Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 211: Grace: Ron's Not Like the Others

Caine and the Lycan both look a little too smug when they look in my direction, leavingfeeling a little

uneasy, like I'm missing something. But the feeling’s not nearly as strong as the shock from watching Fenris take

a bite out of someone's shoulder.

Ron's finger taps against the back of my hands, where I've plastered them over his eyes to save his innocent

teenage soul.

"Can | look yet?"

| stare at the now-conscious Lycan’s mangled shoulder. Blood flows freely from the bite wound, and yet both men

are standing there like it never even happened. He's even smiling.

"You should probably just go inside," | tell Ron uncertainly. New to parenting or not, even | know children

shouldn't be exposed to this level of violence. | very clearly remember my dad covering my eyes and my mom

covering my ears during certain parts of superhero movies at the tender age of six, and those were the ones

made for kids.

He snorts. "I can assure you, I've seen worse."

And he probably has. It does givea little pause, but | defend his innocence to the death with a faint, "That's

not the point."

"Actually, it kind of is," Ron argues, then wraps his fingers around my wrist and pulls my hand down by force.

He's stronger than | expected him to be, leavinga little nonplussed.

The Lycan only catches his interest for a second. "Oh, it’s not even that bad."

| stare at him in disbelief, then back at the wound where Fenris’s teeth tore through muscle. "Don’t make it

sound so normal," | say, feeling queasy as another pulse of blood oozes down.

Ron looks atand snorts again. "Welcto shifter life, Grace. Are you sure you were raised in a pack?"

"Yes!" My attention successfully diverted, | fight the childish urge to stomp my feet. It won't helpgain some

sort of parental authority in his eyes. "I lived here for six years, under the previous Alpha."

"Was it peaceful?"

"Very." Old, instinctive pride hasprattling on, "Alpha had complete control over the pack and a great rapport

with the neighboring packs. It was rare for us to even have an issue with rogues..."

But my voice trails off as | realize I'm still speaking like Alpha’s proud daughter, without even thinking about it.

My tongue twists like it would from eating sour candy and I grimace.

But the teenager doesn’t seem to notice as he says, "Oh, they must all be weak, then."

1 blink. "How is that so?"

"There's no such thing as a strong wolf pack without violence. Even | know that."

The way he talks, so matter-of-fact, makes my skin crawl a little. "What do you mean?"

"Um. Having a strong leader raises strong wolves. We're all attracted to a strong alpha, which means we grow up

stronger ourselves. Didn't you know a strong alpha’s leadership causes more alphas to be born?"

I blink. "No. Isn’t it completely from bloodline?"

"It's like, seventy-five percent bloodline and twenty-five percent alpha. It’s why rogues almost never birth alphas,

and the Lycan Pack has more alphas per birth than other packs."

"Isn’t that because they're... Lycans?"

"No, it's because they're already strong."

| squint at Ron, not sure if | should believe him or not. On one hand, he’s even younger than | am. On the other,

he’s literally grown up as a shifter, so he would know. "That's not what they taught in class here."

"Of course not." He rolls his eyes. "Why would they teach a weaker pack they're weak? He was probably hiding it

to seem like he was a strong alpha."

"No, he wasn’t weak..." He was well-respected in the area and had good leadership. But | don’t really know

details beyond that. It wasn't like Brax ever really taughtanything; I'm just repeating what I've heard over

time.

"Nah, he’s weak. If your ex is the the new alpha of this pack, it means he was the strongest after your alpha,

right?"

“Right.”

Ron shakes his head with a sneer. "He's weaker than | am. The reason you didn’t see violence is because no one

was strong enough to challenge anyone. Alphas fight a lot. Alpha challenges happen all the twhen young

alphas grow up to adulthood. Stuff like that," and he points at the Lycan and Caine, who are smiling strangely in

our direction, "is normal."

"Weren't you raised with Owen?" As in, not in a pack.

"Yeah, so?"

"How do you know all this?"

He rolls his eyes. "Who doesn’t?"

Me, apparently.

"Alpha... sorry, Brax always said violent wolves were uneducated wolves. Did Fiddleback have a lot of alpha

challenges...?"

"No one lived long enough to challenge him."

Oh.

My heart drops a little at the dark turn our conversation’s taken. Try saving a kid from seeing sgore and

suddenly things go sideways.

Rubbing at my eyebrow, | let out a little sigh. "Okay. | get it. This level of violence is nothing and normal and |

shouldn't overreact."

Ron leans forward with a strange gleam in his eye. "Was your Alpha really considered strong in this area?"

| hesitate before nodding. Brax’s reputation is what it is, even if it's starting to feel a little... spoonfed, compared

to what Ron's saying. "Yeah. He was."

"Interesting." His expression turns thoughtful, but | have no idea what he’s thinking.

Caine comes toward us then, with the Lycan now nowhere to be seen. It’s a little relieving to know he isn't

around; his hatred towardisn’t the kind of thing to subside so easily, right? No matter what orders Caine

gives.

"Brax was considered a strong alpha for the area due to his strength in diplomacy," he says calmly, his gaze

resting on Ron. "He had strong backings among the other packs and led a large faction. While we usually

prioritize a more physical strength, Brax had his own talents to make up for his lack of physical strength. It's how

he lasted so long."

It starts off a little shocking to hear anything even mildly complimentary toward Brax coming out of the mouth of

the man who killed him, but the rest of it kind of sounds... not so much.

"With his passing, the alliances he’s created will fall over the next few years," Caine continues, his gray eyes

fixed meaningfully on Ron. "It will be a good chance for those who want to take it."

My spine stiffens as | look between them. The subtext isn’t even subtext—it’s practically written in neon. "Are

you trying to say Ron should challenge and take over one of these packs?"

He's a kid. A teenager. He should be worrying about normal teenage things, not pack politics and alpha

challenges.

They both ignorecompletely.

"You think that’s a good idea, too?" Ron asks Caine, his voice steady but excitement visible in his shining, dark

eyes. His hands keep clenching and unclenching, and I've never seen him so animated.

The Lycan King says, still calm in the face of adolescent exuberance, "As long as you train for it. You can follow