The Other Luna

Day 2

At my old pack, it was optional for women to train. In the Red Valley pack, it wasn't. I ate a quick breakfast before heading out to the training fields. I had never fought in my life and I knew I would be awful.

As I approached the vast fields, it was only then that I realized how big this pack truly was, there were at least 800 people here to train and the elderly and children weren’t even here.

The beta was the one leading the training because the Alpha and the faux Luna were off attending meetings. I watched as everybody grabbed a partner and I was left awkwardly standing out in the crowd. A girl about my size ran up to me.

"I'm your new partner" She didn't leave me time to respond as she ran off to talk to her friends and I was unsure if I should follow or not. Before I could make my way over to her, the feeling of someone watching me overcame me and I swung my gaze over the crowd to a spot behind me, where my mate stood. He got distracted as Olivia hopped over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

When my partner, who still hadn't told me her name, came back to my side, the beta had told us to start practicing. In this pack, we learned by trial and error. There were no specific moves taught or learnt. I watched the other pairs for a minute trying to learn by watching. When my partner went into fighting stance, I had no idea what I was doing but mimicked her stance. I decided to leave all the fighting to her and try to doge. The less bruises I had the better. So that's what we did, with her continuously trying to hit me and my continuous dodging. She didn't complain about my lack of effort. When I felt ready, I watched as her fist came towards my face and I ducked under her arm and ran straight into her stomach pushing her to the ground and knocking the wind out of her.

"You learn fast. Keep this up and you'll become better than me" I laughed a little, I was in no way close to her skill, but it was a nice compliment.

"Maybe" Was all I replied before she continued to swing, and I continued to try to find new ways around her stance. Something behind my partner caught my eye and, trying to see what was going on I stopped looking at my opponent and suddenly felt the sting of a fist to the jaw. The impact sent me a few steps back holding tightly to my face.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" My partner rushed towards me. Her alarmed voice got the attention of a few groups around us and I gingerly stood up. I wanted to see what had gotten my attention. It was the Alpha talking to the beta. The beta had a smirk on his face and the Alpha had a cocky grin. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that they were both looking at me. When Aidan noticed me looking his cocky grin turned into a smug one as he tilted his head back slightly to look at me over the tip of his nose. He had found another reason as to why I couldn't be the Luna: I couldn't defend myself.

I took an ice-cold shower after training. When I got out I dressed and looked at myself in the mirror. I had a nasty bruise forming on my cheek. I contemplated covering it up, but then I realized that it would look like I was embarrassed. I'm not, I learned from getting hit in the face. Now I knew that my focus should always be on my opponent, regardless of what of who was around me.

By the time I left the room it was lunch. Lunch was the only meal were everyone had to attend if you wanted to eat. Breakfast and dinner was a free for all in the kitchen, but during lunch, the kitchen was locked and if you wanted to eat at all you did it with the rest of the pack.

People stopped to stare at my bruise, but nobody asked anything. I could feel the pull of my mate on the other side of the room. It was getting stronger even though we'd only met two days ago. He was sitting at the head of a table with Olivia on his lap. My appetite disappeared, and I considered skipping lunch for today. I could just go back to my room but, that would mean that I admit defeat. If I could feel the pull, so could he, and even if it would drive me crazy eventually, it would drive him crazy too. I felt his gaze on me and I kept my expression cold and icy. This lunch would be hell.

To fit all the members of the pack it was held outside on many tables. You had to grab a plate and fill it up, buffet style. When I had grabbed my food, I looked for a place to sit and saw Cora. She was sitting with a group of girls I hadnt yet met, but I decided I needed to make more friends anyway so I plucked myself in a seat next to them. They all smiled at me and introduced each other. I only retained 2 of the other girls' names: Brooke and Talia. Brooke had already found her mate and you could see that every few minutes she would glance in the direction of a table with boys, ensuring that he was still there. They were all nice people, but through all the mindless chatter the only thing that I was thinking about was my mate and the girl sitting on him.

Eventually, as people finished eating, the tables emptied and me, unsure of what to do with myself now, decided on a quick walk. As soon as I turned the corner, I saw Olivia in the distance playing with some young children. There was one little boy she was trying to get to join with the others, but he refused to get closer. I approached them, I loved kids and I handled them well.

"This is Max" Olivia introduced us

"Hi Max" I knelt down to his level. "How old are you?" I asked gently. He shied away from me.

