Warriors of blue moon

Chapter 5, part three - Blossoming romances

I woke up this morning feeling rather nervous, the day had come, today was our final training day, well more like our test day. In just a few hours I’ll find out if I passed or not and it was going to be a long day.

Each one of us would go up against a fully trained Blue moon warrior, of course they weren’t allowed to use their full strength as they had a lot more experience than us, but our test would be down to them and Gabel to determine our skills and decide if we were ready to pass and be an official pack warrior.

I’ve wanted this for so long I need it to go right I need to give it my all. I’ve spent the last two weeks training even harder, on my own, with my dad and with Dakota. Me and Dakota spent a lot of our evenings training in one of our gardens or at the gym. On the evenings I didn’t train, I spent with Heath. After our date at his house in which he cooked me a delicious three course meal, we had spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking lots of wine.

After that night it was pretty clear on both sides that we wanted to spend more time with each other and we have been and so far, it’s been going great, I still haven’t kissed him yet. I’m not a prude, I just haven’t gone for it yet, there hasn’t seem to of been that natural moment yet. I haven’t seen him for two nights as I’ve been training but he did tell me he'd see me tonight whether I pass or not

"Even though I already know you definitely will pass" he'd keep saying.

I finished getting my shorts and tank top on ready to leave. My dad and Sam waiting for me.. immediate family were allowed to attend today out of support and to be the first ones to know if the trainees had passed or not. My dad smiled at me as we got to the training area and placed his huge hands on my shoulders

"My little warrior" he beamed "No matter the outcome today I want you to know I am so incredibly proud of you" he pulled me in for a tight hug and finally released me so Sam could give me a hug.

When Sam let go, he playfully punched me in the arm which I returned in joke. "Take them down Sis, I know you can kick ass".. he laughed, he gave me one last nod and they left me to head over to the viewing area at the back and took a seat on the chairs.

I looked to the benches that semi circled around the training mats to see Dakota so I walked over and took a seat next to her we both took a deep breath gave each other a warm smile when she then grabbed my hand in hers and held it tightly "I hope I don’t lose my concentration now I know Sam is here" she nervously chuckled

"oh I don’t think you'll have time to even remember he’s there when you’re up on those mats" and she nodded it head in agreement..

All the trainees were sat quiet and nervously making small talk with each other to kill the time while we sat and waited for Gabel and the warriors to arrive.. I took that time to take in my surroundings and see how many families came to watch and when I looked to my left, I saw Alpha Nicholas and Luna Mila sitting in their throned seats that were resting on a raised platform with stairs leading up to it and back down on the other side.

The platform had a low wooden railing running across it keeping the Alpha and Luna on one side and us on the other. I forgot they'd be here. They’re here for every test day, to witness who will be new additions as warriors and the Alpha is the one that hands out the golden medal to each one that passes. Its tradition for the new member to walk up the steps to the Alpha and Luna as they congratulate you, The Alpha puts the golden medal held by blue ribbon around your neck, then you leave the platform down the other steps and back to your seat.. it’s like what you would do on graduation day but without the hats and gowns and instead of a piece of paper it’s a medal.. I noticed just behind them they weren’t alone on their platform and Layton was sat just behind his Father but still in full view and he was looking right at me.

My stomach dropped down which felt like it fell to the floor. This is the first time I’ve seen him in weeks, which is the longest we've ever been without contact or seeing each other, and just like that in one tiny little second I was reminded just how excruciatingly handsome he was and how he could make me feel just by being close by, even distancing myself doesn’t change the way I feel about him.. and especially the way he would look at me, like he is now. His eyes hard on me. I forced myself to look away, back to the training mats. I brushed away the heat in my stomach and focused on what was about to come.

Gabel walked to the training mats, with the warriors lining up side by side around the mats.. They all looked serious and fierce, and strong. Very strong. The women were paired with women and the men with men.

Gabel "WELL DONE ALL TRAINEES" he spoke in a raised voice for us all to hear. "THE FACT THAT YOUR STILL HERE AFTER THE GRUELLING TRAINING IVE INFLICTED UPON YOU IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD ALL BE PROUD OF, AND I CAN STAND HERE TODAY AND TELL YOU I HAVE ENJOYED TRAINING YOU ALL AND WATCH YOU GROW AND PROGRESS.. HOWEVER AS YOU KNOW, WE ARE NOT DONE YET... YOU WILL EACH BE PAIRED UP WITH ONE OF OUR TRAINED WARRIORS" he motioned to the standing warriors.

