3. Twenty- nine

~ Harper’s POV ~

Call it a gut feeling but I knew the exact moment Zara reached the pack house. The awareness began as a slow tingling sensation that spread slowly to my fingertips, which itched to touch her. 

I was sitting in my office when I sensed her in front of the pack house, which could only mean one thing, the mate bond was getting stronger. I could feel it getting stronger, maybe the silver Zara was wearing wasn't as effective anymore. 

Before I knew what I was doing, I was bounding down the steps as fast as I could to see her. It didn't matter that I had only seen and talked to her a couple of hours ago, I just wanted to be where she was. 

I stopped in my tracks when I reached the landing of the pack house and stared at the car Zara was sitting in. With that rogue Ethan. I could see they were looking at each other and it made me uncomfortable, like I was intruding on a private moment and my wolf hated the feeling. 

They were staring intently into each other's eyes, not talking, and I felt my spine shiver in response. A rather unpleasant shiver. 

It seemed as if at any moment either of them would just lean towards the other and they would kiss. The vivid picture of them kissing in front of me sent a fiery sensation through my veins and before I knew it, I had climbed the stairs and rapped hard on the car's window. It was the only thing I could come up with at such short notice which would break the intense stare-down between them. 

Well, besides throwing the door open and tearing Ethan's throat apart with my bare hands. That would be complicated. 

They immediately broke out of the trance they were in. I turned around and without looking back at either of them, went inside the pack house. 

I might have been able to restrain myself from blowing Ethan apart at that moment, but that doesn't mean my wolf wasn't itching to do so. I climbed up the stairs again as fast as I could and reached my office. 

I took several deep breaths to calm myself down but my wolf kept edging me to go after Ethan. It took me several minutes to make him understand that killing Ethan would not help me at all. If I killed Ethan now, Zara would kill me. 

I had planned to be there for Zara's first training session and watch over her, to see how she was doing and give her some pointers that she would be able to use in case she needed to defend herself but I never thought I would be thrown off course by that rogue. 

I slumped down on my desk to calm my wolf down. He was still restless and wanted to go after Ethan. He was a werewolf, which meant he knew what mates meant, so why was he acting like this?! Granted, he was also Zara's batair, or so he said, but there's a limit to his protection. 

I laid my head down on the hard desk, contemplating about what I should do now. I wanted to watch Zara train amongst the pack members, so even if I watched her through a window, I would do it. 

I quickly walked over to a window that would give me a full view of the backyard below and I saw the members running laps around the backyard. I chuckled as I recalled how grueling it used to be because the warrior demanded I and Aiden run another ten rounds because we were going to be the alpha and beta of the pack respectively. The warrior had said that it would inspire other wolves to do their best and would inspire loyalty.

I clenched my fists as the image of Aiden lying in a hospital bed flashed behind my eyes. Before coming here, I had visited his doctor and he was hopeful about Aiden's recovery. His wolf was healthy and it was only a matter of time before he woke up. 

Aiden has been by my side for as long as I can remember and to not see him every time, I look over my shoulder, a part of me feels incomplete. I knew I valued Aiden but I never fully understood the impact of his presence in my life before. 

I opened my eyes to watch the wolves run. My eyes immediately sought out Zara, who wasn't at the last of the line. My eyes narrowed as I watched her run, her form looked correct and her muscles tense. It was surprising to see that she was ahead of some werewolves and I felt proud as I watched her complete her round. She sat down on the ground and fought to catch her breath and I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips. 

I eyed the young wolf who had completed his rounds last and had to run five more. I turned away from the window and leaned against the wall. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to control my breathing. I would have to get used to the fact that I was going to see Zara around that rogue and I would have to work hard to school my emotions and keep a calm facade. 

After a few deep breaths, I climbed down the steps and walked towards the backyard of the pack house, where the wolves would now be practicing hand-to-hand combat. 

I crossed my arms over my chest as I saw how all the wolves had broken up into groups of two and were practicing combat. My eyes moved over the groups to find where Zara was. 

