\[William’s POV\]
I’m moving before I even know what I’m doing, and when I move Marty’s hand off of Elise’s shoulder, I realize much too late that I’ve made a huge mistake. Eyes widening, I release the hand that I’m holding and shake off any lingering emotions I may be feeling.
“Aw,” Marty pouts, reaching out and grabbing my hand again. “You don’t want to hold my hand?”
Opening my mouth, I prepare to argue, but stop as he gives a pointed look over my shoulder, and I don’t need to turn to know that Rosco is watching me. I could only imagine the look on his face as he understood what has gotten into me.
“Should I maybe leave the two of you alone?” Elise asks, looking at our joined hands. “It looks like you are having a moment.”
“Don’t be too upset, beautiful.” Marty chuckles. “I know that you were becoming interested in me, but it seems that William isn’t willing to share me.”
Shit. These two were making the butt of a huge joke, but at least with this, the tension that could have formed between us three was quickly dwindling.
“Don’t worry,” Elise says, her expression becoming softer. “I didn’t like you that much. Anyway, since you seem to have a partner for training, I should go find one of my own.”
“Wait!” I gasp when she begins to leave. “Why don’t you just pair with us?”
Once again, I was acting before I could think, but I had an idea of what Rosco’s packmates thought of Elise. To them, she was a criminal that was being given special treatment by their alpha. If she attempted to pair with any of them, they would either ignore her entirely or agree simply so they could hurt her. I couldn’t let something like that happen.
“Uh…” Elise begins, looking at the crowd, which is beginning to pair off. “Aren’t we only supposed to be in groups of two?”
“I don’t think it will matter if there is one group of three.” I argue.
Even as she continues to look around for anyone who may be alone, I know deep down that I don’t want her to go to them. It had to be because I pitied her—nothing more, nothing less.
‘Yeah, right.’ Rue chuckles, causing annoyance to flare through me. ‘You’re becoming infatuated with that woman, and if you aren’t careful, history will repeat.’
Wincing, I try to ignore what he has said, but even I know that it is the truth. Was this some kind of course for me? Why did I always find interest in the things I shouldn’t? Even back then, I knew that it was dangerous to fall for Marigold, yet I let it happen anyway, and when I realized that we were mates, there was no leaving.
‘Remember your roleroll.’ Rue pushes, snapping me out of reverie. ‘You know your father and uncle will never let you take your place as alpha with a woman like Elise by your side.’
‘Shut the hell up.’ I snap, pushing him aside.
It was nothing like that between me and Elise; anyway, it seemed like she had already set her sights on Marty. In the end, those two were a much better combination since they had similar histories.
Right. That was how it should go, but why did it leave me feeling empty?
Shaking off the unwanted emotions I’m feeling, I pull my hand free of Marty’s and take a step back.
“I’ll pair with Rosco and help him teach.” I announce, deciding that distancing myself was the best move. “You two partner up.”
“Wait!” Elise gasps as I turn to leave.
As I turn, she reaches out and grabs me, but I yank myself free.
“Don’t touch me so easily.”
I know that my tone is harsh and that she is probably hurt by how I’m acting, but Rosco is watching me. If I were to acknowledge her just then, he would become suspicious once again, and even if I wanted to trust him not to blab on me, I couldn’t.
When I come to stand beside him once more, he continues to watch me with an unreadable expression on his face that makes me uneasy.
“Aren’t we supposed to start the training?” I ask after a moment, which is too long. “Or are you not intending to go through with it now?”
“Right,” he says, tearing his gaze away and fixing it on the students in front of us. “If everyone would please, begin your stretches. Once you finish, we will be working on combat training.”
As if his words are magic, the warriors in front of us begin to do as instructed, even Elise, who lays on the ground and allows Marty to start stretching her legs. However, as he pushes them to their limits, I feel that damn jealousy again and wish that I was the one able to have my body so damn close to hers.
“Are you just going to gawk, or are you going to actually do something?”
Tensing, I turn and find Rosco watching me, but instead of wearing his normal look of disapproval, I can see sympathy.
“What are you getting at?” I ask, unwilling to admit that what he said is true. “I don’t quite understand.”
“As much as it pains me to say it, go after her if you’re just going to pine away. Otherwise, Marty might really charm her away from you.”
Shock rolls through me as Rosco’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. Wasn’t he the one who was warning me to stay away?
“Maybe she will actually turn over a new leaf without someone like you by her side and…” he continues, looking almost pained. “Denali wants her to be happy after everything she suffered.”
“And you think that happiness would be with me? You know as well as I do that my father and uncle would never allow a criminal to stand beside me.”
“Maybe,” Rosco agrees. “Are you going to let them decide everything for you?”
Opening my mouth, I prepare to say just that since it was the right thing to do, but I stop as a groan escapes Elise. Snapping my gaze at her, I find that Marty has managed to bend her so much that one of her knees is beside her head, and a wave of jealousy rushes through me.
Fuck. Was I really strong enough to stay away from Elise, especially when I recruited her to help me figure out what was happening in Crystal Fang?
“The choice is ultimately yours.” Rosco continues. “But don’t drag your feet. Satisfy your obsession so that your head is in the right place when we face the enemy."