Shadow of the Wolves

Chapter 8

BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!

I growled in hatred of the alarm clock, I kicked the puffy blue covers off my bad and managed to hit the off button. I looked at the clock and saw how it read 5:25 a.m.,"These people!" I said and got up to get dressed . I slipped on a black T-shirt and some exercise pants with my shoes then I walked out if the room. Like if on cue, Caspian walked out of his room.

"Good morning. "I said as I picked up my hair into a ponytail.

"Morning." He said.

Castor walked out, "Hey you're actually up."

I rose an eyebrow, "What does that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing. Come on, we have some fighters to train." He said as he slung his arm over my shoulders.

We reached the first floor and I saw how people moved through the house, trying to get to their positions on time.

"I got to say, it's impressive." I said.

Castor smiled,"Then wait till you see the fighters. Oh and don't be afraid to be mean, that's how you'll get respect here."

We walked outside and went to a large area where many men stood, the women on the other hand sat on the benches near the wrestling mats.

"Do your magic." Castor said.

I smirked and then shouted,"I want everyone in three single file lines NOW! ! !"They looked up, some even laughed a bit, then turned back to their conversations,"Okay let's try this one more time,EVERYONE GET YOUR SORRY ASSES INTO LINES OR I WILL MAKE SURE YOU'LL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY CAUSE YOU'LL BE TOO BUSY EATING WORMS UNDERGROUND !!! "I shouted and they turned around, "I'VE DONE IT BEFORE AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO DON'T AGAIN!!!"

A man walked towards me and asked,"And you are?"

"I'll be your worst nightmare if you don't DO AS I SAY!! " the man laughed, sure he towered over my 5'6 frame, but I managed to kick his head and send him to the ground. The next second the entire class all stood in lines.

Castor who was now leaning on a tree snickered. I walked to the lines and said "Good, now my name is Thea Williams and I'll be training you for the next week. Any comments on my abilities, any insult towards me and you'll end up like that guy ." I said pointing my thumb back. They nodded,"Okay, twenty laps around the clearing, and if there is an outlier in the group you'll run five more. "

They started to run, some still in fear of me.

A few hours later and I was exhausted . Sparing with a pack that all they do is sparing was difficult, some of them were excellent fighters yet difficult to control. The girls were strong fighters, inexperienced but strong enough to fight. All I was sure of was that my job here was going to be difficult .

I head downstairs for dinner at nine and see many unfamiliar faces talking around a maple dining table,"Hello, you must be Thea." A woman said and took my hand,"I'm Jacklin, Castor's, Calypso's and Shade's mother. "

I smiled, she looked so similar to her daughter, but not like her sons. She was a very beautiful woman, with the same eyes as Shade's and the others,"Hello, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise deary. Say you aren't a Beta or something like that, are you? "She asked.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "No, I'm an omega. But in my pack I lead the fighters."

She rose her head, nodding in understanding,"Ahh, figures that's why you're here?"

"Yeah, Castor's persistence and experiment."

"My boys are certainly something else."

You don't say?

"I've noticed." I say with slight sarcasm.

She gave me a wary, but amused smile. Her eyes flickered around my face,"Pardon me for asking, but I don't see a mark on your neck, aren't you mated yet?"

I shook my head,"I haven't found him yet." I lied conventionally.

"That's odd, how old are you,dear?"

"21 this Friday. "

She rose an eyebrow, "And your parents haven't arranged a marriage?"

"My parents died in a rogue attack when I was ten."

"Sorry to hear that, dear." Jacklin said,"You know, I lost my husband in an attack too, my children are the ones who seem to have suffered the most ."

Realization hit me,Caspian did say he knew what it felt like to lose a parent, this is what he meant. He didn't mean to set off memories, he was trying to understand me and I kicked him to curb.

"I'm sorry, it must have been hard to lose your mate."

She sighed and nodded,"I knew how much he loved me, he lost his life defending me and our children. . . Shade, to be honest, was the one that had to finish the job. He was so young and, well. . .you can imagine the scars it left him."

