Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Iris stands and faces the two men in front of her. The one in the back is bigger, but an Alpha is always in front to greet another Alpha. Both men are blonde so that is no help.

“Alpha Titan, Iris Moore,” Iris holds out her hand to Adrian.

Adrian steps to the side and Titan steps forward.

“You can’t read the aura of a Beta over an Alpha?” Titan raises one eyebrow.

“I apologize, I was told Alpha Titan was a blonde,” Iris smiles innocently.

“You don’t think I look blonde?” Titan asks.

“Even someone as arrogant as you should be able to see your Beta is more blonde than you are. Plus, he was standing closest to the car. Wouldn’t the Alpha be the one to greet another Alpha, even a future one, before the Beta?” Iris straightens her back, unsure where this confidence is coming from.

Titan smirks, “You are correct, I apologize for not stepping forward.”

“I also apologize for not reading auras. I should have,” Iris says.

“Lunch is in the private dining room,” Adrian smiles and they head inside.

Nathan sits in the car, eating the lunch he packed for himself.

“I will only have an hour, I have training this afternoon,” Titan tells her as they sit down.

“I’ll get straight to the point. My stepmother is weakening my pack. She refuses to let me train and I while I have no proof, I believe she is poisoning me to make me weak,” Iris blurts out.

“Are you seeking asylum?” Titan asks, his jaw tight. His memories of her mother pain him. To think she has been replaced by a monster.

“No,” Iris holds up a hand. “I want to train with your pack. I am here to ask you to train me so I can lead my pack better.”

Titan nods. He does like the idea of training a future Alpha. She is concerned about leading and he can help. Maybe get a little revenge on her for the pranks she pulled as a young girl.

“How will you get here to train? If you are to take over in three months, that doesn’t give us much time. You will need two two-hour sessions a day. I am guessing the poisoning would have permanently weakened you?” Titan asks.

“No,” Iris smiles. “I refused her this morning and I already feel stronger. I may never be as strong as you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try. As for getting here, I have already moved my school to online to finish my senior year. So, it will appear to her that I am going to school.”

“Well, you are going to school, just not a normal school,” Adrian smiles.

“Of course. Does this mean you will help me?” Iris asks smiling.

Titan leans back and mindlinks Adrian.

Titan- What do you think?

Adrian- I think I want her to turn 18 already, so I can flirt with her.

Titan- Not what I meant.

Adrian- Yeah, I know. She wants to learn for a good reason. We need our borders protected and Animus pack runs along our western border.

Titan- She doesn’t seem to care if she is my mate or anything.

Adrian- She really seems to only care about training.

Titan- Okay. She wins.

“Deal, if you don’t arrive three days in a row, my pack will attack yours. Is that understood?” Titan offers.

Iris nods. “Please don’t hurt my pack. They are good people with a bad leader.”

Titan nods again. “We will do everything we can to protect them. When you take over, I expect loyalty and friendship. An Ally on my western border is what I expect as payment.”

“Of course,” Iris nods.

“Will your mate agree to these terms?” Titan asks.

“I am the Alpha of Animus Pack, not my mate, if you train me and help me to become stronger, my mate will be no match for me,” Iris tells him, staring into his eye.

Titan nods in agreement at how feisty she is. “Done, we have a deal. The first class I am teaching today is the beginning warriors class. You don’t have a wolf yet, so this would be perfect for you. If you need to borrow clothes, we have several she-wolves here in the Packhouse.”

“Thank you. I brought my own thinking you might want to start today,” Iris holds up her bag.

Zaphyra- You have a wolf.

Iris- But he can’t sense you. You going to help me fight?

Zaphyra- Right, no I’m not.

“Perfect, I like you came prepared,” Titan seems impressed. “Adrian will show you to a room on the Alpha floor. You can keep workout clothes and whatever you need for after training there.”

“Thank you,” Iris nods.

As soon as lunch is over Adrian shows her to a guest suite on the Alpha floor.

“Thank you,” Iris smiles at him. She looks around the floor.

“Our Alpha doesn’t live on this floor. He and I share a floor we are both unmated, so to keep the Omega’s from having to clean too much, we keep this floor empty,” Adrian tells her.

“Oh,” Iris nods giving him a small smile.

Adrian rolls his eyes, “We aren’t gay. There is nothing wrong with being gay, but we aren’t. If I tell you something, you can’t tell Titan I told you.”

