Chapter 40

Prue

“So are you ready to take up a dare or are you just a chicken?” John picked up the earlier topic. Ah, I was still on his radar. Pity.

“Okay,” I said, lifting a brow. “Try me with something.”

“Truth or dare?” Still sticking to the classics. I wasn’t about to share any kind of personal information with these looney heads.

“Dare, of course, John!” I said in a duh tone that made the others chuckle.

“I dare you to run from here to Moonstone garden's fountain in ten seconds. Human form, but wolf speed allowed of course.” John smirked. I contemplated the distance in my head, calculating quickly where the garden was in relation to the pack house. Ten seconds…

“Fifteen seconds,” I countered, as if this game had ever been a bargaining market. He smirked wider.

“Twelve.” He replied smugly, almost making me laugh out loud.

Can't read my, can't read my, no, he can't read my poker face, I sang in my head to compose myself. I glanced toward the windows, checking if there were any patio doors that could get me outside faster. There were. I stood up and opened them.

“Okay,” I said casually. “Will you wait for me here or there?” I looked at John, now smirking at him. Was he even planning to control this dare? Did he think it through?

“I’ll go meet you there,” Greg offered and took off in a light jog. John kept observing me with that same calm smile, like he was about to watch me fail. His eyes suddenly went distant for a moment – mindlink. Before he even spoke, I knew what he was about to say.

“Okay, Greg is there,” he said with a smirk. “Are you ready?” His voice dropped deep like he was some kind of commentator at a wrestling match.

“Will you count in your head?” I asked sweetly, suggesting he might be too dumb for it. He squinted at me and pulled out his phone, tapping something before nodding.

I ignored the Alpha boy completely, even though I could feel his gaze on me all the time. I don’t care.

Are you ready, girl? I asked my wolf. I was born ready, she chuckled in my mind, making me smile.

“On the count of three,” John announced. “One…three!” Douche.

I sprinted off instantly, wolf speed surging through my muscles. The world blurred, wind cut across my face. My legs pumped harder as I counted in my head. When I spotted Greg standing near the fountain, I pushed the final burst of speed.

“Twelve!” I cheered, throwing my hands up while trying to stop my momentum by circling around the fountain and catching my breath.

“Really?” Greg stared at me. I was sure he mindlinked the others to confirm. Maybe I was a second late. I didn’t care. I was fast – and that had been fun.

“Wow, you really did that, Prue,” Greg said, impressed. We jogged lightly back together. I was smiling when we entered the room.

“I can’t believe that!” John said. “You weren’t supposed to do that.”

“I don’t believe it happened. You took the wrong route or cheated somehow,” Andrew said with a frown. I stared at him in disbelief. Wow. That was another level of douche.

“If you don’t believe me, you can run with me,” I challenged.

“Okay.” He stood up immediately and headed toward the still-open veranda doors.

“You still think you can make it in twelve?” John asked me kindly.

“If I outrun your Alpha, that’s a victory for me,” I said and winked at him. My father always said Alphas were the strongest wolves. Since dad could still catch me during most of our training chases, I suspected I might get outrun here too. But I would take any opportunity to grate on this guy’s ego. Even if he pumped it right back up afterward with victory. Usually it’s our downfalls that replay in our heads before sleep anyway, so...

“Wait, let me get there first!” Greg said, jogging off again.

I slowly walked up beside Alpha boy and crossed my arms while thinking about what else nasty I could say to this prick.

“Okay, guys, on the count of three,” John announced, just as I was about to deliver another brilliant punch line. I took my stance and mentally prepared instead.

“One… three.”

I exploded forward again as wolf speed surged through my body. I could feel the Alpha running beside me – his warmth, his presence. And I realized John had skipped two again. I focused and pushed harder while my lungs and muscles burnt. By the count of ten I could feel him just slightly behind me. So I gave everything – like this was life or death. I reached Greg first – well, probably half a second ahead.

“Wow, Prue, you did it!” Greg said, shocked. I grinned while catching my breath.

“Your Alpha just happens to be slow.” I stated, making sure the comment scratched nicely at his ego. I was actually surprised I had outrun him, but oh – I was going to remember that until the day I died.

Greg frowned. “No, he is not.” He sounded very certain.

I finally looked at Andrew. He had hands on his hips, catching his breath. His forehead wrinkled as he looked at me with clear displeasure. Was he going to be a sore loser now? I smirked.

“Okay, we can get back to the rest,” he said flatly and started jogging back. He couldn’t even congratulate me properly? I wanted to stick my tongue out and make a farting noise, but that would be childish. So instead I rolled my eyes and jogged back with Greg.

When we entered the room, John jumped up from the sofa.

“Wow, Prue! You beat my Alpha. Big respect!” He cheered for me and walked toward me with a big grin. I barely heard what he said as I was thinking: he was probably going to ignore my personal-space rules and go for a hug or something. So, strategically, I walked around the sofa to put some furniture between us. He noticed mid-stride, stopped, waved dismissively, and turned back to his spot on the sofa. Yes, victory. Take that, male ego. I even let myself smirk a little – quietly, of course, so he wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing I’d outsmarted him.

“But that’s not possible,” a massive muscle mountain said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“You’re an omega…” He frowned at me, like my mere existence was a puzzle.

“So what?” I mirrored his frown, sharper, more challenging as my irritation rised.

“And you’re a she-wolf.”

“And?” I raised an eyebrow.

“You should be… weak.” He shrugged, casual but loaded with expectation.

