Her Light

Nike Blackwood

“An Alpha must never show weakness,” Father sneers, throwing another punch my way despite knowing that I won’t block it.

I’m exhausted and can barely keep my balance, let alone lift my arms to block his never-ending onslaught of punches.

The training session this morning has been hell. He’s upset again. Eris wouldn’t stop wailing last night, and Danu left her books out again for him to trip over.

He approaches me as I crumble to the ground.

Disappointment paints his face a dark mask; his cruel green eyes bore into my very soul. Green eyes we share, but I hope to never see painted that way.

Cold. Cruel. Unloving.

But they weren’t always like that…

His fist raises, and I know what’s coming.

“A weak female as alpha will be this pack’s undoing. You need to train harder, Nike. I will not let you take over this pack if you can’t lead it properly.

“Training starts an hour earlier tomorrow morning.”

His fist flies toward me, and I can do nothing but lie there…

A soft knock on my door has the nightmare fading, retreating to the dark recesses of my mind, hiding away until night. The door creaks open, and Hestia’s floral scent mixes with a dark coffee aroma.

A rare smile lifts the corners of my mouth.

“Are you awake, sis?” Hestia asks, and I roll over to face her in the doorway.

“Only if that coffee is for me,” I tease.

She rolls her eyes and walks in, placing the coffee on my bedside table. Hestia’s brown eyes scan my face as I sit up and stretch out the soreness in my muscles.

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

I inhale the dark roast aroma and shrug slightly. “A couple of hours after Danu snuck in around 2 a.m.”

Danu is the second oldest and found her mate shortly after she turned eighteen. Calvin returned from the training camp all my warriors attended just in time for her birthday last year.

They’ve decided to take the mating slowly, but I suspect Danu talked him into it. We remember all too well what happened with our parents. Calvin started building a house for them a few months ago for when they decide to complete their mating.

Hestia wordlessly hands over her small bag of hair ties and sits in front of me. Every so often, I’ll braid her wavy blonde hair. Our mom loved to braid our hair for school, and she taught me how. She always said we look like goddesses with our hair braided. Mom loved mythology and named the four of us after the different goddesses that were her favorite or whose attributes she wished for us to have.

But being named after the Greek goddess of victory is a heavy burden for me to carry, especially as alpha.

“I’m going into town for supplies. Do you need anything else for the pack dinner tonight?”

“We’re a bit short on peaches. Alpha Marcus loves peach turnovers, and I thought it would be nice to serve them for dessert,” Hestia says.

At thirteen, Hestia is the spitting image of our mother and the heart that keeps us all together. She always helps with the cooking when we have visitors or a pack celebration. She was five years old, covered with flour from helping Mom bake cookies, when she proudly announced she was going to be a chef just like Mommy. She’s the happiest when in the kitchen and often bakes when she misses Mom.

A loud crash sounds near the front door, and I groan in frustration.

“What did she break this time?” I sigh and tie off Hestia’s braid.

It’s kind of freaky how aptly our mom managed to name us. Of the four of us, Eris takes great pride in being named after the Greek goddess of chaos. Eris the Menace, as we tease her, is always causing trouble when she’s bored. Apparently, she kicked like crazy while Mom was pregnant with her, and Mom just knew she was going to be a handful.

Well, Eris is a few handfuls and then some.

She sits on the floor in the entranceway of our wood cabin. A broken vase and crushed flowers are scattered around her, with the end table overturned. I rub a hand over my face and place my hands on my hips. Eris looks sheepish as Hestia chuckles softly behind me.

“Do I even want to know, Eris?” I ask her, carefully stepping over the broken glass to pick her up.

At eight years old she’s too big for me to carry around these days, but I don’t want her stepping in the glass. I actually miss the days I could still carry her around. She always calmed down in my arms.

“It was an accident! I wanted to put my coat by the door so I was ready to go shopping with you, and I know you said not to run in the house, but I didn’t want to be late and then you would leave without me!” Eris rushes the sentence out in one breath as I sit her on a bar stool by the kitchen counter.

“Breathe, Eris. It’s barely 7 a.m., and I was still sleeping. Hard to leave someone at home when you’re still sleeping, silly,” I say and poke her little nose. “Now, since you’re dressed, stay right here while I get ready. Ten minutes, and then we can grab some breakfast in town.”

“Hestia, can you clean up the glass before Danu steps in it again, please?”

Danu, named after the Celtic goddess of knowledge, may be the smartest of us, but she can do some really stupid things when she isn’t paying attention.

Like stepping on broken glass while walking and reading.

I head upstairs and knock on Danu’s door to wake her before going back downstairs for a quick shower. I don’t want to leave Eris waiting too long and give her a chance to break something else. Danu is on my bed, her dark brown hair strewn across my pillows, when I come out of my bathroom.

I shake my head at her. “That’s what you get for staying out past curfew. Did you finish that stock list I asked you for yesterday? I want to get the shopping done and be back by lunch.”

I nudge her when she doesn’t answer.

“On your desk,” she mumbles before pulling my blanket over her head.

I growl in frustration. “Danu! Wake up, please. I’m taking Eris with me, but I need you to go with Hestia and make sure the guesthouses are prepared for Alpha Marcus’s arrival. His mate and two friends will be joining him as well as three of his warriors,” I tell her, pulling the blanket off when she once again doesn’t reply.

Danu glares at me before pouting. “It’s too early to be awake on a Saturday, Nike… Can’t I do it later?” she asks.

“Fine!” I toss my arms in the air. “You can sleep for a couple more hours, and then I need you to check those houses. I’m heading out now. Go sleep in your room, and Calvin better not sneak in, or I’ll take over his training for this week.” I pull her up, and she stumbles back to her room.

Eris and Hestia laugh when Danu trips on the first step as she yawns, and they receive a rude gesture in reply.

“Danu!” I growl in warning at her, but she ignores me completely.

“What does that mean, Nike? What Danu did with her middle finger?” Eris asks.

“Something you won’t be mimicking, Eris,” I warn her. “Come on, little menace. We have some shopping to do!”

Eris runs to me and jumps on my back. I stumble slightly before adjusting her to sit better and wave to Hestia as we leave the house.

I can only hope Eris doesn’t cause too much trouble today. The alliance meeting with Alpha Marcus is crucial and could be greatly beneficial for our small pack.

Especially with the new note I hid in my office drawer…