P.o.V. Patrick
I am so excited I can’t concentrate at all. The dreaded training days are finally over. I can feel the joy of freedom coursing through my veins as I think about no longer having to wrestle with smelly classmates or get hit or kicked or slammed on the ground. All I can think about, as I sit warm and cozy in the plushest armchair in the library, is how much I will be able to do with this extra time. No more leaving school early or struggling to get homework and projects done. I can finally join clubs, work on group projects with other students, and go to after school events.
The first thing I plan on doing is spending more time with my peers. Some of my classmates have begun practicing for the debate team and I will finally be able to join them. Calpernia, a vampire from the High Top clan whose father is second to their sire, invites
NarratorAs the final group of trainees emerged from the treeline, those waiting to greet them clapped and cheered in celebration. All of the competitors, warriors, and even some family members were excited to hear the final results. The leadership and refereeing members had kept the events within the forest quiet to allow the participants to tell their own tales. A great feast to celebrate the end of training would be held the next evening so everyone would have plenty of time to tell their tales and could enjoy a fine meal with family and friends.Alpha Darren stepped forward as the group neared the crowd. A respectful bow bobbed through the wolves in attendance as they acknowledged his presence. Smiling at the emerging wolves, he paused as he took in their appearance. This set of combatants looked far worse for wear than those who had exited before.
P.o.V. Luna FallonThis feast was more work to plan than even the traditional presentation ceremony and run. They were going to combine the Harvest Moon celebration with the end of training dinner so almost all of the pack members would be in attendance. The only ones who would not be there were the unmated wolves and their escorts who went a few hours away to attend the closest Maben Ball. With any luck they would be returning in a few days with mates and the next celebration would be welcoming the new pack members.Because of the size of the event, it was going to have to be held outside and, with the weather rapidly turning from winter to fall, would require a periphery of bonfires to keep the worst of the chill out of the area. It was great luck werewolves ran hot to begin with or they would have had to find a way to hold this massive event indoors
P.o.V. Moira/Trajan"Do you think she realized what we did?""No. She was too busy doing our hair and trying to figure out why we wanted her to fix it so suddenly, I think. Did you manage to contact Zira?"“Yes. She confirmed what we thought. Our mother is teaching Patrick how to subdue and quash his wolf. Zira says it has been years since she has been let out. They can still mindlink pack members and the bond with father is unchanged, but Zira is a little worried that shifting may be an issue should they need to.”&
P.o.V. NarratorMoira and Trajan decided not to speak with their dad about their mother’s wolf. Since Zira hadn’t asked for any assistance for herself or really made any complaints besides mentioning not having shifted in some time, they thought it best to leave the situation for now. Perhaps, with more time, they could convince their mother to shift or find more excuses to speak with Zira without her noticing.Lessons with their father and the leaders continued, Moira got training moved to the morning and weekends so that they were able to stay the full day at school. Some of the sports teams were beginning to recruit for the spring and they were thinking of trying out for the track team. There was also a cultural club Miss En asked her students to join if they were going to be majors. It wasn’t required but they would be having gues
P.o.V. NarratorMoira felt as if she had mentally hit a wall with the about-face the day had taken. Trajan was immediately on alert and pushing forward to scent the air and try and see if there was a trace of a rogue anywhere nearby. It had only been a few minutes ago when the only concern for the weekend on Moira’s mind was how to convince Alpha Gerald to let them go to the coffee shop. Now they were walking straight into a meeting about pack security from rogues.Grey Peak’s isolated location meant they almost never had a rogue incursion. When they did it was usually a sickly or injured one who managed to fight their way through other territories and thought they’d finally escaped pursuit. By the relaxed looks of the other leaders as they proceeded inside the pack house, this must have been a more normal occurrence. They were all ch
