Chapter 86: Struggles

MADDOX

Reign had been avoiding me.

Did that make me sound full of myself? Who cares. Reign had been avoiding me. She’d buried herself in paperwork. Well, at least that was how she was making it look.

Milly had decided she wanted to check out my fighting skills, so I’d very reluctantly agreed to spar with her. I had a very strong feeling I’d regret it.

She danced on the balls of her feet across from me, warming up her neck and shoulders.

I wrapped my hands, grumbling to myself. I should’ve been a bit firmer when I said no, although it’s rare that Diego Gray’s daughter would give you an option at all.

“Sometime today, Princess,” Milly called out to me. I pulled the wraps tighter, still grumbling.

“Hellooooo, I’ve seen funerals move faster! Come on! Chop Chop!“

I shot her a stern look and turned my back to prepare myself. Truth be told, I was trying to put off having to face her

Yeah, I can fight, but Milly Gray is a killing machine, just like her father; everyone knows that.

She shows no mercy and goes for the throat every time.

“I’m going to count down from three, and then I’m knocking you on your ass,” she sang out.

~Of all people in this pack I could have trained with, why oh why did it have to be Milly Gray?~

“THREE.”

She literally had the worst reputation.

“TWO.”

Apparently she was almost as bad as her father, if not worse. I shuddered at the thought, remembering how he threw me up to the ceiling with ease.

How is he so strong? Isn’t he old? I thought he was almost fifty at least. He had to be.

“ONE.”

A strong gust of wind later, and I was flung sideways, landing on my back. I had all of the wind knocked out of me.

“Hey!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. “That’s not fair. No witch stuff!“

She shrugged her shoulders. “I warned you I would knock you on your ass. It was you who failed to specify how.”

I grumbled, rubbing the strands of grass off myself. “Let’s just get this over with,” I snapped.

We got into our stances and circled each other, each trying to suss out the other’s move before they made it. She smirked at me before dropping low and swooping my legs from underneath me.

“Come on, that was a rookie move! I thought you said you could fight.” She stretched out a hand to help me up. “It’s not because I’m a girl, is it? Because I think I can take you,” she laughed.

“No, it’s not because of that,” I snapped. “I’m just distracted.”

Her expression suddenly turned serious. “Well, snap out of it. Soldiers aren’t afforded the luxury of being distracted. This isn’t make-believe, Maddox. You could die out there!”

“Who is this Keir that has everyone so rattled?” I crossed my arms, signaling I wasn’t moving until she told me.

Her shoulders dropped. “Shortly after Axel’s mate Storm showed up, this madman called Keir arrived. He’s on the hunt for power. He killed our alpha, Reign’s father, my uncle.”

My breath caught in my chest.

Milly continued, “After he killed Uncle Kol, he took Axel. We didn’t know if he was alive or dead for two weeks until we found him.

“Then we found out Storm could do the same magic as Keir, and that was a whole drama.” She gulped back some water.

“On top of all of that, Reign became the alpha by killing a wolf because he was too backward to submit. She’s been having problems with the council ever since.

“Every day, it’s the same argument: she’s a female and she’s alpha. They’ll never accept it. So she’s not avoiding you, Princess. She’s stressed out and has a lot on her plate.”

I nodded, getting into a fighting stance again. We circled each other.

“So this Keir guy. Do you guys know where he is?“

“No. That’s what has everyone so freaked out.

“Axel and Storm, they’re the best with magic, after Grams, so they’ve been working with the local covens and mages to try and gather enough power to actually kill him this time.

“We can’t lose any more members of our pack.” She let out a heavy sigh.

“Thank you for telling me. I know you’re not much of a talker.”

She smiled. “Anytime, Princess.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Sure thing…Princess.”

I rolled my eyes and motioned for us to continue with our training. In silence, we ran through the motions. Kick, punch, duck, repeat.

Eventually, drenched with sweat and aching, we called it quits when a messenger came asking for Milly to join Reign in her office.

I won’t lie; a part of me was hurt that Reign was still avoiding me, but after talking to Milly, I guess there is more to the story than that.

Watching Milly walk back toward the pack house, I pulled out my phone and called home.

“Hello?“

“Hello, Father“

“Maddox? How is everything? Your mother tells me you have mated with the new alpha. Congratulations! I’m sure she will be a fine mate.”

I sank onto a nearby bench. “Yes, I have. Thank you, she’s wonderful. That’s not why I’m calling. Father, have you ever come across a warlock called Keir?“

“Many, many moons ago now. Why is that?“

My stomach sank. How did I not know of this? Was I so caught up in my own partying world that I didn’t even notice that there was a potential madman in our pack?

“Oh, just he’s been causing some trouble here, that’s all. He’s the one who killed Alpha Kol.”

Father sucked in a breath. “Yes, he’s quite good at causing trouble. Maddox, I must go. Lots to do today. Do send my love to your mate. Speak soon.”

Not surprisingly, Father hung up with a sharp click. I let out a heavy sigh, gathered my things, and made my way back up to the packhouse to shower.

Something told me my father knew more about this Keir guy than he was letting on. Whatever it was, I was going to get to the bottom of it.