ENDURANCE

KATRINA

My legs moved faster than my body as I ran out of the packhouse. Everyone around looked at me like I had gone insane but I didn’t care about them because my mind died every time I replayed the scene at the packhouse.

I couldn’t believe it. My evil mother was cheating on dad, but how could she? Dad had done nothing but love and support her, yet she stabbed him in the back. She was not only hurting dad but me as well which she was an expert at.

“See her go! A*shole!” I heard someone say from behind as the others erupted in laughter.

But I didn’t stop until I was out of the pack and crashed into someone’s hands. I looked up and stared into my father’s hazel eyes. 

He was Gamma Leonard of the Southpaw pack. 

My father was only a few inches to six foot. His chocolate brown hair was made to a neat curly quaff which complemented his hazel eyes. He had a short beard and a nose that was sculpted just for his face, like mine. I got my good personality from my dad but there were traces of my mother in me.

He had a blue T-shirt on and sweatpants but paired it up with a bad choice of green flip-flops.

“Dear, what’s wrong? You look terrified.”

Just there I wanted to spill everything but when I looked into his bright eyes, I couldn't. He was in a good mood and I didn’t want my mother to spoil it like she always did.

Mother tried to mind-link me but there was no way I would answer that.

“M-me? N-no, I was just running to meet up with time.” I looked at my watch and smiled cheekily. 

“Still five minutes late though.”

“Sure there’s nothing else?” He raised his styled brows.

“Sure, let’s train.”

“Okay, dear.” He rubbed my hair.

My dad was the best in the world. Everyone in the pack was against training a wolfless wolf. They thought it was a waste of time and skill—among the many other things they stopped me from doing—but father didn’t agree. He battled everyone for me.

Life in the pack would be unbearable without him. I was glad I had him because I didn’t know what I’d do if he wasn’t here.

Our special training ground was located on the outskirts. Southpaw was a populated pack and we were almost two thousand. Our domain was about 1.8 million square meters and we were the third largest pack in the south. The first was Moonstone.

Our training ground was surrounded by tropical trees and a stream demarcated our borders. We were near this just stream. The sounds of birds and insects filled the air, coupled with the soothing flow of water. The atmosphere was cool here because of the beautiful trees.

This was why nature was my favorite thing, after books of course.

“So what’re we doing today? Dodging water balloons, hunting rabbits, or oh, are we climbing trees?”

He chuckled. 

“None. We’re moving to a new topic.” 

That didn’t sound good. The first lesson on every new topic was always the hardest. 

“It’s called endurance and the first lesson of the day is, in difficult times pain is a reminder that you’re still living. If the pain is gone, so is life.”

I grimaced. Why was my father suddenly talking about life and death? It didn’t sound like him because he was always so positive.

He took a big black stone and spun it on its finger like a football. Every wolf has a special and personal attribute that we call… a ‘powl’. Super strength was his powl. He was so strong that one time, he saved the pack from a human truck accident that would have killed many but with his bare hands, he stopped it.

I used to think he was superman, and I still do.

“Catch!” He threw it at me but I dodged it.

“Are you crazy, dad?! You almost killed me!”

He laughed. “You were meant to catch it, dear.”

“Catch that?!” I picked the stone and threw it at him with all the power I had but as expected, he caught it like it was nothing.

“Catch it this time, would you?” He threw it again and I did try but when I saw that mighty stone rushing towards me, I ducked. 

“Katrina?” He laughed again.

Anytime he laughed, his dimples revealed and that made his laughs worth watching. I prayed they never faded.

“There are easier ways to kill me you know. Since it seems you’ve joined the rest in getting rid of me.”

His smile lowered. “They don’t hate you, dear. They just… Catch!” He threw it at me but this time, I summoned energy and caught it.

My hands turned red and I had to drop it. 

“Goddess, that hurts!” I rushed to the stream and put my hands into the cool graceful waters.

Swimming would be nice to ease all the pain I was feeling.

“Throw it back, dear!”

I shook the pain off and threw it back at him. He caught it and threw it back as well. We continued this process and every catch hurt more than the last. My hands were red in pain and it was so much that I felt the pain in my head.

“Come on, you can do it!”

At the fifteenth catch, I dropped the stone. I couldn’t take it anymore. I crashed to the ground and blew my fire-hot hands.

“Hope it doesn’t hurt too much.” 

I stood up and gave a weak smile. 

“Not much. Besides, pain’s all part of a wolf’s training.” My smile strengthened.

"That's my girl."

A powerful aura came from the left and dry leaves rustled.

“Of course, you’re here.”

The wolf's voice was not as carefree and soft as my father’s, it was tough and commanding. 

Beta Damien of Southpaw appeared. He was six foot and a few inches tall. He had a bushy dark beard with bushy brown eyebrows. His brown eyes were dark, they appeared black in the darkness.

He wore his usual… an unbuttoned black jacket over a white shirt and free straight pants that were similar to the jacket.

“I tried mind-linking you…”

Dad scratched his hair nervously. “Oh that, I was training.”

His dark eyes went to me and I swallowed my fear. The aura he imposed on me wasn’t strong as my father’s even though he was the Beta but it was dark and that’s what terrified me.

“We have better things to do than train a wolfless wolf.” 

He said it with so much hate that made my heart sink.

“Damien, please…” He stepped forward but the Beta stopped him.

I’ve heard rumors that said my father used to be the Alpha’s best friend. They were as close as brothers and everyone expected him to be the next Beta but that never happened. Instead, a newcomer, Damien, was made the Beta.

It raised questions amidst the pack but answers were never given. I did ask my dad about it but he always evaded my questions.

“No, she should understand her worth.”

“Damien!”

“Enough!” 

He took his eyes off me in a repulsive manner and I held myself together. It was just too early to break down. 

“The Alpha has summoned us. We must go to his quarters now.”

Damien left the scene. I bit my lip, trying to control myself. Dad rubbed my shoulders and hair.

“It’s okay, dear.”

“I’m fine dad. Go, I’ll be here for a while.”

He kissed my forehead and reluctantly left.

I needed to relax my nerves so I pulled my clothes off when I made sure no one was around and entered the stream. The feeling of the chilly water rush through me was helpful and I almost forgot my problems until I heard the rustling of bushes from the left.

My eyes snapped there and I sighted a wolf. I didn’t want him to see me so I submerged myself into the slow-moving water and stayed under.

The wolf came along with a lot of other wolves in uniform. I knew that those were Sigmas.

He wore weird clothes that highly resembled rags. He was slimmer than a usual wolf and had pecan brown hair which was cut to a skin fade and spiky texture. His sky blue eyes fired with passion and they were a perfect fit for his baby-smooth face. His nose and ears were pierced in silver rings and he wore a silver chain over his neck.

He was breathtaking and I couldn’t stop myself from imagining things. He smoked a cigarette as the Sigmas crossed the stream first but when he did, he stopped cause he caught a whiff of something.

He stared at the exact spot in the deep stream I was hiding. 

‘No! No! No! Goddess, please help!’ 

But a stronger part of me wanted him to find me… and take over my body.