The Queen's Conquer

Chapter 27 : A Dark Past

Psychomachia • [sai-co-ma-key-a]
A conflict between the body and the soul.

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6 Years Ago

There's never a good way to determine Liam's sporadic nature. Especially mid-training—especially when today is supposed to be our final test before we're titled true, authentic warriors. A moment I've been dreaming of since my first shift at age twelve. But the Beta's son—a childish bastard, to say the least—has run off again in the middle of our assembly to go do Goddess knows what.

Standing in formation, my father and his highest general continue to spew their words of empowerment and honor—the same speech given to every wolf before the ceremony commences and we're lined up so a silver knife can be carved into our arm, allowing us to drip the blood into an ancient basin of sorts. It's a strange tradition, especially for Phantomridge, but every warrior tolerates the price you have to pay to become an elite in this pack.

"The Alpha's boy is looking a little pale," murmurs the male next to me.

I cut him a glare, eyeing his auburn hair and deep-set irises. "You should be worried about yourself, Markus. You're practically turning green," I snicker before returning my attention to my father.

His elbow jabs into my rib, provoking a territorial growl out of me as my fists clench at my sides, preparing to attack.

"Cool it, you two," seethes an all-too scrawny Killian from behind us. Our heads whip around to eye the young warrior before he adds, "Unless you both want to be punished."

I only let out a scoff, shifting my stance to help release any building tension in my body—building tension to beat up Liam for being late to such an important event. Where the hell is he, anyway?

The slightest hint to what he's up to was provided in a jumbled sentence he'd said to me prior to us being rounded up for this droning assembly. His words vaguely spoke of needing to "handle" something. I have no doubt it has something to do with him and that redhead again—Markus' sister.

The two have been mingling since she threw a rock at the back of Liam's head halfway through a training class about a month ago, the female watching us from the sidelines, forced to do so by her older brother since he wanted her to one day become a warrior like him. Markus can tend to be an ineffable dick, but his brotherly instincts and loyalty to his strange sister seem to be the only thing making him act moderately sane.

But she and Liam seem like an odd pair, always running off to cause trouble during the most inconvenient of times. I, on the other hand, would be lashed if I was caught dead avoiding this ceremony. I've never understood why the same rules don't apply to Liam given he'll one day work beside me to run this pack. He should take this seriously; he shouldn't be running around with naive females.

The sea of warriors to my right are shoved around as a young boy about my height and size comes hurtling through them, crashing into me and nearly knocking me on my ass. I grunt at the impact, catching the brown-haired male before he can inflict any more damage. His stark emerald eyes catch mine and flicker with that familiar mischievous childishness.

"You won't believe what I just did, Sam," Liam chuckles loudly as he regains his balance to find his stance beside me.

"Will you tell that mutt to shut his mouth?" someone hisses out.

I ignore the anonymous comment, scolding the Beta's son coldly. "It better be a good enough reason for you to miss half of our ceremony," I backfire.