Discovering Me

Overcoming Obsticles

We finished dinner and Keenan excused us, saying he wanted to go over some more information for our tour.

“Wow, this place is so nice!” I exclaimed as we walked off the elevator. His quarters are on the third floor, his brother’s is on the 5th floor of the packhouse and I’m assuming the fourth floor is reserved for the Beta’s family.

“Thanks. Your room is over there. I’ll be staying in the master suite down the hall if you need anything. Feel free to look around.” He says as I take him up on that walk around as he changes in his room. I eventually ended up in my guest room washing up and changing while I was there. This guest room is so much bigger than my dorm room at the academy.

“Can I just stay here?” I asked him as I walked back into the living room.

“Sure. If you want to,” he says, laughing in the kitchen. “Oh, by the way. I’m really sorry about how my family all wanted to mate you off. You really don’t have to meet my cousins if it’s too much. I can send you back to the academy early or you can go home and I’ll just tell them you had an emergency or something.” he says.

“What and miss an opportunity to meet the Alpha King? And how come you never told me you were ranked here in your pack? I know you have a strong aura but didn't know you’re an alpha by blood and not just that you're related to the Alpha King.” I said, gesturing like my head was exploding, causing him to laugh.

“What would it have changed? I wouldn’t want you to treat me any differently. Plus, from what my dad said, you’re probably ranked too, but you just don’t know it.” He says.

“I know it.” I said softly, looking away. “My dad technically is of Alpha blood but was disowned by his family. I just can't talk about it because, from what I heard, my grandmother used her enchantress abilities to lure my grandfather and caused all types of chaos in his pack. My uncle is currently the alpha there and we're not welcome there at all. My mom’s side lost their rank when they decided not to reject each other and have hybrid children.That’s why the first lesson I learned was to suppress my aura so no alpha felt challenged.” I explained.

“It makes sense. I’ve always had a hard time gauging your strength. Even during training. I’ve always sensed you were still suppressing your abilities, which is why I asked for you to come with me. I think you’ll be able to help others with control,” he stated.

"You requested for me to come with you? Thank you but what made you pick me to intern with you?" I asked.

"Why not? I had a choice between you and Marco and I like him. Don't get me wrong. I just like you more." He said, rubbing my arm.

“Thank you for requesting me. This will be great for my resume. I promise I won't disappoint you."I said, hugging him. "So I’ve heard rumors that your cousin is hot.”

“I mean good looks do run in the family. You see who you’re talking to, right?” He says, stepping back.

“If you say so,” I said, looking him up and down in a teasing way.

“I’m uh...going to shower then go to bed. Training starts at 5 am. Do you have everything you need?” he asks, walking towards his room.

"I think I'm ok. Goodnight." I said, noticing that his behavior was different from his normal mannerism but not thinking too much into it. I go to my room and go to bed.

***

I was in such a good sleep when the alarm went off. I lazily got up, washed up, and dressed in my training gear. I smelled the aroma of coffee and I so needed a cup. I was so thankful Keenan knows me well and had one ready for me as I exited.

“Do you want any coffee with your cream?” Keenan said, walking into the kitchen as I was making myself a cup of coffee.

“Whatever, it's your fault for making sure I had my favorite creamer flavor. There is coffee in here. Thank you very much.” I said, showing him my cup.

“Yea, but your coffee matches your complexion." He said, rubbing my exposed arm "Mostly cream, light coffee. Real coffee drinkers like me don’t need cream. Here's your lid for the mugs over there.” He reached around me to the counter, grabbing the lid.” Come on, let's get going.” He instructed. I grabbed the lid then followed him out to the training grounds.

Just like everything else in this pack, the training grounds were a state of the art indoor facility with a weight room, an extremely large training field and even an obstacle course. Many of the warriors were already there when we walked in and looked like they were happy to see their gamma. Keenan was greeted by hugs, hand shakes, and fist bumps. He guides me up to the center of the ring. The warriors form in the middle of the training field.

“Good morning friends. It’s nice to be warmly welcomed back by my family here in the Black Forest Pack. I would like to introduce you all to my assistant Lexi. She’ll be helping me with today's training. I expect you to treat her with the same respect you would show me,” Keenan says.

“Yes Gamma” they all replied.

“Great! Now let's do some stretching and get some running laps in.” He instructs and blows a whistle. I start to stretch as he informs me of the training routine and introduces me to some of the pack's top warriors. He goes to the front of the crowd as I stand towards the back to help motivate.

“Okay guys, let's get moving.” I said to the last few in line and we started off at a steady pace. After completing the warm-up laps, I noticed one of the warriors toward the end looked injured. “What kind of injury are you recovering from?” I asked him.

