Grumpy boy

Lyall sat on a bench in the school cafeteria, staring out the window. He didn't know why he was there. In his mind, he just wanted to get out of school, but his feet were dragging him toward the cafeteria. More specifically, his hungry stomach. But after being handed a tray full of food, he didn't eat it. He just stared at it with a frown and his arms folded across his chest.

Soon, several kids his age sat at the table, even sitting next to Lyall, each carrying a tray full of food. Two of them, Nathan and Miro, had invited him to school earlier. They were laughing and throwing food at each other.

"Oho... Look. This prince looks upset." One of them, Trey, started to taunt.

"Hey! Don't be like that to him. He's a prince! A royal..." Luciano said the word "A Royal" dramatically. "Forgive him, Your Highness. He's a little mentally disturbed," Luciano said, seemingly mocking him.

“What? So (throws some chips at Luciano) you’re saying (throws some chips) I’m (throws some chips) crazy?” (throws more chips)

Luciano laughed amusedly.

Lyall sighed and looked away. “How cheesy and childish,” he muttered.

Everyone at the table stared at him for a moment.

“Whoah… He’s talking. He’s talking!” Luciano said in amazement. He didn’t even blink as he stared at Lyall. Lyall had never even greeted them.

“I thought the prince didn’t talk to commoners like us.” Trey ate the chips in his hand, which he had been about to throw at Luciano.

“I thought he was mute,” Nathan, who had been silent, blurted out.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t say that to the prince!” Trey protested. “You’ll get caned.”

“Caned? How many times?” Luciano asked. Trey looked thoughtful.

“Uhm... Fifty! No, no... We're different, so it's one hundred!”

“Why are you the one deciding?” Nathan protested.

“Of course I am. I'm your leader.”

Everyone let out a chorus of protests.

A loud bang on the table rang out. Everyone at the table was shocked, even those at the other tables were equally shocked.

“Can't you just shut up and eat that disgusting food in silence?!” Lyall glared at each of them. “You're too tacky and noisy!” Lyall turned his head away, staring out the window.

Trey tensed his jaw, clenched his fists, and stood up.

A heavy blow landed on Lyall's head.

“Ahh!” Lyall let out a small cry and immediately glared at the person who hit him. Lyall stared at the hitter for a moment, then snorted in annoyance and looked away again.

"Don't insult the food! You call it disgusting?! Then why did you take it?" This time a girl's voice scolded Lyall. The girl was also the one who hit him on the head.

"How would I have known the food would be like this!" Lyall half-screamed.

"That's why... (hits Lyall's body) don't start... (hits Lyall's body) acting (hits Lyall's body) like a child." ( hitting Lyall's body.

“Arrgghh stop!” Lyall slapped the girl's hand away. The girl stared at Miro, who was sitting next to Lyall. Miro also stared back at the girl.

“You! Move!” the girl ordered. Without further ado, Miro immediately picked up his tray and moved seats. The girl sat next to Lyall and ate her food. “What are you looking at?! Sit in your seats and eat your food!”

Everyone at the table immediately obeyed. No one even said a word, as if the girl would eat them if they did. The girl was Diane, Lyall's cousin from his father's side. She was known to be super strict and fierce. Lyall's father had one younger sister, Diane's mother. Diane's mother was very beautiful, but unfortunately, she was very weak from childhood. She even had difficulty transforming into a wolf. But Diane's father, Alpha Darren, an alpha from Asia, proposed to her and accepted her as a mate. But not long after Diane was born, their pack was attacked by a much larger and stronger pack. Alpha Cyrus even came himself to fight together, but unfortunately, he was too late. Diane's father''s pack had been slaughtered in one night. Her sister and husband had both died. Only Diane remained, hidden in a safe place. Before death, with the last of her strength, Diane's mother mindlinked Alpha Cyrus, told him where Diane was, and asked him to look after her. Diane was found by Alpha Cyrus. She didn't even cry when he found her, and she was only five years old. From then on, Diane grew up to be strict and self-disciplined. Diane was also a formidable and strong werewolf. That's why she was feared.

"Why don't you eat it?" Diane asked when she saw Lyall's silence.

"I told you I don't have an appetite for food that—" Lyall stopped. He knew Diane hated it when someone insulted food. Lyall lowered his voice. "Just don't want it."

Diane moved the food in front of her a little further away, replacing it with her hand, which was supporting her chin. "So... You're going to ignore it?"

Everyone stared at them in silence. Lyall let out a ragged breath. He was deeply disturbed. Lyall stood up to leave, but Diane held onto his hand.

