8. Chase

Chapter eight

Chase

The blistering sun beat down on Chase, making the sweat roll down his skin and dampen his clothes. Being on top of a mountain wasn’t exactly the best when it came to the heat in their kingdom. It meant they were close to the sun, and the heat was brutal. However, the altitude was good for training. It gave them all a chance to work in harder conditions. The air was thinner up here–not by much, but enough. It gave them an edge, which was the perfect way to reshape this pack.

Under the other Alpha, he only wanted the males to be trained to fight. Chase thought that was stupid. The females could learn how to fight, and most of the time, they just watched from afar and applied it with their mates at home. Chase was one of them who occasionally checked in to ensure the males taught the women some form of hand-to-hand. If an enemy came knocking, they wouldn’t stop just because it was a woman—Lycans who had lost control of themselves only see enemies, not genders.

I’ll be damned if I will allow an enemy to have an advantage over us. These assholes already think they can just take over any pack they want. I won’t stand for that.

Chase had the entire pack, with the exception of the two pups that were currently running circles around them, all standing in the biggest area they could find by the packhouse. There was an open plot of land with no trees in sight in the back. It was just big enough to hold them all, and the trees weren’t thick to where they would lose sight of the children. Chase called out to them and told them they needed to stay close. Even though they didn’t have access to their Lycans yet, the souls of the animal were still buried deep inside of them, asleep until they were ready to make their entrance, they would still feel the command their Alpha gave them and listen. He was thankful for that because the children were rebellious and tried to go against everything their parents told them. Now wasn’t the time. He needed his pack to be in fighting shape.

This was a simple training with Chase running through stances and the various types of punches they could throw. He made them demonstrate after him, then showed them some combinations they could put together. He knew they were only useful in their human forms, but sometimes, there was no time to shift into their Lycan. Depending on their dominance level, it could take them a long time to shift. Knowing how to fight in their human forms was definitely at the top of his list for now.

As they all went through their punches and combinations, Chase made his way through the crowd and adjusted them accordingly. Some needed little help, and they tended to be the males higher up in the hierarchy. There was something about dominant males that made it easy for them to just fall into learning to fight as if it were second nature. Chase remembered when he was going through his own training, and it all came naturally to him. He quickly rose through the ranks from his fighting alone. He did his best to come off as easy-going so he wouldn’t have to deal with fighting over his rank; it was something his mother and father taught him a lot. They would let him be exactly who he was and encouraged him to find loopholes so as not to draw attention to himself. It worked until he was in the top three Lycans of the pack. He couldn’t hide it anymore.

Especially having a dickhead for an Alpha.

One of the males, who was young and just starting to find where he was dominance-wise, threw a punch, and Chase felt the wind from it close to his face. Chase stopped walking and stared at the pup. He noticed the brunette with light brown eyes was shaking as Chase stared at him. A growl rose in his throat, but he stopped it before the pup could hear it. The growl wasn’t for the pup anyway. It was for the asshole Alpha before him that caused the pup to fear Chase just because Chase had looked at him.

"John, it’s alright. Looks like that swing wasn’t how you wanted to go. Let’s work on your focus and trajectory for a second." Chase put his hand on the kid’s shoulder and pushed a sense of calm through the pack bonds into him. When the kid relaxed under his Alpha’s touch, Chase gave him a nod and began to do some one-on-one with him while the rest continued to work on their forms and swings. Once Chase was more confident in John’s swing, he moved through the crowd again. A few more people needed some work, and Chase tended to them just like he had done with John.

He had noticed that some of the females tried to push themselves closer to him when he was helping them adjust to the stance. He would have to adjust how he was standing to avoid unwanted contact, and he could hear them grumble when he did. There were even moments when he noticed they would reach out and touch him. He could hear their Lycans rumble as they felt him up.

It wasn’t that Chase wasn’t used to attention from the opposite sex. He knew he was a good-looking man, and his attitude gave off the vibe that most women tended to be interested in. Before Remy, he played the field but never allowed himself to be attached. Lycans were given fated mates for a reason; the only person capable of reigning him in would be his fated mate. Now that he’d met her, he found this kind of attention to be annoying from anyone but her.

I heard the mate bond could be intense, but I didn’t imagine it would be like this.