“Oh you’ve noticed that. Sorry I’m recovering from a rogue attack a week ago”, he answers.

“A week ago? Is your wolf helping you recover?” I was puzzled. Usually, wolves heal at a much faster rate. For him to still be showing signs of an injury, something has to be off.

“He’s there but seems to be groggy still. It’s taking a little longer to heal.” He answers.

“Did the healer say why? Was there poison?” I asked, curious now.

“They didn’t detect anything in the toxicology screening they did in the pack hospital” he states.

“That’s interesting. I think I’d like to try a potion to see if we can get that wolf healing sped up. I’ll talk to Gamma Keenan to see if I can get to a herbalist's shop later. Would you be okay with that?” I asked.

“Sure, if it will help, I'm all for it,” he replied.

“Great, I’ll send word if I’m able to get the supplies later.” I said, walking off to join the rest of the training.

It looks like the large group has been broken off into four smaller groups. Some on the weights, some sparring, some doing basic training and some in the obstacle course area.

“You feel like testing your speed?” Keenan asks. He enjoys challenging my limits.

“Sure. What are you thinking?” I asked.

“That obstacle course. I think you have the strength, agility and rapid thinking to figure it out.”

“I was actually eyeing it. I’m game. Oh, do you think I can get to an herbalist later? I’d like to get some things to make a potion that will help some of the warriors with healing some of the injuries I see.”

“Yes, I think we can arrange that later.” He says as we walk into the area. “Okay warriors. Who’s holding the top record going through this?”

“That would be Arthur. His record is four and a half minutes.” A warrior answers.

“Okay. Well, let's see if Lexi can beat that.” Keenan says, pushing me forward. No pressure, right?

“Umm Gamma. I’m not sure she’s tall enough to reach certain parts and there are many points that will require upper body strength, which a lot of females struggle with. The top female speed is ten minutes,” another warrior explains.

“Are you afraid she’s going to beat your record, Arthur?” Keenan teased. “I think she’ll be able to cope quite fine. Why don’t we have you run it with her to help her out if she needs it?”

“Definitely not worried, but this might be fun,” Arthur said smugly. “Ladies first” he held his hand out, pointing to the beginning of the course.

“Alright. Start the timer after my whistle”, Keenan instructs before blowing his whistle.

The course starts off with a straight path, then over a climbing wall. I was easily able to do that. Next was a climb through a rotating tunnel and, thanks to my vampire speed, that was a breeze. Next was the quintuple steps, which are quite a distance apart. I took a moment to look at it to figure out the best way to get across with my short height.

“Do you need help?” I heard Arthur say from behind me. “Here let me show you how it's done. '' He says as he leaps from one side to the next and gets across. I decided that was probably not the best option for me.Each block I was able to take three steps before having to jump to the next and before I knew it, I was across.

The next obstacle was across a balance beam, dodging the padded blockers coming out to knock you down. I noticed Arthur slowing down at this point to be alert. Balance has never been a struggle for me, so I was able to dodge, jump and flip over all the obstacles coming at me. Unfortunately, that led to a salmon ladder. Upper body strength was not my strong point but I knew I had been working on it. It took me a little while but I eventually was able to get through that part and swung to a platform. The unstable bridge was the last challenge before the zipline to the end.

“Four minutes fifteen seconds, Lexi and Four twenty-five Arthur. Great Job you guys”, Keenan said as we landed back on the platform. Arthur walks up and we shake hands.

“D@mn, you’re fast. I had to run at top speed and was huffing and puffing trying to catch my breath and here you didn’t even break a sweat.” He says, breathing heavily.

“You were right. That was really a hard course. That salmon ladder is no joke.” I said, feeling the pain in my arms.

“Can you imagine if she was as familiar with the course as you are? She wasn’t even moving at top speed”, Keenan said, patting me on my shoulder. “I just wanted to show you all that you should never underestimate yourself or your opponent's size. Arthur is very skilled and powerful. You look at him and you expect that great performance he just showed us. When you see Lexi, you see a beautiful, sweet, innocent, dainty female, all of which she is, but for those that assume that means she’s weak. You all just saw she’s anything but that and that wasn't even utilizing her full strength. She comes here with me from the hybrid academy. You may not be able to detect her strength, but let me tell you, don’t get her even slightly mad. I've seen the havoc that follows and would try to stay on her good side if I were you,” he says, causing the crowd to laugh.

“Okay, let's see the rest of you. Those that are having difficulties maybe you can ask these two for pointers.” He says, pointing at both Arthur and I causing almost an immediate reaction. I am surrounded by females and weaker ones who are full of questions.