Sleeping With The Moon Goddess

“Cam, you up?” my dad yelled from downstairs. “Training starts in 5.” Ugggg, I hate mornings. Even after all these years, I’m still not used to getting up at a quarter to five, and rightfully so. Only crazy people enjoy getting up before dawn; my dad being one of them. I take a deep breath and roll out of bed because if I’m not downstairs in exactly 5 minutes, he’ll add an extra lap to my workout. I head into the bathroom to brush my teeth while simultaneously throwing my hair up in a quick ponytail. After throwing on an old pair of shorts and a tee-shirt, I race downstairs with a few seconds to spare. My dad sends a quick glance my way before heading out the back door towards the grass field behind our house. I throw my gym shoes on and quickly follow. I stand and watch as my dad does a quick scan of the area and sniffs the air, making sure everything is clear before he starts off towards the little path we have now made over the years that goes around the field. I fall in line behind him and settle into a nice, steady run. My dad calls this a jog, but as a 6’4” alpha, his ‘jog’ is more of a run for me, but I’ve learned to keep up. Every morning, this is our routine. Up before 5 am, jog a lap around the grass field behind our house (which is maybe 4 to 5 miles around), followed by whatever kind of training my dad felt like doing that day. Usually, it would be some variation of push-ups, weight training, and cardio, followed by fight training. Fight training was usually in our human form, but occasionally we would practice with our wolves. Our wolves had the strength and the instinct, but dad says it’s important to be able to read your opponent, anticipate their actions and respond. He always says even if you can’t physically overpower your opponent, you can learn to outsmart them. I actually loved fight training, it was a great way to blow off some steam and get any frustrations out. We would train until 7 am, when mom would come out and yell that it was time to get cleaned up before breakfast. I was not a fan of running, but I don’t mind it most days. It not only gives me a chance to fully wake up, but it also gives me a moment to clear my head and think. I remember the first time my dad and I trained together. It started about four years ago, not too long after we lost my sister Emberly. She was barely eighteen when she was killed. She definitely knew how to push our parents’ buttons and loved doing it. She was always testing the boundaries, but she was a good athlete, a great student, and an amazing big sister, so my parents never really had much ground to stand on when it came to trying to punish her. My mother also knew that her defiance and stubbornness came honest from our father. She would usually just smile and roll her eyes a lot. Emberly was never afraid to speak up and give our father some push back. I was envious of her. She was always so confident and kept a calm demeanor. I, on the other hand, was shy and wanted nothing more than to be dad's favorite growing up, so I would usually never question and just do as I was told. Kids at school used to tease and call me a tattle-tale because I thought if I told my dad about the mason kid hiding alcohol for his party later this weekend, my dad would somehow respect me more for telling him these things. Maybe love me more? I honestly don’t know why I did a lot of things back then. I just knew I didn’t have a lot of friends because of it. No one really wanted to talk to me, they didn’t want me telling the Alpha on them, I guess. Not that I could blame them. Except for Em, we would talk about anything and everything and I would keep every secret from our parents she would ever tell me. She would ask me to cover for her if she was sneaking out of the house. Usually to meet a boy or to go to a party, she knew my dad wouldn’t agree with either. Sometimes she would take me with her to a party and tell our parents we were going to go visit grandma or go to a movie. I used to feel so badass standing next to my sister. She was tall, athletic, beautiful, a strong fighter, and wickedly smart for only being 18. I remember the last night she came into my room and woke me up shortly past midnight, mumbling something about going out for a run with a friend. I laughed as I hit her on the head with a pillow. “Oh, a friend, huh? This friend wouldn’t happen to be named Jason, would it?!” Her smile confirmed what I already knew. Jason wasn’t her mate but he was a nice guy. Not bad to look at either. All the girls at school drooled over him. He was captain of the football team, a total cliché except he wasn’t an asshat. He was always nice to me, at least. “What?!” Em said, barely able to contain her laughter. “My wolf is just a little on edge after finals this week, we’re just gonna go hunt and blow off some steam.” “Gonna go blow off some steam alright,” I turn my head sideways and give her a confused look. “Is that what you guys are calling having s*x now?” It was now her turn to pick up the pillow and bop me in the face. We looked at each other sternly for a second before we both burst into laughter. “Hey, we’re wolves, we have neeeeds!” making sure to drag out the ‘e’ sound with her face pleading. “If mom or dad get up, just tell them I’m over at Racheal’s or something. You’re good at covering for me.” I roll my eyes and smile. “Yes. Yes I am”. She gave me a tight hug, but before taking her hands off my arms, she looked me in the eyes and suddenly, her face was very serious. “Hey Cam. . . . I know I haven’t been the best role model for you” . . I started to interrupt but she put her hand up to stop me. “But don’t do what I’m doing. Yes, I love Jason, but I also know that somewhere out there, I have a true mate and part of me regrets choices I’ve made, choices I can’t take back. Do you understand what I’m saying?” I nod my head. “Yeah, but why are . . .” “Camille, promise me that you will wait for your true mate?” I took a minute to study her face, waiting to see if she would laugh it off as a joke or something, but soon I realized that she was being serious. “Ok”, I heard myself say, “I promise Em”. “Good” she gave me another hug. “I’ll be back before training. Now get back to sleep.” She chuckled as she made her way to my open window. “Love you” “Love you too” I heard her say before she disappeared outside.