The very thought of Remy made his heart ache as he was reminded she was not here. He wanted her by his side to touch, kiss, and love. His Lycan howled inside him as the image of her beautiful face came to mind. The way she looked at him as she commanded him to listen to her. The fire in her eyes as she took control of the situation and made it into what she wanted. His spitfire of a mate was exactly what he needed to tame the wildness that was him. He felt himself grow hard in his pants at his thoughts of her.

Now is not the time for this. Need to change my topic.

His clothes clung to him from the sweat. The pack was all doubled over and breathing heavily from the workout. Chase wanted to move on to adding kicks, but the pack groaned at the mention of it and screamed no. Chase chuckled and called out that they were dismissed.

A blonde walked up to him and rapidly poked his shoulder. He had heard the footsteps come up from behind him and only turned when she touched him. Lately, he noticed that if he moved too fast, some of the pack would cower and bear their necks at him. Even though he had been a part of the pack while the Alpha terrorized them, being in the top three, Chase did not see half the things they went through.

It was one of the females he had to take extra time with today. There were moments when she turned red when he showed her how to correct her stance by touching her. He didn’t think she did too badly after some one-on-one and wasn’t sure why she was trying to get his attention now. She was petite and only came up to his shoulder. Her hair had a brown undertone, and her eyes were deep blue. She was wearing a sports bra and shorts. Chase noticed she was playing with her hair and not quite meeting his eyes. He wasn’t sure if this was flirting or if she really had no dominance in her, even to try to glance at his face.

"Alpha Chase, I really appreciate you taking the time to train us girls."

"That’s not a problem. The kingdom is a scary place right now, and I want you all to know how to defend yourself."

She giggled, and Chase wasn’t sure why. If he remembered correctly, she had just turned eighteen. Becca was her name, and he watched her grow up. He knew how more mature women came on to him, but this was new. It felt odd, and he wanted to laugh at her attempt but knew it wouldn’t be a great idea.

"You’re totally an awesome Alpha," she told him as she ran her finger down the length of his arm. I never would have thought I could throw a punch. Now I feel I can take someone on with no problem."

Chase stared at how she left her finger on his wrist. A growl crept up in his throat as he felt himself recoil at her touch. She was not Remy, and Remy was the only woman he wanted touching him like this.

How do I tell this girl that?

"I wouldn’t say you could take everyone in this pack on. I’d be careful when you try anything I teach on someone else. You’ll need some more practice, too."

Becca laughed and slapped his arm. "You’re funny. I obviously know I need some more lessons, but I finally feel like I can, you know?"

Chase lifted an eyebrow at her. "Yeah. Lee didn’t really care about teaching females how to defend themselves. I advocated for it long ago, but he turned it down."

"I know! I think I remember hearing you talk to him about that. That was so cool of you. You really were trying to look out for us, even before you were Alpha!"

"Mhmm. I’m sure you know by now what happened and why I became Alpha in the first place."

"Yeah, totally!" Becca put her hand on his chest. "I can’t believe how brave you were. Lee was so terrifying. I remember when some others challenged him and lost. He was really good at fighting. I can’t believe you even won! I mean, now I understand. You are incredible at fighting yourself!"

Chase picked up her hand and removed it from his chest, "Becca, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need a shower, and then I have to tend to some other Alpha duties."

"Oh, I totally understand! You know," Becca started as she leaned in, her voice becoming husky, “I can join you. I can wash down your back if you want."

Chase snarled at the mention of her coming anywhere near him while he was unclothed. That was only for Remy now. Becca jumped at his snarl, and her eyes widened at him. His eyes narrowed at her, and he tried to reign in his Lycan before he started talking. With the rage he felt, he knew his eyes were glowing, and he didn’t want to scare Becca more than he already had. From what he could see, she trembled at how badly he already scared her.

"I am not yours. I belong to someone else. Do not touch me again or even mention how you want to touch me. Understand?"

Becca looked as if she were prey caught in headlights. He wanted to take back how he sounded, but the words he said were exactly what he wanted to say. No one should be touching him, especially a female.

"I-I-I... I’m... so-so-sorry," Becca stuttered as she slowly backed away from Chase.

Becca knew it was never a good idea to run from a predator, being one, but Chase could see that the one thing she wanted to do was take off away from him.

Chase straightened him and reigned his Lycan back in. He felt the air shift to something laxer, but Becca still had a frightened look on her face.

"I-I-I didn’t know you were mated. You don’t smell any different."

"The bond is not complete yet. She is from another pack and needs time to get her affairs in order. Until then, I will not smell different, but that changes nothing."

