Summer's POV Ryan stepped forward,positioning himself between the laughing cubs and the girls. "Shut up, all of you," he growled, his young voice carrying surprising authority. "They're new to this. How would you do if you'd never trained before?" The other cubs fell silent, shocked by Ryan's defense of the very girls he'd confronted yesterday. "But she's supposed to be our future Alpha," one boy protested. "She should be better than us." "She will be," Ryan stated with surprising conviction. "But even Alphas have to start somewhere. My father says the measure of a wolf isn't how they start, but how hard they work to improve." I watched in amazement as Ryan turned to offer a hand to Aria, helping her to her feet. "Try widening your stance," he suggested. "It helps with

