One

I rested my hands on my knees, sweaty and panting for air. Training was brutal today, even moreso than most, and they're never easy sessions. Our leaders push us hard, and walking away with a few cuts and bruises wasn't uncommon, especially for us lower ranks.

I'm just one of many Omegas in the Grey Marsh pack, a small pack, but with a enough of a reputation for pure viciousness that no one really messes with us. Which is also why no one is exempt from these daily training sessions, every single pack member is expected to be able to hold their own, and then some.

Thankfully, real fights are rare, as there isn't much competition for our territory. Our namesake, the Grey Marsh, is a dark, thickly-treed, perpetually misty marsh that lays in the valley between the greener, fertile inland plains, and the jagged, black peaks of the mountain range that rims the western edge of the continent.

No one ever dares to wander into that mountain territory, and aside from our small pack, none even want to reside anywhere close. While Grey Marsh's shameless brutality might be feared among werewolves, we're about as fearsome as day-old runts compared to the mysterious and solitary Lycan pack who call those dark peaks home.

Stretching and checking myself over, I seem to have come off pretty unscathed today, with just a few sore spots that will likely be purple tomorrow. No blood though, which meant I could go for a much-needed run to my favourite, secluded spot.

I took off at a light jog through the centre of our pack's village, but ducked quickly behind the packhouse as I saw our Gamma, Trev, coming out the front, with his girlfriend, Sarah, hanging off him. I generally preferred to avoid confrontation with those two.

Sarah had always hated me, with every fibre of her being, though I've never really understood why. Trev used to be nice, at least, but now he just as often joined in, if only to avoid Sarah's savage ire being directed at him instead.

Heading quickly to the edge of the forest that surrounded our pack's centre village, I sped up as I ran through the twisted, mossy trees of the marsh that I knew well. I might not have my wolf yet, being still nearly a week out from my 18th birthday, but I was fast and nimble, like most of our pack. We certainly weren't known for our size or brute force, but most of us could take down several stronger wolves with our superior speed and agility.

It was always a long run to the border of our territory, but it was refreshing. There was a certain serenity here, where no one else dared run, far away from the packhouse. It felt oddly safe, when even the members of the pack with the harshest of reputations chose to avoid this place.

Finally slowing, I began leaping from one rock to another, as the rough terrain began to rise steeply upwards. I'm not crazy enough to cross the river into Lycan territory, but right here along the border are some stunningly beautiful spots, only made better by the solitude.

Reaching the river just below the falls, I climbed up the rocky side, reaching up and stretching myself out as I reached the top. There wasn't much of a view from here, with the trees in this part of the untouched wilderness towering over several levels of the falls, but at the top of the second cascade are some incredible natural springs, that I'm pretty sure not a single other pack member knows about.

I continued climbing, only the sound of the rushing water for company, and headed to a large, crystal blue pool, naturally formed in the ground. Steam rose from it, and I felt the warmth of the rocks below my feet as I undressed, leaving my workout clothes and sneakers on top of a large boulder close by.

Tying up my long, dark, wavy hair, I stepped in slowly, letting the hot spring water soothe my aching muscles as I submerged, keeping only my head above the water. I treaded water in the centre for a while, before moving over to my preferred rock, over on the side, just at the right height for me to sit on with the water coming up to the top of my shoulders

I rested my head back and closed my eyes, the intense heat relaxing me completely. It had been far too long since I came up here, with the way the training schedule had increased as I neared my 18th birthday. It was intense, and I'd been feeling perpetually exhausted for weeks. It didn't really help always needing to be on edge around the pack.

That kind of came with being female in the Grey Marsh territory. The pack was known for its.. unsavoury types. The types you didn't want to run into alone. I sighed deeply, as I started to massage my muscles, easing the tension and soreness that had been building for weeks, my mind drifting to my coming of age.

I was excited about finally meeting my wolf, and transforming under the full moon that followed. Even just the idea of running in wolf form was exhilarating, but the anticipation of it always came with a sharp slice of apprehension about the whole mate thing.

