Dinner at my parents’ table was an exercise in endurance. Gabriel was polite—painfully polite—but every compliment he gave was met with one of my parents’ thin smiles or cutting little remarks. I kept my claws sheathed, but just barely.
When dessert plates were cleared, my mother folded her hands. “Thane, this will be the last overnight guest for a while. We’ve tolerated enough… disruptions to the household.”
A low growl rumbled in my throat before I could stop it. Gabriel stiffened beside me. My father’s gaze sharpened in silent warning, and I forced the sound down. “Understood,” I said through my teeth. They were the alphas here, whether I liked it or not. And in their den, that meant I followed their rules.
We didn’t say much until we were upstairs in my room, door shut. Gabriel flopped into the armchair in the corner. “Guess that’s my last invite for a while,” he said lightly, but I could see the flicker of frustration under it.
I smirked. “They can control the dinner table, but they can’t control this.” I sat on the edge of my bed and leaned forward. “Time to teach you the stare.”
His whole mood lifted. “Alright, sensei. Teach me the way of the wolf eyes.”
I chuckled. “First thing—stop thinking about trying and start thinking about being. It’s not just your eyes changing color; it’s you letting the wolf right up to the surface without crossing over into full shift.”
I stood, pacing slowly. “Find that place inside you—the part that wants to claim space, to make someone back down just by looking at you. Breathe slow. Hold that feeling right behind your eyes.”
Gabriel nodded, closing his eyes, inhaling deep. When he opened them, they were still the same bright blue.
“Better posture,” I said, stepping in to tap his shoulders back. “Think about what happened today with that idiot at school. Don’t just remember it—own it. You had the upper hand before you even moved.”
Something shifted. It wasn’t the color yet, but the air around him tightened. He grinned, feeling it.
“There it is,” I said. “Now—push just a little further.”
This time, there was the faintest gold halo bleeding into the blue before it faded. Gabriel’s eyes went wide, and he laughed. “Oh, I felt that!”
“Yeah, and you’ll feel it even more when you nail it,” I said. “Again.”
We went like that for almost an hour, me correcting his breathing, his stance, his focus. By the time he finally got the full golden flare, his grin was pure wolf pride.
“Damn,” he said, leaning back, chest rising with the satisfied kind of exhaustion. “That’s addicting.”
“Just remember,” I said, leaning against the desk, “this isn’t for showing off to your friends. It’s a tool. Use it like one.”
Gabriel gave me a mock salute. “Yes, sir. But tomorrow… I get to try it at school, right?”
I smirked. “Tomorrow, we roll in with the Humvee. You’ll have plenty of chances.”