Chapter 3

I wake up to the sound of my room's door being banged loudly by my mother. She is upset that I went to the Luna with our personal family dispute but then she was the one who was just adamant about me and Aztec not being mates and leaving me with no other option than to seek the Luna's advice.

"Wake up Sierra. The Alpha has called a pack meeting at 6 am before all the young wolves leave for the Neutral territory. You need to be present for it." Says my mother before leaving.

frown thinking about this pack meeting. What would be the reason for such an emergency meeting? I did not know that there were other wolves joining me for the training. Great! Now I will have to deal with the other pack wolves whom I do not like. Being my classmates or rather my old friends who stopped talking to me because I am dating the Alpha's son, they never fail to pass snide remarks about me.

"Sierra, I thought you were awake. Get out of your bed and freshen up for your journey," my mom calls from the kitchen. I can hear her clearly due to my enhanced hearing.

"Yes mom. I am almost ready," I shout back and get out of my bed forgetting about those rude people.

I shower and wear my clothes which is one of Aztec's sweatshirts and a pair of faded blue jeans. I Feel a little better that I have his scent on me so I can face all those people and their snarky comments.

I head downstairs towards the kitchen and all of sudden realise that I will not return back to this place tonight but after a year that too for a short vacation if I'm really Aztec's mate. I see my mom placing the plates on the table and I rush to give her a hug.

"I am sorry mom. I shouldn't have been such a brat regarding the mate issue. It is just that all this negativity is making me very defensive about Aztec and my relationship," I cry as I finish my sentence realising that no one thinks that I am Aztec's mate.

"We would be the happiest parents in the world to see you be mates with Aztec as he is the one you love, my darling. We just want you to be happy and not adamant about things which are yet only a possibility. Time will tell whether you are mates or not. Till then concentrate on your training and make friends from other packs. It helps strengthen pack ties and as a Beta's daughter it is your duty and honour, right?" asks my mother all the while caressing my face and cuddling me.

"Yes mom, I will be a sensible beta daughter." I sniffle still in my mom's arms not wanting to let her go.

"Come on now, let's finish our breakfast otherwise we will be late for the pack meeting." Mom ushers me towards the table and I sit taking in the big breakfast in front of me. My mother has prepared all the favourite breakfast dishes for me. This makes me cry more but I somehow control my emotions and start eating.

In the meeting hall of our pack, we are all standing facing towards the Alpha and the Luna to begin with the meeting.

"Good morning everyone. Thank you for arriving on time for this sudden meeting. Today, 5 of our last young wolves will be leaving for their training program to the neutral territory. We have gathered here today to wish them good luck and give our blessings so that they may find their mates and complete their training successfully," begins the Alpha.

"We all know that because of the excessive human population, we werewolves have a very small amount of land territory available for our packs to grow and also to maintain the secrecy of our existence. Along with this, the war amongst the royal family members caused a heavy decline in the werewolf population as all the packs were involved in that war. This war happened two decades ago and we have observed that no wolf has been able to breed in these two decades. The amount of mating ceremonies has also reduced to just 1 to 2 matings per year in the entire wolf community. Our numbers are decreasing due to lack of breeding and increasing rogue attacks every year. The purpose of your training is for you to know other pack wolves as well as to be a warrior in cases of a rogue attack or ......, " 

The Alpha pauses before finishing his sentence and looks at the Luna. It is clear that they are having a telepathic conversation and definitely hiding something from us young wolves. All other adults of the pack seem to know what the Alpha was talking about as they are all restless around us.

 I am standing between my parents directly besides the Alphas as we are the beta family. I see that my parents are also anxious all of a sudden after hearing the Alphas announcement.

"Okay, please pay attention. The five young wolves Sierra, Alexandria, Joshua, Caleb and Kaden, please come forward," says the Alpha changing the topic.

I Leave my parents' side and go ahead to stand in front of the Alpha couple. Alexandria comes to stand beside me on my left and I look at her just in time to see her scowl at me. I ignore her and pay attention to the Alpha.

"From now on you will be trainee wolves and not just a Samara pack wolf. Keeping that in mind I expect you all to behave appropriately and not bring any harm to the pack's name in the werewolf world. I want assurance that you will treat other pack members with the same camaraderie and respect as you will with your own packmate," says the Alpha.

"Yes Alpha," we all reply in unison.

"May the goddess bless you all. You all can leave now. Delta Alex will accompany you all till the gates of the training territory as you do not know the way there. I hope nobody causes a problem on the way." The Alpha is sternly looking at me and Alexandria. Everyone knows about our brawls and verbal abuse.

"Yes Alpha," we say once again and move towards the east border of our pack territory. The neutral territory is said to be in the exact centre of all the packs in Recrania.

We all say our goodbyes to our parents, I hug my father remembering our fun memories. My father hugs me and kisses my forehead whispering a "We will miss you, princess" and I control my tears and rush out of his arms before I start crying again to stand behind the delta who will lead us to the neutral territory.

I fold my clothes neatly and pack them in my small bag, the one which I put around my neck.

One by one we shift in our wolf form. The shifting requires hardly a minute. The faster you shift, the better warrior you will become. The training to shift fast is given by the Alpha and Beta themselves to ensure that every pack wolf gets trained appropriately. The further training will be given by the elders.

Most of our pack wolves have grey or blond shades of coat. I have a light grey coat whereas Alexandria has a light blond (yellowish) shaded coat. Joshua, Caleb and Kaden have different shades of grey in their coats. Delta Alex has a light blond coat like Alexandria as they are relatives.

"Follow me closely pups as we will be in the neutral territory where we might come across some rogues. Be alert to your surroundings. Girls behind me and the boys behind the girls. This will be the arrangement during the entire journey. Is that clear?" asks the Delta.

"Yes sir," we reply and he takes off at a moderate speed to help us get used to the speed. We do have vehicles for transportation but our Alpha insists that we learn to travel in our wolf forms. It's sad but I am not complaining as bad as Alexandria is.

The way to the neutral territory is clear with a few human settlements but we will skirt past them. If we continue at a faster speed throughout our journey with small breaks, we will reach within two days tops. 

I want to be done with this journey so I can get rid of Alexandria's constant scowling and snarling. Also, I have greater chances of meeting Aztec if we reach sooner at the training grounds. With this thought in mind, I rush behind the Delta who is almost a mile ahead of us.