Leaning back on the bleachers, my brows are furrowed in concentration as I watch my warriors run through combat techniques with this year's cadets. I taught every warrior here, every one of them are lethal and loyal. I pride myself in bringing out the best skillset for every wolf that I train, developing their wolves' natural abilities whether that's tracking, combat, enforcement or battle logistics. I've always had a good intuition for it...until now.

My eyes instinctively seek out Alice in the crowd. I watch her more than I'd ever admit to anyone else. My wolf growls in mind when we spot her sparing with a warrior, and she gets thrown hard to the ground yet again. I run a hand through my hair irritated, my wolfs just as frustrated as I am with Alice.

The truth is Alice is overspilling with potential, but I just can't work out how to get the best out of her and it's driving me fucking crazy.

Her wolf is...well if I'm being truly honest...her wolf is the most beautiful creature I've even laid eyes on. Not only is she agile and athletic which makes her perfect for fast sprints, but her silver fur with a slight blue flex throughout also make her simply breath-taking. The fact she's been listed as a category three, a danger to the pack, is utterly laughable when all I've witnessed her do is play around like a brand-new pup after their first shift.

Getting her to run at full speed within the month Drakes given me just seems so impossible at this stage, something is blocking her abilities. At this point I'm gonna have to start thinking outside the box or just quit on her.

My wolf whines in my head as my eyes flick back to Alice once more as I see blood running down her forearm from yet another tackle she's failed to block, making me sigh.

That's my other concern, my wolf.

My wolf's notorious for being a brutal motherfucker, never taking any shit when someone foolishly challenges him, always quick to put a wolf in their place and he's sure as shit not known for his patience. Most wolves are naturally submissive to him because of this but he's like a different animal completely around Alice's wolf.

Once we ran to Martha's ridge yesterday, he just lay down, head on paws and watched her dance and yelp about for the hour as she played in the water and ran up and down the riverbanks. Not once did he growl at her when she nipped at his ears, nor did he snap at her when she kept nuzzling her head against his sides trying to get him to play with her.

He likes her, I know his does.

His growing attachment to Alices wolf is getting hard to ignore, it's also making training her in one-to-one sessions harder for me. For the first time ever, I'm feeling lost on what to do and I hate how that feels. Drake might be right, maybe I will have to cut Wonderland from the squad when the months out.

"Hey man, can I sit?"

I pull my eyes away from Alice and look sideways to see Beta Jay heading my way. I've not talked to him since I punched him a few days ago. My jaw clenches on instinct, I'm still pissed with him for being a part of this mess.

"Hey." I say back emotionlessly.

Beta Jay slumps down in the chair next to me, flicking his hair out of his eyes like usual before he stills in his seat and looks over the arena in silence next to me.

"Look man, I'm sorry. I know I've not handled this well." Jay sighs.

I scoff at him but say nothing but continue to watch my cadets. But Jay's not done talking.

"Alice...she means...fuck...she means a lot to me." Jays says turning to me.

I roll my eyes at his comment, "I get that you feel you have a responsibility for her Jay, but you're not her big brother."

Jay shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "That's not how I see her." Jay says quietly.

This time I side glance at Jay and see that he's staring intently at Alice who's still across the arena training, still not giving in even though she's been knocked down again and again this last hour. Jay's eyes rack over her athletic body taking in every curve of her form hungrily.

Fuck.

If my wolf wasn't pissed at Jay before, he's ready to chew his fucking arm off right now for how he's looking at her. If I'm being really honest, it gets my back up as well.

"Are you planning on claiming Alice?" I snarl out, the words falling out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Jay's eyes snap to mine as if he's shocked that I've worked out his plan. 

"Fuck man. I know it's crazy. I kept my distance like her dad wanted till she turned of age, but I've always kept tabs on how she's been doing. I mean...she'd be a great Beta female, right? Then she'd be away from danger and could help me with all the pack paperwork. She's clever, hardworking plus look at her, she's stunning!" Jays says to me...

...but all I keep hearing are the words 'Beta female' repeating over and over in my head... the rest of the conversation falls away. I pinch the bridge of my nose as I feel a headache starting to build with how much my wolf is thrashing in my head, begging me to let him run out.

"You OK man?" Jay whacks me on my shoulder bringing me out of my daze.

I shoot to my feet, combing a hand through my hair to try and calm my shit down. What the fuck is wrong with me? I don't want Alice, sure my wolf has a soft spot for her, but it's not like we wanna claim her to be the Gamma Female.

The huge roar in my head tells me that my wolf is not on the same page as me.

"I've got a killer headache forming. I took a big hit sparing this morning. You good to watch over my group for a few hours?" I lie, already walking away before Jay can agree.

"Umm sure, yeah no worries, man. I got them." He calls back after me, I don't even bother turning back to thank him.

As soon as round the corner out of view of the bleachers, I shift, instantly shredding my clothes as I do, before racing off into the forest to have it out with my wolf. We've a few things to discuss away from anyone else.

I've never wanted a mate.

I have no intentions of ever taking on a Gamma female, she'll just make me weak like my father became when he met my mother.

If Jay wants Alice to be his Beta female, that's a good thing. Right? Because one thing I know for certain, I will never claim Alice Green as mine.