Julia and I are on our way to practice after breakfast. I cannot help but notice that it seems like Julia is just bursting to say something or ask something. I smile slightly just waiting for her to finally start talking but somehow we make it a block away without her saying anything.
"Okay, spill, what is going on in that head of yours?" I ask her exasperatedly.
"Well, this guy training me, Dante said that he is a beta right?" She asks. At my nod she continues on, "So that means that if I can get him to like me then I might be able to get more of the pack to like me too right? I might be able to make some real friends?"
She sounds so hopeful for friends that it saddens me. Knowing that Kevin will treat her fairly and not judge her for being a witch leaves me fairly optimistic about the outcome here. She just might find more friends after training with him for a while.
"Yes, you could make more friends. I know that we are technically family and cons
Since the training lesson this morning went so well for both of us, we arrive at the cottage in high spirits. That is, until we see the look on Elle's face and know that she is going to work us hard today. Thankfully, it has started to rain so I do not think that we are going to be moving the plants around today."Alright so, today showed me just how much we still need to cover. The basics you just need to practice in every day life and you will be okay. Remember to center yourself, connect with the earth and find a way to communicate with plants and animals and most things will come naturally. Today, we are going to learn how to counterract spells that other witches have cast. Now Laina, you and I went over a couple but we did not go over the types of spells that are cast from afar. We only went over the transfiguration types. There are some that can be cast using runes, words, potions or a mixture of all. Not all spells can be counterracted the same way with the most diffic
Today is the day that we have our second group training. There will be no obstacle course for this practice though. Just Dante trying to assess everybody's skills. It is something that we have all been looking forward to. A way for the men to work less and the women to be able to help out more.Most wolf packs still live the same way that they did in the past with women staying home, raising babies and keeping the house clean. The men did all of the warrior type work outside of the house. That would leave the women and children vulnerable if there was an attack but back then it was unheard of for women to entre training.Now, we are going to show the men in our lives that that type of thinking can no longer hold us back. The women are able to help defend the pack just as well as the men. Honestly after watching some of the men fight, the pack might be better off with female warriors as well.Dante and the other men arrive without quite as much pageantry as
Our first patrol with women joining is about to start. I am more nervous than I care to admit. Not because I think that we cannot handle it, but because I worry about how the men are going to react. Having the women go on patrol on their own might have been easier but then we would not have the benefit of experience on our side.Dante thought that having Kevin lead our excursion and having another male that is a little more open minded with us might be helpful so we all gather close to the woods by the packhouse. There is Kevin, Quin, a couple of male warriors that I am not familiar with and then me and two of the females. Most of the patrols are only 3 people total but now that we will have more wolves available we will be increasing the size of the patrols as well as the frequency of them."Alright so for you men, we have done this patrol hundreds of times. We are going to take the perimeter down to the creek and then take the long way around. We will all
As I race towards my den, I keep my awareness spread out for any surprise attacks. I have had enough of those when I was training with Elle at her house in the mountains. They managed to get the upper hand on me a couple of times but now I am ready for them.I crouch behind a bush as I get close to my den. Sniffing around, I notice a couple of unfamiliar scents but they are all around a day old. This could be from when Morden and Lovette came to visit. Maybe I am just being overprotective but I would rather check it out just to be safe.Nothing is moving in the den from where I am sitting so I move closer slowly. My belly is practically dragging the ground as I move stealthly closer to the opening. Keeping my awareness out and my wolf senses alert I still do not detect anything abnormal as I creep closer to the entrance.Right before I go to enter the den I hear Dante yell "Stop!" through our mind link. Luckily, all I have put into the entrance is my nose
If this is a trap for me then shouldn't I be the one to go in and check it out first? Why would Elle want to be the one to go. It could be something that even she cannot handle. "I think that I should go in first. I am not only a witch but I have my wolf as well. It might help me out more than we know." I try to persuade her. "No, when I say that I am going first, I mean it. I have the knowledge to counteract almost anything that they could have done in there so I will be the one to go. It might be nothing and if so, then I will allow you to follow me. I am not arguing about it. If you insist on trying to follow me, I will have to use magic to keep you from entering until I am all done." Elle threatens. She must mean business if she is thtreatening to use magic on me. I had not expected that. As I watch her duck into the den I can feel the tension in the air. She is much better trained. By a few hundred years. Still, I cannot help but feel as if I need
After delivering the supplies to Elle, Dante and I continue to do a sweep of our territory along with as many spare wolves as we can find. Every female that has been training with me as well as some of the teenagers are out helping us as well. Even without witch powers we are hoping that with their knowledge of the area they will be able to tell if something is amiss. By the time we have checked everywhere we are relieved to find that nothing else seems strange."What type of thing do you think they were doing in my den?" I ask Dante as we get ready for bed.While he grabs some pajama pants he thinks a bit before answering, "I am not sure. With witches I can never tell. They all are just so blood thirsty and confusing.""Hey! I take offense to that!" I say jokingly before continuing, "But, honestly, I do agree. At least when it comes to the only coven that I have met. It seems like all they want to do is get their way and they will go to any lengths necessary to
The very next dawns almost as if nothing had happened. Except for the fact that when Julia meets me at the gym, she tells me that Elle went straight to the den to work on studying the runes. I guess the best time to do that is before our lesson so that she can tell us what all we are looking for today. I fully expect that she will give us plenty of reading material to study runes and try to make sense of what is written on the walls."Oh, Kevin is here. Am I just going to work with him every time from now on?" Julia asks a little shyly."Unless he thinks that you are ready to work with the rest of the group then yes, you will be working with him. You are not quite as fast and strong as the wolves naturally are so it would be best to keep you separated until you are all caught up. He helped train me when I first got here so I have no doubt that he will be able to help you." I explain.She just nods and looks more nervous than upset to be working with Kevin
Elle seems a little distracted when we get to the house to work on our lesson with her. All she does is hand us each a couple of rudimentary books on runes and tell us to start studying. About half an hour into the lesson she then hands out some sheets with runes on them that she wants us to translate. It is slow work that takes quite a while for us to translate but eventually we get the sheets figured out.Each one that she handed us translates into a simple spell. After we translate them she has us copy and perfect each one. Even the wrong placement of a line by a centimeter can change the entire spell so she checks them over and has us redo them until she deems them to be absolutely perfect. Then she dismisses us before grabbing a cloak and heading back out."She seems awfully distracted today. Do you think that it is all because of the runes that you found in the den?" Julia asks me."I can only assume that is it. What are your plans for the night if she is