His Unforeseen Luna

Training

(Brandy)

I can’t move. Why can’t I move? I looked down at my hands with widened eyes. I’m covered in blood.

I looked up and saw a shadowed figure in front of me. I tried to talk to Midnight… but she’s gone. I’m all alone. I am paralyzed with fear. Is this the way I die? I don’t have time to think as the shadow figure comes closer. All of a sudden, the blood disappears, and I find myself in a meadow. The shadow appears as a blur, I cannot quite make it out. As the blur begins to speak, the ground shakes.

The path covered in blood can only lead to death, for where there is dark, there must be light.

Those words make me shake in fear, my breathing becomes heavy. What could it mean? I feel myself swaying, which makes me scream. It's getting harder and harder, I can’t stop screaming! What is happening to me, I feel myself being pulled away from this meadow. With a big breath, I suddenly opened my eyes. Was I dreaming?

I am drenched in sweat and I cannot gather my surroundings. I can tell that I am in a dark room, and I smell something sweet. I started to breathe heavily again, thinking it wasn’t a dream and felt someone grab my face in the dark. I can’t see but whoever it is smells amazing.

“Brandy Brandy, it’s me, are you alright?” I heard a husky voice say through the darkness, it’s Max, how did I end up in his room? “You started screaming in your sleep. I couldn’t wake you up.” He sounded so worried and concerned. My head was throbbing and thinking was making it worse. I can’t even muster up the strength to talk to Midnight, I just want to sleep. I feel like a zombie, everything hurts. I let out a weak groan as I fell back on the bed, but I didn’t hit the pillow, I fell into his arms. “I got you. Everything OK?” His words soothed me and I don't know why, but at this moment I don’t care. I turned inwards to his chest, breathing in his scent, I lay my head on him as I heard his body vibrate. This puts me at ease as I let the darkness fall over me again.

___________________________________

(Brandy)

I shot up in an empty bed this morning, trying to remember the events from last night. The memories come flooding back to me, the rogues, my dream, and Max… I suddenly look around and find myself in his room. I vaguely remember the events that occurred after I woke up in the middle of the night.

The knight in shining armor lets us sleep with him -Midnight says, purring uncontrollably. I thought she didn’t care for Max. I wonder what changed. That is not something to be proud of, we were sent here to be this pack's lead warrior. Not to sleep with the Alpha! - I growled at her as I looked over at the clock, crap! It’s already 7am, we gotta go.

I sprung to my feet and ran down the hall to my room, not even caring if anyone saw me. I hopped in the world's coldest shower as I smelled dried blood all over me, and put my hair up while getting dressed. I yanked some combat boots out of my closest with a pair of shorts and a plain black T-shirt. I was unusually hungry, which made sense since my body sustained injuries. I went to the snack bar and grabbed a pack of granola and chugged it, then I quickly ate a beagle as I went down the elevator. I hear the elevator dinging as it opens, to which I see Victoria. She looked at me very puzzled, I probably looked crazy with a beagle in my mouth, I assumed.

“I was just coming upstairs to see if you needed anything. Alpha Max informed us about yesterday.” she said, giving me a worried grin, oh great everyone knows about yesterday.

“Oh that is very sweet of you, but I am OK. Just a little scrape.” I try to shrug it off, even though my ribs are a bit sore, since being a head warrior all my life I do not enjoy showing weakness.

“ OK well, if you need anything let me know, I am one kitchen away.” she winks at me, while walking away into the kitchen.

I scuffled my way out the door and checked my clock, ugg it's 7:45! They are going to send me back to Silver Fox. I am such a failure to this pack, I want to cry but hold it in. I remind myself that I am a strong warrior and need to do what I can, for the time being. I ran over to the training grounds and spotted Brodie and Taylor doing drills. I rush over to them, praying they don’t hate me. I yelled to them as I saw them both turn around. I saw an instant shock in their faces. I immediately halted in confusion.

