Un.Bridled (Claimed Series #2) Read Online Free Page A

most vulnerable. Someday, they may just attack us at full force. Having as many fighters here as possible will be to our benefit, even if one of those fighters happens to be a woman.”
    Adolf stopped abruptly, but he remained facing forward. “If you’re so desperate to learn, ask your Alpha to train you. He’s a Slayter. Combat is what they are bred to excel at.”
    Hoping she was on the right track in garnering an eventual acceptance from Adolf, Hayden pressed further. “He would be too easy on me and that would be counterproductive. Besides, he’s better in hand-to-hand combat.” She took a step closer to Adolf, her expression hopeful but her tone firm. “I asked Blake, but he said he didn’t know how to use a dagger. He said you were a master.”
    A little flattery couldn’t hurt, could it?
    Adolf turned his cheek and calmly deliberated her from over his shoulder. “A female should take on more reasonable tasks, domestic tasks. There are too few female werewolves as it is. It is absurd to think of losing them in battle, a place where only men should inhabit.”
    Hayden adopted a tall and proud stance, keeping her eyes locked on Adolf’s criticizing stare. Any form of submission would only prove him right. “My primary duty as female Alpha is to protect my pack.”
    He grinned suddenly, as if she’d said something humorous. “Old traditions are derived from wolf behaviors in the wild. A female Alpha’s primary duty is to carry the male Alpha’s children .”
    Her whole body flushed at the mention of having Cole’s children, but she refused to react outwardly. “That’s the old traditions,” she insisted levelly. “Having children may be in my future, but right now I want to protect my pack. I hate feeling defenseless and I don’t want to rely on others to protect me.”
    Grey eyes scrutinized her closely. “You have a remarkable amount of pride and authority for a female, but I will not teach you. It goes against everything I believe in.”
    Without another word, he walked back to his house, leaving Hayden standing solitarily in the street. Instead of feeling rejected, she only felt fierce determination. There was a small crack in Adolf’s resolve. Hayden vowed to go after it with as much force as she could muster.
    * * *
    “I apologize for my behavior these past few days, Hayden.”
    Hayden glanced at Addie from the corner of her eye. The other woman was cutting a green pepper with monotonous repetition. Her blue eyes were dim, almost hollow in their emptiness. She may have been apologizing, but she was hardly back to the old Addie.
    “I understand that things are difficult right now,” Hayden responded carefully. “I don’t hold anything against you, Addie.” Hesitantly, she placed a reassuring hand on the woman’s shoulder. Usually it was Addie who initiated the consoling. It felt odd switching roles.
    “With Devan gone…” Addie shook her head, her face twisting with poignant angst. “What she did was terrible, yes, but I still love her. And miss her.”
    Times like these were especially difficult for Hayden. Her interactions with Devan had been strained at best and she hadn’t known the other woman very long. It didn’t help matters that Devan had delivered her straight to Nicolas.
    She knew Addie didn’t mean to hurt her, but it still made her uncomfortable when the pack mourned so heavily for Devan.
    “I knew her since she was a child. Devan’s mother, a human, died from complications of childbirth. Cole’s mother and I used to dote on Devan as if she were our own child.” Addie offered a strained smile. “We’d always wanted a daughter.”
    Hayden dropped her hand from Addie’s shoulder, deciding silence was better than giving false reassurances. What was she supposed to say in a situation like this?
    “You were unfortunate to see her at her lowest,” Addie continued, as if reading Hayden’s reservations. “I think you two would have gotten along well if it hadn’t