Amber Silverblood: Silverpack

Chapter Thirty One

"Why are you here?"

I stood in the middle of a ring where the snow had been cleared so thoroughly that even the dirt beneath my feet was dry. Stark was walking circles around me, his eyes as cold and sharp as nails. I'm pretty sure he had used magic to clear the snow away, but I hadn't been here to see it, and he didn't seem to be in a mood to answer questions right now.

"To learn how to fight," I answered, keeping my eyes facing right in front of me.

"And why are you learning how to fight?"

"So that I can protect myself and the people I care about."

"How far are you willing to go to do this, Amber?"

I paused, and turned to look at him as he circled around from my right. I hadn't been expecting that question. Stark came to a stop in front of me and looked at me with eyebrows lowered, waiting for an answer.

"If you're going to let me teach you to fight," he said when I didn't give him one, "then you're going to have to go as far as I decide you need to."

"How far is that?"

"It could be a few miles, it could be to the moon and back. That all depends on what you need to learn, and what you need to do." He held up his finger and pointed at my face. "You're allowed to ask questions. If you don't understand something, you're allowed to say so. If I need to repeat myself, I will. The only rule is that if I tell you to do something, you do it. We won't get anywhere if you're questioning every order I give you."

"You're my alpha," I pointed out, not without a hint of bitterness in my voice. "It's not like I can say no to you anyway."

"If that were true, we wouldn't be standing here right now, would we?"

I arched an eyebrow. "What are you..."

Tyler dying with a bullet in his neck, D.K. lying on the floor, bleeding where I'd torn his throat out, Kaylie screaming and—

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Suddenly, I was coated with a sheen of sweat, despite it being below freezing out here.

"Oh, right," I whispered, looking down at the ground with wide eyes.

Stark nodded, his face still stern as stone. "Exactly. It is possible for a submissive wolf to disobey its alpha, even to rebel against it. You've already proven yourself capable of carrying out the ultimate rebellion."

"Killing my alpha," I finished for him. A chill ran down my spine. "But I always thought that was because D.K. was weaker than me."

"That was definitely part of it," Stark agreed, resuming his pacing. "Dalton was physically weak, for a werewolf, and his grip on his pack was tenuous. He kept your packmates in line with threats against the others' lives. If he'd realized the danger you'd posed to him, he would have used Kimberly against you the same way."

My face burned hot at the thought, and I suddenly had the urge to dig D.K. up from wherever they'd buried him and slap his corpse.

"As it was, part of why you managed to beat him was because he underestimated you. He shot and killed Tyler, but he left you behind with only a bullet in your shoulder."

"It was a silver bullet," I reminded him. "It was supposed to kill me anyway."

Stark pointed at his own shoulder. "But that death would have taken minutes," he pointed at his throat, "as opposed to taking seconds. He considered Tyler enough of a threat to kill him instantly, but he felt safe enough leaving you behind to die slowly. And that was where he underestimated you."