Magically entwined

Training practice and enemy updates

* Jax's POV *

It's a rainy Tuesday. But i'd like it to be a 'Rainy' Tuesday. Yesterday I gave the order for a series of scouts to be posted in a series of locations surrounding the Crescent Thorns suspected base of operations. Yesterday evening I was completely distracted, too busy baking sugar cookies with my mate and her little sister to think about anything else. And it was, without a doubt, my favourite evening thus far. And I could definitely get used to spending all my future evenings in a similar fashion. Even as I got tucked into bed it felt like electricity was coursing through me, my heart rate picked up every time I thought about holding my Rainy, and I had a whole lepidopterarium of butterflies fluttering around my stomach. I could not get the image of her smiling out of my head, and it wasn't something I intended to forget about any time soon either.

However, this morning I received confirmation that all of the scouts were in position, and to ensure my communications remained open to intercept any news or updates immediately. As fun as it was to think about my mate smiling and laughing and taking time to enjoy herself for a moment, I had to acknowledge the reality of our current situation - there was a person out there who had the potential to destroy everything we'd built here and to ruin any future chances of happiness she may have. Her future depended on the actions I would take in the coming weeks, and that unfortunately meant I would have to take my duties as the Celestial Valleys Alpha more seriously. I just hoped she'd understand that. I was torn though - if this all went sideways anyway, I'd immensely regret not making the most of our time together.

I desperately wanted to go over to her home and make breakfast for her and Rylie, potentially bringing my mate breakfast in bed if she was still asleep, which I hoped she would be at this early hour. I truly can't wait to see how adorable she looks in the morning. However, I knew I had to maximise my time today, so I grudgingly dragged on some black jeans and a grey t-shirt, slipped my feet roughly into some leather boots and headed outside to the main pack house, seating myself at the dining table with my comrades. I always got special treatment from the staff which I hated, but I didn't want to seem rude in the face of such hospitality, so I always took their recommendations on board and accepted preposterous portions - I'd burn most of my calories training later anyway. As expected, they served me two plates of pancakes adorned with an astronomical amount of fruit slices and berries. It was great to see that morale seemed to remain good, everyone was discussing their training progress and tactics and making predictions for who would take down the most Cresent Thorn warriors when the true battle began, preemptively celebrating their victory. This place was so alive with people, buzzing with excitement and adrenaline and optimism. I would love for Rainy to be here right now, but this place was for initiated pack members only, and as rogues Rainy and her people still had to pledge their loyalty to us and prove their worth. The initiation ceremony - just another thing to plan and organise. I bet Erin will happily sort it out for me though. She'll probably rope in Thomas and boss him around unnecessarily- having him re-align banners about 5 times, ending up at wonky angles anyway, and test out different seating arrangements, and go shopping for table decorations in 3 different shades that are all far too similar for a man to tell apart.

For now, her people had a small community that was slightly separate, a homely area with its own facilities and a sheltered outdoor courtyard area where they shared meals together. Rainy seemed happy among her people, and I hoped once this was all over and her people accepted this as their forever home, she would too. There were so many beautiful places in Demoria, and I couldn't wait to show her all of them. To share a boat ride on one of the many glistening lakes, kissing under willow trees and feeding the ducks. Or taking her for a trip to the town library, surrounding her with a million colourful covers and stories of other happy endings. To take her for a hike into the hills and mountains, so she can see everything from a new perspective, and we'd have a picnic at the top while we marvel at the view. Or to take her to the beach so she can feel the waves lap over her feet, go hunting for pearls, pebbles and quartz and possibly do some surfing too. I wanted so many chapters in our story, I wanted to have so many incredible memories filled with adventure and love and fun. That was what I was fighting for, and I had to remind myself of that.

I finished my breakfast, and headed out to the training grounds to get in some exercise - and possibly to escape some super boring paperwork for a short while. As I get there, I see a bunch of my warriors practicing classic drills, sparring with each other both in human and wolf forms, as well as running laps to try and build up their stamina. Despite the mass of bodies, there's one pair in particular that stands out - Rainy's fighting hand to hand with Charlie, one of my senior commanders. Considering Charlie's at least a weight class or two above Rainy, she seems to be holding her own just fine. She seems to keep up a consistent volley of punches, hitting Charlie relentlessly so doesn't have time to think about his next move, counter or recover. While she's making contact each time, her power isn't enough to overwhelm Charlie or do significant damage, but it's obvious in his deflating stance that he's getting tired from blocking so much regardless. Playing defensive isn't something Charlie's used to, and it's obvious he's caught off guard when Rainy halts her punching and gets low, swinging out at Charlie with her leg, tripping him over. A bunch of other people were clearly enthralled in the fight and whistle and clap Rainy a congratulations, many clearly impressed that she was able to take down one of our strongest members with little effort. Charlie seems to be in good spirits - he takes Rainy's hand when she offers it and claps her on the back when he finally gets to his feet. "We'll have to do that again sometime. And next time I won't go as easy on you" he says, winking, trying to play off just how bad his defeat really was.

