The Luna Warrior and Her Dominant Mates

Chapter 2

The training grounds were beginning to fill with warriors as Cassie and Andy reached the raised demonstration area, with the rest of the warriors filtering down across the lawns towards them. Morning training started at 7:30am sharp on weekdays and anyone who dared to arrive late, without good reason, could be sure of a beasting. There were few repeat offenders, that extra five minutes in bed just wasn’t worth it. Cassie watched as a few stragglers jogged out of the packhouse, they still had a few minutes so they should make it on time.

“Good morning, Cassie, Andrew.” Gamma Michael nodded to them as they approached. “All ready to run training this morning, Cass?”

“Morning, morning! Yes, ready, and raring to go!” Cassie beamed up at him, bouncing on her feet.

Gamma Michael chuckled, “I can see that. So, what have you got planned for us today?”

“The plan is to focus on hand-to-hand combat in human form but don’t worry, I’ve got a few curveballs to throw out there.” Cassie replied with a smirk.

“I don’t doubt it, you never like to make it too easy, Cassie!” Gamma Michael grinned, shaking his head.

Cassie checked the clock, two minutes to go. Just enough time to run through the training session plan in her head, one last time. She planned for the whole of today’s training to be completed in human form. The warriors would start with a five kilometre run to warm up. While most werewolves loved to run in wolf form, many were less keen on running in human form. However, stamina in both forms could be very important in battle. There could be various factors making it impossible to shift between forms, be it poisoning with wolfsbane or silver, an injury, or some form of magic. Cassie started all of her training sessions with at least a five kilometre run in either wolf or human form because she wanted all her warriors to be the best they could be, in both forms. For the same reasons, warrior training covered fighting in both human and wolf forms. There was also weapons training, something Cassie excelled in, but that was only mandatory for senior warriors and just optional for regular warriors. After today’s run, training would focus on hand-to-hand combat in human form. Cassie was excited for this today as she had a few surprises planned.

As the clock struck 7:30am the warriors were all assembled and looking towards the front, waiting for instructions. Cassie stepped forwards to address the warriors.

“Morning all!” Cassie beamed out at the warriors, “I’m leading this morning’s training session, all of which will be in human form. We’ll be starting with a 5K run through the forest. You all know the drill by now. I’ll start off in the lead but let’s see if any of you can beat me back today!”

With a last glance out across the gathered warriors, Cassie turned on her heels and sprinted off towards the forest. She was taking them on a new route today, but she trusted that they’d all be able to follow it. Cassie loved to run and she knew the surrounding forest well, so she tried to keep the routes varied during training sessions. As expected, Cassie was the first to make it back to the training grounds, closely followed by Andy. Gamma Michael and Gabriel would be bringing up the rear to catch any stragglers.

Once everyone had returned to the training grounds, Cassie asked them to pair off to practice their hand-to-hand combat. She had Andy and Gabe demonstrate some new moves for the pairs to take turns at trying out. Cassie and the other lead warriors then walked around between the pairs, correcting the warriors' form where needed and providing extra guidance. After half an hour or so, Cassie headed back to the front and called for everyone’s attention.

“Firstly, well done! Everyone’s form is looking great today.” Cassie said encouragingly. “Now, as you’re all doing so well, I think it’s time for us to mix things up a bit… please break yourselves into groups of four.

Cassie waited patiently as they shuffled around, splitting into groups.

“Everyone sorted? Great.” Cassie said, clasping her hands together, “We will be continuing with hand-to-hand combat, but this time you will be taking turns to fight three-on-one. In battle there are no guarantees, you never know what you might face. You might be first on scene at the pack border, defending against multiple assailants until back-up arrives. We might just be outnumbered in a fight. Either way, it is vital to practice defending yourself against multiple attackers. Each of you will now spend five minutes defending yourself against the others in your group. You have one minute to decide which order you will go in within your group. I’ll blow my whistle once to signal the start and twice to signal you all to stop.”

Forty minutes later, Cassie blew her whistle twice for the final time, signalling the end of the session. This was much to the relief of the warriors. Fighting against multiple assailants was not an easy task and by the final round, most of them were feeling worn out.

“Well done, again, everyone!” Cassie beamed out at the warriors, “I know I’ve pushed you hard today but I hope you can all appreciate why. I’ve been impressed with how you’ve all taken on the challenges we’ve thrown at you. Be warned to expect some more curveballs in future training sessions too! I’ll see some of you for weapons training this afternoon but that’s all for this morning’s session.”

As the warriors began to leave the training area, Gamma Michael made his way over towards Cassie and signaled for Andy and Gabriel to join them.

“That was a great training session, you really put everyone through their paces this morning.” Michael said with a grin. “I’m sure Alpha Thomas will be very pleased with the changes you’re bringing to our warrior training. I know I’m keen to see what other surprises you have up your sleeve but it’ll have to wait for now. The Alpha has requested all of us for a meeting in his office at 10am, so I suggest you go get cleaned up and I’ll see you all there shortly.”