The Healer's Son

ChapterTwo

“Dad, can I please run training today?” I asked my dad after walking into his office.

It had been two days since I’d seen Jo. Since I’d been in the presence of my mate. And since my mother had spoken to me.

“Gabe, you know that the warriors are your mothers business, not mine. If you want to run training with the younger wolves then you need to ask her.” He gave me a knowing look.

“But she is ignoring me!” I raised my voice more than I should but I’ve been on edge the past two days in a way I’d never felt before.

It was no argument that I inherited my mothers temper but as I grew up and learned to control my magic, it helped me control my emotions with ease. Something about this situation was bringing up emotions and reactions that I hadn’t had in a very long time. My father stood from his desk to look at me with authority.

“I’m sorry, dad. I’m having a really hard time right now and this feels like the best way to handle it.”

“If you won’t go ask your mother then you can spar with Griffin. I will not take over her territory because you ran off and refused to talk to anyone after you went with her to the hospital. This is completely unlike you and to ignore your mother and sister when they were worried about you was not only irresponsible, it was disrespectful even without the fact that you were grounded.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

To be fair, although my mother hadn’t spoken to me in two days, I ignored both her and Rose for hours after I ran out of the hospital room and have made no effort to speak to either of them. I know I screwed up and my mother won’t accept a simple apology but at this point, I had to try.

I left the house, walking towards the training grounds that were right next to the academy. My parents had renovated the indoor training warehouse to make it larger and put in an office for moms pack work. She found working in the house to be too distracting so when she needed to do work for the hospital, she had an office there, and when she needed to do work for the pack, she had an office built here. I walked towards the building as slow as I could to delay the inevitable. Once I made it inside the warehouse, I headed directly for my mothers office, having no clue what I was going to say. When I opened the door, she looked up at me then immediately back down at her paperwork.

“Hi, mom.” I spoke sheepishly.

“Hello, Gabriel.” She responded without sparing me another glance.

I stood there awkwardly, twiddling my fingers and trying to muster the courage to speak.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. A human wouldn’t have heard me but I knew she did.

“What was that, Gabriel? You need to speak up.”

She finally looked up at me, knowing she won. My mother was a stubborn woman and I also inherited that from her, but against all odds, she understood me better than anyone else in the world.

“I’m sorry, mom. I know I ran out when I shouldn’t have and it was rude and then I ignored you and Rose when you were just worried about me. I don’t know what happened, I was just suffocating and I needed to get out.”

I was ready to tell anyone what had caused those feelings in me yet but hopefully she would take pity on my explanation.

“You were rude and you shouldn’t have left. Not only was I worried about you, but I was disappointed in you. That was beyond out of character and showed complete disregard for your punishment. The things I do are done with your best interest. You went on a string of bad decisions the last couple of months and you’ve been doing so well lately. I want to be there to help you when you get these feelings but I can’t do that if you run away and shut me out.”

“I know, mom. Sometimes I just don’t know how to say what I’m feeling, sometimes I don’t even know what I’m feeling.”

“I understand that more than you realize, Gabe. If I’m being honest, I think your grounding has gone on for long enough. You have shown me that you’re growing and willing to put in the work so I can’t continue to hold your past against you.” When she finished speaking, I was shocked.

My mother was a kind woman but if you pushed, she pushed back harder. I was expecting an extended grounding or something else, not to be released from it all together.

“I really appreciate that mom. I have a favor to ask though.” She gave me a look telling me to go on. “I’m still having a hard time controlling how I feel right now and I feel like a bomb that is waiting to explode. Would it be okay if I ran training for the future warriors today? I need to get it out and I want to do it productively.”

She stood up with a gleaming smile before coming over and pulling me into a hug.

“That right there proves that I’ve done my job right.” She spoke while holding me in her warm embrace. “You can run training but it starts in fifteen minutes so you need to get home and get changed.”

“Nah, I keep extra clothes stashed in my locker. I’ll just change in the bathroom so I can stretch and get a game plan in mind before anyone gets here.”

She smiled once again, patting me on the back.

“That’s my boy. But after training, you have to talk to your sister. This silent treatment goes both ways and we both know that she won’t be the one to break it.”

“I will, mom. Thank you.”

She gave me an understanding nod before going back to her desk to finish what she had been working on when I walked in.

I left her office and headed over to the locker room where I kept my extra clothes. I quickly changed and started stretching my underworked muscles. There was no doubt that today's training would keep me on my toes. It was with the level one teen warriors which were at the top and had prospects of joining the pack warriors whereas I was a level two on a good day since I never put training as a top priority. That definitely needed to change.

I was my mothers son and if I put in the effort, I could easily put them all down within sixty seconds. I was just never good at putting in the effort for other people. Training was my mothers safe haven. If she had nothing left, she still had her identity and a warrior. If I had nothing left, then I just had nothing.

The room started slowly filling up as I continued going over my strategy for today. I thought about working on conditioning, strength training, sparing, the options were endless; but I decided on one that I knew my mother would be proud of.

“Alright everyone!” My voice boomed through the room and echoed off the walls. Today, we will be running a course that you will become used to as you enter the pack warriors in your adult years. This is a course I have been running since I was ten so I refuse to listen to anyone whining about it!” I paced slowly in front of about a hundred wolves who were ready for the challenge. “Today, we will be running Luna Blake’s obstacle course!”

