~~Star’s P.O.V~~
I was really nervous to be meeting everyone here, but Nash held my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, making me feel more relaxed. Everyone came and joined us and all of them stood there looking at me. Nash cleared his throat and everyone quickly quietened down and turned to face him, giving him there undivided attention.
“Everyone, I would like for you to meet your future Luna. yes, you heard me right, your future Luna. Star is my mate and today she is here to train and learn our ways. Right then, you know our routine, let's start with fifty laps today.” Nash said, introducing me to everyone and I just stood there smiling. I didn't have a clue if I should say anything or not, but then Nash said fifty laps and I was shocked. Holy s**t, fifty laps, he's trying to kill me on my first day of training I thought to myself. How the hell am I going to keep up with bears? I started off at a steady pace, but by the fortieth lap I was trying to catch my breath and my side was hurting like hell, but I kept going. I didn't want them to think that I couldn't keep up with them or that I was no good. I only had a few laps left and I was determined to finish, I was doing my best to keep up and we were finally finished with the laps. I felt like I was going to pass out, so I drank some water and put some in my hand, dabbing it over my face to wake myself up. I went back over to the others, wanting to find out what was next and Nash said, sit ups, leg lifts, push ups and squats. I started on the long list and when the exercise was finally done everyone stopped and looked at Nash who was walking over to me.
“We are going to spar now, but I want you to sit this part out and just watch. You're going to see a lot, but don't be scared, okay.” Nash said and I nodded.
“Okay, I’ll try not to be.” I replied and went and sat on the bench, watching as Nash walked back over to the group.
“Okay people, pick your sparring partner and I want you to fight. I want to see what you have learned over the years, now do it.” Nash said and everyone did as they were told, quickly pairing up and facing each other.
“Okay everyone, I want you to fight in human form first. Now go.” Nash said and walked back over to me. I watched as two guys punched each other and one kicked the other in the stomach, making him fly and hit the ground, but he soon got back up and ran at the other, doing a flip and kicking the one in the head.
“Holy s**t, that was cool.” I whispered to myself and carried on watching in amazement. Everyone was finished sparring in their human form and had all stopped, turning their attention back to Nash and I. Were they waiting for me to say or do something? I turned to Nash to ask him, but he was already looking at me.
“Listen, this is going to be scary, but it's going to be okay. They are going to now shift into their bears and spar, now you're going to start hearing some strange noises, you're going to see a lot today and I won't blame you if you run off, but I promise that none of them will hurt you. Are you ready?” Nash asked and even though I wasn't sure I still nodded.
“Okay everyone, we’re going to shift and spar, let's do this.” Nash said and right before my eyes everyone started to shift. I watched as clothes were being ripped off and then I heard it, the sound of bones breaking and dislocating. I ran behind a tree and threw up at the horrible sound that was coming from them and my nerves, but when I came back out I quickly grabbed a bottle of water and rinsed my mouth out. There were a few moans and suddenly bears started to appear. My mouth fell open at the sight of twenty five bears standing before me, but I wasn't scared. I sat back down on the bench and carried on drinking my water as I looked at all the bears, I wasn't sure which one Nash was, but they were all beautiful. Some of them were brown while others were black and then there was a huge black bear, standing there and looking at everyone. I felt a bit scared being around all these animals, but I also felt safe with them, it was really weird. I wasn't scared because I thought they were going to hurt me, but just from the sheer size of them. I watched as they started to fight and their claws were ripping into each other, their huge jaws were biting down, but they healed just as fast as what they were hurting each other. One slashed the others chest, leaving huge bloody claw marks and my jaw dropped open.
“What the f**k?” I whispered and thankfully managed to keep it to myself so that no one else heard me. After an hour of sparring with each other, they all shifted back, but they were all naked and quickly ran to grab the towels to cover up with. I thought the towels were just to wipe the sweat away, but now this made more sense. They all went over to the side where there were piles of clothes and I looked away as they started to get dressed. I saw the clothes when I first got here and I wondered what they were for, but now I knew. I have seen a lot today and it was pretty fun to watch, but I still felt a little weird and achy. Everyone had left now and Nash was walking over to me.
“Okay, I saw all the bears, but which one were you.” I asked and he smiled.
“Do you really want to see?” Nash asked, smiling and I nodded.
“Okay, you asked for it.” Nash replied and started to shift. I watched as he turned into the huge black bear and he was beautiful, he had black eyes with a little sliver of green and silver in them, he also had a small mark on his forehead. I walked up to him and ran my fingers through his fur, he was so soft and cuddly.
“Can I ride you? I know it sounds kinda weird, but can I? I’m sorry, I’m so stupid, you probably cant understand me when your a bear.” I said, still talking to him, but my question was soon answered when he lowered himself down and laid down so I could get on his back. I climbed on top of him, careful not to hurt him as I did so and he started to walk towards the house. My fingertips ran through his fur and up to his ears then back down again and I scratched the top of his head, earning a grunt from Nash, like he was enjoying the scratching. We got to the house and I saw that Kelly was sitting on the porch, waiting for us.
“Well, I guess the cats out of the bag or should I say the bear is out of the bag.” Kelly said and I started laughing.
“Yeah, I found out last night, can you shift too?” I asked and Kelly nodded.
“I can, but I only do it when I’m training, at war or being challenged. If you want to see it sometime I can show you, but not right now. I think mom and dad are coming out.” Kelly said and just as she said that Emma and Leo came out of the house.
~~Nash’s P.O.V~~
I was so glad that Star wasn't scared of Rune and so was he. It felt amazing when she ran her fingers through my fur and I could hear Rune growl in content as she did so. Even though I had shifted into my bear I still kept control, not sure what Rune would do if I let him out, but he wasn't too happy about that.
“This isn't fair, you know. I want to meet our mate too. You've spent time with her, I haven't even met her yet. This is so f****d up.” Rune said, mind-linking me and I felt really guilty about it.
“I know and I’m sorry, I will make sure that you meet her, but she is still new to all of this and I don't want to scare her.” I replied and he grunted at me.
“Are you saying that our mate is going to be scared of me. That's just great, I would never scare our mate. You should know that.” Rune said, making me feel even shittier.
“I know you wouldn't hurt or scare our mate, but Star has gone through a lot and I want her to get used to everything and process everything before I introduce you. It would only hurt you if she got scared and you know it would, you would feel guilty and refuse to come out again at the thought of our mate being scared of you. You don't want that do you?” I asked and he grunted again, but then Star started to scratch our head and it made us both grunt in bliss.
“I won't say anything more about it as long as she keeps scratching my head like that. This is heaven, I can't wait to meet her and you will let me meet her sooner or later.” Rune said and then ended the link, just as we reached the house my parents came out. They saw Star sitting on my back and both started laughing as they shook their heads.
“Okay, playtimes over now, Nash. shift back.” My dad said, using his Alpha tone and I laid down to let Star off my back. Once Star had climbed down and stood back I quickly shifted back, knowing that when my father used his Alpha tone that I had better listen.