Training

David pov.

Ever since that day, kids at school seemed to leave me alone. Some of them whispered and muttered secrets under their breaths. I just let them be. I don’t care what they think or say about me. I have decided that I will get on with my life. If being a lycan is a trait inherited from my mother, I am proud of it. 

I entered the classroom and all my classmates stared at me. They started to lean towards each other and whisper. I rolled my eyes.

 “Red eyes...... Scary...... Weird” I heard fragments of their secrets. I opened my book and tried to keep myself busy as soon as I sat down at my desk. Just then I felt a rude shove on my back. I knew who it was at once. Ever since my lycan had surfaced, my sense of smell and hearing had gotten better and now I have learnt to distinguish between those who are around me most of the time, including the hose who bullied me. 

“Look you pimp. Just because you managed to beat us one day doesn’t mean that you can do it each time. Don’t be too proud of yourself. You are still that wolf-less boy, wannabe alpha.” He hissed at my ear. I smirked internally. They are not aware of my lycan. I turned around so that I could face them. 

“I will beat you up pimp.” He practically spat into my face. I bit the insides of my cheeks to prevent myself from laughing right into his face. I smirked. I’d love to see him try. 

“I will be waiting.” I replied. He growled at me and I rolled my eyes. He is too full of himself. Dad was right. I need to show him his real place. Oh I can’t wait for training this weekend. Just then the teacher entered the classroom. He sneered at me and walked back to his seat.

I am going to enjoy training. Finn spoke to me in my mind. I snickered internally. I couldn’t agree more. I would love to take him by surprise. 

I tried to avoid them the rest of the school day. Not because I was scared of them. I just didn’t want to encounter them. Even the smell of them infuriates me to no end. I ran out of the school as soon as the last session ended. I knew if he saw me after school he would try to start a fight. I was not looking forward to dad getting a call from the school head once again. I will show him his place. I sure will.

****

I woke up all excited and eager to join my first training session. 

“Excited?” dad asked and I grinned from ear to ear. I was beyond excited. We arrived at the training ground sooner than the others. Slowly, one by one, the warriors and the recruits arrived. Everyone was shocked to see me beside my father. My school mates also arrived, including Michael, Nolan and Taylor. Cade too was among the recruits. I suppose he was training to become the beta. 

I kept my face void of emotions as I watched my school mates line up in front of me. Dad asked me to join the warm up with them. After doing some work outs and learning some tactics of fighting, it was time to spar. Everyone gathered around the sparring circle. Two by two entered the circle, the winners were to face each other in the second round. I was paired with another school mate of mine, who I was not too familiar with. I defeated him with ease. I had gone easy on him since he seemed like a nice kid. Besides, he had not done anything to piss me off. 

The second round was between me and Michael. I smirked. It is show time. I ran towards me as soon as we entered the circle. Big mistake. I stepped aside, making him loose balance, when he was about to fall down I grabbed him by his hair which was long enough to clench a fistful of hair. I yanked it and pinned him down. The rules were to pin the opponent for five seconds. Michael was too shocked to react before I was declared the winner. I smirked at him. 

“That was too easy.” I hissed at him. I turned around to walk away but I heard heavy footsteps approaching me. 

He doesn’t know when to give up. Fin muttered. I rolled my eyes and stepped aside, just in time for Michael to stumble to the ground as he missed his target. 

“That is against the rules Michael. He has won this round.” Dad stated. He glared at me and walked away. The next round was to fight in wolf form. I felt rather nervous, as I didn’t know how my pack would react to my lycan. It was my turn and this time, my opponent was Cade, the future beta and my ex best friend. He quickly morphed to his wolf and prepared himself for attack. I glanced at dad and he nodded. I took a deep breath and focused on Finn.

Let’s do this. I said. 

Bring it on. I need to show who the real boss is. He replied in my mind. I smirked and let him take over my body. My limbs elongated and black fur sprouted all over my body. I smiled as I embraced the changes. When I opened my eyes everyone was staring at me in utter amazement. Some faces looked scared, others looked shocked. Even Cade’s wolf looked astonished. Finn smirked. 

