Chapter 7: A warrior’s creed

“What else did he say?” Denise sipped the red wine on her glass, directly staring at her friend. Three days had passed when she woke up in her own bed. Relieved, found herself back at their pack mansion here in Claveria Haltera. Sydney told her they escaped from that man’s territory. 

           On the pack house’s balcony, they were standing with both of them holding glass a glass of wine. On the left was the training ground for young warriors led by the Gamma’s son.

“He said he will let you go, he’ll give up on having a senseless and unsympathetic mate.” Giving her false information was the only thing Sydney should do in able to protect her friend, she would rather act unaware of Cole’s plan. If this is what was destined for them, then she’ll let it be. 

           Putting down the empty glass, Denise averted her gaze from her friend. “You’re lying,” she simply said.

          Making Sydney lift her head in shock, “L-lying? Why would I do that to you?”

“I appreciate you, Sydney. If I were you, I would do the same,” Denise chuckled, keeping her eyes darted towards the forest of Luvinstri Deya. “I may not know what he told you that day, just keep it yourself, I wouldn’t even desire to know what it is. Let him do whatever he wants, and I will also do the same. If he would still step closer to me, I would step back and walk away again.”

          To her friend’s response, Sydney suddenly felt sympathy for Cole. But she also can’t blame Denise, the incident seventeen years ago leaves her traumatic. She remembered how they first met.

“You! You’re a werewolf from Claveria, Right?” A lady in a dirty white battle suit approached her, bloody hands and a large sword tucked in her back. In response, Sydney hurriedly grabbed her inside her phantom brown Fortuner. “Where did you come from? Did Callyso send you here? Tell me! I bet Nightwinder would do this thing again,” she uttered in trepidation. 

“Uhuh? You must be so full of yourself. Can you just calm down?” Denise replied, twitching her lips as she pulls out the pieces of glass pierced into her thigh as she shattered through the window when escaping a while ago. “Move this thing directly to where you stay.” 

“Hey! Who do you think you are? You can’t just command me!” Sydney protested as she transfers to the driver’s seat.

“I don’t even know you so trust me,” Denise mumbled, still busy with picking glass stuck on her skin.

          Sydney irritatedly rolled her eyes while she starts the car’s engine. “What an arrogant person.”

“So… where did you come from?” she asked, maneuvering the steering wheel.

“Just somewhere.”

“Heh, a person calling me out of nowhere! Walking on the human world wearing bloody clothes and a sword. What would a human being think of you? A psycho who just killed someone on a cold winter night.”

“Whatever, just continue what you’re doing with that fancy whimsical round thing,” Denise ignored, referring to the steering wheel. Sydney shrugged her shoulders, hitting what she presumed correctly. This lady wasn’t been in this world, so this is her first time interacting with humans. “Welcome to the human world then. Claveria might be in chaos, how did you end up here?”

“Do I look like a bubbleheaded woman to you?”

“Huh? What? I didn’t say such a thing to you. Where did you get that?” Sydney looked at her in confusion. 

“Yeah, you didn’t. I’m sorry, I talk like this so bear with it.” 

           The anonymous lady faced her with a smiling face, splashes of blood on her left cheek, and her right hand busy bandaging her bleeding wound that seems like a sharp object dashed through it. Sydney just rolled her eyes, “That’s nice then. Mind telling me what happened?”

“Nah, I’ll tell it when I’m most comfortable to talk about it. For now, just take me to a safe place.”

“Alright, Miss Arrogant Unknown.”

“Thank you, Sydney Darlia.”

            Sydney stepped on the brakes, making the car stop on the busy road. A cargo truck nearly crashed their vehicle when she tried shifting directions, “Sheared sheep! Are you trying to get us killed?” Denise shouted in the sudden disturbance.

“No, I’m not! I love my life more than you do!” Sydney replied, gripping tightly on the steering wheel. Taking control over their car’s direction. "How did you know my name?"

"With this thing left in here, it has your name and your face full of thick colors," Denise replied. Holding a thin piece of laminated paper.

"Urgh, give me that! This is called an identification card. This is a must when you want to live peacefully in this world," Sydney explained while driving back to her proper lane.

“Talking about you, didn’t he track you again last week?” Denise popped. Snapping Sydney out of remembering the past.

“Tracked? By who?”

          

           Denise cleared up her throat as she poured wine again into her glass. “Rylan,” she plainly answered.

