I’ve Got Some Big Shoes To Fill

“Signe, let’s go!” My dad hollered from downstairs. “We’re going to be late. Get your ass in gear.”

I rushed to throw my unruly hair into an equally unruly messy bun. Giving myself a quick once over in the mirror, I thank the Moon Goddess that I look at least mostly put together for my first day of taking over the training for our pack warriors. I mean, how my hair looks isn’t that big of a deal, right? They already see me everyday on the training grounds as it is.

Sweaty. Bruised. Busting my ass to be the best warrior I can be for my pack.

“It all matters. Today you need to make a good impression on everyone so they can learn to differentiate you from warrior-in-training to their future Gamma,” my Wolf Aerona reminded me.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I’ll just tuck a few of these strays away and we will be set.” I quickly bobby pinned a few strays into place so my hair didn’t look quite so…messy.

I could feel Aerona give me the world’s absolute biggest eye roll.

“Alright. That’s it. I’m leaving without you. Remember what happens when you’re late to training!” And with those words, I heard the door shut behind Dad as he made his way to the training grounds.

Without me.

I rushed out of my bedroom too quickly and had to turn back around to grab my training bag. I hopped up on the railing and slid down to the first floor where I landed on the balls of my feet and kept my momentum going. I yanked open the front door and sprinted towards the training grounds.

“A little boost of speed would be nice right about now Aerona. You know what happens when somebody is late to training and I have NEVER been late.”

There was no way that I was going to be stuck suffering through the beatdown my dad would give me in the training arena for being late. He might be an old man, but he was a tough old man.

“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before taking forever to decide what to wear this morning,” Aerona chastised me.

It was my turn for the world’s biggest eye roll. “You know, I was trying to choose something that would help them to see me as not just another warrior. I’m about to attempt to fill the biggest shoes of my life.”

My Dad has been the Gamma of the Crescent Moon Pack for the last 30 years. His dedication, loyalty and protectiveness over this pack is unmatched. Well, except maybe by our Alpha, Luna and Beta, but that’s to be expected. He’s been kicking ass and taking names for three decades and now he’s ready to finish the tail end of my training so that I can take over for him as Gamma of the Crescent Moon pack.

“Okay, well then, we’re both going to have to suffer the consequences. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I chastised her back.

In two seconds, I felt a good boost of energy as Aerona came to her senses and took over my body giving us the extra oomph we needed to waltz onto the training grounds with one minute to spare.

I looked over and spotted my dad. Smiling, I gave him a quick little wave and tapped my wrist where a watch would be, if I had one.

He just shook his head laughing and started walking to the head of the training grounds. I followed closely behind him and with each step I became more and more nervous.

Finally, Dad stopped up front and turned to face the warriors. I walked up beside him and followed his lead and turned to face the warriors, but kept my head down.

At five feet ten inches I’m pretty tall in comparison to most, if not all, of the other she-wolves in the Crescent Moon Pack. However, standing there in front of all of these warriors that I’m about to have to address, I’ve never felt smaller in my entire life.

“Take a deep breath, Sig. You’ve got this.” Dad said while smiling at me and giving my arm a quick squeeze.

This was it. I took a deep breath like dad suggested and looked up to find myself looking into everyone’s waiting faces.