I knew exactly what he meant, I'd suffered that pain too,"My parents were killed in front of me, scars make me up." I say with a weary expression.

"I see."She said and she eyed something behind me,"Hello son."

I freeze as I feel his radiating power, sending a trigger of goosebumps as he spoke,"Mother."

"Mom, you came!?" Castor said as he walked up to his mom with uncertainty.

Jacklin smiled, "I am hoping the ball went well, did it?"

Castor smile dropped faster than the beat, "Err,well- no it didn't go all too well."

"So I don't have new in-laws?"She asked

"Shade, brother of mine, shed some light here." Castor said as he walked to sit down.

"Where's my baby girl?" Jacklin asked as she noticed her daughter's absence.

Caspian sighed,"She was marked and mated before the Acceptance, therefore she was exiled ."

His mother fumed,"Oh s**t, he's dead." Castor snickered and moved me out of Jacklin's way. He sit me next to him.

"Mother please, the rules state -"

She cut him off,"I know what they state, and even I know how obsolete and ridiculous they are."

"She broke a rule, she is not welcomed in my territory!"

"She's your sister, Shade!" She told him and he rolled his eyes,"Keep rolling, you may find a brain back there."

Okay, I like her.

"Mother, you do not disrespect your Alpha! " He said, giving her the Alpha tone.

Jacklin placed her hands on her hips, totally unaffected, "Excuse me, young man, you do not use your Alpha attitude on your mother!"

"How did she deflect the Alpha command?" I asked Castor through a whisper.

He whispered, "Mom had Alpha blood in her veins before she was Luna, she is practically immune."

Caspian regained control of his anger,"Mother, I did what I was raised to do."

Jacklin glared,"Don't pin this on your father, he hated the rules as much as I did."

Caspian ran a his hand through his short hair,"This conversation is over." He said and turned to leave the dining room.

"Shade! Get back in here!" His mother warned, "Caspian don't you-! Oh s**t!" She said and then all eyes fell on me.

"What?" I asked, them I realized I wasn't supposed to know his name,"Wait, Caspian?"

Caspian returned to the room with a deadly look on his face,"Shade -" Jacklin said but her voice cracked. I jumped out of my seat as he rose his hand on his mother.

I stepped in the way as his hand came down,"Casper stop!" I said and my hands came to his chest, pushing him away. But it miraculously calms him down, with one touch, with our mating bond.

He froze, and I slowly realize how badly I’ve messed up. I'm even more dead now!

"Casper? " Castor asked amused.

"J-Just to get his attention. " I muttered and then stepped away from Caspian. I turned to help Jacklin who seemed surprise of my sudden actions than her son's.

Caspian's eyes glared at me, "Thea." He growled dangerously.

"A word," I growled in return.

I stormed out the dining room and went to my room,waiting for him to come. He closed the bedroom door,"What the hell ?!!" We shouted at the same time."Who do you think you are?!"

"How dare you-!?!?!" Our voices said in sync once more.

We glared at each other, "This is why I fight, Caspian- I mean Shade, see I don't even know what to call you anymore," I said and crossed my arms against my chest. I look to the side, not wanting to look at him.

"I'm sorry. " He said and I snapped my head up,"I don't know what came over me."

He said . . .SORRY?

I let out a shaky breath,"You a very complicated man, Caspian Shade."

"I believe it's the other way around, Thea." He said as he crossed his arms,"Is that my jacket?" He asked as he noticed my bag on the floor and next to it was his black jacket, the one he left in my room the day after the ball.

"No." I said and block his view to the bag.

"Yeah it is!" He said as he bit back a smile.

"No it isn't, it's probably James's ."

"It's mine !"

"No it's not!"

"Liar."

"Shut up!"

"Why are you so -?"

"Hey don't kill each other! "Castor said as he walked in.

Caspian turned and snapped at his brother,"Well be down in a second."