"His parents used to abuse him and when the Alpha found out they ran away, he doesn’t have any relatives to take him in, so the pack takes care of him. He doesn't really trust anybody now though. Not even me. He's only 5." She seemed disappointed. "I love kids and it makes me so sad to think someone would treat their child like that" I turned my attention to the boy. He didn't deserve that.

"Olilia" A girl who couldn't quite pronounce the faux Luna's name called her over to play. Olivia looked at Max longingly as her arm got tugged by the other girl.

"Max, do you want to play with the other girls and boys?" I asked gently. He shook his head. I turned to the Luna

"I'll stay with him,go with the others" She looked thankful and hurried away.

"Hey Max, do you want to play with me?" I whispered to him. He didn't say no, but he didn't say yes. "What do you want to play?" He still stayed silent so I tried a new approach. “Do you want to know a secret?” He looked up at me, curious, but unsure. “I’m new to this pack and I’m a little nervous too. People keep looking at me and now that I have this bruise” I pointed to my face, “people are stopping to stare even longer, but you see Max, we have to be strong. We have to be strong for ourselves and strong for each other. So why don’t you take my hand, and we can go for a walk around the pack together. You don’t have to play with the other kids if you don’t want to.” Slowly, he nodded and took my hand in his.

For the most part, we didn’t see anyone until we got closer to the pack house, but when we did his hand would tighten. A child his age should never be afraid of his own pack.

"Max, this is your pack. They will protect you. They won't hurt you. Do you know why mommy and daddy left?" He didn’t move "When the Alpha heard what they were doing to you, they knew the Alpha would be very angry and they ran away scared. The Alpha was protecting you from them. The pact was protecting you. They will keep you safe. I promise." I then lifted my pinky and he copied me, wrapping his around mine. "A pinky promise" A soft smile lit his face. I stood up, our hands still linked and only then I noticed the crowd of people around us. I put my arm around Max, my hand resting on the shoulder further away from me, bringing him closer to me.

"Did I do something wrong?" I heard someone cough. "Did I say something wrong?" I thought back to my words, not finding anything wrong with them. Nobody answered, and I felt Max starting to cower away.

"Oh, would you stop staring at him? What's wrong with you people?" I glowered angrily at them and they quickly snapped out of their trance and hurried away. He relaxed immediate after the spot light was off him.

"See, everything is going to be okay" I told him. We continued walking, hand in hand when we ran into Brooke.

"What...but...I don't believe this!" Her wild red hair stuck out in every direction.

"What?"

"Do you know how many days I tried to get him to like me? You've been here for two days. How did you do it?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"No biggie"

"What do you mean no biggie? This is very biggie."

"Relax, you're scaring him"

"Sorry" She cheeks tinged pink and we stood for a second quietly until she froze. Then she leant forward and whispered, "The alpha is looking at us. He's standing behind you, don't look" I immediately turn around to look. He was watching me.

"What part of ‘do not look’ did you not understand" Brooke had a grumpy look on her face and we burst out laughing, even Max cracked a smile.

Max stayed with me for the rest of the day and when the elderly started tucking the younger ones into bed, he didn't want to leave me. I pinky promised I would visit the next day and he seemed to relax after that. Before I let him go, I gave him another pep talk.

"Max, the elderly want the best for you and it hurts them when you don't want to talk or see them. Do you want to hurt the elderly?" He shook his head. "Do you know what would make them really happy?" He shook his head "If you held their hand." He nodded slowly, understanding what he had to do. When I brought him to the nursery he let go of my hand and slowly grabbed the elderly in charge's hand. She looked down at him and back at me with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you" She didn’t have to say anything though, I could see the gratitude in her eyes.

"Why is she sad?" I heard a small voice belonging to another little boy ask.

"They are tears of happiness, sweet pea" The elderly answered.

His day might be over, but mine seemed to have just begun. I changed into my training gear and made my way towards the training room. At this time in the night, it was empty. I dropped my bag at the door and stuck my iPod in the docking station playing my own music. I worked with the punching bag, knowing that my punches needed to be improved. Punch after punch I worked at it, my muscles throbbing, my knuckles bleeding, but I didn’t let that stop me. When my arms grew tired, I worked on my legs.