P.o.V. TrajanMoira and I weighed the question. She knew our dad would be furious at us for getting into any danger when we were supposed to just be here to learn, but rogues… I can’t abide the thought of them being anywhere near any territory anywhere. We are strong enough to fight. We should be able to join in the defense here as well. Moira and I had just come to the consensus to offer to join in with one of the squads on standby when the older wolf who was updating the group on the tracker let out a huff that carried vague tones I could feel were a suppressed growl.“As the official Grey Peak ambassador,” he said in an even but grave tone, “I cannot sit aside while you put the daughter of our Alpha in harm's way. Especially since she is only fourteen and a recruit. If I have to, I'll use my authority over our warriors
P.o.V. NarratorThe confusion on Moira and Silva’s faces must have been evident to the two older werewolves. Alpha Gerald gave Liam an almost reproachful look before smiling softly over at the girls with a hint of embarrassment. “As you both know my mate and I have not been blessed with any pups of our own. We have taken in many orphans and those in need, but the two of us have not had children with Alpha blood. On top of that, no Alpha has appeared anywhere else in the pack to any of our members. Silva, what you do not know is that due to,” he hesitated slightly glancing at Liam who looked uncomfortable, “tensions with the way the Alpha title is inherited in Grey Peak, Moira, though an Alpha, may not be named as successor.”Silva looked shocked and started to say something but Liam waved her into silence so that Alpha Ger
P.o.V. Luna MarthaI couldn’t help but let mey mind wander as I prepared dinner with a couple of omegas. Sometimes my mate’s ideas run away with him. He can get so invested in one of his notions that everything in the world around him that doesn’t fit into them gets ignored. I prayed to the Goddess that his plans for Moira and Trajan weren’t like that. The young wolf was very clear that they were not planning on leaving Grey Peak once they came of age. Alpha Darren was also disinclined to hear about it from what Gerald said. So why he was so adamant that he was probably going to be able to name Moira as the next Alpha, I would probably never know.Granted her mother was all in favor of getting her as far away from Grey Peak as possible. I believe she sees her daughter as a freak or abomination for being bound to Trajan. And Fall
RichBy the time we had finished handing everything over to Patrick, Trisha, and their group, Troi was long gone from the pack house. Even their scent was growing faint as Claud tracked them through the forest and up towards some of the overhangs. It was well past dark when he finally found more than a wisp of them and was able to hone in on their location.As he got closer I realized where they were. It was the overhang where we found the phoenix feathers as kids. Sure enough, they were sitting on that ledge looking out into the distance. They were so focused, they didn’t even acknowledge Claud’s approach. I shifted back and put on the clothes he’d carried before climbing up beside them.They still didn’t act as if they noticed anyone else here. I tried to wait, but eventually grew
Alpha DarrenWith the discovery of survivors, the path forward seemed much more navigable than when we were dealing with a pack that had been entirely destroyed. As Teddy and his uncle spoke it was like watching fog clear from everyone in the room. When he mentioned Trisha finding her mate the relief from the other end of the line seemed to turn to excitement. That was the moment I realized what that actually meant.While Fallon had planned for numerous outcomes from the party she threw the kids to help find their mates, I don’t think she actually considered the possibility that Patrick may be mated to the sole heir of an Alpha. For any pack with no one in line to inherit, having their child mated to the offspring of an Alpha was a clear path forward and made the succession very easy. From what Fallon has said, Trisha was not raised to lead her p
XXXThe group making their way through Flowing Waters was taking ages. I understand their caution, but we have already been out here for a day waiting for their arrival. I had to hope they would investigate the house enough to find the message we left behind for them to discover. If they did not take the time, we would need to attract their attention enough to be discovered but still not be seen as a threat. That would be far more challenging and may even backfire if everyone doesn’t play their parts right.Luckily they were as thorough as I expected and one of the ones investigating the pack house did uncover the message we left. I had the scout who was watching them cut contact at that point and made sure everyone in the cavernous hideout was ready to put on a show. These warriors would be easy. They were already going to be sympathetic, as lon