My eyes narrowed as I saw her circling Ethan, which was wrong. Ethan and Zara didn't have the same skill set. The warrior I had assigned to watch over the practice sessions would have seen to it that both Ethan and Zara would be partnered with people of their skill set. I frowned as I noticed that the warrior was talking over the phone and so, I took off in their direction to split them apart. 

I paused in my way as I watched them land and dodge blow at each other. My eyes followed every movement Zara made, the flex of her shoulders, her stance, and the grip of her legs. She moved fluidly and I suddenly understood why she had that sly look on her face when I suggested she join the training session today. It was because she had already started training herself and wanted me to show how well she was doing. 

As if sensing the weight of my gaze, she turned around and her eyes met mine. She seemed a little breathless, which was understandable because she was a human fighting a wolf. She looked flushed and her face was taut with concentration. Her muscles subconsciously relaxed when our eyes met and her lips tipped up in a smile. I felt pride bloom in my chest as I saw how well she kept up with Ethan.

"Alpha, could you please help us with this?" I peeled my eyes away from Zara to look at two girls who were struggling to perform a defense maneuver. I stepped forward and gave them a few pointers, where they should plant their feet and how they should weave their hips to deliver the motion perfectly. I moved from group to group, imparting advice and congratulating the wolves who needed it. 

I had moved quite a distance from where I had started but it was no surprise when my ears caught on to Zara's boisterous laugh. I turned around and walked a couple of steps in her direction to look at what she was laughing about. 

The fire burned beneath my skin as I watched her lying on the ground with that rogue on top of her. They were both laughing and I felt a white-hot rage bubble inside me. My wolf roared inside my head. 

I knew my wolf was getting anxious because my mate was under another wolf in front of the whole pack. Jealousy burned inside him. Catching on to his intentions, I immediately turned around so that I wouldn't be able to see them directly.

My wolf growled inside my head and fought with me for total control. I tried talking to get him to calm down but he snarled at me and pushed me away to get control. I resisted as best as I could but it was no surprise when I hunched forward and felt myself shifting into my white wolf. 

I growled out loud. Which halted their laughter and everyone on the grounds turned to look at me. My wolf was eager to get the two of them apart and he didn't care in what way. 

Before I could reel him in, my wolf bounded towards the pair on the grounds who were still laughing, and with all the precision of a trained killer, I clamped my jaws around Ethan's shoulder and threw him away from my mate. My wolf growled in pride as I watched him fly away and land against a tree. 

If he knew what was good for him, he would stay down and not instigate my wolf in a power struggle. I wasn't disappointed though, when he stood up and turned into his midnight black wolf and growled back at me. The fact that we had the exact opposite coat color wasn't lost on me. 

The black wolf in front of me didn't look even the least bit threatening to me and so I confidently prepared for a fighting stance when I saw him run towards me. If Ethan was exactly who he says he is, he knew that there was no way he would win this fight against me but I guess I would have to give him so props for trying. 

I snarled at him and bit him when he came close to me. We writhed and tried to bite chunks of flesh from each other. All thoughts of propriety went away as I bit into him and his blood streaked my white fur. 

I didn't care that my pack was watching me fight with Ethan. Hell, they knew that Zara was my mate and they would expect nothing less from me because seeing your mate with another person was just beyond unacceptable to your wolf. 

He managed to get on my back and it took me a second to get him off and throw him away from me. He landed on all fours and poised to strike me again but before he could run towards me, I growled at him, infusing my alpha power in it, forcing him to submit. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed every pack member go down on their knees. They couldn't have possibly neglected the alpha command in my growl. It irked me that Ethan still stood tall, even though I could see his wolf fighting against his intuition to submit to me. 

I growled again, infusing my alpha compulsion, and huffed in pride when Ethan finally bowed into submission in front of me. I stood tall for a second or two and rejoiced in the fact that he had submitted to me. 

My eyes snapped to Zara, the only person who was oblivious to the alpha authority in my voice. I couldn't fathom what she was thinking and because my wolf was still feeling restless, I turned around and ran towards the woods.