Going around the indoor track, I had forgotten how much I loved running, mainly because I was good at it. When my legs were tired, I did an ab circuit. Then I went back to the punching bag. I redid the process until my arms felt like noodles and my legs couldn't hold me up anymore. I literally collapsed on the floor while running. My chest was pounding but all I wanted was to keep going. I pulled myself up and tried to continue, but my body wouldn't let me. I wasn't sure what time it was anymore, and I didn't have the strength to check my iPod. So, I laid still on the floor. As soon as I started to feel my legs I was up and running again. Tears were streaming down my face and I didn't even know why.

I was emotionally and physically tired and my mood swings were so bad that at the moment I felt like I had been on my period for the past three weeks. I laid on the floor crying, not being able to contain myself. I was vaguely aware of my music being turned off and someone approaching me.

"You shouldn't overwork your body. You'll get sick" I recognized the voice, but I didn't answer. "You need to sleep"

"Go away. I need to train"

"You can train tomorrow with everybody else."

"I refuse to get punched in the face again. I just need to finish one more lap" and then repeat my process I thought silently.

"Do you know what time it is?" He asked me, I didn't answer "It’s 4 am" Already? Where did the time go?

"So?"

"So, you need sleep"

"Why do you care" this question stumped him.

"I'm the Alpha and I care for my members." Right, I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not getting up."

"Fine" I heard something being pulled over and then silence took over. I laid still for a minute. When I started feeling better, I got up and finished my lap. Then I did my sit ups. Forcing myself to do ten more than the previous time I did sit ups. I tried to ignore the Alpha, but finally I gave in and glanced at him. He was watching me from a chair beside the spot where I was laying on the track earlier.

I positioned myself in front of the punching bag and began. The cuts on my hands split open again and blood came pouring but I knew that they would heal in a few minutes, due to my werewolf blood.

I felt Aiden approach behind me and move my arms to correct my stance. Then he stood in front of me

"Punch me"

"What, no"

"Do it. Give me your best shot" I raised my fist and punched him square in the chest. He didn't move, and I kept my eyes glued on his chest.

"Again" I raised my fist and hit him harder than the first time. Once again, he didn't flinch. The look on his face told me to try again. This time when I threw my fist forward, it never made contact and instead I stumbled forward.

He had moved away to avoid my hit.

"You need to keep yourself balanced so you don't fall forward. Put your weight into your legs, not your arms. It will give you more stability and keep you from falling." This time when I threw a punch and he dodged, I didn't fall forward. "This will also reduce your time to get ready for the next punch and your opponent will have less of a chance to get you."

After that we stayed silent, throwing punches and dogging. I was getting tired, my punches were getting sloppier and my reflexes were getting slower, but I didn't want to stop. It was probably 5 by now and my eyes were closing by themselves mid punch. I didn't know when I would get to train with him again and I wanted it to last forever. This was the most time we'd ever spent together, and it felt great. My eyes closed halfway again, and I tried to duck under a punch but this time I was too slow and got hit.

"Great that makes two today" I said cheerily trying to ignore the sting.

"Let me check that" He grabbed my face and ran his thumb over where he hit. "I'm sorry" he whispered. His voice sent tingles down my back and I leaned into his touch. The moment was intimate, much more intimate than the last time we touched when I was welcomed into the pack and everyone was watching. This time, it was just us. Enjoying each other in the moment. He started leaning towards me and I suddenly jumped out of my trance and pushed him away. If he wanted to be with me, he had to leave Olivia. I wouldn’t let him cheat on her with me. I could be a cruel person sometimes, but even I wouldn't stoop that low.

"Shouldn't you be doing this with your mate?” His eyebrows shot up, surprise evident on his face. Without him near I could feel the exhaustion in my body. I felt light headed and not in a good way when you’ve had too many drinks. My forehead hurt, and my eyes closed slightly. I could hear the word "Sleep" echo in my brain and I was starting to get cold and hungry. Really hungry. I had forgotten to eat dinner. My body was too exposed, I felt naked.

I'm not sure how I got on the floor but suddenly all I could see were Aiden's shoes and then nothing at all. Sub-consciously I felt myself shiver then slowly be lifted in the air. I shifted to be closer to Aiden. I couldn't control my movement anymore and my wolf wanted me to be closer to him.

I was placed down, and something was laid over me. Someone's hand lifted one of my brown curls and ran their fingers through my hair. Something ran down the length of my nose and over my lips. I felt the back of a hand caress my cheek and I sighed in my sleep. Slowly I became less and less aware of my surroundings and I knew that I was finally asleep.