Temptation.

Riverbank

Siya had been able to hole herself up in a gym for four hours before she was disturbed by her beta. He entered without warning and gave his alpha a pointed look. She stepped off the treadmill, pausing to wipe her dripping face with a towel before approaching him.

"What's up, Renald?" She asked before taking a long drink from her water bottle.

"It's noon, Alpha."

"Yeah?"

He gave her another look, crossing his arms. Siya knew she shouldn't have been at the gym this long; there were other, more proactive ways of exercising, but she wanted the privacy.

And after this morning, Siya realized that she needed to work on her muscles once more. Warriors were supposed to be a challenge, but she had become alpha, and she couldn't let a warrior change that. Irritation was beginning to pump through Siya, once more, and she felt the need to hurl her fist into the punching bag stationed across the room.

Renald noticed this aggression in his alpha, and responded by slowly inching backwards. "I mean no disrespect, Alpha, I simply mean that a few other wolves have been wondering what your absence means."

"My 'absence'?" She scoffed. "It's hardly an absence. I've been gone a few hours, Renald, why are they worrying about it?"

He shrugged. "You know they don't fully trust the Lambda pack just yet; Cedric was spitting gossip about one of the Lambdas attacking you."

"Cedric is the biggest drama queen that I've met. Remind me why he is one of my councilmen?" Siya groaned, wiping her face once more with the damp towel

"Because he was one of your most dedicated men in battle?"

She gave Renald a dirty look. "That's called sarcasm, Beta."

Renald ignored her attitude, but remained distant from the irritated alpha. He was certainly not about to risk stepping to close to the ticking time bomb. He offered peace through his words, rather than any physical attempt. "Why not shower and join everyone for dinner? Mari got her hands on enough fish for the lot of us, and it would be great to see the alpha intermingling between the packs."

"I intermingle!"

"Yes, but how many of your own wolves see this?" Renald noted. Although Siya had been very active with the former Lambda pack, she still knew there was a clear distinction between the two. Even in the dining hall, the two packs occupied separate sides from each other, rarely acknowledge the existence of one another.

"They're all my wolves" Siya corrected, but even she cringed at how weak that sounded. It was difficult to accept these others as her wolves; easier to call them a separate pack than part of her own. "But very well. I will meet you in the dining hall by dinner time."

Renald nodded and turned to leave for the room, but not before his alpha called him back.

"Tell Cedric that if he continues to spread these ridiculous rumors about his alpha, I will personally challenge him." She warned, the underlying death threat made clear between the two wolves. Challenging a wolf was a risky move as there was it was just as likely to wind up dead as it was to make it out alive, but challenging an alpha-especially one who had earned her position-was the same as signing a death wish. Between Siya and her councilman, it was clear who would come out the winner.

Siya took another moment to herself once Renald had left. As sure as she was that Cedric would cower in fear at her words, she couldn't help but wonder if she was still the strongest in her territory. Strength was only a fraction of what it took to win; critical thinking and responsiveness were just as vital, and Siya wasn't sure if she still remained top dog.