"Okay, don't hurt her Shade. . .mom likes her and she'll get pissed if you leave a scratch on her, she's even planning a party for you Thea."

"Wait, what? No she isn't."

"Your birthday is on four days away right? This Friday, and you're turning 21."

I groaned, "Which is exactly why I don't want one. Tell her thanks, but I'm good."

"Our mom doesn't work that way." Castor said and headed down.

Caspian shook his head,"Are you giving me the jacket back?"

"Are you saying sorry to your mom?"

"Yes."

"Then there's you answer. "

"So it is my jacket?"

"No, its James."

He frowned, "How many of his clothes do you have?"

I arched an eyebrow, "So now you act like a mate?"

He blinked a few times,"You're impossible."

"No, nothing is impossible. "I said and skipped out of the room.

The moment I entered the dining room, all eyes fell on me,"How is she still alive?" Someone muttered.

Caspian entered the room as I walked to sit down next to Jacklin, "Mom, I'm sorry, I would never dare -"

"I know son, I know you've been under a lot of pressure lately with the Knight Pack and the territory debacle ." She said and cut her son off, then she turned and looked at me,"And thank you, Thea, not many have the courage to stand up to an Alpha, especially one that's not yours."

"Yeah, I have a problem with that, I always seem to get into fights with Alphas in general, I don't know why?" I joked. The room filled with laughter, all except for my mate, who sat there and had difficulty controlling his 'emotionless' face.

"So, Thea, I heard you have been head fighter for the longest time than any wolf in your pack." A man that sat across Castor said.

"What you hear is true, then." I said.

He scoffed,"Then what, is your pack weak?"

Oh hell no.

I smiled,"What's your name?"

"Kyle." He answered,"I'm the Beta."

"Well then, Kyle, would you like to test your theory? "

Castor looked at me like if I was crazy, and I probably was, dueling a Beta.

"I wouldn't want to ruin that pretty face of yours." He teased.

I smiled sweetly, "Funny, I was going to say the same thing."

"Let's go then."

I looked at Caspian, who looked a bit panicked, "You can last a few days without your Beta, right?" I asked sarcastically.

"Don't hurt yourself. "He told me as we all stood up to go outside.

We went outside and Kyle stood already in a fighting stance.

"Okay, first one to draw or knockout losses." Caspian said and then clenched his jaw. I walked to stand in front of Kyle and rose my fists to cover my ears,"Ready, GO!"

Kyle didn't waste a second, he lunged and threw a punch to my jaw, but I easily blocked it, taking his wrist and twisting it, then throwing him over my back. He tried to sweep my feet with his legs as he laid on the ground, but I jumped out of the way,"Come on, is that all you got. "I mocked.

He got up and tried kicking me. He failed miserably. His leg ended up in my hold and in a split second he had a mouthful of dirt. He got up again and tried, again, to punch me, but I got him first with a right hook . He shook his head in a daze from my punch, but that didn't last long, he suddenly kicked a roundhouse and I had no choice but to go down in a split.

I heard sounds of amusement as I flipped to my feet in one move,"Shit." Kyle muttered.

I threw a punch and this time he managed to block it then he used my momentarily loss of balance to shove me to the ground, but I used my hands to prevent my fall. I threw my legs in the air into a handstand and landed easily on my feet, only to be surprised by a punch to the jaw.

Everyone gasped, and Kyle stepped back with a look of victory on his face. I touched my slightly aching jaw, soon to have a bruise, "Finally you landed a hit." I said smugly. I looked at him in the eye,"Okay enough playing around." I said in a bored tone.

He charged to me like a bull, but like a bullfighter, I dodged him and tripped him. I turned to look at Caspian, "You won't be mad if I hurt him,right? "

Caspian shrugged, "Yeesh, thanks man."Kyle said sarcastically.

I cracked my knuckles, "Good night. "I said and threw the last punch to the jaw, sending Kyle to the ground,"One, two, three, you're out." I said and I had applauds coming from every direction.