1. Family First, and Always...

***Rolf's POV***

"No, Uncle, the deal was I would have 10 years," I was exasperated with my uncle and trying to remain calm as I paced and talked to him on my cell phone. I was too far away for a mind link, completing training at a specialty hand-to-hand combat course for the Lycanthrope Army. He had called earlier and left a voice mail telling me it was time to come home and announce myself to the kingdom's court.

"That deal was made before the prophecies started coming true, and you have duties here that need to be handled," my uncle said. He is the patriarch of the Protector Family, and the King Regent of the Osvald Kingdom. I can hear the stress in his voice, and I realize I need to tread carefully. He could order the soldiers attending the course with me to hog tie me and carry me home if I gave him reason to get angry enough.

"I am not taking over for you. Can you please have Zev handle this as we planned? I still have 4 years left, and I want to use them as fully as I can before I am announced. Please Uncle, this means the world to me," I pled my case to him one more time. I know he and my Auntie have done everything they can to shield me from the notoriety of being a part of the Protector Family since I was a small child, and I am not ready to give that up.

"Your brother already has work he is doing, and preparing to take over the Regency from me on top of his training. I need to give him some time to find a wife, he will need a Queen Regent by his side." My uncle is starting to lose his patience. I need to end this call before it is too late.

"I have a leadership course that will bring me back to Capitol City in a week. Can we discuss this in person with Auntie Lyall and Zev then?" Maybe I can come up with a compromise or anything to keep me from the court. As soon as I am announced, my face will be associated with the Protector Family as a Regent Prince, and currently third in line to the throne. It was a miracle I was able to keep my anonymity until I was 16 let alone the additional 5 years. My 22nd birthday, and 6th year, is coming up in a few weeks. I went by my mother's family name of Stigarra, instead of the Protector Family name of Varg.

"I thought you might ask to do that. I have already coordinated for you to spend a week here in the palace and then go to the leadership course. I think you will benefit from it more than ever now," he sounded almost triumphant, this is not a good sign.

"Uncle, if I stay in the palace a week I will be a week late to the leadership course! The whole point of me staying out of the spotlight was so I could earn my rank on my own merit and give no one a reason to doubt that I am a great leader when I take over the Army." This is bad, this was the last course I needed before I could get my commission on my own. If I have to face this war on The Darkness, I want my Army to respect and follow me, not wonder if my Uncle paid for my training scores.

"Do not worry about that, General Onyx is the only one I dealt with, and he will ensure your alias holds... well, at least until we put out a press release." Now he is just teasing me, at least his mood has shifted for the better. "I will see you in a week, bring a suit," the King Regent got a final parting shot in before hanging up the phone. He knows I would rather just show up in uniform and stay as inconspicuous as possible.

I walk back toward the training facility, at least I have a way to calm my nerves and relive stress until then. When I get back to Capitol City, I will have to find time to spar with my best friend, Axel. He is stuck at the garrison there after he and the garrison commander found out he was dating the commander's daughter at the same time. After that, his request for specialized training courses kept getting lost or denied somehow.

***Thyra's POV***

"Goddess dammit!" I yelled as I landed on the side and heard the pop of my shoulder dislocating, "Kenyon, I told you not to go easy, I didn't say to try to maim me!" Kenny walked over to help me up, his long blonde hair was tied back at the nape of his neck and his golden brown eyes held some concern when he was looking me over. He and his twin sister are some of my best friends and two of the six of us that survived. He was also always just one step ahead of me when we sparred. I was getting better and have been training for 5 years. I got close to pinning him, but it seems that now he is fighting for real and not pulling the punches he would have just months ago.

"You're over training Thyra, you need to give yourself a break and a chance to recover from this non-stop training," he replied with that same concern in his voice. He also knew if he let me win just to let me win, I would count that as a betrayal. So he still mopped the floor with me. I am not mad about it, he is the only person I have trained with in the last year that is better at fighting than I am. Even the cadre for our morning training sessions could no longer win against me. I have gotten used to using their size against them, but Kenyon is built similar to me, thin with long lean muscles, almost a dancer's build. He is still a bit faster than me, though I am catching up.

"Come on guys! Stop fighting for a moment and I will look at that shoulder," Kenny's sister, Otsana, yelled from the bleachers surrounding the training grounds. She was the opposite of Kenny in almost every way. Except for our coloring, Kenny and I looked more alike than he did with Otsana. Her hair was as dark as mine, and cropped even shorter in a pixie cut full of wild curls. She was short and full of curves that made men stop in their tracks to watch. Which is exactly what happened as she bounced down the bleachers and walked toward us. There were not as many soldiers on the training ground this late in the evening on a Friday night, but Kenny and I had a bet going, and he just won again.

"Ana, it's ok. I just need to pop it back in." I hollered over to her as she walked up. This is going to hurt but at least it will heal quickly. At 16 our senses started getting stronger, but at 18 when we met our wolves, our healing was faster and better. Physically, we were faster and stronger as well. Ana manipulated my arm until we heard the shoulder pop back into place.

"Ana, ever notice how she calls out our full names when she is mad," laughed Kenny. "It is almost like hearing mom yell across the fields for us to come in at dark. Maybe we should start calling her mom instead." Kenny and Ana talk about home more and more, they seem to have been better able to move on than me. When he mentioned his mom, it felt like he punched me in the stomach all over again. I have gotten really good at keeping my mask up when our pack gets brought up. It took me years to stop flinching and having my eyes fill up with tears. I even have the twins fooled.

"I have to go, gonna hop into a shower and then finish up on my reading for the battle strategy class I have that leadership course starting in a week. After that I am heading to bed, y'all have a good night." I got the words out coolly enough to hide any emotion. But as I walked to the showers my rage was building so fast that I knew a cold shower was in my near future. In my head visions of battling the rogues that torched my pack is what I am running strategy scenarios against.

"We have to get her out of the Garrison and doing something fun in town soon, she is getting way to detached." I hear Ana whisper to Kenny.

"She is ok, did you hear her slip and say y'all? It has been a while since I heard that accent. And she almost had me in a lock before I threw her off me. I was too close to needing to tap out." Kenny replied as the visions in my head took over my full attention. Except for the small part of my mind that always heard the last words my father said to me, 'family first, and always.'