I heard a collective gasp as everyone looked at me in shock. This was the course my mother made all of her warriors run when she first merged with the previous pack that has become ours. That is her favorite story to tell about making my father run ragged and has since become a staple in the more elite warriors training. She still has the lower level warriors run it but they struggle more than most. When she first created the course, her demand was for her warriors to run it in under 30 seconds when she herself could barely run it in 28. Many years later, that is still her demand, however, she can clear that course in 17 seconds with ease now and my sister and I have been running it since we were children. It was the one thing I knew with complete certainty that I could beat anyone at, I even almost beat my mom.

It was almost like an urban legend to the younger ones in the pack. We would walk by the beach and see it and all of the younger aspiring warriors would watch in awe. There would even be a crowd sometimes when the veterans are running it because everyone is in equal amounts of fear and excited at the thought of doing it themselves. Today, I would make their dreams come true and their nightmares begin.

“Seeing as you all are just in the beginning of your journey to becoming pack warriors, I will grant you a different demand than that which will be placed on you as you graduate in rank. Today, you have a minute and a half to complete this course. That is the only grace I will allow. I have full confidence that many of you will complete it in these terms, I have equal confidence that many of you will not.”

I continued pacing, taking note of the ones who looked thrilled and the ones who looked terrified. It would be interesting to see where they rank.

“We will use a ranking system. The Luna has a board already set up at the front of the course. I will rank the top twenty to succeed. Now everyone will have ten minutes to stretch and get ready to run. I know this group has many different types of wolves; full blood, healers, hybrids. You will all be examined equally and if someone has the upper hand on you, then work harder. Effort breeds equality, I will be paying attention to the effort. Let’s go!”

As soon as I finished my speech, everyone began stretching and warming up. This would be entertaining to watch. I let them enjoy their preparation time before leading the crowd to the beach where the obstacle course was set. In that moment, walking ahead of the ones who could be key components of allowing the safety of my pack, I felt the power that my mother holds. I understood why this was the life she chose. This was her path paved by the moon goddess and I felt a rush of adrenaline and addiction thinking this could be my path as well.

One by one, I sent each trainee through the course. As expected, thirteen of them completed it in time on the first try. Also as expected, ten of them were healers. Healers are stronger, faster, and better equipped for things of this magnitude. It is in our blood to be better. What was surprising were the other wolves. Two of them that completed it first try were full blood natural wolves of no rank. Average wolves who decided that their effort was worth it to choose this lifestyle. One of them was a hybrid. Not just any hybrid, but a half human half wolf hybrid. Half wolf half human hybrids were the weakest of them all. They held only half the speed, strength, and ability of a full blood wolf and only a quarter of a healer. However, this hybrid, Atlas, seemed to run the course with ease. Atlas ranked fifth on the scoreboard. He was the fifth fastest of all thirteen wolves to complete first try.

“I can run it faster, Gabriel. I know I can.” Atlas walked up to me as I sent the next wolf barreling through.

His short black hair was drenched in sweat and his breathing was labored, but he wanted to go again.

“I appreciate your dedication but you’ve already ranked fifth fastest, ahead of dozens of healers. That in and of itself is something to be proud of. You look like you need to take a second to rest. Sit down and get some water.” I instructed with obvious awe.

He held up a single finger at me, to silently tell me ‘one moment’ before jogging over to the cooler to grab a bottle of water. He chugged it all in one gulp then jogged back to me.

“I drank some water, I’m ready.”

For the first time in a long time, I was speechless. This man really wanted to go again. Who was I to stop him?

I let the person who was currently running the course finish with their time just barely at 89 seconds. I gave her a clap on the back then turned to the group of young warriors. Most of them collapsed on the ground or lay on the edge of the water.

“I need everyone to make their way to the side of the course. We have a young warrior here, Atlas, who is a hybrid. He has already beat almost everyone here and wants to run again to beat his previous time. I want everyone to stand at the side and watch what dedication and effort can do to you if you are willing to try harder than anyone else. I have no doubt that he has worked harder than every single person on this beach, so you will all watch and take lessons on what you should be doing.” I addressed everyone with projection in my voice.

“You better go set me a record.” I smiled at him before walking next to him at the starting line with my timer ready.

He nodded with a grin, getting his stance ready.

“Go!” I shouted as I pressed the timer and he was off.

Even I was in awe watching him run this course. Not only at the fact that he was obviously going to beat his previous rank, but also because he must work day and night to reach this level as someone who is half human. If this is the amount of work he puts in his human form, it would be a privilege to watch him in his wolf form.

I ran alongside the course to watch his every move and get an exact time stamp at the finish line. He sped through the trees, jumping the hurdles as if they weren’t there, and scaling the 25 foot wall without even grabbing the support rope. He was truly the embodiment of inhuman. I clicked the timer the second his foot touched the finish line before looking at his time.

54 seconds.

I stared at the stop watch in awe. There wasn’t a single chance that anyone here would get under a minute. None of the healers, none of the full bloods, especially none of the hybrids. Atlas had already run the course, his body was exhausted and in overdrive from the first run, yet somehow, he ran it in under a minute of his second try.

I was speechless. In fact, everyone was speechless. He crossed the finish line before falling to his knees and collapsing to the ground but the grin covering his face showed the pride he deserved as everyone watched him.

“There is a new demand. Nobody is leaving until they get under one minute!”

Nobody got under one minute.