“But am I?” I asked sharply, stepping just a fraction closer, letting my defiance radiate.

“Probably. Maybe. You just happen to run fast.” He gave a careless shrug. My temper flared.

“Is there anything else your dumb, biased, bigoted brain wants to share, or have you already reached your limit of intellectual capacity?” My words hit him like spikes. He stood up and growled.

Greg, John, and even Alpha boy were instantly on their feet.

“Knock it off!” the Alpha barked, making the douche look at him and immediately dropping his gaze in submission. I guessed he hadn’t expected that. Not that I needed saving. I would have handled him just fine if he’d attacked me. He looked big, bulky, and clumsy, while I was small and agile. When he finally sat down, my shoulders relaxed a fraction.

“Alright,” John said quickly, trying to ease the tension. “Since Prue won, she chooses the next dare.” I kept staring at the douche.

“I dare you to be smart,” I said with hatred. “Oh. You lost.” I stated flattly

“You can choose the next dare.” I nodded at him. Words were slow poison. He’d replay this conversation for days. That’s just how our minds worked. He chewed on my words, jaw clenched, before shooting a glance at his Alpha.

“Alpha… truth or dare?” It sounded more like politeness than a real question as no one had chosen truth all evening.

“Dare,” Andrew replied smoothly and looked straight at me. What? Was that meant for me? Was he accepting challenges like some ancient knight for his beloved? I mocked him internally.

“I dare you to outrun Miss Prudence up the northern hill,” the douche said. “Run to the Ridge Point and back.” Oh, so the brainless knows my full name. Well, that’s a jab to the ribs, isn’t it? I leveled a venomous glare to him before looking at the Alpha, who was already staring at me as if waiting for my reply. It’s your dare – what do you want from me? I thought, irritation prickling through me.

“Okay.” He said, eyes locked on me the whole time. He grabbed a bottle from the table and chugged water, his Adam’s apple bobbing with each swallow. The view gave my stomach a little flip, and I looked away – right into John’s smirk. Prick. Clearly ready to snag any juicy tidbits between me and his best buddy.

“So, how does that spot look?” I asked John, trying to change the topic.

“It’s a picnic area – tables, chairs, grills,” he said briefly.

“Okay, what if I run past it?” I admitted. I hadn’t been there yet, so I had no idea what I was getting into. John just smiled.

“You won’t – it’s at the top of the hill,” Greg supplied.

“Okay, so it’s up and down,” I nodded. “You said north, so…” I stood up, noting where the walls ended. Porch doors it was again.

“Front door would be smarter,” Andrew suggested. Did he even have a name? I noticed my mental slip. No, he didn’t.

“Sure, go ahead and take it,” I motioned. He sighed and stepped next to me.

“We’ll have an even and fair start,” he stated. Wow. The honorable type. I shrugged while he looked outside the doors as if the world owed him money.

“On the count of three!” John called. “Three!” Douche. I shot off at full speed alongside the Alpha. He veered right to go around the building, so I quickly cut left to take the other side. While you don’t see your enemy, you can get a tiny heads-up. And I was right – when I rounded the corner and launched toward the forest, Alpha boy appeared a second behind me.

Being chased by someone always gives you extra motivation. And being in front? That gives you even more power. There’s something demoralizing about running behind someone – it’s like they drain your energy while stealing your momentum.

My wolf was laughing in my mind as we felt Alpha breathing hard just behind us. It’s so fun to be with my girl. Besides we were drilled for this kind of exercise. My father loved uphill running. He always said you could run a marathon on flat ground, but the moment it went uphill, you’d be out of breath in ten seconds. So whenever my dad said, “We’re going running,” it always meant uphill – no excuses, no avoiding it.

I reached the top with my lungs burning, feeling like I might start coughing up blood – but I pushed harder anyway. I made a sharp turn to start my descent, careful not to collide with Alpha. Running downhill was my favorite part.

There was a trick I’d learned with my wolf – though the first time had been a complete accident. I wasn’t running; I was launching myself down. With my wolf speed, I flew several yards with every jump, like a predator leaping between rocks. If it weren’t for my wolf’s strength, I’d have shattered my ankle every single landing – but like this? I was unstoppable.

And despite all these tricks, my father would still catch me. So when I realized the distance between me and the Alpha was starting to grow, I was genuinely surprised. Was he faking it? Had he taken some shortcut I didn’t know about? Could be. I pushed harder, launching into bigger jumps to widen the gap even more.

But when I emerged from the forest and approached the pack house, I was surprised to hear him just coming out of the trees. So he had been right behind me the whole time. I reached the porch first, of course, and came to a full stop, gasping for air. I didn’t step inside – I needed every last bit of oxygen. Andrew stopped just a few yards away, as out of breath as I was. We stared at each other for a few seconds before John finally stepped out.

“Wow… you really outran my Alpha?” he said in disbelief, just as the others gathered at the doors.

“Congrats, Prue!” Greg cheered, genuinely impressed. I waved a tired hand, still gasping for air, not able to form words.

“That’s not possible,” the douche muttered. “Only an Alpha should outrun an Alpha.”

I would have rolled my eyes if I had the strength – but I’d given everything on that run.

“Well, then,” John clapped his hands, a grin spreading across his face, “we have a new running champion!”

I gave him a brief, tired smile, letting the weight of the victory sink in. My lungs burned, my legs ached, and yet… I felt amazing.

For the first time, I actually liked being in this pack.