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The Training

Author: Phoenix
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-28 18:45:45

Aria POV

I’d only been on the pack territory for a day, and I was beginning to reminisce on the reason I’d left in the first place.

It wasn’t about the building or the guest room that was assigned to me. The guest room was more comfortable than the Marriott, and Damien made sure I had everything I needed. It wasn’t the stares and whispers that trailed after me as I walked through the pack members. I saw it coming.

But what bothered me was the nostalgic feeling I kept getting. Their morning routines and rituals, the pack flow, and the strategic hierarchy that governed every part of it. It was like I travelled back in time, except that I was seeing it from a different angle this time.

Watching the training session going on in the courtyard below stirred something in me. The way the young wolves sparred, practiced taking forms, and worked as a team reminded me that three years ago, I would have been down there with them, struggling to keep up in an attempt to prove that I also belonged
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  • Bound By Broken Promises   Epilogue 2

    Aria POVThe cabin was quiet when we finally returned from the sanctuary's first anniversary celebration. My feet ached from dancing, and I was pretty sure I'd eaten my weight in the feast Sarah had prepared. But I'd never felt more content.Kieran locked the door behind us, and through the mate bond, I felt his exhaustion mixed with satisfaction and something else. It was his desire that made my breath catch."Happy anniversary," he said softly, pulling me into his arms."It's the sanctuary's anniversary," I corrected, though I melted into his embrace. "Ours isn't for another month.""I know." His lips found my neck, trailing kisses that made me shiver. "But I wanted to celebrate us too. Everything we've survived, everything we've built."Through the bond, I felt the depth of his emotion. Love so fierce that it still sometimes took my breath away, gratitude for our second chance, and a desire that hadn't diminished despite a year of being together constantly."Let me show you," he mu

  • Bound By Broken Promises   Epilogue 1

    KieranThe meeting with the Council representatives lasted another two hours after the tour. We sat in our council chamber, a circular room with no head table, symbolizing equal voices, and answered increasingly detailed questions about governance, conflict resolution, and resource management."Your mate bond," Elder Patricia said, surprising everyone by shifting topics. "It's complete now, obviously. How does it affect your leadership?"Through the bond, I felt Aria's spike of discomfort with the personal question, quickly masked. "It makes us better leaders," I answered honestly. "We can communicate instantly, share perspectives, and present a united front when needed.""It also means we can't hide from each other," Aria added. "If one of us is making a decision based on emotion rather than logic, the other knows immediately. It's built-in accountability.""And the sanctuary residents don't resent being led by a mated pair?" Alpha Chen asked."Some do," I acknowledged. "Especially t

  • Bound By Broken Promises   Six Months Later

    Dual POVAriaThe morning sun filtered through the windows of our cabin. It was no longer the temporary shelter we'd hidden in during the investigation, but a real home we'd built together on sanctuary grounds. I woke to the familiar warmth of Kieran beside me and the constant hum of the mate bond that had become as natural as breathing.Through the bond, I felt him already awake, his mind occupied with the day's plans. Pack leadership meeting with Damien in the morning, construction oversight for the new residential building in the afternoon, and a training session with sanctuary youth in the evening."You're thinking too loud," I murmured, pressing closer to him."Sorry." His arm tightened around me, his lips finding my temple. "Big day. The Council from three neighboring packs is visiting to observe how the sanctuary operates. If this goes well, they might replicate the model.""And if it goes badly?""Then we'll be labeled dangerous radicals who are destroying traditional pack str

  • Bound By Broken Promises   Choosing Home 2

    The ceremony was held at sunset in the sanctuary's main clearing, with a small gathering of people who actually mattered to us. Marcus Chen stood as witness from the hunter community. Damien represented Crescent Moon Pack, a gesture of goodwill between old and new. Sarah, the elderly omega, had insisted on attending, tears already streaming down her face. And a dozen wolves who'd committed to joining the sanctuary watched with hope and excitement.No Council. No elders who'd pressured us apart. No one who questioned our worth or our choice. Just people who believed in what we were building.I wore a simple dress; hunter practical but beautiful, in deep green that brought out my eyes. Kieran wore traditional ceremonial clothes, but without the alpha regalia. We were just two wolves, choosing to complete the most sacred bond our kind could experience.Patricia, the Council member who'd supported us from the beginning, agreed to officiate. She stood before us as the sun painted the sky i

  • Bound By Broken Promises   Choosing Home

    Aria POVOne month after the Council meeting, I stood in the clearing that would become our sanctuary and realized I was terrified.Not of the work ahead. Construction was progressing well, with volunteers from both Crescent Moon and neighboring packs contributing labor and materials. Not the responsibility. I'd faced down worse challenges as a hunter. I was terrified because, for the first time in three years, I was allowing myself to truly want something. To believe in a future that included permanence, community, and the man I could feel through the mate bond, working on the main building's framework."You're thinking too loud," Marcus Chen's voice interrupted my spiraling thoughts. He'd arrived that morning to help with the sanctuary's security systems, but mostly I suspected he'd come to check on me. "The bond's not even complete, and I can practically hear your anxiety from across the clearing.""Is it that obvious?" I watched Kieran lift a beam into place, his muscles straining

  • Bound By Broken Promises   New Foundations

    Elder Thompson, one of the few Council members who'd survived Sebastian's purge, stood as we entered. "Kieran Thorne. Aria Blackwood. You've agreed to address the pack about recent events and your... decisions."The pause before "decisions" carried judgment, but I refused to rise to it. "We have. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity.""Allowing?" A young warrior named Marcus stood, his face flushed with anger. "You don't get to thank us for allowing anything. You abandoned your pack. Turned your back on centuries of tradition. You…""I chose my mate over alpha power," I interrupted calmly. "And I understand that angers you. But I won't apologize for it."The room erupted. Voices shouting over each other, accusations flying, the pack's fracture laid bare for everyone to see. Through the bond, I felt Aria's steady presence, her quiet strength anchoring me.Damien's alpha command cracked through the chaos. "ENOUGH!" The room fell silent, wolves instinctively responding to authority

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