"ONE BY ONE YOU WILL TAKE YOUR FINAL TEST WHICH CONSISTS OF THREE ROUNDS.

ROUND 1 WILL BE TO TEST YOUR SKILLS IN HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT

ROUND 2 WILL BE TO TEST YOUR SKILLS IN SWORD COMBAT

AND ROUND 3 WILL BE TO TEST YOUR STRENTGH, SPEED BUT MOST OF ALL STRATEGY.

WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED ALL THREE ROUNDS YOU WILL RETURN BACK TO YOUR SEATS AND WE WILL ANNOUNCE WHO HAS PASSED WHEN EVERY TAINEE HAS COMPLETED THE TEST".

"ARE YOU READY?"

"YES" we all shouted simultaneously.

"MICHEAL YOUR FIRST"

We all looked to Michael as he made his way to the centre of the mats and a warrior approached him. They stood facing each other only mere inches away, the warrior held out his hand for Michael to shake, which he did. Then Gabel backed away "READY" "FIGHT".

We watched as Michael did his three rounds, it looked exhausting and hard. One by one trainees were called, did their rounds and went back to their seats. So far everyone had done really well but neither me or Dakota could tell if it meant they passed or not as we both exchanged nervous looks but we both noticed Gables expression didn’t change at all with each fight. He stood and watched every move with a straight face, not faltering once.

"LELANNA, YOU’RE UP"

ohh s**t! I quickly took a deep breath as Dakota squeezed my hand in reassurance before letting go

"you'll do great" she whispered and I made my way over to the mats taking my stand as a female warrior stood in front of me, we shook hands like all the others and she gave me a warm smile and nod and I realised this was one of the women I had on my team at the rugby game.. which instantly made me feel better, I know she wouldn’t go easy on me just cause we’ve already met but just having a familiar face made me feel a little less nervous..

Round 1 - I stood strong on my feet as I blocked her punches and kicks, when she went to kick me for the fifth time, I used that moment to jump high, causing her leg to miss me completely and distract her as I l swung one leg out and kicked her in the chest causing her to stumble back as I landed steady on my feet.

She gained her footing again and I blocked more of her punches, but they came down harder and one got through and caught my left cheek and my eyes shook at the impact, I stooped low and uppercut her in the Jaw as she slightly weakened her guard...obviously expecting me to be too shocked by her punch. Just as her head flung back from my hit I rugby tackled her to the floor.

"TIME" Gabel shouted that meant end of time on that round.

I felt relieved that I didn’t go down in the first round, but Gabel's face still didn’t give anything away and I still had two rounds to go. He walked over to us and handed our wooden swords. Yes, we don’t do these fights with real ones... even though wolves always heal fast from wounds, we don’t like to purposefully draw blood.

She was good with her sword. She was quick, but I knew that I was too and luckily, I had put in enough training to make my moves swift and hard. The whole round I felt like neither one of us was getting the upper hand so when Gabel called "TIME" I was slightly disappointed that I hadn’t managed to take charge of that round.

Now it was round 3. Out of all the rounds this was the hardest, it was literally fight or fall so it included whatever we knew about fighting without weapons, so hand to hand combat, kick boxing, wrestling, martial arts.. fighting and finding a way with whatever skills you had to take your opponent down. I slightly pulled back from her after we had tried to overpower each other with our fighting techniques. She suddenly ran toward me as she spun to kick me, I quickly grabbed her calf that had just swung past my face and I pulled her to me,

I pulled her far enough that her back was now facing me, I kicked the back off her leg and pulled her shoulders back as fast and hard as I could and slammed her to the floor, I jumped on her torso and pinned her down.

"TIME" Gabel called, and the woman smiled at me as we both got up

"You were impressive" she whispered and gave me a little nod as we both went back to our places. A few others were called until it was Dakotas time

"You got this D" I reassured her as she left the bench. I was so hooked on watching her fight and I knew she was doing well she even looked confident, I only took my eyes off of her for a moment and I saw Sam who had a beaming grin as he watched her proudly.

I loved how smitten he was with her They had been on a few dates now and they seem really happy. According to Dakota they've shared a kiss and hand holding but nothing more.

