The Gamma's Birthright - Book 2
People can still surprise you

The night passed quietly, spending her time in the assigned room, leaving only for the evening meal, she had a feeling there were a few people ‘watching’ her that looked more like warriors than most of the teenagers in this packhouse.

With the rising of the sun, Toni watches the changing sky, hoping that her life will reflect the same thing, the dawn of a new age for her the releasing of her wardship.

“Happy Birthday to me” she whispers into the morning light.

She dressed, packed up her overnight bag and headed down for breakfast, last night she managed to find a table to herself, either the pack house knew who she was, or the look on her face kept people away, either way, it wasn’t a bad thing.

This morning, started the same way, until Delta Asher and a young woman who looked enough like the Delta to be a relative, came and sat at her table.

“Feeling brave Delta?”

She asks raising an eyebrow, feeling a little playful.

“My sister here told me we had to sit with you”

He laughs but she can tell he’s embarrassed.

Her eyes glance to the girl, she’s probably late teens but works out, although she may just be in the standard training classes the Royals run.

She’s looking at Toni intently, normally she’d squash it, but Tyra doesn’t take it as a challenge and just lays down telling her to go hunt a fresh deer, she doesn’t like the porridge Toni is currently eating.

Nodding she continues her breakfast.

“Don’t you want to know my name?”

The woman’s voice is surprised, almost as if she was put out that Toni hadn’t spoken to her.

“Not really?”

Toni answers honestly not even glancing her way.

Delta Asher laughs openly over her response but she can see he is mind-linking his sister.

“I’m Susan”

She holds her hand out

“Apologies Gamma”

Delta Asher says quickly as she stares at the proffered hand.

“Susan, sit quietly and eat,” he commands

“That was the agreement you made when you asked to eat with me.”

Toni sees Susan’s face drop and she starts to drop her hand

“Hi Susan, Gamma Woodfield”

Taking her hand before it falls giving it a brief shake, she can see the surprise on Delta Asher’s face, blocking out the others in the room who were looking at them curiously

“See I told you” she retorts to her brother

She looks between them watching Delta Asher sigh

“I’m sorry Gamma Woodfield, my sister decided you were probably friendlier than you let on, and that I could learn from you”

Picking up her coffee, she sits back and looks at them both.

The idea that someone wants to learn from her is a strange one especially when it’s not how to kill, she lets her eyes appraise both of them slowly and thinks back to how the rest of the room reacted to him as he walked in.

“Delta’s still have a uniform?” her eyes landing back on Delta Asher

“Yes”

“Wear it even for breakfast to start, when you put it on, put on your Delta persona.

Take no shit, not even from visiting wolves, just be respectful to ranked ones.

If someone answers you back on or off the field or gives you attitude add fifteen minutes onto training, make them do extra push-ups, clean the toilets, whatever you do here that is used as a mild reprimand, no second chances.

Demand their respect, don’t ask for it, and once given, you can relax with them.

Don’t punish them if they are having a little fun, just tell them to be calmer or change the task to make them concentrate, you aren’t looking to be hated!

But consistency is the key.

It’s easier to become more relaxed, rather than try and become stricter, as long as you are firm but fair you will get respect.

And while it may take a month or two, the reputation will eventually precede you, something I should know about”

She raises an eyebrow at Delta Asher

“At which point you can relax it, but be prepared to come down hard if you need to as long as you are fair and consistent you will get respect.

If someone throws a comment at you like I did yesterday, ignore them.

You’d offered to get a female to pat me down, after that, it’s up to me to suck it up, unless I tell you I’ve changed my mind.”

“How did you know what I was going to ask about?”

Delta Asher looks at her curiously

“It’s my job to be able to read people.

Sometimes to find their weaknesses and know how to exploit them, or to tell if they are lying… like telling me everyone has to have an escort”

She takes another drink, humour showing in her eyes, watching as Delta Asher looks away awkwardly.

“You are not yet confident in your role, or you wouldn’t have backed away from my comment yesterday as you patted me down.

Which is odd, because you wouldn’t have been given the role if you weren’t capable, especially not in this pack, was I wrong?”

Toni holds his gaze briefly, before taking a sip of her coffee

“No, not wrong but…” he stops briefly

“I was warned that you were not talkative, wouldn't interact with me as you were closed off and better left alone and well…”

Delta Asher goes quiet unsure if he should voice any more

“Keep me under close scrutiny, watch your back but don’t get close?” she offers

“Well not quite those words but close enough, but that doesn’t seem to be true”

He has the decency to look a little embarrassed

“And yet you chose to sit with me, bringing your sister along.

So, you can’t have believed it unless you were happy to put your sister at risk knowing she’s the livelier one of the two of you?

And if I was truly everything that I’d been described as, it would put her at risk, which would at the very least reflect badly on your judgement.”

Toni puts down her coffee, sitting back in her chair.

“It was after I described the journey in, to my sister, that she made me realise I saw two very different sides, so maybe I could learn from that.

Plus I spoke to Chief Delta Alek, and he said not to pre-judge you, no matter what I was told.”

He looks slightly embarrassed at the fact he’d been discussing Toni with his sister and another Delta.

Toni nods.

“They aren’t necessarily right, nor are they wrong.