"I didn't know you were going easy on me, but I s'pose it just means next time I'll have to kick your butt even harder" Rainy quips back, cracking her knuckles to suggest she's ready whenever.

With Charlie gone, I decide to approach my mate and congratulate her myself. "You sure gave him a hard time" I say, and she smiles as she sees me. Yeah, it's a pretty nice feeling to have someone smile just because you're there.

"Oh you saw that huh? Wasn't anything special. I thought way tougher rogues back at the camp - that was nothing" she said, mock-flexing her muscles.

She wasn't wrong, it clearly came across that fighting was very natural to her. It didn't even look like she'd broken a sweat. It did make me feel a bit sad though that even though she'd gone out of her way to protect her people, she hadn't really had anyone around to protect her.

"So bigshot, you wanna try your hand at fighting an Alpha?" I say.

"You're on your highness."

I transformed into my wolf form, hoping to catch her off guard and make her alter her fighting style. Since she'd only turned 18 recently, I guessed she'd be weaker at fighting as a wolf than as a human. However, within seconds she'd followed suit, and I was completely blown away by how gorgeous her wolf was. I'd never seen a wolf with her kind of colouring, she was a glossy black, and as the wind ruffled her fur there seemed to be flecks of blue tangled in there too. She was quite small in stature, but what she lacked in height she made up for with her agility and speed. I was so stunned I hadn't even completely processed what was going on, but seconds after she'd shifted she'd pounced on top of me, pinning my arms with her two paws and nudging my marking spot with her top two canines. She was being playful and teasy and she'd completely overpowered me despite being so small, and I had to admit I was impressed - although I definitely would have gotten the best of her if i'd been truly ready. It just wasn't fair that not only was Rainy gorgeous, but her wolf counterpart was just as mesmerising. After I regained my composure, I gently but quickly hooked her legs with mine and flipped us over, so I was on top of her instead. I pinned her arms by her side and gave a low howl to tease her back, before releasing her. She darted off me, but circled around me shyly, clearly impressed someone had put her in her place in the fighting arena for once. I turned my back to her and shifted back, running to a nearby tree where I stored extra clothes as a back-up. When I returned, she was still in wolf form, and there was a hint of embarrassment hidden in her eyes. She pawed at the ground nervously with her eyes downcast, and it finally clicked. She hadn't thought the whole transforming thing through and forgot she wouldn't be clothed when she changed back. I guessed this may've been her first time changing spontaneously, wearing clithes while transforming meaning thy'd gotten ripped in the process. I gave her a small pat on the head and promised her I'd be back. I left her at the training grounds and took off in a run towards Viola Square. I finally reached her cottage, and let myself inside. I found her wardrobe easily enough, but was at a loss when I couldn't find any of her usual combat gear anywhere. I didn't really know what she'd be okay with wearing, as she'd only worn her clothes from home the past few days. I decided to settle on a simple pair of blue denim jeans, a black bralette top and a black and white gingham shirt to wear over the top. I ran back with the outfit, and when I got there I saw she was lying on her stomach, her head resting on her paws, snoring softly. As comfortable as she seemed, her face still seemed troubled and full of worry. I gently nudged her with my foot and she sprang up and immediately took an offensive stance - the girl clearly had good reflexes. When she saw I wasn't a threat, she gently nudged my hand with her snout. I placed the clothes at her feet, and she carried them in her mouth over to the tree I'd used to change. She soon peeked out behind it in human form, looking really nervous and clearly evaluating how many people would see her. I waved her over, and she started walking over to me sheepishly, possibly feeling a bit embarrassed. I however, thought she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. As she got closer, my heart rate increased. However, within seconds it was beating loudly for another reason. Rainy was just steps away when I received a mindlink from the commanding officer leading the scout regiment.

"Sir, we've just spotted what we believe to be a coven leaving the warehouse we've had our eyes on. They're using telekinesis to help load their weapons and supplies onto the trucks parked outside, they have quite an arsenal boss." There was a brief pause, and a scout continued to talk in the commander's place, his speech a lot more garbled and frantic.

"I'm sorry your highness, we've been spotted! They're launching fire at the trees we're perched in, and they got a direct hit on the Commander, he's gone sir. What are our orders? The fire is spreading and we can't ... we can't brea... breathe ..." and then the connection was broken. The air was heavy with silence, and I knew Rainy could tell something was wrong. She grabbed my hand, and I could tell she was talking to me, but all I could see was her mouthing words at me as I processed what must've happened. Roman had enlisted a coven to assist him in taking over the empire, and he'd deployed that same coven to take out my scouts and their commanding officer. He'd brought magic into this battle, and magic was a very dangerous toy to play with. In Roman's hands, it could be lethal.