Chapter 427

Chapter 19
I climb into bed, but my mind is too active to sleep. I try to study, to get ahead for classes tomorrow, but instead, I keep thinking about The Beast.
After an hour, I pick up the phone.
“Shane, how’s it going? Are you calling to check on things here?” Christian asks.
I should be calling for that reason, but that’s not why I’m calling.
“Hey, little bro,” I hear Enya say in the background. “Don’t worry about us. Christian has everything under control, just like he always does.”
“Thanks, baby,” he says.
“Is this a bad time?” I ask.
“No.” he says, his tone changing. I swear I can see the assessing look in his eyes. “What’s on your mind. Shane?”
“You heard about Tiana?” I ask.
“I did. Did something happen?”
I sigh, not sure how to tell my idol that I’m letting fear get a hold on me.
“What have we talked about when it comes to the unknown?” he asks. How does he always know? I hope I’m this intuitive when I leave the Academy.
“Face it head on.”
“That’s right. And why is that?” he asks. I smile, settling into the old–style discussions that Christian and I used to have when he was teaching me and making me figure things out for myself.
“Because whatever is in my head, is probably much worse than whatever the reality is.”
“Correct. Is this about The Beast or Sebi?” he asks.
“Both. I saw her. I saw her go flying off The Beast. I heard her yelp. I was terrified when I didn’t
Chapter 19
see her moving. She’s okay, or she will be, but…”
“But you don’t know what to expect and your mind is conjuring all sorts of possibilities.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, what’s the worst that can happen?” he asks.
“Apparently, broken bones are pretty common on The Beast.”
“Have you ever broken a bone before, Shane?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“Did it heal?”
I chuckle. “It did.”
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“I’m sure it sucked. I know it hurt. But you healed. You’re a strong Alpha, Shane. At the very worst, you break something, you deal with the pain for a few days until your wolf mends the broken bone, you miss a few days of class, and you have to catch up. No one has ever died at the Academy, Shane. It would be very bad for everyone if an Alpha heir died during a training exercise. Will you get injured? Absolutely. Will you heal? Definitely. Pain is part of growth, and it’s part of being an Alpha. It’s part of the mental strengthening that the Academy gives you. You don’t ever learn to enjoy the pain, but you learn to set it aside and power through.”
I lean back and close my eyes, already feeling better. “You should consider becoming an instructor here, Christian.”
“Maybe I will someday. Someday when my pups are grown and I’ve taken your sister to every place in the world that she wants to see,” he says, his voice bordering on a purr.
“Everything I want in the world is right here,” I hear her say.
I hear Christian shift and if I had to guess, I’d say he’s lying on the bed with my sister’s head on his chest.
“Thanks, Christian. I appreciate you talking me through it.”
“Anytime, Shane. And I mean that. I can’t do the work for you, but I’m here, anytime you need to talk.”
“I appreciate it.”
I hang up and finally feel at peace enough to fall asleep.
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