Ch. 24：Let's tango

After the announcement at the hall, Madison and Isabelle made it their mission to badger me for details. I told them I wanted to hang out with Adriana since Jason was busy looking for a solution to our problem, but that did not deter them. Not even a little. They questioned me in front of Addy.
By the time night came, I was spent. All I looked forward to was just cuddling with Jason to sleep. Which we did, then we had an early morning sex and a ‘be careful’ sex, as he prepared to leave for Killian's pack.
“Is there anyone that can perform the ritual for us?” I asked “Lyla and Wyatt are the oldest in the pack, but only Lyla is fit enough to perform it” he said as he put on his shirt, I got up and helped him with it.
“Can she do it for us?” “I'll ask her when I get back” he said “but we'll only do it if you are absolutely sure you want to” “I am” I said. “Okay” he nodded.
“I don't want you to shift in front of everyone today. You can select a few that you think you can trust” Jason said." Listen to Athena. She'll know who to trust”
I nodded and asked “What about you?” “I am going to try and convince a maniac werewolf to work with us,” he shrugged. “don't come back with injuries,” I said, “and try not to die.” “I won't,” he leaned down and kissed me. This kiss was different, it was slow.
It held all of his emotions for me. His love, his worries, his feelings. He channelled it all into the kiss and I reciprocated.
As usual he made breakfast for Adriana and I before he left. The little things like this that he does makes me love him even more. Oh my God! I love him!. I don't know when it happened or how it happened. I just do. There's only one thing left to do. Tell him.
***
I leave to join the rest of the pack for training. I receive looks, some in respect, others distrust. Mostly from Allison and her click. She walked up to me immediately thy were done with their training “You couldn't wait to dig your claws into him”
I release Athena's full aura as I spoke “You are being disrespectful Allison. I might have allowed you to talk to me this way before, but I will not take any disrespect from you now” the two others with her backed down and submitted while Allison hesitated.
She walked away after some of the guys came to stand behind me. The silent move of theirs was a declaration that they already saw me as their Luna and I couldn't be more grateful.
Few days of training with Carlton and I'm beating everyone on the field. Carlton was right, I did make some of the guys cry at the sound of their ego breaking.
I shift in front of Luke and Carlton after everyone leaves. the size of Athena shocks them both. “Wanna fight or what?” I said to Carlton provocatively through the mind link.
“Oh let's tango, Luna” Carlton and shifted. The look of excitement on Luke's face as he watched was so obvious. “Ready?” He asked us both and we growled in response “go!” We wasted no time lunching at each other.
As we land on our paws, Carlton wastes no time lunging for me again, his muscles rippling with power. He left no opening for me unlike Josh. Josh was distracted but still held his own against me, but Carlton was focused.
Thank the moon goddess for my speed. It must have had to do with my air affinity. I was fast and was able to dodge with fluid movement. He called it muscle memory.
Luke just stood on the side cheering us on “do better Carlton!” “Go for his legs Luna!” He kept yelling at both of us. He was enjoying this way too much
We snarled, circling each other. I made a split second decision to launch a swift attack at him. Carlton countered with brute force and we clashed mid air.
Neither of us are willing to yield or give an opening. “You almost have him, Luna!. Just tire him out!” Luke yelled from the side laughing at Carlton, who snarled at him.
As the battle intensified, our emotions swirled—a mix of tension, anticipation, and respect for each other. The adrenaline buzz was intoxicating.
In a decisive moment, as Carlton seized an opening, Luke's voice rose above the fray, “Carlton, wait!"
His interruption caught Carlton's attention, momentarily distracting him. I seized the opportunity, swiftly manoeuvred and delivered a calculated strike that caught Carlton off-guard. With a powerful lunge, I managed to destabilise Carlton, sending him crashing to the floor.
We both shift and I high five Luke. “You cheated,” Carlton said, pointing at both of us. “There was no rule,” he shrugged. “There's always a rule and you know that. We were training. I'm supposed to push her to her limit” Carlton argued
“Uh. I must have forgotten. Maybe next time. Besides it’s noty fault you got distracted when I called your name.” he shrugged “sorry Carlton.” I winced in apology. I know I cheated.
“It's okay. You did good. You followed your instincts and knew when to dodge and when to attack,” he praised “most people just attack blindly with any thought of what comes next and that ends up killing them”
“Hunting for food will do that to you” I shrugged. “Good job, Ares. I like anyone that can knock out Carlton” Luke said. I like it here. I've made new friends, apart from Allison. No one really bothers me here. This pack has seen loss yet they are still welcoming to strangers.
“I'm sorry Jason made you stay behind especially since you set the meeting with them” I said to him as we walked back to the pack house. “I'm needed here. Besides, he's with Josh.” He shrugged “you know?” I asked
“He told me this morning. I know Josh is also a beta,” he paused “your beta. Which makes him higher ranking than me. So I'm fine with it. I always felt he was more on par with Jason, but now that Jason's your mate, I figured he'd do a better job protecting him over there than I would”
“How bad could this Killian possibly be?” I asked “he's not bad in the general sense, but he enjoys cracking people's defences. He's manipulative to a certain extent” he answered
“Should I be worried?” I asked like I wasn't already “I guess you've never seen Jason fight. He's all nice and shit, but when he lets Dax out, no one can stop him!” I looked at him and saw the admiration he had for his Alpha
“not even me”