely delectable, and tonight promised to be more of the same.
I settled into my seat, Duncan sitting to my right. Gideon joined on my left, Lucian next to him, as everyone else found their place. For several minutes, all you could hear was the sound of forks scraping plates as everyone dug into their meals. Once everyone was at least partially sated, conversation started.
“Duncan, what happened at Blood Moon? King Cian indicated that conditions there were worse than you expected,” Aidan said.