Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 18

Karina smiled. "So you assume I am an alpha? Would that not make me selfish for leaving my pack?"

Sierra blushed. "I didn't mean that..."

The she-wolf laughed, letting Sierra know that she'd just been joking with her.

"Do not worry. I am not an alpha. I do not know of any born female alphas amongst our kind. For us it is not like it is with our wild relatives. I am a beta."

That answered a lot of Sierra's questions, but at the same time gave rise to more.

"I didn't know there were any betas," She confessed. She hesitated for a moment. "You don't get 'born female alphas'? Does that mean you do get female alphas - as in betas who take over leadership of a pack?"

Karina confirmed her suspicion with a nod. "It is not often that a beta will ascend to an alpha position. Most often they are just ready to assume leadership if there is a need, then they back off when no longer required. Both my sister and I were born betas, so there was no need for us both to remain with the pack. Staying would have lead to friction, so I left."

"Oh," was all Sierra could say for the moment, her mind working feverishly to assimilate the information.

They passed under the stone entryway to the courtyard and started crossing over the cobblestone paving.

"Are... are all betas born female?" Sierra ventured.

Karina smiled at her with approval. "Yes."

"That's awesome..." Sierra breathed in wonder.

She'd always had a strong interest in the workings of the animal kingdom and this was just one more facet of it that she knew nothing about.

Karina paused with her finger on the latch and glanced back at Sierra.

"I like you. You're open, intelligent and interesting. If you were not already acquainted with my species, I would be glad to share it with you," she mused.

Sierra felt like she'd been slapped across the face with a big book, she was so stunned by that unexpected announcement. Warm and fuzzy didn't even begin to describe her inner emotional state. Karina smiled pleasantly at her and left her standing in the courtyard. It took her a little while for her to recover from her daze.

By the time she made her way up to the great hall, she found everyone preparing to sit down to dinner. She bolted upstairs, virtually gave herself a fresh paint-job with her deodorant can, and then pulled on some clean clothes. She hoped it would be enough to mask her smell a little. It wasn't. She got more than just a few nasty looks when she appeared at dinner, causing her to cringe inwardly while blushing outwardly. Devon even made a point of putting extra space between them. Luc, on the other hand, did not seem to mind. She smiled at him appreciatively before tucking into her food, making a mental note to always either shower before dinner or eat once everyone else was done in future.

That night's training with Adele actually seemed to be an improvement on all her previous combat training sessions. Somehow, something was coming together between all the elements she'd been learning. Sierra's response time was also improving. She was no where near proficient, but she was excited to note the difference. It made her feel that she might actually just stand a chance if she kept working hard enough at it.

At the end of the session she flopped to the ground again, exhausted. She took the water that Adele offered her and sipped heavily from the bottle.

"My mother is getting suspicious," Adele informed her out of the blue.

"Is that what earlier was about? Oh Adele I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get you into any trouble!"

The youth waved her concerns aside.