TroiWe weren’t taking any chances with our guests until we had people reporting back from Flowing Waters everything they found. Our warriors reported that Trisha and Teddy stayed away from the rest of the pack and basically in a few rooms of the packhouse over the next few days. The only time the three weren't with him was when he went for his runs with dad. Then they'd stay together wherever he left them until he returned. When he did, the boys would bail while he and Trisha spent time together.The warriors who followed the boys reported that Teddy sometimes made brief phone calls. Usually that evening or the day after he would report something to the leaders. Dad wouldn't let us work with Tyko to listen in on his conversation. He still doesn't fully believe us that there is something suspicious about the wolves from Flowing Waters worth being
EnvyEverything clicked into place as Patrick spoke. His sister’s deeper voice when we were in the room upstairs definitely struck a nerve and I realized now she was the one taunting us after the failed High Valley assault. It also explained the way she was included at a critical level in the discussions of possible attacks on packs, though with twins it was possible they would both have a role in running the pack. Even knowing his sister’s ferocity and backing, I couldn’t help but be a little excited. We had found our way in to get through the pack defenses at Grey Peak and probably High Valley.I laid the groundwork for getting him away from the pack with the lure of power of his own. I could feel Strigga’s discomfort at our manipulation of our mate, but I made her understand he would be joining us in the end. If we told him t
PatrickIt was hard to know how to help Envy with everything going on. I was slightly glad we had not completed the marking process. I only occasionally got pangs of stress from her instead of the full blown grief she was clearly under. Moira’s suggestion that Envy stay in my room was completely shocking, but I later realized she must have said that just to get us out of her hair and annoy Mother all at once. Mother was entirely opposed to us staying there together alone, but didn’t want to push the issue openly where others would wonder why. Then she may have to admit she was worried about Colm or pretend she was against us completing the mate-bond for some reason. Either of which would also have benefitted Moira so it was really a win-win for her to make the suggestion.It worked for us. While we didn’t mark each other, we were able
TeddyCaleb’s quick thinking following Patrick’s sister and her friends seems to have paid off. I was able to call and warn our Boss and work out a plan quickly. The rogues torched the pack buildings and burned the bodies after the attack, so all evidence would be untraceable. By the time anyone went to investigate, everyone’s scents would have been wiped clean. He got off the phone with me and I deleted the log of the call. I continued the path I walked and turned towards the training fields. Exactly five minutes later he had one of the guys who joined up with me from Flowing Waters call me. In the brief call, he filled me in on happenings at the base while I acted as if I found out the world ended.I looked up dramatically before running toward the training field to find any leader really. It lucked out that the Beta was there and I
RichAs if the whole issue with Patrick finding his mate wasn’t enough, now Troi was having to deal with what looked like a war against packs and a potential spy or assassin inside ours. They’ve pushed themselves hard since we all were presented to the pack. Basically doing double duty here and High Valley as well as school activities and warrior training. They started to seem more on edge once people in our friend group started finding mates. It got even worse when their dad named them heir and Patrick got sick and they had even more to deal with. I was waiting for them to snap and I could see the moment it was about to happen.When they began to bulk up and I could see Trajan pushing forward, I knew they had reached a breaking point. I couldn’t tell if it was the news of all the attacks or something with Patrick’s mate or thei
TroiWhen Trisha pulled away she shot an embarrassed and scared glance at the everyone present that caused Mother to burst into tears and pull her into a bone crushing hug. Even Dad went over to mutter words of support and how we’d do everything we could to help and that he had the best warriors already on it and had rallied allies. Patrick kept in physical contact with his mate the whole time and pulled her back into his chest as soon as Mother released her. Trisha’s eyes were red, but we noticed that there were no signs of tears on her face, Patrick’s shirt, or Mother’s shoulder.Something about this whole situation felt wrong. Teddy said he got a call from a friend at his pack who said that something had happened. But that was only a couple of hours ago at this point and the coven’s scrying showed that the attack was fa