“Brandy, what are you doing here?” Brodie says, with an unreadable expression. I knew it. I F**king knew it, I am not wanted here anymore cuz of yesterday. I begin telling myself. Absolutely not!. Now, either you stand your ground or I am going to show these Omegas that there is a real threat - Midnight snarls, which makes my body shake and it’s very visible to everyone. Midnight is a very strong wolf, and she's not one who I wouldn't want to see lose her temper.

“I assumed I was here to train? Had there been a change of plans?” I asked in a semi-worried tone. I turned my head half way to see all the recruits were looking directly at me.

“Well, we saw you yesterday after the attack, Alpha Max told us-” I cut them off, I don’t know why, but I got immediately triggered. Alpha Max does not determine my well being, I snarl to myself.. “I don’t know what the Alpha said, but I can speak for myself and with all due respect, he does not determine my well-being. I came here to do a job, and that is what I intend to do. Now, are these all the new recruits?” I felt the authority rise in my voice with every word, and it felt good. I see Brodie and Taylor nodding, then I direct my attention to the recruits.

“Hello, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Brandy. I am the head warrior in your ally pack, Silver Fox.” I see a few of them give each other looks, which makes me pause. I don’t expect them to trust me as I am not one of theirs, but they will respect me. “Now I know for some of you that might be a hard concept to grasp, but make no mistake. I am here to help you with protecting this pack. I do not care if we are friends. I am not treating you any differently than I would my own pack members. If you choose to hate me, you will do it on your own time. Do I make myself clear?” as if in unison I hear, yes ma’am. I gradually felt the confidence come back to my spirits. Being a head warrior all my life, that is something I have had to learn. If you show fear or incompetence, you will get walked all over. Seeing all of these new pups made me sad as I missed home. I had such a good friendly relationship with all my recruits, but I knew that wouldn't be the case here.

I gathered the recruits in a ring around the arena as I started sparring with each of them, explaining everything to the group as I did it. Many don't approve of my methods of training as, traditionally, training is done one-on-one. However, I think group work is more effective. When I get into training mode though, I do tend to close out the outside world, meaning I don’t pay attention to what others are saying. I also always train new recruits in their human form. This is to build up strength and stamina. I get done explaining a lesson to the recruits when I see someone step toward them, he is a medium built Omega with bleached blonde hair. “When are we going to actually train with our wolves? When we are in combat we are always fighting in wolf form, so it seems like a waste of time to use our energy in human form.” He says with so much confidence in his voice, this makes me smirk. I was secretly waiting for this to happen. Time to have some fun -Midnight says to me with a playful tone. I didn’t plan on hurting him, but there was an example to be made.

“You're absolutely right, I will tell you what. You and I will spar right now, and if you win we can continue in wolf form.” I wait to see his reaction, his eyes light up as he looks at his buddies with pride. “If I win, however, we will continue in human form no more discussion.” I add on as I see him turn towards me, while still smirking. This little sh*t - Midnight snarls, she hates cockiness, her and I have both worked very hard to get to where we are in life. Easy girl, he's a pup, that’s all, and he’s eager. I used to know another young wolf just like that -I retort to Midnight, to which she ignores me.

The young Omega steps forward, staring at me the entire time. I jump off the rock wall surrounding the arena and meet him halfway. From the corner of my eye I saw Brodie and Taylor walking forward. I motioned them to stand back, and then listen in unison. I see him get in position, and without a second warning, he runs at me full force. The eagerness in his desire to fight me made him sloppy. I looked at his unprepared footwork. I ran at him and fell to the ground extending my leg, simultaneously tripping him. He rolls for a second before jumping back to his feet. He does a quick turn and leaps in the air trying to kick mid-air. I caught his shins with my forearms. I will admit it was not a pleasant feeling, the pup had a little strength on his side. I took the opportunity to upper cut his side, sending him flying the opposite direction as he wailed in pain. I made sure to hit his gut, so as to not damage any ribs. Instead of getting back up, he swept his leg around, catching my leg in the cross, making me lose footing and land on my backside. He springs up sending a jab in my direction, not before I miss it and use my entire body to swing around him, getting him in a choke hold. He struggled yet was unable to loosen my grip.

