Her Unforeseen Destiny

Fitting In

"And THAT is for calling me a bawbag, Mish."

Hamish landed on his back with a solid thud as Emmeline swept his legs out from underneath her. She followed through by landing on him and pressing her arm to his throat. His breath was visible in the cold air as he breathed heavily. Winter in Scotland was cold. Werewolves didn't notice the cold as much as humans so, much to their chagrin, the Gamma still made them train outside in the middle of winter.

"Tapping out?" she asked him with a grin and he glared up at her. She pressed her arm down on his throat just a little harder until he finally tapped on the mat. She released him, jumping up and offering him her hand. 

"Damn you, Em," Hamish grunted as she helped him up. He cradled his other arm to his side. "I think you've dislocated me fecking shoulder."

Emmeline winked at him sneakily. 

"Be glad that's all I dislocated, Mishy." 

Hamish rolled his eyes as the rest of their training group laughed. After a month with the clan, Emmeline had been moved up from the beginner group to the intermediate after she had proved how quick she was picking up on everything they were teaching. At first, she had hated being in the beginner group since everyone was far younger than her. Most of the pups started their training at 12 or 13, so she was 6 years older than some of the kids in the group. After mastering the basics, the beginner group's trainer, Rhona, had advised that she be moved up to the intermediate group instead. 

Emmeline was glad that she had picked up on everything quickly. She had always been fit and strong and she found it intriguing to learn that this had probably been because of her werewolf heritage. She still couldn't run as fast as everyone in the intermediate group - particularly when they trained in wolf form - but she could definitely kick quite a few asses. 

"And noo ye ken why you dinnae call a lass a bawbag, ye eejit," Lachlann advised the teen with a grin. 

"It was a joke, man!" Hamish protested, making the trainer laugh. 

"We're gonna have to move ye to the advanced class if ye keep embarrassing Hamish like that, lass." He raised an eyebrow at Emmeline and she grinned. 

"But I like embarrassing Hamish! It's half the reason I come to training, Lachie." Emmeline pouted and Lachlann chuckled. 

"And this is the only reason why you're allowed to call me Lachie. These laddies need a bit of humiliation to keep them on his toes." Lachlann high-fived Emmeline as the boys of the group protested against his comments. 

"No fair, Gamma!" One of the boys complained. The others in Emmeline's training group were mostly boys, mixed in age from 14 to 18. There were a few other girls as well and Emmeline had been gradually getting to know some of them during her time with the clan. 

"And for that, Duncan, you're up next." Lachlann surveyed his charges, trying to decide who would be the best to teach the lad a lesson for complaining. He wasn't punishing him, simply making sure they all knew how to best protect themselves. They were only a small clan and, even though they were an island, they were in the vicinity of quite a few other packs. While the packs generally weren't an issue, it meant that there were the occasional rogue attacks on the pack and everyone needed to be able to defend themselves if the need arose. 

Emmeline had noticed how much the Gamma seemed to care for his young charges and was impressed at his attitude. While he always trained them hard and they were always exhausted after training, he was a jovial and friendly man. Even with his 'punishments' when someone answered back or got a bit mouthy, he always seemed to have their best interests at heart. She was pretty certain he was actually a giant softie and covered it up with his tough exterior. 

"Moira," Lachlann's eyes landed on the red-headed girl stood next to Emmeline. They were the top two girls in the group, possibly the top two overall in his intermediate trainers. "Moira, you're up against Duncan."

The young girl grinned at Emmeline. 

"Aye, Gamma!"

Only a few minutes later and Duncan was on the ground and groaning, Moira standing over him victoriously. After Lachlann dismissed the class, Moira ran over to Emmeline and gave her a high-five. 

"That was SO satisfying." She laughed as they walked away from the training ground to grab a change of clothes before going for lunch. 

"You destroyed the poor kid," Emmeline replied with a grin. When she had first joined the intermediate class, some of the boys had treated her without much respect. She wasn't sure if it was because she was a girl or because she was an outsider. Either way, after a few weeks fighting and training with her, they soon started treating her with the respect she deserved. 

"Eh, it'll make him a better fighter in the long run." Moira shrugged, her ponytail swishing against her shoulders as she did so. Moira was a few years younger than Emmeline at 16, but the two girls got on like a house on fire. Moira was also an orphan, which Emmeline had been amazed to hear. After her parents had been banished by Alpha Lyall for plotting a takeover of the pack, Moira was taken in by her aunt and uncle. Emmeline wasn't sure if their similar backgrounds had helped them become firm friends, but she was glad to have someone she could trust and confide in amongst the pack.

"How did your morning research go?" Moira enquired. She knew how keen Emmeline was to try and learn about her family and was aware of the amount of time that Emmeline spent in the library, trying to find any information she could. Emmeline sighed deeply. 

"It's like I've hit a total brick wall. There just aren't enough records here that include where my parents might have been from. I need records for all of the UK, especially the areas near where I was found. Lyall said that it's because it's only a small pack that there aren't records outside of the islands and some of Scotland." Emmeline shrugged her shoulders slightly, frustrated about her recent lack of progress. "It has been fun to read more about the history of the clans in Scotland, though. I never would have guessed that Clan MacDonald and Clan Mackenzie were werewolf clans! Or the Robert the Bruce was a werewolf. Human history books would be way more interesting if information about werewolves was included!"

Moira chuckled at Emmeline's excitement over learning more werewolf history.

"It's a shame our histories can't be learnt in school like human history is. No one even gets to find out about Rasputin being a vampire or that Atatürk was actually a warlock," Moira replied with a sigh. 

"Wait, are you serious?!" Emmeline came to a swift stop and stared at Moira. "Vampires and warlocks are real too?"

Moira grinned at her friend. 

"Emmie, you do still have so much left to learn."