The Luna's Pack and Her Alpha

Veronica I opened my eyes to my dark room, blinking to clear the sleep from my eyes. As the haze of sleep cleared and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I pushed myself over the edge of my bed just before my alarm started going off. I turned it off as I pushed myself out of bed and moved into my closet to pull out a pair of leggings and a matching sports bra. I made my way into the bathroom to freshen up and get dressed before pulling my long, wavy hair into a ponytail. I tugged my sneakers on and left my room, heading towards the training field. I arrived at the field just before 5 am and took my place at the front of the group, next to my father. The majority of the expected pack members had already arrived and were awaiting instructions. The group consisted of the pack leaders; including my father–the Alpha, myself–the soon-to-be Luna, both our Betas and our Gammas, the pack warriors, and my best friend–Nina, the only other she-wolf that trained with the men. Our trainer, Daneile, stepped forward as the clock struck 5 and signaled for the pack to fall into formation for our warm-up run. We set off for our usual 15-mile run around the territory. As I always did, I ran at the front of the group, with Nina right beside me. Our small frames made us faster than the rest of the group, as long as our stamina held up we would beat the rest of the group. I’ve been training 6 days a week since I was five to ensure my stamina would last longer than any of theirs. We passed through my favorite section of the trail, where we were completely surrounded by nature. The trees surrounding our territory were tall and shaded the trail from the rising sun with their full lush tops. The smell of dirt and fresh spring blooms was strongest in this section of the trail. I could get lost in the scent; Earthy with a hint of fresh sweetness, it’s the most intoxicating smell. In my, occasional, free time I come out to this part of the woods and lay in the middle of the forest, letting the sent wrap around me and clear my head. I lead the group along the trail and as we cleared the tree line, signaling the last mile of the run, Nina and Daneile both made a move to pass me. They were fast, but I was prepared for it. I pushed my already screaming legs harder and increased the small lead I already had on them, I must have finished the last mile in three minutes. I came to a stop just past the starting point, followed by my soon-to-be Beta, Damon, who had put an impressive gap between himself and the others. Nina, my soon-to-be Gamma, Leo, and Daneile all rounded the last curve neck and neck. I smirked and yelled to Nina “Come on Adams, show the boys how us, she-wolves can kick.” My words had the intended effect, because as soon as I finished my statement all three of them and the large group following close behind all pushed themselves faster. The three launched themselves across the invisible finish line. “Nice work,” I said nodding to the group. I moved to the center of the field, leaving Daneile to get the rest of the group over the finish line. I stood in the center of the field and began to stretch out my heated muscles in preparation for the battle I knew was coming next. The seven people who finished right after me followed me to the center of the field­–this would be our sparing group for the day. After the final men finished the warm-up run Daneile joined our group in the center and signaled for the sparing sessions to begin. My group was made up of Damon, Daneile, Nina, Leo, My father, Beta Nolan, his Gamma Patrick, and myself. Each sparing session would last for 10 minutes, the winner of each session would move on to the next round while the loser would add a mile to the end of their workout. Damon and I stepped to the center of our circle. As the first two over the finish line, we would face off first. He was much larger than me, he towered over my 5’4” frame and had nearly fifty pounds of muscle on me, but over the years I’ve learned how to use my opponent's own weight and height against them. We circled each other for a moment before he made the first move–he lunged forward with a fist aimed at my right side. I swatted his fist away with my left hand and sent my own punch towards the center edge of his ribs, his weak spot, landing my first good hit. He grunted and backed up, expecting me to follow, but I knew him well. He wanted me to think that was a retreat, but it was really him preparing a kick that would send me flying out of the circle if it made contact. Instead of pursuing I took a step back as Damon sent the powerful kick my way, I used his own momentum against him and shoved his kick up causing him to bobble. He bobbled for only a second before he recovered, but a second was all I needed. I sent a distracting punch buzzing past his left cheek followed by my own kick into the opening on his right side. The impact of my kick colliding against his still wobbly form sent him flying to the side of the circle into the rest of our group. I reached down to help him up, he brushed himself off and smirked at me, “That’s a sneaky trick, I’ll have to remember that one.” There were a few chuckles from neighboring sparing circles, presumably because I had defeated my Beta so quickly. I turned to find the source and locked eyes with [WARRIOR], a warrior who has been begging to get into the circle with me. “[WARRIOR], until you make it into the top 8, I suggest you focus on your own technique instead of critiquing everyone else,” I told him, causing a crimson blush to spread across his cheeks. “Yes, Luna.” Was his response as he bowed his head. We stepped back into the circle and watched as each pair sparred. By the end of the first round, the four wolves remaining were me, Daneile, my father, and Beta Nolan. After a long battle, that would leave me with more than a few bruises of my own, I won against Daneile with a sharp punch to the gut that had him doubled over. Then it was down to my father and me. When my father and I stepped into the circle the field grew quiet. My father is the person I've spared with most, he knows my moves well, but I know his well too. When we spare, we can sense each other’s movements which made for a tricky battle. By the end of the ten minutes, neither of us had landed a clean hit on the other. When the alarm went off neither of us registered the sound so we continued. Another five minutes and neither of us had found an opening. In an effort to force a mistake my father rushed me, he was fast, but I was faster. I sidestepped his lunge and gave a swift kick to the side of his knee causing his leg to crumble beneath him. He recovered, but not before I followed up with a second kick to the side of his ribs sending him toppling over. My father rolled over and beamed with pride from his spot on the ground as the field erupted. I reached down and helped him to his feet, while Daneile settled the field and got everyone ready to move on to the core workout we ended with every Monday. Twenty minutes later my abs were screaming and I was ready for a long shower, followed by a large breakfast, but I had to see my pack through their training first. I gathered the first round ‘losers’ who earned an extra mile and lead them to the track with my Beta, who earned his mile because of me. “Alright, gentlemen. Let’s make this quick, I’m hungry.” I said as we approached the track. “Yes, Luna.” was the collective response. We set off, flying at an inhuman pace. If we could keep this pace up, we’d be done in just a few minutes. I nodded to my Beta, signaling for him to keep going while I dropped to the back of the group to challenge the few wolves hanging back to match my pace. The entire group picked up the pace and completed the mile in a quick five minutes. I praised their commitment before my group and I broke off and headed back to the packhouse. As Damon, Leo, Uncle Patrick, Nina and I walked back to the packhouse they chatted about new moves they had seen someone use and who they thought would take the three spots that would be open in the top 8 after our fathers retired. When they retire in a couple of weeks they’ll still train, but it won’t be with the rest of us. We’ve been a consistent top 8 for the last couple of years, but that would be changing very soon. Everything would be changing. I tuned them out and made my way upstairs to my room. I turned on the shower and waited for the steam to fill the space before I stepped under the near-boiling water. The water hit my body, providing some relief to my used and abused muscles, while I thought over my schedule for the week. In 4 days, I would leave with my father to attend my first Western Pack Conference with our Beta’s. While we’re there we’ll announce the transfer of power, which will be taking place in less than two weeks, to the neighboring packs. When we return from the conference My family will be moving out of the packhouse and soon after I’ll officially be in charge of nearly 600 wolves. I was confident in my training and my team, I know that we’ll do amazing things for the pack, but that doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking to have so many people depending on me. I shook off the doubt and reminded myself that I’ve been training nearly my whole life for this. I pushed my concerns to the back of my mind and got ready for the company meeting I have this morning.