Always bear in mind a person is always more than just their reputation, also it's there for a reason.

So people are right to be wary when they meet someone with a reputation like mine.

Often reputation is all anyone sees, I know exactly what people think of me, but pre-judging can also be dangerous.

But there are still those who underestimate me once they see me, which is just as bad.

Keeping an open mind and judging for yourself is key, it’s refreshing to know that someone was able to see beyond the rumours.”

Toni smiles at Susan, the feeling of a smile on her face feels awkward, but not unpleasant, just not yet coming to her naturally

They spend the next thirty minutes making small talk, Delta Asher having less to say than his sister Susan, who seems overly excited that Toni is talking to her and often doesn’t even bother waiting for Toni to reply.

Smiling inwardly, Toni wonders just how much more popular Susan will be for talking to the infamous Gamma Woodfield, she can already feel the stares she’s attracting.

“So how long are you here?” Susan asks excitedly

“Only for a few more hours, I have an appointment with the Alpha, then I’ll be heading off, technically to search for my mate once I am no longer a ward of this pack.”

Toni isn’t sure why she just volunteered that information.

“Mostly, I have a small break to enjoy.”

She clarifies, trying to find her mate, is less than easy.

“The Royal pack is having a mating ball this winter, if you don’t find them by then, you should come, it’s going to become an annual thing, a new decree of the King.

Although it must be so cool to go and search out your mate, I wonder if I’d be allowed.

It’s like a mini adventure, the ones you read about in trashy novels.

Do you read Romance novels, Gamma Woodfield?”

Susan’s enthusiasm boils over

“The Nightshade pack don’t ever attend balls, it’s not….”

Toni is at a loss to decide how to finish that sentence, the idea that the Alpha would let people cross the pack line without guards is slightly shocking, the only reason she can is bloodlines for ranked positions mean a lot to the Alpha.

Maybe Robert and Michael would be allowed since the chance of them moving to another pack would be low, but then maybe not, there would be a reason for the Alpha to step down if Robert found his mate.

Aware that she hadn’t finished her sentence she jumped to a different topic

“And no, I haven’t had much chance to read romance novels” she finishes.

Susan goes off on another conversation that doesn’t need to involve anyone else it amazes Toni just how much one person can talk and she can tell that Delta Asher is distracted with mind linking.

Finally, there’s a lull in the conversation

“So, let’s go with some honesty, are you my permanent escort until I leave the pack?”

Toni’s eyes lock on Delta Asher’s

“I am yes”

“Someone thinks I may cause issues?” she asks

He doesn’t answer her, but his reaction tells her that’s a yes.

Shaking her head, she looks out the window

Losing control is not in her nature, whoever set the guide doesn’t know her well, the only time she may have lost it was when she answered Alpha Vincent back, and three weeks on, she is still paying for it.

She thinks back over the incident, knowing she resisted the Alpha command to shift at the end, could it be she had been in a bloodlust and wasn’t aware of it?

Or was it truly a choice by her and if it was, why had there been a power shift?

Something she needed to look into, granted it was just after a bloody battle, high on endorphins and adrenaline but it shouldn’t have made a difference.

We are a lone wolf

Tyra huffs at her as if that one sentence explains it all

What does that even mean?

Lone wolves are rogue wolves and we are not rogue, or do you mean we are becoming rogues?

Toni needs to find out what she means, she’s repeated that a few times

Not a rogue, just a lone wolf, it’s what we are

It’s what I am, it’s what you are.

Tyra is prowling in her head, like what is that even meant to mean

Well, yes, but how is that helpful Tyra

We were born strong, we are strong

We were made strong, we need no one.

We are a lone wolf.

We need no one, well that’s true she reflects, Tyra and she had been made to live and cope alone, which had brought in itself an inner strength, but why of all sudden did we not feel the pull to obey the Alpha’s command?

She realises Delta Asher said something

“Apologies, what did you say?”

Now she’s confused, when was the last time she used ‘apologies’ probably almost six years ago at fourteen in the Deadfalls pack. Tyra is smirking at her in Toni’s head, catching her off guard like that is unheard of.

“Your meeting has been put back until three this afternoon, something came up and I believe you are seeing both the Alpha and Crown Prince and that’s their next available time together.

So, I asked if there’s anything you need, or want to cover, or do in the meantime?” he repeats

Toni thinks about this for a while, maybe this was the time to go look up some werewolf history and why Tyra is focussed on this ‘Lone Wolf’ comment.

“Maybe the library.”

Delta Asher looks at her curiously but with clear confusion on his face.

“Is that off limits?” she asks

“Not at all” he hastily confirms

“Just not what I’d thought you would choose”

His words sound apologetic, almost sad

“I get it, people talk, it’s not hard to hear what people think of me…

Shall we go?”

Her words have grown a little colder, too many people just take the rumours about her as the whole truth, Delta Asher had at least appeared to be different, but also he just proved he still judges her, which leaves her saddened.

Delta Asher realising he’s annoyed her a little, gets up and takes her to the library, trying to get back to the easy chat they had before she closed herself off to him, he can’t say why, but he’d been enjoying their chat more than expected when he could get a word in edgeways from his sister that is.

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