Grace of a Wolf (by Lenaleia) novel Chapter 211

211 Grace: Ron’s Not Like the Others

“Oh, that’s sweet,” I tell Ron, meaning it despite the hollow feeling spreading through

1. me.

Meanwhile, the Lycan King stares at us with a deep frown before he steps over to my side. He leans down, his hot breath brushing my ear as he whispers, “Were you planning on leaving me, Grace?”

“You think that’s a good idea, too?” Ron asks Caine, his voice steady but excitement visible in his shining, dark eyes. His hands keep clenching and unclenching, and I’ve never seen him so animated. 1

I stare at the now–conscious Lycan’s mangled shoulder. Blood flows freely from the bite wound, and yet both men are standing there like it never even happened. He’s

even smiling.

I squint at Ron, not sure if I should believe him or not. On one hand, he than I am. On the other, he’s literally grown up as a shifter, so he would not what they taught in class here.”

“Was it peaceful?”

“Alpha… sorry, Brax always said violent wolves were uneducated wolves. Did Fiddleback have a lot of alpha challenges…?”

“She won’t need a place in your pack.”

n younger

1. w. “That’s

“Of course not.” He rolls his eyes. “Why would they teach a weaker pack they’re weak? He was probably hiding it to seem like he was a strong alpha.”

Oh.

I hesitate before nodding. Brax’s reputation is what it is, even if it’s starting to feel a little… spoonfed, compared to what Ron’s saying. “Yeah. He was.”

“Right.”

“Yeah, so?”

“You should probably just go inside,” I tell Ron uncertainly. New to parenting or not, even I know children shouldn’t be exposed to this level of violence. I very clearly

211 Grace: Ron’s Not Like the Others

remember my dad covering my eyes and my mom covering my cars during certain parts of superhero movies at the tender age of six, and those were the ones made for

kids.

I smack his hands away, a lump forming in my throat. How is it possible to feel proud and heartbroken at the same time? “Okay. I’ll hold you to it.”

The possessive edge in Caine’s voice could easily be annoying, but something warm flutters in my heart instead. But he isn’t the problem here, so I focus on the teenager.

“How do you know all this?”

His expression doesn’t change. “An alpha’s heir learns starting before the age of ten. He’s already late.”

He shakes his head with the certainty of someone much older. “I need to start planning my future. I need to make a safe place for people like us. Like you, too. Fiddleback isn’t the only place we’re in danger.”

They both ignore me completely.

And he probably has. It does give me a little pause, but I defend his inn ence to the death with a faint, “That’s not the point.”

He rolls his eyes. “Who doesn’t?”

I blink. “No. Isn’t it completely from bloodline?”

Ron ruffles my hair with a grin. “Don’t worry. You’ll still be my big sister even when I’m the alpha of my own pack.”

Ron’s finger taps against the back of my hands, where I’ye plastered them over his eyes to save his innocent teenage soul,

Rubbing at my eyebrow, I let out a little sigh. “Okay. I get it. This level of violence is nothing and normal and I shouldn’t overreact.”

Caine’s gaze flicks to me, then back to Ron. “In five years he’ll be the perfect age to spread his wings. Don’t you want him to be successful?”

My shoulders droop.

All this time, while I’ve been thinking of him as just the oldest of the children, he’s been

<

211 Grace: Ron’s Not Like the Others

carrying this burden. This vision… How many nights has he lain awake, planning how

to protect the others if and when Owen can no longer do so?

Ron leans forward with a strange gleam in his eye. “Was your Alpha really considered strong in this area?”

“Isn’t that because they’re… Lycans?”

“But he’s so young…” I protest weakly, knowing I’ve already lost this argument.

He snorts. “I can assure you, I’ve seen worse.”

Something in my chest twinges–a strange mix of pride and loss. When did my reliable, protective Ron start thinking about being an alpha? About leading? I look between them, feeling suddenly like I’m watching something being snatched from my grasp.

“You didn’t even have a chance to be a kid,” I murmur, my heart twisting painfully. “You deserve a chance to be a kid. Is it really time to be worrying about this?”

“Nah, he’s weak. If your ex is the the new alpha of this pack, it mean strongest after your alpha, right?” 1

was the

My spine stiffens as I look between them. The subtext isn’t even subtext–it’s practically written in neon. “Are you trying to say Ron should challenge and take over one of these packs?”

Ron claps my shoulder, his expression unexpectedly serious. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure there’s room for you in the pack, too.”

I blink. “How is that so?”

you mean?”

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