CHAPTER 4

Vivian headed back into the hospital ward, Ty had just left to go continue his training. He was a guy really dedicated to his craft, he spent a good amount of his time trying to hone his craft, practising as much as he could while still trying to balance out the less practical aspects of fighting like strategies and tactics.

“He really would make a good Alpha.” She thought to herself as she signed herself back in.

As she was changing back into her scrubs, she thought back to the conversation she just had with Ty. The selection process for the next wolves that would have to compete for the position of Alpha had basically begun. Normally an Alpha would be selected by one of two ways. Either by heritage, which would involve the eldest son of the Alpha taking up the role of Alpha from his father which unfortunately does not apply in this situation as her father, the now Alpha of the pack, had only one kid and she was definitely not male. The second way and a surprisingly just as common way was for the Alpha to be defeated in combat. If any werewolf was able to challenge the current Alpha under the rules of the pack and beat him fair and square in combat, he could assume the role of Alpha. In some very rare situations, which involved the untimely and unforeseen death of the Alpha of a pack by a wolf from another pack, an emergency Alpha could be declared on the spot based on the best leader and fighter remaining in the pack. If that was the case in the Shadow Rock Pack then Ty would most likely have been the selected candidate, but unfortunately Vivian’s father’s imminent death could be seen by all, as such according to their rules they had to go with option three.

This involved a trial of the body, mind and heart. Obstacles courses fitted with riddles and traps, courses that will open up the road for betrayal and a lot of backstabbing, team battles and solo competitions. All leading to the top two competitors fighting in a well-structured battle and the winner being appointed the role of the new Alpha. Vivian’s father’s illness while unfortunate gave them the time required to actually plan the trials and have him oversee the selection of the next Alpha which was almost a thing of sacrilege to the werewolves.

Vivian was to be part of the organizing committee which means she got a say in the activities to be undergone on that day. While Ty got to tell her that, she was not allowed to discuss any of the following information they determined for the tournament with him since he was competing in them and that would give him an unfair advantage over the other challengers, not like he needed it.

Another thing they had discussed was that Ty had reason to suspect Valentine and his followers were planning an attack against her dad in other to proof that he was no longer the leader they once knew and was no longer worthy enough to lead the clan. Once upon a time Valentine would not have dared raised a finger against her dad. He was always challenging every decision he made but he never once acted out against him. That was the rule of the pack, the orders of the Alpha were absolute. But now that her dad was ill, he had started to make bigger strides across the line, this planned attack simply the latest scheme in his long line of self-serving plans. She made a mental note to call her dad immediately her shift was done to give him a warning, but for now she was better off focusing on the tasks at hand, the lives she can actually save.

“I should probably go see Sarah” she thought to herself as she finished her rounds, day had already broken.

She took a look at her watch and took note of the time, “9:00 a.m.”, “ooh that is later than I thought.” she reasoned out loud. She changed back into her casual outfit and headed towards the Lycan section of the hospital. Sarah walked out of the operating room just as Vivian reached the door.

“Where is Ty?” she asked while scanning around the hallway.

“Headed back to the base, his sparring partners are not going to beat themselves up you know.” Vivian joked. They shared a laugh as they headed to the employee lounge where Sarah could clean up and change. Vivian waited outside the room while Sarah headed in to take a shower, she already went through the normal sanitization process that came after surgery operations but she never felt fully clean until she had taken a shower.

Vivian picked up her phone and headed to the front of the reception desk preparing to give her dad a phone call. She was just about dialling his line when two guys walked in from the main entrance. The taller of the two caught her attention immediately, he had slick black hair and was dressed in a casual shirt that seemed slightly worse for wear paired with a pair of black jeans.

For someone dressed so casually it fit him perfectly and he still drew a lot of attention. He seemed to have some sort of authority around him and she knew almost immediately that he was definitely not a simple human. She felt an instant attraction towards him. They were headed directly for the secretary, she figured they had to be new around this area as they didn’t pass by the normal entrance that Lycans normally enter. He seemed alright for the most part asides for a few signs of battle on his shirt. His friend on the other hand was walking with a slight limp, she figured that was probably why they were here. She stepped into their path.

“Hi” she greeted with a smile, “not from a pack I recognize,” she confidently stated. They seemed taken aback by her abruptness and confidence. While it was relatively easy to tell who was or wasn’t a werewolf as a werewolf oneself, it was relatively easier as a Luna, she had a sense about these things.

"My name is Vivian, I work here, I see your friend here needs help, you should have entered from the side entrance but I guess this is your first time here.”