“What? Never seen a lycan before?” he growled in his gruffly voice. A series of gasps were heard around us. 

“That is a lycan?..... Aren’t they supposed to be a myth? ..... He can talk? .....wow... Look at those eyes!” a series of murmurs and gasps were heard within those who were gathered.

“Silence!” Dad boomed and everyone submitted to their alpha. 

“Yes. My son is a lycan and no they are not a myth. As we all can see lycans do exist. They are rare but they exist.” He said. “Now, the third round. The future beta and alpha will fight. I want a clean and fair fight. No cheating.” He said and blew the whistle. 

Finn narrowed his glowing red eyes at his opponent. He was pretty much pissed off because Cade had beaten me up for a stupid reason. Cade’s wolf jumped towards us, Finn just knelt down so that we slid under him. The. He wrestled the beta wolf down and soon we were pinning him down. Finn huffed in his triumph. His strength and wit was not a match to him. Cade’s wolf widened it’s eyes, as if it realised something. Lycans were way better than all wolves combined. 

“Shift!” Finn ordered, and Cade’s wolf didn’t have another option than to shift back to his human form. He looked at me surprised and hurried to cover himself with a pair of shorts. It was final. I had won. I shifted back and once again another round of gasps were heard. 

“He is clothed? Wow.” Someone among the crowd gasped. I smirked and walked towards my father, who smiled at me. I could clearly see that he was extremely proud of me. But my smile was quickly wiped off my face when I was met with the cold glares of all the five elders. They were staring at me as if they had just witnessed the worst thing in their lives.

“I knew this lad was bad news.” Elder Arnold said at once. “He is cursed. Those red eyes are proof. Did you see what he looked like? He is not one of us!” he declared. 

My heart dropped. And I was thinking that after everyone sees that I am capable of being their alpha they would finally show me some respect. Oh boy, was I wrong. I looked at the widened eyes and horror struck faces. I bit my lips. It seems as if my life will not get any better. 

“We must send him in exile before anything worse happens!” He stated, his power and authority radiating in his voice and the rest of the elders nodded in agreement. 

“What!” I just couldn’t hold back my utter disappointment. I cannot be sent into exile. This is my pack. My family. This is where I belong. I looked at my father worriedly. He was already glaring at the five elders, who were glaring back at us. 

“No! This is my pack and what I say goes. I refuse to send anyone into exile just because he is different. There is only one reason anyone can be sent into exile and that is causing a threat to our pack. Now if you would excuse me. I would like to cut today’s training session short.” He stated in an equally frustrated manner. 

I followed my father. When we had walked out of their earshot, he put his arm around me and pulled me closer. 

“Don’t you worry David. I am here for you. Your grandparents and I will always support you no matter what. And don’t believe them. You are special and there must be a good reason why your wolf is a lycan. So don’t ever stop believing in yourself.” He said and I nodded. He was right. The elders never liked me anyway. Why should I believe what they say?

*****

A whole year passed by. I had learnt a lot about lycans and different tactics to use in a battle and fights. After my graduation, I had dedicated my whole time for the pack. Dad made sure he taught me everything I would need to know before I became alpha. The whole year was filled with new lessons and training sessions and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was extremely fun. I didn’t have anything better to do anyway. 

Michael and his gang didn’t dare approach me after I humiliated them during the training. Cade too had somehow started to talk to me. But I just didn’t feel too right about it. I just didn’t feel the necessity to have a friendly relationship with him. So I only spoke with him if it was necessary. 

Perhaps it was a good thing that I didn’t have many friends. I had all my time dedicated to my training. Within a whole year I was prepared and fully trained to become the alpha. My whole day was practically packed with pack business. If it was not training time, I spent my time in the alpha office and lent dad a helping hand. 

It was one such day when dad received an urgent mind link from the pack borders. He jumped to his feet and his calm demeanour quickly changed. 

“We are being attacked! Quickly gather the warriors. We must rush to the borders. The vampires had attacked us! They don’t have enough warriors there. Hurry hurry!” I hastened to prepare the army and myself for war. This was my first war and it is against vampires, a completely different species.