Davina And The Dire Wolf

The Only Child

Harald’s blue eyes focused intently on the beauty before him. “Mate” he whispered. Paul stopped and looked back at him. “Did you just say what I think you just said?” said Paul. Harold didn’t reply. Instead, he was fixated on her every move. He studied every curve in her body as she slammed into the punching bag. Harald spoke, “I’ve never wanted to be a punching bag so bad in my life..” Paul looked horrified.

“Now Harald.. Harald listen to me.. Listen to me Harald.. You need to focus on my voice. This is not going to go over well if you just barge out there and start yelling mate! Remember why we are here. Also, we don’t know how old she is. This could be a problem. You need to snap out of it and keep your wits about you until we know more.” said Paul calmly. Harald seemed to come to his senses for a minute as he turned his head to look at Paul.

“You’re right. What if she’s too young? What will I do? How am I going to be able to withstand not being with her until she’s old enough? What if she doesn’t recognize me? What if she does? What do I do Paul?” said Harold sounding exasperated. Paul replied, “You’re going to remember our training. Remember who you are and what we are. We are Vermillion Guardsmen. Nothing can bring us to our knees that easily. You’re going to walk out onto that field and train a bunch of Black Creek warriors is what you’re going to do!” A look of sadness crossed Harald’s face. He thought to himself, “Nothing except that beautiful creature..”

His eyes followed her longingly as she stepped back in line with the rest of the trainees. Suddenly the Black Creek instructor noticed them and yelled “Attention!” Paul looked at Harold and said, “This is it. Pull yourself together man. We’ve got a mission to accomplish. Stay focused.”

The Black Creek instructor met them half way. “We are so grateful that you’ve volunteered to join us and help us get these kids ready to join the ranks of pack warriors. Most of them are seniors and are either legal age or about to be legal age and they need a lot of help before they’re ready to join the big dogs. We haven’t been able to train them properly due to lack of staff. If the Vermillion war was tomorrow and they all got drafted, not one of them would survive.” said the instructor.

Paul spoke in a serious professional tone, “Well Sir that’s what we are here for. We will work with you to help whip them into shape. It’s nice to see so many volunteers as well.” The instructor glanced at the long line of teenagers as he said, “Yes, well, we’ve pressured them a lot at the school into doing this training. Our pack doesn’t have the biggest army, but we want to be ready when the time comes. Each and every one of them needs to be prepared in the event that it could happen within their lifetimes.” Harold said, “I agree, expect the unexpected.” Paul knew what he meant and shot him a subtle warning look. “Well let’s go see what we’re working with.” Paul said as he smiled at the instructor.

They followed the instructor onto the field as Paul glanced at Harold warily. “The first thing we need to do is examine each individual to asses their obvious physical condition.” said Harald. “We need to know whether they are an only child as well.” he continued. Paul seemed to relax a little upon hearing Harold regain his focus on the mission. Those with no siblings were forbidden to join the pack warriors.

In the event that they died, their parents had no one to carry on the bloodlines. Various bloodlines were important to have so that everyone had the chance to find their mate. It was frowned upon to have a child with someone that wasn’t your mate. So for many, having a family and having children to carry on your blood meant that you had to have a mate. When your mate died, it was very rare to be given a second chance mate, but not unheard of. This is why mate bonds are treasured. Sometimes there were a few unlucky ones who had to wait for their mates to become of age. Harold once knew a guy that had to wait 9 years for his mate to become of age. He thought that it was unusual and cruel that the man was given such a young mate, but then again it must be better than having no mate at all and living out your entire life alone.

Nevertheless, it was against the law to have any romantic relationship with a minor, as it should be. Doing so could result in confusion and distract them from developing properly and enjoying their childhood. Most people in that situation waited patiently for their mates to become of age and just stayed close by. Some were selfish though, and paid the price. They were imprisoned or beheaded depending on the severity of the situation which only made it more painful for their mates when they became of age, if they lived through the death of their mate. Such grief was hard on one so young and there were cases of some young mates not surviving.

Harold silently prayed that his new found mate was of age. “I have all of their medical records here so we can accurately asses them.” said the instructor interrupting his thoughts. They went down the line one by one until they reached one young man. Carter Hollifield. The instructor said, “Carter, it appears that you do not have any brothers or sisters..” but he was interrupted by Carter dropping to his knees and begging “Please!!! Please, you have to let me do this! I’m not good at anything else. Please I’m begging you! I want to be with my friends!” begged Carter.

All three instructors looked on sympathetically. The Black Creek instructor spoke, “I’m sorry Carter, you know the rules..” The instructor motioned for one of the two security guards on stand by to escort Carter off the field. “Give his parents this informative pamphlet on how he can help the war efforts at home. There are still other options for you Carter.” said the instructor.

After Carter left, they continued down the line suggesting certain exercise methods and nutrition plans to different trainees. Then it was Davina’s turn. Harold was extremely cautious as he approached his mate. He tried desperately not to get lost in her brown eyes. Though he looked as solid as stone, his heart trembled inside.