Innocence

28

"That little girl has a crush on her Alpha... it's cute really." Dad says pushing my shoulder as we sit in the chairs in the corner of the living room.

I look over to where Ralynn is playing with Storm while watching a movie.

"All she does is call me names and try to push me around. I thought it was little boys who pick on people they like." I respond.

"And you don't stop her? That's not like you Cedric." He says smirking at me.

"I'll admit she is attractive and I may like her attitude but she is still a pup... honestly I can't bare the thought of forcing her to submit to me so she just does her thing." I tell him and he laughs.

"She is only a little over a year younger than you... it kinda reminds me of your Ma. She was younger than me. Before she turned 18 I just felt kinda protective of her... this Ralynn may be your mate." Dad suggests and I sigh.

"I've considered it but there's no way to know... I don't really think she likes me tho. She has a habit of calling me doofus." I grumble and he all out laughs.

"That is amazing! I like her even more now!... I can't believe you let her..." he breaks off laughing too hard to continue.

"It's not like I can stop her." I argue but he just keeps laughing.

"What's so funny Zane?" Unk asks joining us.

"Your little nephew has a teenage girl he let's call him doofus!" Dad answers loudly and Unk laughs with him.

"It's Alpha Doofus!" Ralynn yells apparently now able to hear my loud mouth Dad. "He corrected me earlier." That just makes them laugh harder.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"Come on boy we haven't had a sparing match since you became Alpha. Let's see if you can take me yet." Unk says after breakfast the next day.

"This I gotta see." Dad says jumping up to follow us out.

"Don't forget us. I need to see him get beat!" My Gamma calls out as he, Sam, Edmund, and Gramps join us. Crap I'd better win this. Gamma Gerald has become a good friend of mine. He is a great help with training but is a little miffed that he can't beat me.

"Let's go pup show me what cha got!" Unk taunts as soon as we make it to the ring.

We both remove our shirts knowing this is gonna get rough. Everyone here has seen my scars by now. They finally stopped staring so I'm not as self conscious and it's hot so who cares if they look?

"Bring it on old man!" I taunt back as we begin circling each other.

He lunges at me. He is the one who trained me and taught me not to make the first move. I guess he is trying to catch me off guard. I dodge him only to receive a smack to the back of my head.

"How many times nipote? After you dodge make sure you are ready for a second attack!" Unk yells causing me to blush. Yes I made this mistake often when I was younger but I'm usually better now. I guess he succeeded in surprising me or I was just lost in my thoughts. Focus Cedric!

"Just testing your reflexes old timer." I joke and he rolls his eyes.

"Sure you were pup."

He lunges again and I dodge managing to kick his leg as he passes sending him into the dirt. My uncle however is a trained warrior and rolls forward jumping onto his feet again in seconds. I don't give him the chance to attack again as I take the fight to him.

We trade blows for over an hour after that with little to no verbal communication. We both simply focus on the task at hand, winning.

"You two should take a break." Dad says standing closer to Unk who growls at him completely immersed in the fight.