Chapter Forty

I watched Cass pale, and I wanted to hug her. So I did. “Give him a shot. He might surprise you,” I whispered in her ear, and then I gave him a small wave. Cass’s arm gripped my hand.

“Come on, little wolf, I think we have something to talk about.” Greyson stepped up next to Cass and wrapped an arm around her waist.

I pulled my hand from hers as her eyes pleaded with me. But I just gave her a wave and took off. I turned back in time to see Cass finally turn to face Greyson. She opened her mouth to say something, but he darted in and kissed her. I jumped a little before running the rest of the way to training.

“You okay?” Tina called over to me as soon as I reached the training ring.

“Yeah. Perfect. Why?”

Tina raised an eyebrow. “Your dad said you weren’t feeling well the past few days, which is why you missed training.”

“Oh right. I’m good now.” I smiled at her and dropped down to stretch next to her. “How has training been?”

“Good.” Tina bounced on her toes. “Mostly, anyway. Aurora and Amanda have been giving us some pushback, but Cass has really come into herself. A few others too. It’s been amazing to watch.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” I finished up my stretching and stood next to her. Lynn made her way over to us. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks. Now, from this point forward, I want us to separate the girls into new groups.”

“Another one?”

Lynn looked up at me and furrowed her brow. “We already have the shifted and non-shifted.”

“Yeah, but this is more the opinion of the girls.” I leaned against the fence surrounding the training circle.

“What is it?” Tina leaned next to me.

“Today I want all of us to gauge who might want to become warriors, and who are here for just regular training. This way we can set up a second training for those who want to train harder.”

“Female warriors? Here? Your dad has turned me down every time I asked him.” Tina dropped her head back. “It’s been frustrating, and I don’t want to get their hopes up again.”

“Again?”

“Last year, a group of females came to Tina and me to put in a word to the alpha to let them train to become warriors. We promised we would fight for them, but your father shot us down multiple times. And well…”

“We had to break it to them that their alpha didn’t appreciate their dedication,” Tina nearly growled.

“One second.” My mind linked to my dad. Did you really turn down women from training to be warriors?

Amy? Why are you asking?

Answer my question, Dad.

Well, yes. But why are you asking?

Because I am starting a female warrior training program to be run after I leave. It’s 2024, Dad. They can fight. And they can be better than some males. Get with the times, I nearly growled at him, and his chuckle ran through my mind.

Yes, pup.

Do you promise to allow the women to join the warriors?

Yes, pup. I know Tina and Lynn brought it up, but I didn’t think there were a lot of girls that wanted to join. What does it matter?

I don’t know. He sounded a little bewildered. But I promise you they will be tested just like the men, and if they make it, then they are in.

Good. Love you, Dad.

Love you too, pup.

I closed my link and looked to the women. “He just agreed. He seemed a little confused that there were more than a few wanting to join.”

“Why does it matter how many want to join?” Tina tossed her arms up.

“Men are stupid,” Lynn grumbled.

I just nodded and waited for the rest of the girls to show up. Once I saw a beat-red Cass run into the training ring, I walked up to the group. “Ladies. Today we are going to continue with our training, but there is one extra thing. When one of us comes over to check on you, if you want a chance to join the ranks of warriors in this pack, let us know. I’m going to have a second training session in the morning put together for those interested in getting ready to test to become one of the warriors. Once you make it, if you want to train harder, it will be up to Ronnie and Beck to train you to get into the elites.”

“You think we can become elites?” Tara called out.

“Why not? One of the best elites employed by the council is a female wolf. Her name is Clair. You can do anything you put your mind to.” I looked over and made eye contact with Cass. “Anything.”