“Oh, that mutt. Yeah, I noticed his scent,” Sydney smiled frankly. Rylan is her mate whom she also escaped from, the reason why she decided to live like a normal person in the human world. 

“Wouldn’t you want to go back to him?”

“Just like you, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do,” Sydney blurted. Crossing her legs over, “I would rather be with your gamma’s son.” Trying to tease the man in simple pants, training the young warriors in the field. Denise just shook her head seeing her friend’s flirty attitude toward Lachlan.

          Even when staying in the human world, Sydney was like this. A flirty girl towards anyone whom she wants to play with, but at least her teasing and coquetry never ended up in someone's bed. 

“He’ll be the gamma, are you sure you wanna pick on him?” Denise posed. Waving off her black silk robe, wearing sweat pants underneath, and just a bralette on her top. “Lachlan! Come over!”  

“W-What did you— I was just kidding aside!” Sydney exclaimed when Denise called the guy from the training grounds. He turned towards them, raising his three fingers as a signal for ‘copy’, Lachlan walked towards their direction.

“You wanna play with him?” Denise asked her friend with a grin on her face. “This will be a fun game, he’s good at training combat.”

“What? Are you saying I’ll fight him? Oh no! No, no, no! I won’t!” Sydney frowned, refusing Denise’s request. 

“We’ll see that later,” forming a grin on her face, Denise faced Lachlan who is now standing beside them. “Lachlan, Sydney here needs a little bit of warming up. Can you be her sparring partner in the meantime? Don’t worry about the warrior trainees, I’ll be with them.”

“Sure, no problem. But I need to remind you about the trainees, miss Soleil. They’re not into wolf shifting yet,” Lachlan prompted.

“Yeah sure, I’ll be a good trainer for them.” Taking off her robe, revealing her well-fit body. A mesomorph body type. “You can train her here if you want to. But the boxing ring downstairs is also unoccupied, you can use it,” she suggested. Walking away from them, leaving Sydney with Lachlan on purpose. She knew he got an important message for her friend from Nightwinder. Lachlan’s mother was Rylan’s (Sydney’s mate) aunt. 

           

          Arriving at the training ground, the trainees quickly lined up. With that disciplinary act, Denise smiled. Admired how Lachlan trained these kids, they’re most likely a joint class for eight to ten years old. “Trainer Lachlan told me you still didn’t adept shifting into your wolves, is that right?” she asked them in an authoritative voice.

“Yes, Miss,” they replied in chorus. All heads up and hands on the back, they really looked like a battalion of warriors in those white training suits.

“I wouldn’t tell who I am, but any of you can freely approach me anytime you wanted to.” She walked in supremacy, looking at each of the kid’s faces. All fifteen trainees stare straightly resembling the tiger’s eyes, chest up, showing a child's determination to be a great warrior. “Who are you?” she again asked them.

“Warriors!”

“What are warriors for?” With that question, no one answered. All stood silent, no mouths dared to open. Denise just smiled and faced the kids. They are well trained in combat but still weren’t informed about a warrior’s creed.

“Chest down! Squat on the floor, now!” Using her most terrifying voice, the kids quickly sit down on the floor in panic. With their actions, Denise tittered as she also sat on the ground. “When you see me here, in charge of you, there are two different lessons I wanted to teach you. I wouldn’t name these two for you to figure it out. For now, cut the formality and be who you are.”

          

            For the first time, Denise saw how these kids smile and interact as kids. Play and be free, the thing she didn’t experience when her family shattered like a glass piece. And this is what she wanted to let these kids have. “I will let you play but,” her eyes widened at them, “Tell me what do warriors do.”

           Again, the whole place was covered in silence. She sighed and started talking again, “If you were to hunt a deer, what was that for?”

“Food!”

“For mama and papa, and to my little sister!”

“For the coming winter!” 

           Several answers were let out from their tiny mouths full of inspiration and hopes, Denise nodded to agree. “Then that’s the same if you want to become a warrior. We fight for something, we defend what we love, we stand and care for each other. We are warriors because of that something we want to obtain. All of us can be a warrior, but we have choices on what we fight for. And whenever you have made up your mind, see to it that what you have chosen can be worthy and dignified to fight for.”

           A Series of clapping sounds distracted them, "Right." It was from a man in a simple dark blue shirt. His head was topped with a Stetson hat that have broad brims, wearing black jeans partnered with a belt in fancy buckles. He’s around ages forty to forty-five was standing behind Denise. Upon recognizing who it was, she hurriedly stood up and crossed her right hand on her chest. 

"Alpha!"