“Yes” the guy replied with a comforting smile, “I am Dean and this is my friend Sam, we had a small squabble in a bar nearby and my friend may have twisted his ankle as a result of that.” Sam waved at her with an awkward smile.

“You said something about a side entrance?” Dean inquired.

“Yeah, some injuries are too grievous and brutal for humans to ignore and sometimes werewolves are in too much pain to transform back to their fully humans form and end up maintaining their half shift form in order to bear with the pain.” She stopped to take a breath.

“As such we can’t afford to have most werewolves and other creatures walk in through the front door, hence the side entrance.” She finished.

Vivian caught Sam looking around as if to see if he could spot the aforementioned side entrance. “Of course it is not visible from this part of the hospital, that is the whole idea” she said with a chuckle. “It is along the other side of the hospital, no one in their right minds will ever wander through that side of the hospital. From afar it looks like a precarious area, too dangerous to trespass but only those with heightened sense will see the path.” She explained.

Sarah walked out as she finished her explanation. She exchanged greetings with the guys while shooting a curious look at Vivian. Vivian finished giving them directions as to how to get to the Lycan section and then they said their goodbyes, Vivian shooting one final glance at Dean before she and Sarah headed out.

“I leave you for just a couple of seconds and you’ve already bagged two cuties” Sarah said with a coy smile.

“The water from the shower must have flooded your brain if think you were only gone for a couple of seconds” Vivian retorted.

“Who was that?” Sarah asked.

“Not quite sure, don’t know much about him asides his name, but he seems really cool, hoping to cross paths with him again.” Vivian responded.

“You know you could have just asked him for his number then and there and eliminated hope as a factor.” Sarah replied.

“Yeah, I thought about it but I don’t have time for personal things with everything happening with the pack, the upcoming trials, my father and the looming responsibilities of me being the next Luna, I just can’t…” she droned off.

“Yeah, sorry, about that how are you holding up?” Sarah queried.

“I’m holding up just fine thanks.” Vivian answered.

“Oh right, what did Ty come for?” Sarah asked.

Vivian gave her a quick walkthrough of everything they had discussed. When she reached the part of the attack on her father, she remembered she had not called him yet. She quickly scrambled for her phone. She saw a bunch of missed calls from Ty. She called back but it rang in vain. She moved on to call her father but the same thing. Fearing the worst, she called a cab and headed directly to the base with Sarah right behind her.

Upon getting there she met Ty watching some chaos unfurl a little in front of them. Unlike most werewolf packs in the area that had their hideouts in bars or churches or restaurants, the shadow rock pack had theirs in a sort of neighbourhood. It lent itself well to the family image they depicted all so well. It was right at the edge of town beside a large stream of water.

It was composed of about a dozen buildings spread out side by side with a large space in the middle that they usually used for their get-togethers and meetings and the likes. It was covered by cavernous rocks that were stacked on top of each other and were currently around twice the average house in the neighbourhood.

The rocks were located on the west side of the houses so most days it casted a large shadow over the community hence their name, The Shadow Rock Pack.

But today the large space usually left empty, minus when there were gatherings or kids playing around, was now the scene of a bloody fight and in the middle of it was her father, Baldur, battling Valentine and about six or so of his followers, it was hard to distinguish the specific bodies that the swirling arms and legs belonged to. Sarah was about to rush to her father’s help when Ty stopped her with a raised hand.

“He knows what he is doing” he offered. “He said no one should interrupt the fight, he needs to prove now in the moment that he is more than capable of protecting the pack even in his current state.”

Sarah still looked determined to dash in and offer her help but then Ty smiled at her reassuringly, “If he looks like he is even close to losing this fight, I promise you I will step in and protect him.” He paused for a moment then pointed towards the battle.

“But look,” he continued, “he does not need anyone’s help. If anything, I feel tempted to go and offer Valentine my help because they are getting their asses handed to them pretty cleanly.”

Sarah glanced on to the battlefield, her father was dodging and parrying every attack with the grace and experience that only a seasoned veteran can utilize. He looked completely in control of this battle. She realized she had probably underestimated her father a bit too much.

As the upcoming Luna she spent a good amount of her time away from the battlefield and as such it had been a while since she had seen her father in combat. She allowed herself to relax for a second and enjoy the great skill with which her father dispatched his opponents. All was going well, Valentine and his forces where ebbing back slowly, barely staying on their feet and then all of a sudden, her dad fell on his knees coughing blood.