The crowd of Omegas were gasping as I looked around, Brodie giving me a concerned look. I winked at him, reassuring him I had it all under control. After a minute, I felt him tap out. I released my grip as he fell to the ground choking. I walked over to him. I looked at him as he lowered his head. I knew this feeling all too well, it made me sad for a moment. I extended my hand to him, which caught him off guard. He took it and gave a shy smile. I gave him a pat on the back, “you fought well, but strength isn’t enough when all your enemies have the same strength.” I looked at him as he gave a slight nod, I motioned for him to stay put. I turned to the now envious crowd, whose eyes were wide with anticipation.

“You and your wolf fight together as one, side by side. Fighting is more than just strength, it's about precision and agility. It’s about speed and stamina. If you don’t possess those qualities, how do you expect your wolf to? Now this is not something you want to hear, but it’s the truth, one day you might get captured. You might be a prisoner unable to communicate with your wolf, and have to rely on yourself.”

“I am going to show you how to get out of this choke hold." Everyone watched closely. I motioned for the Omega. He came and put me in a choke hold. I turned my head toward his body, giving myself room, as I stumped on his foot while jabbing him in the side. Once he is caught off guard, I take his arm and twist it backwards, I hear a small wince and let go. I give him a soft smile as I look into his eyes, he smiles back before going back to his friends.

“When you are up against an enemy you have to be prepared for all situations. If you do not learn to fight with your wolf, then you will fail. I bested that fight because I put him in a choke hold. He was unable to get out of it, and if your opponent knows it’s that easy. It will take them seconds to hurt you. When I jabbed him in the side earlier, I punched his gut, not his ribs. When you train correctly and get your skills under control you learn things like that, the difference between intending to injure Vs. Kill.” I look at all the Omegas who have now all dropped their tongues. I look over at Brodie and Taylor, who have eyebrows raised.

“For the rest of the day I want to spare pairs of four, the moves that were done here today are to be worked on. I want you to practice precision and speed. That is now you build stamina. I do not want to see any broken ribs, practice different choke holds and vice versa.” They all look at me and say in Unison, yes ma’am.

While I am overseeing the sessions unfold in front of me, I notice Taylor walking in my direction. “That was some lesson you gave today, I honestly didn't expect that honestly.” he says, adjusting his white T-shirt. I rolled my eyes slightly. This whole pack underestimates me because I am a female, and I don’t know why it makes me so angry. I look at him with a smile, “I wasn’t trying to prove anything, I wanted to teach these Omegas that the stories they hear aren’t just folk lore.” I see him give me a look of concern, I can tell he wants to ask me a question but holds back. “I think this has been a very educational day for everyone, I know Jared has been quiet all day after this morning.” He says while running his hand through his hair, Jared is the Omega I fought with in the arena. I give him a laugh, as we continue to watch the Omegas in silence. Today was a good day.

___________________________________

(Max)

Walking into the office this morning, my head was in a fog, trying to piece together the events of last night. How much I missed it, how good it felt to have her in my arms. I couldn’t get over her scent. I started daydreaming but was interrupted.

Hey lover boy, planet earth. Pull it together, she isn’t our mate. These feelings are not something to harp on -General says, as I can feel my wolf rolling his eyes, he was right though. Ya I know I’m right Casanova - I hate how he can hear my thoughts sometimes, it makes me growl. I do need to get her out of my head, my Alpha ceremony is not far away and I need to focus. I opened my laptop and started working. With how busy I become, it isn’t a challenge to get her out of my head. I worked for a few hours, going over some pack stuff and approving budgeting. This will all be easier once I have a Luna, I think to myself.