It was a double edged sword, for a Grey Marsh woman. To either be mated for life to one of the notoriously savage werewolves here, or to be mated to a werewolf from another pack. The latter might seem like the obvious better choice, but Grey Marsh's solitary and hostile reputation meant that could mean a life never meeting your mate. Or never meeting them until it was too late.

I shuddered as I thought of how Grey Marsh usually treats the rare attempts from outside male wolves, who occasionally get desperate enough to try and find their mates here. It's only worse when they do, for both wolves. They always make the female watch, and that fate was by far the harshest. Not for the first time, I wished same-sex mateships weren't so rare among werewolves.

It's not that I've ever hated men, hell, it's pretty hard to ignore how incredibly hot most werewolf guys are, with their incredible abs and thickly muscled bodies, huge in every way.. but some of them are just complete monsters, in the other sense of the word, especially out here.

Sighing as the daunting possibilities of my near future killed the relaxing mood of this place, I closed my eyes and tried to relax for a while. When I eventually opened them again, a long while later, I noticed the sky slowly turning red. Time to get going. Even I'm not bold enough - or desperate enough for seclusion - to be this close to the Lycan territory after nightfall.

As I stepped out of the steamy water and into the crisp autumn evening air, I felt that eerie sensation of being watched. I ignored it as I stepped towards my clothes, knowing I'd have a far better chance against an attack if they thought I was unaware.

'Which one of those assholes is actually bold enough to follow me all the way out here?' I wondered, assuming someone from the pack was trying to screw with me. I listened intently for movement as I dressed, deliberately moving slowly and calmly.

The nearby rushing water made it difficult to hear anyone approaching, but I knew my instincts weren't wrong, and they told me someone was getting closer. As I pulled my sneakers on, I no longer had to wonder, hearing a low, dangerous growl, that was distinctly un-werewolf like.

I froze for the briefest moments, but then stood, keeping my composure as I turned towards the river, seeing the enormous black-furred Lycan on the opposite bank, their front claws in the cold, rushing water as it crouched low, staring right at me.

I frowned slightly as I stared back, on edge, but not about to let them see that. 'Why growl and announce their presence like that?' I wondered briefly, before realising that they would easily win a fight, no matter how much pre-warning, or headstart, I had.

If this kind of beast decided our whole pack was dead, we'd be dead. Lycans in general had that kind of power, but this pack, whose territory covered the rest of the land to the west, was by far the strongest and most lethally brutal. No other Lycan packs ventured anywhere even close to this end of the continent, their fear of the Nightfall pack was so great.

I studied this one a moment longer, noticing that their beast form was even more enormous than I'd been taught. Slowly, I bowed my head in what I hoped would be considered respect. The Lycan raised their nose, sniffing the air. They seemed to close their eyes, savouring a scent.

'Are they.. savouring my fear?!' I wondered as I watched, my eyes widening slightly. That only made it grow, and I stood there frozen. The Lycan tilted their head at me oddly, then bounded to a large boulder in the centre of the river, then one almost at the edge, within arm's reach of our pack territory.

I held my breath, getting ready to run, despite what little good it would do, but the Lycan only crouched there, as though waiting. Slowly, shockingly, they bowed their head in return, their glowing golden eyes meeting mine.

Completely stunned, I could only stare at them, as they crouched mere meters from me as the light around us faded. They still seemed like they were waiting.

I tentatively took a step closer, and they lowered their head briefly, almost seeming approving. So, in what felt like a moment of completely abandoned sanity, I took another, and then another, until my feet were in the cold mountain stream, right in front of the most deadly beast known to our kind.

The Lycan bent their head close, sniffing me, so close I could feel their jet black fur. Somehow, it felt.. nice. The Lycan seemed to agree, by the soft, satisfied growl they gave. Then suddenly, the beast bent even closer, their nose nuzzling against my neck as they growled again.

And then they bit my head off. Hah! Just kidding. This was.. quite possibly worse.