“Three-mile run around the property. Take our usual route,” Marcel said.
Everyone shifted into their wolves, except Ares, Marcel, Charolette, and me.
Marcel cocked a brow at us. “Even you two.”
“I’m not running in my wolf,” I said with confidence, so nobody would suspect a thing.
Ares was the only person here who knew about me not being able to shift easily, and I wanted to keep it that way until I was comfortable.
He would protect me any way he could, but he couldn’t stop the way people would look at me. They’d judge me for being an alpha and their luna who couldn’t shift. How could I be the god of war’s mate? How would they respect me once they found out?
I could snap any one of their necks in my human form, yes … but I wouldn’t do that just because they judged me for it. I didn’t want to lead by fear. I wanted them to respect me for me, and I had to earn that respect, even as an alpha.
“She’ll run in her human form.” Ares nodded to the woods. “I’ll run with her.”
Marcel grunted. “No. She needs to run, and so do you.” He stepped closer to Ares, lowering his voice. “You need to be strong for when we find that fucking stone.”
Charolette looked between us and stepped forward. “I’ll run with Aurora.”
Marcel shook his head. “You run with me.”
Ares growled. “She will run with Aurora for today. They need to talk.”
I straightened my posture and clenched my jaw. “Go,” I said, not wanting to draw attention to myself.
After a couple of curse words from Marcel, they shifted and disappeared through the woods.
Charolette and I jogged in our human forms on the same sunny path.
We got about a half-mile into the woods when she asked, “Why don’t you shift?”
My eyes widened, and I slowed down just a bit. This was not how I’d wanted or expected this conversation with her to start. I’d wanted to figure out about the stone and Ares’s need for it before I told her anything.
“Um …” I hopped over some branches. Birds chirped softly above us, flying low overhead. “I just … don’t like to shift.”
She furrowed her brows, her breaths becoming uneven, as if she were almost out of breath already. “I can see if you don’t like it when we practice—because shifting takes so much energy—but … you don’t even shift when there’s danger.”
I parted my lips and swallowed hard. Shit. Shit. Shit. Had Ares said something to her? Had he told her that I couldn’t shift? Had he told anyone else that I couldn’t shift? If he had … Goddess, there would be so many people who might try to challenge me for my place as luna. Though challenging an alpha or luna for leadership didn’t happen often and I didn’t think that Ares would allow it, that didn’t mean I could just walk around his pack and think I was safe.
There was a hierarchy. Only the strong survived. And I was weak.
“Come on,” Charolette said. “You can tell me.”
I parted my lips. “If I tell you the truth, will you tell me something?”
A smile broke out on her flushed face. “Anything.”
After hoping that I could trust her, I slowed to a walk and rubbed my hands together. Charolette stopped, still breathing heavy.
“I …” I started, fumbling with the ends of my dry-fit shirt. “My pack was attacked by hounds a long time ago. My brother died during an attack, and I was paralyzed from my neck down, so it’s difficult for me to shift.”
Almost immediately, her eyes filled with tears. “But … how? Why? Wh—how are you still walking? How can you be walking?”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek to hold the tears back. It had been bad enough, telling Ares about this last night. It would hurt me so much more, trying to tell someone else about how shitty my life had been since Jeremy passed.
But the truth felt so freeing sometimes. I wanted Charolette to accept me the way that Ares had. I didn’t want her to judge me or try to make my life easier because of this disability. She was my only friend here.
“Half of the Malavite Stone is in my back,” I whispered.
“You have the stone inside of you?” she asked in disbelief. An expression that I couldn’t quite decipher crossed her face. She grabbed my hands and pulled me to the side of the path. “You can’t tell Ares about it. He … he’ll hurt you. He’s been searching for that stone for years. He’ll do anything for it.”
“He already knows.”
“He knows?” She frowned at me and let a tear fall down her cheek. Then, she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. “He’s hurt so many people, trying to find the stone. I’m honestly … so happy that he hasn’t hurt you too. I’m so … so … happy for you—that you get to live your life to the fullest and aren’t paralyzed anymore. Ares needs a strong woman in his life.” She pulled away. “After Mom and now me”—tears rushed down her cheeks—“I think he might start to hurt himself ag—”
I furrowed my brows. “What do you mean, you?” I asked.
Ares’s mother had died, but Charolette was healthy.
She stepped away from me and swallowed hard. “Aurora …” Her eyes widened. “Wait … Ares still hasn’t told you why he wants the stone?” She placed a hand over her heart. “Oh Goddess, what’s wrong with him?”
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” I asked quietly. My stomach tightened, and I wrapped my hand around the front of my neck.
What could be so terrible?
I thought back to all the times I had spent around her and the pack. She fatigued during our run. Marcel got her some kind of medication. Ares was so protective over her …
“Aurora …” Her fingers trembled. “I have cancer.”
My eyes widened, and I shook my head. No.
