Scarred Wolf Queen Chapter 36

**Briony's POV**

Griffin helped Diana to her feet with a tired sigh. "We need to head out early. Still got a ton of prep before tomorrow's Sentinel selection."

"Indeed," Diana rose gracefully, giving us a warm smile before turning to her son. "Ethan, staying at the pack house tonight?"

Ethan stretched, his muscles straining against his shirt. "Yeah, Mom. We'll all go to the selection grounds together." He turned to me with a smirk. "And Bri, no extra training tomorrow. That's an order. I'm sick of changing clothes three times a day because of your crazy workouts!"

I couldn't help smiling. Since following my training program, Ethan's lanky frame had filled out with solid muscle. The others had changed too, though less dramatically.

"He's right," Layla laughed. "I don't know how you turned these lazy guys into gym rats."

As we moved to the terrace, Prince Derek appeared beside me.

"Impressive," he said quietly. "Are you the one who's made them all so strong?"

I shifted uncomfortably under his direct attention. "They did the work. I just gave some pointers."

Christopher materialized on my other side, tone casual but eyes watchful. "She's selling herself short. Truth is, our pride couldn't handle being outmatched by her every day."

Benjamin surprised me by draping his arm across my shoulders - unusually familiar for him. "All her fault for setting the bar so high."

Prince Derek leaned closer. "Briony, perhaps we could - "

Before he could finish, Maxwell grabbed my wrist and pulled me to his side. Then I found myself being lifted and placed on his lap. Christopher sat on his right, Noah on his left. Meanwhile, Ethan had already pulled Layla onto his knee, while Benjamin stood behind us like a bodyguard.

Prince Derek's attempt to sit near me had been completely blocked.

*What's going on?* I asked through our mind link, not hiding my confusion.

*He was getting too close,* Christopher replied, his tone unusually sharp. *And he's obviously into you.*

I glanced at Layla, who was covering her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh.

*So where am I supposed to sleep tonight?* I asked sarcastically through the link.

*Options are open,* Benjamin replied briefly. I rolled my eyes.

*He was being too familiar,* Maxwell explained. *Plus, he admitted he's looking for potential mates. He does this with every eligible female.*

*So you're saying what he's doing isn't different from what you guys do with other girls?* I challenged. *Building connections with the Alpha Prince would be smart, wouldn't it?*

No one answered, and awkward silence fell over us.

I stood up from Maxwell's lap. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Where are you going?" Maxwell reached for me, but I dodged him.

"Pretty sure I just said where," I replied, raising an eyebrow. "Are you policing my bathroom breaks now? Setting up a checkpoint system?"

I looked at all five boys, none meeting my eyes. I turned to Layla, silently asking her to join me.

She stood up, eyes twinkling. Benjamin started to rise, but I raised my hand. "Stay put. Anyone follows me, I promise you'll spend all day tomorrow in training hell."

I noticed Prince Derek standing too. "That includes you, Your Highness. While we're gone, you can all discuss this caveman behavior." I spoke bluntly as Layla started laughing. Even the adults at the other end were hiding smiles.

Once safely in my new room upstairs, I turned to Layla. "What the hell was that about?"

Layla leaned against the door, grinning. "Your boys are jealous, Bri. You've never been close to a guy outside your circle before, especially not someone as hot as a prince."

"That's ridiculous," I frowned. "I train with guys all the time."

"Not like this," Layla shook her head. "This is a high-status, good-looking guy openly hitting on you. I think it's the first time they've realized you could actually leave them, especially since you've talked about joining the Sentinels. So they went full caveman mode. Best part is, I don't think they've ever been jealous before."

"I don't get it," I paced, running fingers through my hair. "We're just friends. No guy has ever looked at me twice. I was always invisible. This is so weird! Was Derek actually... flirting with me?" My voice cracked on the last question.

"Oh, honey," Layla laughed softly. "I can't believe you don't see it. You've changed too, you know."

"How?"

"You never look in mirrors, do you?" she said. "You're gorgeous and strong, smart, independent, and mysterious. You might be the only girl who's never tried to impress them, unlike all those girls drooling over the 'future Alphas.'"

She continued, "You treat them like normal people, not expecting special treatment, just real friendship. You're not afraid to call them out. Tonight was probably the first time someone besides their mom made that prince back off. Same with the triplets - nobody tells them 'no' or orders them around. You were magnetic tonight."

"Fine, so what do I do?" I collapsed onto the bed. "Stop messing with me. This is weird. I have zero experience with this stuff. Maybe I should just go beat them all up - at least I know how to do that."

"Two options," Layla sat beside me, eyes sparkling. "Go back downstairs and sit on Maxwell's lap while they fight over you like cavemen, or we go talk to the adults and make the boys sweat. Either way, I'm gonna enjoy watching what happens next."

"Ugh! Let's go." I didn't know which option was worse, but when we returned outside, the choice was made for me.

"Briony! Could you come here?" Conrad called over. "Got a question about defensive strategy."

We exchanged surprised looks, then walked toward the adults. Behind us, I heard Ethan's confused voice, "Why would they ask Briony about defense?"

"About border security," Conrad said when we sat down, "what factors should an ideal defense system consider, in your opinion?"

"In my opinion?" I sat down, surprised. "I've only noticed stuff during my morning runs. I see patrol teams and how security changes in different areas. I guess it depends on the terrain and what's happening in neighboring territories?"

"Good observation," Conrad nodded approvingly. "If you were designing a security system, how would you approach it?"

I realized this was a test, and my earlier irritation faded. This was way more interesting than dealing with the boys' weird behavior.

I sat up straight, ready for the challenge ahead.