Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 10

His knuckles pop as his hands momentarily clench into fists. One did not fear the outburst, it was the silence that could be the most terrifying. Experienced in battle, a veteran did not lose his cool. "Returned home? Did your father tell you that was his home? Acer was born in England, not in Norway and if you read a damned book, you'd understand he was not at all loyal to his people or our ways. Weakness." He takes a step towards her, Echo wrinkles his nose in defiance. 

"Acer sold out his own people for a whore house. Damned we'll all be if we trust a bloody neutral to run anything beyond the whores, good they are to any proper society. It is not your place to tell alpha's what to do, so I highly suggest you take your cavalier ways back to Norway with you or fall into line where you belong. Lest I show you what a true dominant looks like." 

Echo's hand shoots to the hilt of her sword and it's Tonic who grabs her while I rush to put my hands on Verando's chest and block the escalation. It would have been much easier if he didn't smell so damned good, I swallow back the urge to act on impulses as I wait for the room to return to some semblance of calm. My eyes meet his, holding his gaze in a silent stand off that apologized and yet refused to yield. 

It might not be right, it might not be the way he would do it, but I owed it to myself to try. "You said yourself that someone else might fair better in training me." I remind him. 

"Not a neutral." His voice is hard, teeth gritted. 

"Kestrel will be there." Shaking his head, I know he wants to distance himself. He wants to push me away, he wants to put me in my place for defying him and his love for me prevents him from doing just that. I feel the dull ache for structure, the need to be dominated or to dominate. "You won't correct me. If you won't correct me, how can you train me?"

"We are in a relationship, a relationship is not decided by rank. I understand that we have our own unique dynamic but could you ever look at me the same again if I treated you how I treated my men? If I held you to that standard?" He had me dead to rights because the truth is, I wouldn't. I couldn't live that way, not held under his thumb like a soldier in his army. "We are civilized, the war is over, the goal is to control the wolf."

Helen exhales, running a hand through her hair, torn as I was. "Papa, I want to be in a pack. I want to do all of the things I would have done before it was practically illegal to be what I am. If something happens, if Caspian comes back-"

"I'm dealing with Caspian." I touch his chest, trying to soothe the tremble in his body. 

"We all need to be ready. Echo's methods are working." She tells him firmly. I don't feel victorious, I feel sick to my stomach. I feel like we are betraying him because, in a way, we are. A wealth of knowledge at our finger tips, were we really making the right choice with Echo?

Tonic tilts his head to catch Helen's attention, his face composed. He reminded me so much of the Tonic I knew before the madness; before he became deranged. "I've spent time in Norway with Echo, I know what you're talking about. It's fun to run and hunt and behave as we naturally might." He admits, the metallic clank of his robotic arm makes me shudder. "But, you know who taught me how to fight and who taught me how to win. Echo triggers your change, she's not teaching you how to control the wolf, only bring it out."

Echo flashes her teeth, body visibly bristled. Instinctively, I inch closer to my warlord who has little interest in anything to do with me. He brushes me out of the way, scalded by my betrayal. I can't say that I blame him, either. "The wolf doesn't need to be commanded, it needs to be set free, only then can you truly bond. We are not its master."

"Until someone pisses you off and you slaughter a whole town." Tonic's retort is dry, matter of fact. "Without obedience comes a lack of control. What we have now is complicated but we have to find a way to make it work... we can not operate as wild animals in public."