I grab three trays and head to my father’s old office. The door is closed and I’m about to knock before walking in when I hear Christian talking.
“You’ll get there, Shane. No one expects you to know everything today. I promise I won’t let you fail. We have a year and a half before you go to the Academy and after that, if you need me to stay on as a consultant or a mentor, I would be happy to do it.”
“It just … it all seems so overwhelming,” Shane says. Even through the door, I can hear how defeated he sounds.
“It’s going to feel overwhelming, probably for a while. You just lost your parents, your Beta was turning the pack against you, you and your sister are both underage, and now, we’re adding pack management to your already overwhelmed mind. Let’s take a break. Enya should be here soon with lunch anyway. After lunch, we’ll go spar, let you work out some frustrated energy and if you’re ready and able after dinner, we’ll come back to it. If not, we’ll run patrols. Then, we’ll sit and talk, like we did last night. Okay?” Christian says.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” Shane says, and I can hear the relief in his voice. “I don’t think … no, I know I couldn’t have done this without your support.”
“And you were smart enough to contact the Council for help. It takes a strong person, a strong Alpha, to recognize that they need help and to ask for it. I promise, I won’t let you fail,” Christian says, just as I feel him open up the mind link to me.
‘Hey, just wanted an approximate timeframe on lunch,‘ he says.
knock on the door. ‘It’s here.‘
“Perfect timing,” I hear him say. Rather than walking in, I wait for him to open the door, since I know my brother will want to collect himself before seeing me.
Christian opens the door and immediately takes the tray from my arms. “Something smells good,” he says, stepping aside to let me in.
“French dip sandwiches with bread made fresh by our omegas, and homemade chips,” I say.
“Ahh, my favorite,” Shane says, walking over. “Thanks, sis.”
“Nothing but the best for my favorite brother,” I tell him, making him chuckle.
Rather than putting me straight to work, Christian has the three of us sit at the table.
“So, I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to either of you casually like this. I thought we could take some time now to get to know each other. Tell me about yourselves,” he says.
“What do you want to know?” I ask him, frowning as I watch Shane bite into a quarter of the sandwich.
“What?” he asks with his mouth full of food.
I just shake my head at him and focus on my own food.
“What do you like to do in your spare time?” Christian asks.
wolf
“Well, I don’t have much of that these days, but I like to take my out for runs and I like to read at night. It helps me to quiet my mind before I go to sleep,” I say. Shane snorts.
Christian turns to him. “What’s funny about that?”
“The part about it quieting her mind. Enya has been known to stay up half the night finishing a book then suffering for it during sparring practice the next day,” Shane says, grinning at me.
“Well, some books are too good to put down,” I say, scowling at him.
“Yeah, I know all about THOSE books,” he says, making me blush.
Christian glances at me but thankfully doesn’t ask any more about my choice of books. So what if I like steamy novels? It’s not like I have any other experience or knowledge.
“Maybe we can take our wolves for a run together in the next couple of days. I’d like to see your wolf, be able to recognize her by sight,” he
says.
“Good luck keeping up with my sister. She’s fast,” Shane says proudly.
“That doesn’t surprise me. She’s fast in warrior training too,” Christian says, smiling at me.
My cheeks flame again at the praise, and I look down, focusing on my food.
“What about you, Shane?” Christian asks, redirecting the conversation.
I listen, making comments here and there, but as usual when I’m around Christian, I’m completely flustered.
When my brother is done, I look at Christian.
“What about you, Christian? What do you do in your spare time?” I ask him.
“Well, I haven’t had any spare time in the last six months. I’ve only
been out of the Academy for a couple of weeks and the Academy keeps you very busy. Any free time you have there is usually taken up with studying,” he says.