I mindlink Brodie and Taylor, telling them to come to my office to discuss training.After a few moments, I see the boys come in, they both have letterman jackets on and baseball caps. “Alright boys, lemme have it, how did today go?” I get straight down to business, if I don’t we will all get side tracked. Before we know it, we will all be drunk too, and that is something I don’t have time for on a Thursday afternoon.

“It was great fun. Brandy took over the training and it was fun. This Omega kinda challenged her, and she schooled him!” Taylor says as he and Brodie start laughing, and they both sit down. Why was Brandy there? Wasn’t she injured? I told the boys she wouldn’t be training. I gave them a look, which made both of them instantly stop laughing. “I thought I gave instructions that Brandy was injured, why did you ask her to train against my orders?” I said to them with a low growl, making both of them put their hands up. I saw Brodie lean forward a little, hands half raised. “We didn’t boss, she came running in. When we told her what you said she got really upset. I quote, ``The Alpha does not speak for my well-being.” As he is trying to imitate Brandy, I see Taylor doing his best to hold in a laugh, these guys take nothing seriously in life. “We tried to talk to her, then she turned and gave a super inspiring speech to all the recruits. She totally took over, then she started immediately doing drills with them. It was like she wasn’t even injured, and when we brought it up it made her really defensive.” Taylor adds, trying to back up his buddy, while recovering from his laughter attack. I feel myself getting angry and it's noticeable, the boys both start looking at me funny. It was very unlike me to get this upset over a simple training session, so I tried to brush it off and pretend I was fine.

“Do we have any news about the rogue attack yesterday? What is our warrior update?” I ask as I am secretly diverting the conversation away from training. I make it obvious, but they go with it. Brodie sits up from his chair, while adjusting his cap. “Our warriors were all knocked out somehow….” He pauses, which causes me to stir in my chair a little bit, that can’t be good. “They don’t remember anything, they swear up and down they didn’t fight any rogues. They remember going into a haze, and waking up in the infirmary. Whatever the goal of this attack, they didn’t try to kill our men. Which is what has me for a stump. If they had the ability to knock out men. Then the next solution would be an easy kill, it’s like they only wanted to get on our pack grounds and leave in silence.” I took a minute to think, while simultaneously pouring whisky into three glasses. Everything Brodie said made sense. Why not kill the men? Leaving them alive could have been an unknown threat, especially if they woke up before the rogues got the chance to escape. “The only explanation I can logically think of is they wouldn’t have cared if our warriors woke up.” I see Brodie and Taylor look at me confused as I say this, handing them each a glass. “These lands were here long before my father was the Alpha, and long before this pack, maybe it’s not so crazy to think there is another way out of this pack that is undetected.” I say while slowly sipping my whisky, the boys look at me in awe. Never thinking of the possibility that there could be more ways out, I sipped my whisky and pondered.

We heavily discuss this topic more, as I am beginning to slightly worry about the fate of this pack. “I want you both to take a couple warriors out and search the ground, no separating and no telling anyone. The last thing I want is to spread worry for no reason, pick some warriors and keep getting the same ones. If there is something hidden somewhere, we need to be the first to know about it before our enemies.” I finished off my whisky, looking at the boys, trying to keep a brave face. The boys get up to leave and Taylor suddenly stops in his tracks, he turns to me and his face turns as if he has a terrible realization. “Boss, those rogues came here in a pack, rogues don’t travel together. They came here blind looking for something. That meant they were following orders." I looked at him and got up from my chair. Now the panic is shown on my face as Taylor continues. “Whoever is controlling them already knows there is something here, and if they have some sort of power on their side. We might want to start preparing for a war, and not a treasure hunt.” I see both of their faces become flushed as they look at me. If we don’t know what we are up against, we don’t know how to prepare.

We all three stood there in silence. I finally growl, F**k. We are about to go to war, and we can’t even prepare.