“Where do you think you’re going? You haven’t even eaten yet, so—”

“Can you stop?! You’re not my big brother, so don’t boss me around! I’m not going to be a kid.” Lyall glared at Diane. His fists, already clenched, slapped her hand away and left.

“You hot-tempered brat. But I’m still your teacher here!” Diane yelled, no louder than her voice. “Grumpy boy.” Diane glared at the young wolves who had been staring at her and Lyall. “What are you looking at? Aren’t you going to eat your food?”

The young wolves quickly went back to eating without saying a word. Diane watched Lyall leave in silence.

***

Two large wolves ran fast between the tall trees. They overtook each other as if in a race. The longer they ran, the faster they became. Suddenly, a brown wolf jumped onto a rock, then turned and jumped towards the other wolf. The brown wolf landed right on top of the other wolf and bit the gray-and-black wolf. The gray wolf groaned in pain but immediately tried to turn around and bite. But its bite didn't reach the brown wolf because it was lying on the ground. But its claws never let go. The brown wolf also groaned from being scratched quite deeply. Finally, the brown wolves moved away. They stood on all fours, growling harshly at each other, baring their sharp teeth, alert and watching each other. The gray-and-black wolf jumped high, but the brown wolf was already wary of it and pushed the gray wolf's body. The gray wolf landed on all fours, then jumped high again and bit the brown wolf's shoulder. But its bite was not strong enough, the brown wolf was able to escape easily and turned to attack. The brown wolf bit the back, making the gray wolf growl.

"Enough!" One person replied loudly. The brown wolf released its bite and moved away from the gray wolf. Theon approached and examined the gray wolf. Its body was covered in wounds and its leg was limping. The brown wolf, meanwhile, had transformed into a human.

"Rest. Don't transform yourself so you can get better soon."

The gray wolf complied. He sat on the ground. Several people approached and handed him medicinal potions. Theon patted the brown wolf on the shoulder. "Good job."

"Wow, that was really exciting," Zaiden praised, walking closer to Theon. "Aren't you being too harsh with them?"

"They need to be trained hard so they're ready for a surprise attack. This pack isn't like the LycroClaws, which are a large pack. That's why we have to train hard," Theon explained.

Zaiden smiled and nodded, then patted Theon's arm. "I understand, my friend. Just let me know if you need any help training them, I'd be happy to help."

"I'm sure they'd be thrilled to be trained by you, one of the strongest werewolves in the LycroClaws pack."

Zaiden rolled his eyes. "You're overreacting, you know that?"

Theon chuckled. "So, tell me, why did you want to meet me? Nathan said you wanted to meet in the forest south of town, why the sudden change here?"

"So I could talk to you without interrupting your training."

"It's no problem, really. I can stop this training for a bit."

"That's unnecessary. Really."

Theon nodded. "Okay. So, what did you want to say?"

“I have a question and a request. Do you know Lyall’s training route? He’s not my alpha, and I’m not his beta, so it’s very difficult to track him, especially since he always turns off his mind link, claiming it’s too noisy. Mobile phone? No need to ask. Even if I call him a thousand times, he won’t pick up. I need to know so I can monitor him and disturb him, of course.”

Theon laughed at Zaiden’s last words. “You’re really nosy.”

“I have to be nosy. It’s better to mess with him than to let him dwell on his own thoughts. That’s dangerous, you know why.”

Theon nodded. “You’re right. I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard he’s been meeting with other omegas. I’ll ask them.”

“Thanks, friend.” Zaiden patted Theon’s arm gently.

“So what do you want?”

“Ahh, right. Allow me to train with you. Luna has spoken with Alpha Carl. He agreed to let in Luna's trusted aides, and mine, of course. Allow them to train with you. We can share strategies and fighting styles. I'm sure Alpha Alastor already knows where we are. So we have to be prepared,” Zaiden explained.

“If Alpha has given permission, of course I can't refuse.”

“No, no, no. Alpha did give permission, but I also have to ask yours. You're the one who always trains them.”

“Why not just ask Beta? Beta and several other powerful gammas also train troops?”

“Because we're old friends and I trust you.”

Theon paused for a moment, then nodded. “Sure, we'll train together.”

“And I'll train your troops, deal?”

“You have to go through someone first before you can train mine. I imagine that's difficult.” Theon smiled and left.

“What do you mean? Who should I fight? Beta?” Zaiden caught up with Theon. Theon stopped and looked at him.

“Nope. Diane Lim.” Theon gently patted Zaiden’s arm. “Good luck.” Theon continued walking with a chuckle.

“Oh no.”

***

Tadariez