Becca nodded at him and bowed her head. "I’m truly sorry, Alpha. I did not mean any disrespect to you or our Luna. Please forgive me."

Chase knew reassurance from an Alpha was what Becca needed right now, but he couldn’t bring it to himself to do so. When reprimanded, it was good for an Alpha to tell the pack mate that things were fine, explain how they could right the wrong, and give them some form of physical contact. Chase didn’t want to touch Becca. He felt it would tell her it was okay to touch him when it wasn’t. Until he was mated, there would be no touching the opposite sex for him.

"Go clean yourself up. I’m sure dinner will be done soon."

Becca nodded and scurried off. Chase could sense her tail between her legs and her head bowed as she ran toward the pack house. Chase sighed and looked around. The good thing was no one was watching the interaction.

Chase sullenly walked back to the house and avoided everyone by locking his room door after he walked in. The entire ordeal with Becca made him want to get in his car and drive to Remy. He could feel his Lycan wanting to do the same, pacing the inside of his mind and demanding to see their mate. Since Remy seemed hellbent on everything being on her terms, he did not think it was a good idea to do that.

Is it breaking her rules if I go to her? Maybe there’s a way I can stay hidden and just check on her from a distance. I just need to see her and get myself calm again. I am no good to my pack if I cannot keep myself calm.

We must go to her. We need to see her.

Becca’s scent was still on him, not helping matters at all. While he still smelled of another female, his Lycan would go crazy. Just like Chase, his Lycan would only want to smell like his mate right now. Until they were bonded, the Lycan would smell the scent of others who had physical contact with them and believe he was wronging their mate by touching another. Chase walked quickly to his shower, turned the water on, and stripped. He didn’t care what the temperature of the water was right now as his Lycan begged him to shift so they could go to their mate. Chase didn’t want to cause issues with Remy, so he immediately needed the other female’s scent off him. The water was still a bit chilly when he stepped into it. He ignored the chills across his skin and grabbed his rag and soap. He got it sudsy enough to wash him down, and the scent of Becca washed away. The air was filled with the scent of his soap instead, calming his beast down.

He stayed under the sizzling hot water and let it wash away everything that had happened that day. He pushed the moments of the females touching him to the depths of his mind so his Lycan would remain calm. While he was at it, he checked the pack bonds and sighed, knowing they all felt like things were in good shape.

While poking around, Chase found himself stopping on the bond that linked him and Remy. It was stitching together, growing stronger with each passing second. He smiled, knowing that someday it would be finished, bonding them together so that he could feel her at all times instead of just when she felt strong emotions. Just then, the bond lit up in a red glow. Chase could feel her heart rate quickening and fear spreading through her veins. He could tell she was running and felt as if her life was in danger. Chase attempted to push the bond further to find more information so he could go to her and help, but since their bond was incomplete, he could do nothing. Something was happening to her, and he had no way of helping her. He couldn’t go there to help without knowing where she was. Chase slammed his hand against the shower wall, cracking the tile, and the pieces fell to his feet. A howl ripped out of him as he feared for his mate’s life as she battled alone. He was damn near ready to shift into his beast, but Chase managed to keep the reins on him. He could not just run off without a plan if he didn’t know where she was. They were in the middle of dark times right now. He couldn’t run around without his pack at his back, at least not when he had no idea where he would even go.

FUCK! I am supposed to protect her! WHY DID I AGREE TO THOSE FUCKING RULES!?

We must go to her! NOW!

HOW?!

FIND HER!

I don’t know where she is!

To her territory. She must go back to her territory where she is safe! She will go there before she goes anywhere!

Chase’s beast had a point. It was wired into them that their territory would be the safest place to go if they were in danger. There was something about returning home that calmed the beast down when they were in danger if they were able to. The only thing he could tell was that she was relatively close to home. If she would go anywhere, it would be there.

He practically jumped out of the shower and quickly dried himself to put on some clothes. He alerted his Beta as he ran out of the house that he was returning to the Great Plains territory. Something came up, and he was needed. If his Beta said anything to him, he didn’t hear. Chase ran out the door and continued to his car. Once inside, he started the engine, threw it into drive, and sped off toward his mate’s territory. Chase kept the bond open between them, hoping Remy would pull on it to give him an idea of where she was. If anything, it would keep him a little calm, knowing he could feel her. She was alive. She was fighting. Maybe he would find her along the way, and he could join in.

Moon Goddess, keep my mate alive or help me find her. I will bring the heavens down to bring her back to me.