As if satisfied that she was now fine, he loped away just as he usually did. Although she was grateful to Derren for pulling her out of the dark, she hated that he knew how damaged she was. Didn’t like that he’d seen her vulnerable.
Although sometimes Ally managed to fall back asleep after a nightmare, she sadly didn’t manage to do so that morning. Getting up with a sigh, she filled her system with caffeine and a small breakfast.
The past week had gone pretty much the same for Ally. After breakfast, she’d go for a run in her wolf form. Shortly after that, Shaya would visit with Willow for a few hours. At lunchtime, Bracken, Jesse, and Zander’s wolves would appear, begging for scraps. Ally would then spent the rest of the day either reading, baking, or watching TV. Then she’d have dinner before lounging in her hammock on her porch, listening to her iPod, where she’d eventually fall asleep.
She’d often see glimpses of Derren going to and from his lodge, but he’d never spoken to her. The small amount of company hadn’t bothered her. Being mostly alone had stopped her from being bombarded by other people’s shit. It almost made her feel like a normal person. Seers would often have sensory overload, and they each had ways of blocking the world out when necessary. Listening to music helped Ally with that.
She was so used to having only Shaya and Willow as visitors that she was shocked when Kent and Caleb accompanied them that morning. Both males were polite and friendly. Maybe because Ally relieved Willow of any discomfort each day, and they appreciated that. Or maybe because Shaya had bullied them into it—Ally really had no idea.
In any case, the mated males then invited Ally to their lodge so that Kent could show her how beautifully he’d styled the interior. He was horrified that Ally hadn’t added any personal touches to her lodge. The fact that she was only a guest was irrelevant to Kent. In his mind, she should have put some kind of stamp on the place, marked her territory in some way. Surprisingly, Shaya agreed. But when Ally explained that interior design wasn’t really her thing, Kent begged her to allow him to do the task for her.
So after Shaya dropped Willow off at home for her midday nap, Ally was ushered by Shaya, Kent, and Caleb to the males’ lodge to see how great Kent was at interior design. When they were almost there, they stumbled across Derren having a training session with the enforcers in a clearing. She and the others paused to watch, and Ally had to admit that the enforcers had very good techniques. When Jesse put Bracken flat on his ass, Shaya, Kent, and Caleb all winced.
Ally, on the other hand, wanted to ask why the hell Bracken had let Jesse win. When all eyes zoomed in on her, she smiled weakly. “I said that out loud, huh.”
“He didn’t let me win,” Jesse growled at her, rotating one shoulder.
“What makes you think Bracken did that?” Derren’s tone was curious, not doubtful.
“Jesse has clear tells,” replied Ally. “It was obvious by the way Bracken watched for them that he knows what they are. But sometimes he didn’t dodge Jesse’s moves, even though he’s fast enough to do it.” Recalling Shaya informing her that Jesse was still recovering from a recent illness after his wolf had hunted a poisoned animal, Ally wondered if Bracken had therefore taken it easy on his pack mate.
“Very good,” Derren commended, sounding genuinely impressed.
Jesse whirled on his Beta. “I won that round fair and square.” His glare returned to Ally as he sniped, “You’ve watched me fight a couple of times and now you think you know my technique well enough to see if I have any tells?”
“Yeah, I do,” Ally said simply.
Jesse sniggered. “Well, if I’m really easy pickings—”
“That’s not what I said,” interrupted Ally with a bored sigh.
“—why don’t you come over here and we’ll have a little one-on-one.”
“Jesse, leave it,” Derren bit out.
But the enforcer didn’t. He shrugged innocently. “It’ll just be a friendly spar.”
“I don’t spar,” Ally told him. “I fight—no rules, no limits, no holding back.”
A smirk from Jesse. “Then this will be fun.”
Derren put a hand on Jesse’s chest to stay him. “Drop it.” The words came out guttural as his wolf lunged for supremacy, wanting to protect Ally. If the guy harmed her, Derren would have to harm him in turn. Since the night Ally had given him some home truths, he’d chewed on the things she’d said, and he’d had to face that he’d unfairly been an ass to her. He knew he was irrational when it came to Seers, but it was no excuse. Like she’d said, power corrupted, but it depended on the individual and not their status.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave her banged up.” Jesse’s smile was all teeth. “I don’t abuse women. But I can tell that she’s strong. I want to know how strong.”
Shaya turned to her. “Ally, are you sure about this?”
“He’s not going to back down. And neither am I.” That wasn’t who Ally was. She took Bracken’s place opposite Jesse, her feet braced shoulder-width apart. “Normally, I don’t give warnings. But you really don’t want to fight me, Jesse.”