I looked back to Dakota as she finished round 3. "TIME" was called, and she made her way over to me puffing and panting "s**t" she gasped as she sat down and grabbed my hand and I could feel it trembling with adrenaline "f**k, I hope I pass"

"I know" I squeezed her hand "I hope we do too" we both knew this was it, no other test to prove ourselves. If we don’t pass, we’d have to take the whole course all over again next year. We held each other’s hands tightly as Gabel walked to the centre of the mats.

"WELL DONE TRAINEES, I WILL NOW CALL THE NAMES ,OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AND YOU WILL ACCEPT YOUR MEDALS FROM YOUR ALPHA AND LUNA"

"CHRIS" he called and we watched as he made his way to the platform. one by one more names were called.

"JONAH"

"LIAM" I gave him a big smile and thumbs up as he walked past me to accept his award.

“MICHAEL”

"AVINNA"

"DAKOTA" she let out a quiet squeal as she got up to accept her medal. I quickly glanced back at Sam who was mouthing "that’s my girl" with a wide smile.

"JENSON"

"LELANNA" My head was screaming with excitement and relief at the sound of my name being called. I got up and made my way to the platform, biting my bottom lip to stop myself from grinning like an i***t.

I got to the platform and stood in front of Nicholas and Mila and as Nicholas put the medal around my neck he smiled and whispered "well done Lelanna you did us all proud”

"Yes dear we knew you had it in you" Mila added. I smiled at them both as my eyes flickered to Layton who was also standing, but still behind his father, I saw his jaw clench as he stared at me but he didn’t say a word.. not even to congratulate me. “Thank you, both of you" I turned my attention back to Nicholas and Mila then made my way off the platform and back to the bench clasping my medal in my hand with sheer happiness.

As I looked at my father and Sam, even from here I could see the watery tears in my father’s eyes, he gave me a nod and a smile. We were all finally dismissed once all the medals had been handed out and luckily everyone in our group had passed Alpha Nicholas announced the celebration happening at the beach tonight for us all to attend to give everyone a chance in the community to celebrate with us... but as it wasn’t until tonight, I decided to go home with Father, as Sam wanted to walk Dakota back home with her family. I rang Heath as soon as I got home and told him the good news, he promised he'd meet me tonight and we'd go to the party together.

Heath came to my house to have champagne that we shared with my parents, they had met him once briefly one time when they bumped into us when we were on our way out for one of our dates but this will be the first time he’s actually spent time with them but it went smoothly and they seemed to like him, I also noticed he seemed a bit nervous which I thought was a little cute..

Dad: "Lelanna My little warrior" he said tearily as we raised our glasses for his toast "we’ve always been so proud of you, and we always knew you are destined for great things and adventure Your capable of anything. And although were not surprised you passed"

he said as he looked to my grinning mother "but the fact that you worked so hard for it shows just how great and determined you truly are. Here’s to our Lelanna" we clinked our glasses and drank our champagne.

We all talked.. well more like my parents practically interviewed Heath, but before it dragged on I gave them both a hug and grabbed Heaths hand for us to leave.

When we got to the beach it was already filled with people. there were several tented bars with lights draping down each one. There were enclosed fire pits lining the beach with people sitting and standing around them drinking their beer. We got a drink and decided to mingle, I knew Heath didn’t know many people here yet, so I kept hold of his hand tightly and introduced him to the girls who were all sat around one of the fire pits on wicker folding chairs chatting and mingling. Jackson started talking to Heath straight away.. probably enjoying the fact that there was at least one other bloke in our little circle. I was talking to Lola when I looked around to see if I could spot Sam.

Dakota was already sat with us so I knew he wasn’t with her, I wanted him to meet Heath then I spotted him near one of the lit up bars and Just as I was about to get up and bring him over I saw he was talking to Layton but his gaze was in my direction. It was too dark to see his expression and just then I noticed Zara approaching him touching his arm as she greeted him but he barely looked at her when he shook his arm out from her touch and turned his attention back to Sam. Zara walked away in a huff but I could see Layton kept glancing from Sam to me, only then for me to catch Sam also looking at me, they both stopped talking and just looked at me for a moment.. I sighed and decided to look away and resume my conversation with Lola, who had also been watching me.

She gave me a quizzical look "why are you both staring at each other" she whispered so no one else could hear our conversation, especially Heath! Heath who was sat right next to me holding my hand. I know he isn’t my boyfriend, and we haven’t even kissed yet but I still felt like I was doing something wrong by staring at a man that I knew I still felt a lot for while Heath is the one that’s actually giving me the time of day.

