Hadley's POV

I started the next day before the sun had even risen on a run with Devin. She had pounded on my door this morning beggin me to go with her and then to train. It felt good though to get away from things and run on pure instinct. We ran for hours doing several laps around the territory. I knew the land pretty well now. Where our border stopped and the unclaimed territories began.

We made our way back to outside the pack house where we did most of our training. West had finally woken up looking still half asleep as he joined us in training.

"Shouldn't I just shift if we get attacked. I'm stronger as a wolf than in this form," I asked.

"If you can you should but sometimes you won't have the chance to shift. You need to be able to defend yourself under any circumstances. Especially against a witch. They could mess with your shift," Devin said as she struck. I blocked most of her shots but she managed to hit me in the ribs. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the pain.

"Do you hate all witches or just Morgan?" I asked. My feet fell into the familiar dance as I dodged and struck.

"I don't hate all witches. I definitely don't trust them though, everyone I met has been sneaky with some hidden agenda. Or they date my brother and nearly kill him," She glared at West. I took that moment to knock her off her balance and tackle her to the ground.

"Ouch," Devin said between her laughs. I pulled her up and we continued.

"Speaking of which. You and Morgan were looking rather cozy yesterday. Thinking about rekindling that?" I asked West who was barley training at this point and just watching Devin and I.

"No, I don't think so," West said, avoiding my eyes.

"How come?" I asked. "You obviously still care for her. You defended her yesterday and clearly still trust her".

"Hadley please don't even tempt him," Devin said.

"Look Morgan is stunning and I like that she can be unpredictable and fun, but there's no point," West explained his arms crossed.

"Why not?" I pouted. I liked the idea of him and Morgan. I just wanted him to be happy and it was so obvious that there was still something between the two of them.

"I'm done with that kind of casual stuff. I may as well wait for my mate at this point. If I start something with Morgan and I meet her that's not fair to her," he explained. "Plus then she'll really kill me this time," he smirked, winking at Devin who was now glaring at him.

"Fair enough," I said. I knocked Devin to the ground again.

"Is that hard for you?" West asked.

"What do you mean," I replied.

"Taking Devin down. Are you holding back?" West watched me closely. I raised up. It was pretty effortless. I could hold my own against Devin pretty well. Most of the time I just waited for the perfect moment to have her lose her balance. It came naturally. I didn't know if I was necessarily holding back.

Devin was still on the ground staring at me. "I mean it definitely isn't as hard as when I first started. Why?" I asked.

"I mean look at you both. Hadley you've barley broken a sweat. Devin gets a few hits in but she hasn't knocked you to the ground once," West said. He hadn't just been slacking off but observing our training.

"Are you not tired?" Devin asked shocked. I shook my head no and looked her over. Devin was sweaty and breathing heavy.

"I don't get it. Devin's strong. She's one of the best. She's a betas daughter," My voice trailed off as I put the pieces together.

"You were always strong. As an alpha's daughter that comes naturally but I think ever since you completed the claim with Tate you got even stronger," West explained.

"Why is that a big surprise doesn't that happen a lot?" I asked.

"Alpha's daughters usually will be mated to other wolves that are higher up in the chain but a true alpha to alpha pairing doesn't happen as often as you think. There hasn't been one in a while. Not that I've known of at least," West explained.

"Fight me," West said, taking off his shirt and moving near me. "Take me down. No holding back. I'm the second strongest wolf in this pack. Take me down," he challenged. Devin had moved herself to where West had been standing watching us with intrigue on her face. West was a good amount taller than me and built with muscle. I focused myself letting him strike first.

We fell into that familiar dance of dodge and strike. West's blows were filled with more power but I was quicker. I moved on my feet around him effortlessly. I spotted the areas he left undefended. As I moved around him I struck him high up in his ribs just below his armpit. While he flinched I slammed all of my weight into a blow to his back kicking him to his knees.

From behind him I hooked my leg between his legs and grabbed onto his shoulders and rolled us into the ground so that I was on top of him. My fangs at his throat. I backed away slowly easing myself off of him.

"Holy shit," Devin said.

"Are you ok?" I asked, helping West up. "I'm sorry I don't know what came over me".

"Hadley are you kidding me. You just took me down in a matter of minutes. That was insane".

"She's my mate for a reason".

I turned towards Devin where Tate was now standing next to her. His smile grinned with pride as he winked at me.

"So this isn't normal?" I asked.

"Not one bit. Very awesome for us though" West laughed.

"Remember what Darren said? You have the capability to run Blood Bane as its true alpha mate or not. You've always been powerful, it just took a minute for you to realize your full capabilities," Tate grinned.

"Having the claim with Tate just rubbed a bit of his ego off on you," Devin teased lightly shoving Tate with her elbow. A low laugh escaped his mouth as he playfully shook his head at Devin.

"My ego isn't that big," Tate said, trying his best not to smile as he glared at Devin. His eyes gave him away though.

"All you alpha's and your big strong, tough guy ego. You may not be exactly like the others but a tiny part is that typical alpha," Devin joked.

"Whatever you say Beta's daughter," Tate winked. We all laughed as Devin's cheeks burnt red. It was a true moment of peace and happiness and I savoured it all. Storing these memories to hold onto.

After our laughter died down. Tate pulled me into his arms kissing me in front of the others. Devin somewhere behind us mumbled to get a room. He pulled away. Tate's face had gotten more serious.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nolan's waking up. He's half out of it but in a few hours he should be ready to question".