Chapter 8

New Friends

I embraced myself. Expecting her claws to dig into me. After a few seconds and no contact, I opened my eyes to see a large hand around her wrist.

"Sophie!" I heard Godric’s voice. "You know better. This training is to strengthen your human side, not your wolf. Wolves are not to be released on the field."

He spoke to her in a tone I haven’t heard from him before. It was cold. I could hear her wolf whimpering as her eyes returned to their brown color. He let her arm go. "You could have hurt them. Neither have their wolf yet. How would they have defended themselves?" When she didn’t answer, he said, “You are dismissed for the day."

"Why? I didn’t touch either of them!" She protested. He shot her a look, and she quickly closed her mouth. She left the field without saying another word.

Then he looked at the rest of us girls and simply said, "You girls can move onto the crossbow training."

We made our way across the field. Hailey was a few steps ahead of us. Anna kept looking at me as we walked. "What?" I asked her.

"Why did you try to protect me?"

"Because she was going to attack you but I’m the one who made her mad. You shouldn’t have to suffer for that."

"Thank you for that. But please be careful. Especially with Sophie."

"Why especially with her?"

"Because she will probably be the next Luna of our pack."

"What? How?" I was confused. I thought that the Luna was always the mate of the Alpha.

"It’s no secret that she and Godric have a special relationship. The two of them date on and off again. Soon, Godric will be Alpha. He’s not that much older than us but yet, he still has not found his mate. Sophia has been pining for the spot, hoping that eventually, he will make her his Luna. I even heard she told a few people that she was his mate. And the way they prance around with each other, I thought it was true for a while. Now I know it has to be a lie."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I have never seen him talk or look at her like that before. I don’t think a mate would ever embarrass his mate like that in front of everyone. Or at least I hope not. I believe a mate will always be sweet and kind to his true love."

"Have you found your mate?" I asked hearing her talk about what she hoped a mate would do. I could tell she was a romantic.

She looked a little sad and replied. "I haven’t gotten my wolf yet. But I’m hoping it will be soon."

"Soon? Is your birthday coming up?"

She smiled. "Yep. My birthday will be here in a few weeks."

I returned her smile. "I haven’t met anyone whose birthday is that close to mine. I will also be 18 in a few weeks."

We spent the next few hours shooting arrows at targets. The trainer was surprised at how quickly I was learning. After the first few tries, my arrows were touching the targets. But I still wasn’t perfect. I always had a need to be perfect at everything I did. Yet, my mother always had me turn down my strengths. While in gym class, I had to act weak and run slower than everyone else. The only thing I didn’t have to turn down was my grades. I was a straight-A student.

There was something nagging at me. I looked around and realized someone was missing. "Where is Alex? He wasn’t in the sparring circles and now I see he isn’t here either."

"Alex is most likely helping the Beta with planning?"

"Planning?"

"Yes. Alex is most likely going to be the next Beta. So his training is recently geared towards planning attacks. He already knows how to protect himself. Godric and he have been training since they were pups. Or at least that is what I heard."

After training, I asked Anna if she wanted to hang out. We only left our home a few days ago and already I missed the companionship of females. But she informed me that she had to get cleaned up and meet Luna. Anna was assigned as a helper for the Luna.

"How long have you worked for her?"

"Since I was 14, so almost 4 years now. I love the Luna. She has always treated me kindly. She picked me out of many girls to help her run errands and assist her with the festivals. Sometimes I even get to travel with her."

"Wow, she must really trust you. I guess I will see you around then."

"Maybe I will stop by after I finish with the Luna."

"I would like that very much."

Every day during the next three weeks to follow were the same. I ran. But only in the inner part of the land near the guarded areas. Then I joined everyone for breakfast. And went on to train for hours. Every day started to blur into the next. The same routine. My training was proving to work. I was getting better at my hand-to-hand combat. Sophie and I continued to spar against each other, but she never revealed her wolf again.

I spent the afternoons with Anna. Her days were now free since the Luna joined the Alpha, while he traveled to stop the rogues. Anna showed me around the town shops, introduced me to a few nice people, and took me to her home. She had a cozy house about a mile from the Alphas house. I was really enjoying my time with her. So much that I hadn’t realized that my phone hadn't rung in days. Luke stopped calling, claiming that I didn’t have any time for him. And Clara said I can reach out to her when I'm ready to. No pressure.

Since Alpha Ken was gone, Godric and Alex began to take on more responsibility. The first week during Alpha Ken's absence, not much changed in their routines. We all ate breakfast, trained, and ate dinner together. The second week, they both started to miss dinner. So much so, that I started eating dinner at Anna’s house. She taught me how to make some of the pack’s favorite dishes. She said if I ever met my mate, I would be prepared to make him traditional meals. During dinner, Anna would also teach me about pack life.

By the third week of the Alpha’s absence, I would only see the brothers at breakfast. They no longer attended the training. And we no longer conversed during breakfast. Alex kept his head down avoiding everyone including me. He no longer seemed himself. Godric was almost his usual self. Except he was constantly being talked to by several high-ranking pack members. But he wasn’t talking back. Instead, he was simply listening and eating. Every few moments, he would take a glance at the pack members sitting at the table. Until his eyes would find mine. His stare was beyond intense. I couldn’t understand for the life of me, why he would continue to stare. What was he thinking about when he looked at me?

One morning, while Anna was running errands, I decided to stay in the Alpha's house and check on the guys. It had been two days and I hadn't seen either one around the house or at breakfast.

'Knock. Knock. Knock.' I gently tapped the door of the Alphas office. I could hear shouting on the other side.

Alex cracked open the door and poked his head out. When he saw it was me, he motioned for me to come in. But held his finger to his lips, letting me know to be quiet. I entered the huge office and took a seat near the door, waiting for everyone to finish. There were a few other guys I recognized as trainers from the morning training. Godric took one look at me and excused them from the meeting.

I stood and approached the desk where Godric was sitting as the other men exited quickly. "I hope you guys don't mind me interrupting. I just haven’t seen either of you in the past few weeks. Except for breakfast. And now you have been MIA for two days. I wanted to check on you."

Alex was still standing by the door waiting for the last man to exit. He was trying to maintain his cool demeanor. But even behind those cool eyes, I could see a small amount of panic. It was rising and making him fidgety. Godric on the other hand had nothing but anger in his eyes. No fear. No panic. When the room was clear and it was just us three, I asked. "Is everything OK?"

They both looked at each other. I could see the gears in both of their heads grinding. Finally, Godric answered me. "No everything is not OK."

Alex looked surprised at Godric's response.  He came closer to the desk, "Are you sure it is a good idea to tell her. Maybe we should wait for when we tell the rest of the pack."

"She needs to know Alex. They all need to know."

 "As you wish Alpha."

 My eyes widened. Did Alex just call Godric Alpha?