“Okay,” Iris shrugs.

“My Alpha lost both parents in the rogue attack that also took your mother. He has been on his own since he was 7. My parents raised him on the Beta Floor. He likes his room and has never moved.” Adrian keeps his eyebrows raised.

“He lost both parents?” Iris asks quietly.

“His mother was killed, and his father died from grief two weeks later.”

Iris nods and goes into the room to change.

She changes and leaves her clothes on the bed. She looks around and for a place not used much, it’s extremely beautiful.

“Everything satisfactory?” Titan asks as she returns downstairs.

“Did you have someone clean the room while we were at lunch?” Iris asks. “It’s extremely nice.”

“Someone may have, but that would have been Adrian’s orders. I was thinking of how to introduce you. I'm going to say you are from Incudo Pack. They share your features,” Titan explains.

“My mother was a warrior’s daughter from there,” Iris smiles.

“Rhianna,” Titan says with a nod.

“Yes, how do you know that?” Iris asks as they walk.

“My parents were friends with yours. I was at your birthdays, and you were at mine. I guess you were too young to remember,” Titan opens the door to the warrior building for her.

“Yeah, I guess. I'm sorry,” Iris walks past him and stops in her tracks.

“You okay?” Titan asks her with a smirk.

“I forgot how many people would be here,” Iris takes a deep breath.

“This pack is actually smaller than yours. What’s the problem?” Titan asks, pulling her to the side, so no one hears them.

Iris looks around and tugs on her shirt.

“Daria kept me locked up for most of my life. Not really locked up but away. I never interacted with others. At school everyone kept their distance,” Iris darts her eyes around.

“Look into my eyes,” Titan tells her, and she complies. “You are not an ordinary she-wolf. You are an Alpha and even while your wolf sleeps inside of you, you are powerful and mighty. Do not show fear.”

Iris looks into his eyes and feels her confidence grow. She nods.

“Everyone,” Titan announces. “We have been asked to train a new warrior. She will be in command of a battalion, if we can get her up to snuff. So, show no mercy, but be polite. Future pack relations rest on this.”

“Is she eligible for a mate?” A brown-haired boy asks.

Titan rolls his eyes. “She is three months shy of her 18th. So may the odds ever be in your favor.”

Iris chuckles and joins the group.

“I’m Dino,” the brown-haired boy introduces himself.

“Iris,” Iris shakes his hand.

“I’ve never seen anyone with such black hair and golden eyes,” Dino flirts. “You and me would make glorious babies.”

Iris rolls her eyes.

“Iris, you feel ready to take on a male?” Titan asks, seeing Dino in need of a good spanking.

Iris nods. Dino and Iris take their stances to fight it out.

Zaphyra- Go left, now right, duck, good girl, keep moving. You have reach, use it.

Iris listens to Zaphyra carefully. Dino is blocked each time.

“Great job,” Dino nods as they prepare to switch.

The buzzer goes and Iris attacks.

“Fuck!” Is all Dino can get out, when he lands on his ass.

“Iris,” Titan calls her attention. “Come work with me.”

The rest of the class ohs and watches.

Iris is on attack, so she attacks, Titan wraps his arms around her, but she slips his hold.

Titan smiles at the memory of the feisty three-year-old, who is now seventeen and even more feisty.

“Good slip,” Titan pauses their spar. “Did everyone see how she did that? So didn't stop moving and even when I thought I had her, she kept moving and was able to outmaneuver my hold. Good job, Iris.”

Everyone claps.

“You don’t hit like a warrior,” Dino tells her as they start packing.

“Okay,” Iris says confused.

“What pack are you from? You look Incudo, but your features are muted,” Dino asks.

“Why do you care?” Iris defends herself.

“It's just a question,” Dino holds up his hands and backs away. But not before snapping a quick picture of Iris to send to his cousin at Incudo.

“Something wrong, Dino?” Titan asks as Dino continues to watch Iris.

“She is really pretty,” Dino says. “Kinda hoping maybe she might be mine.”

“That would make you a very lucky wolf,” Titan tells him. “A mate is a person to treasure. Never forget that and never let that treasure go.”

Dino looks up to his Alpha and nods. “If that amazing she-wolf is my mate, I will spend my life worshiping her, every inch of her.”

Titan chuckles, “Good to know.”