"I have no idea" I shrugged to Lola "Honestly I don’t... I didn’t think he would be here tonight, just a bit surprised I guess, anyway he was the one staring at me"

"Yea I noticed" she said "Maybe he's noticed you’re with Heath"

It was hard not to notice; his chair was touching mine and our hands were clasped together in plain view. "Well, I don’t know why he was, but I don’t plan on wasting my night wondering why "

Lola chuckled as clinked her beer bottle with mine "cheers to that". We both kept talking when someone waltzed over to our group to interrupt our conversation

"Well, I suppose a congratulatory is in order" I already knew who the voice belonged to when I looked behind me to see Zara.

"Thanks Zara” I left it at that and turned back around so I wasn’t facing her hoping she'd just leave.

"Well, I suppose it’s no surprise that someone as butch as you passed… now you'll fit in with all the other male warriors" she giggled away with her friends.

I laughed with them too knowing I was far from butch.. I knew she was trying to geode me but what she just said caught Heath’s attention and he whipped his head round to see who was insulting me..

"Ok Zara, I can’t be bothered with you tonight, I’m having a well-earned drink so go and find something else to do"..

"Whatever" she retorted but her eyes flashed to Heath and they suddenly turned lustful "and who might this be" she asked sweetly, fluttering her lashes

"This is Heath.. not that it’s any of your business"

"Oh well hi there Heath, now I know you must be new here, otherwise I’m sure would have noticed you around" she giggled.. "I’m Zara" she held her hand out for him to shake but he just looked at her hand then back to her face as he frowned

"And?" he shrugged

"Well it’s just very nice to meet you, perhaps we.could.um..become more acquainted.. You know as friends of Lelanna’s" she stuttered with her hand still held out.

"Well from what I heard you say to her you definitely don’t sound like a friend to me and anyway friend or not I won’t speak to someone who insults Lelanna" and at that he turned around with his back to her and she stomped off, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

I couldn’t help but smirk as I gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you for that Mr charmer"

He gave me a wink "anytime Stunner...anyway she looked and sounded like a right b***h"

"Oh she is" I laughed "and she’s definitely not a friend of mine"

"I gathered" he laughed.

We all talked amongst ourselves and laughing playfully but after having such a long day, by the time it was 1am I decided it was time to go home and go to bed and Heath agreed that he was ready to leave even though it had been a good night it was at that time now when practically everyone was drunk. Heath walked me home, hand in hand "You know I’ve told my Gran about you" he grinned.

"Oh really.. like a little or a lot?"

"A lot" he chuckled " I told her you passed today, she said she wants to meet the new warrior that’s going to keep us all safe" he laughed

"Aw she said that?.. wow I’m glad she has that much faith in me"

"Well, its true and she’s not the only one" he smiled at me sweetly

"thank you Heath, and thanks for coming tonight, I really don’t think it would have been as good if you weren’t there".

He smiled down at me as we reached my front door. "I’m glad I came, was nice to meet everyone... but also.. just another chance to hang out with you.. and in case you didn’t catch what I said...My Gran wants to meet you"

"Really?” I asked blushing

He laughed "Yes she does. So do you want to meet her?"

"Of course.. I’d love to meet your Gran" I answered excitedly

"Great" he said as he cupped my cheek looking into my eyes " you can come over and ill cook again"

"mmm well I definitely can’t resist that"

He chuckled "I know, that’s how I’m going to keep persuading you to come over" He smiled widely at me his eyes still looking straight into mine.

Without another word I cupped the back of his neck with my hand, stood on my tiptoes and bought my lips softly to his, I pecked his lips and lightly pulled back to gauge his reaction, his smile told me all I needed to know, so this time I landed my lips on his harder and he kissed me back soft and passionately, his arms snaking around my waist as he pulled me in closer to him our bodies pressed against each other as my hand ran through his hair.

Our tongues massaged each other’s as we got lost in the kiss.. It felt like minutes before I finally pulled away.. our bodies still stuck together, and I could feel his hard c**k pressed against my stomach, which took me by surprise, and I suddenly felt nervous and shy but I kissed him again softly and lightly as my lips were now red and almost swollen. we both smiled and we kissed lightly a few more times before we finally let go of each other and said goodnight.

I got into bed running my fingers lightly over my lips smiling to myself and how good his lips tasted.. I didn’t exactly feel what I thought I would feel, you know the fireworks and butterflies but I did feel excited and tingly and I did definitely enjoy it.. he was a great kisser for sure and I knew I wanted to kiss him again..