Chapter 6: A different kind of training

Chrysalis's POV   

 I spun out of my chair to my right. Drawing my knife to force her to appear by channeling my aura into the blade and putting it to her throat. I stopped short at the omega shivering in front of me.

   I turned my head to the left to look at my plate as the fork was lifted into the air by an invisible force and my last bite disappeared in the air.

I hung my head and dropped my hand with the knife to my side. “Damn it” I breathed.

   “Chrysalis! Is that any way to greet your mother?,” Luna Elena asked as she appeared in the chair I had abandoned.

   I turned around to face her while holstering my blade. “Nor is a knife to your throat but you forced my hand!” I responded.

   While dabbing the corners of her mouth with a napkin she said, “Well at least you felt me coming before I could snap your neck.” I just shook my head.

“That bite was the best part of the meal.” I said through my teeth.

   She stepped away from the stool and put her arms around me. She was an inch taller than me standing at five foot seven. So I still felt young whenever she embraced me. It didn’t help that she didn’t look a day over thirty. We had the same light brown skin with an olive undertone. Only she had black raven hair and her face freckles were a bit darker than mine. Her eyes were like a hazel-green. Where I was toned and a bit curvy, she was slim-fit and elegant.

   I placed my arms around her, leaning my head on her shoulder. Today she was wearing royal purple robes.  After a beat we pulled away. Appraising me she fixed a stray hair on my head. I saw her eyes glide over the partially hidden scar on my chest.

   “It is so wonderful to see you, my sweet girl,” she said. It seems all of my parental figures had the power to still make me blush. Before I could counter she spoke again. “You can go ahead and leave your weapons in your room today. As you will be training with your sweet ma ma.” She smiled.

   My jaw dropped open as I was dumbfounded for a moment. Getting my wits about me I closed my mouth. “Mother? You hardly ever allow me to train with you or any of the others from your side. What is going on today that you felt the need?”

   Instead of answering she looks me up and down then asks, “I can tell your mate hasn’t found you yet. Have you not even been dating? You look ripe for the picking.” She had a big grin on her face as I turned three shades of beat red.

“Mother!” I began.

   I was cut off by my father coming into the kitchen. He walked right past me and grabbed my grinning mother by the waist and gave her a gruelingly long kiss right in front of me. I wanted to gag.

I actually may have thrown up in my mouth a little bit. Not really but I could have.

   He started to let go and gave her one more peck before turning toward me. Our relationship used to be him doting on his little princess. It changed after my eighteenth birthday. It morphed into a more militant relationship and after so many of my accomplishments he soon announced my apprenticeship to the pack.

   I knew my father still loved me but I was supposed to be taking over the pack and I guess he wanted to show me and the others he believed in me. I didn’t know how to feel about the position. I used to wait for them to have another child hoping it was a male heir but it never happened. I understood his thinking. I had not had my first shift yet. I had finally started to be comfortable with being the alpha heir. So, I assumed it was to also let everyone know that it was still the plan.

   My father was six foot nine and was a wall of muscle. His hair was the same as mine. He had at least four long braids woven into a single half braid to keep it out of his face. Even though male wolves tended to cut their hair shorter nowadays he stuck to what he knew. He said his long hair was like a lion's mane. It let the others know he had power. It was at my mothers' request that he'd keep it braided most of the time. Him being mated didn't always keep the she-wolves away. If he wore it down she was usually around. His skin was a little bit darker than my mothers and mine, but not by much. He spent a lot of his time outside in the sun most of the day.

   His gray eyes looked into mine as he continued to speak to mom. I could see a hint of blue from his wolf in them. He spoke up for me saying, “Elena. Stop embarrassing your charge and let her be. She doesn’t need to date. She will meet her mate in due time. There is no need to rush her. The poor girl is still training her witch side. She will shift when the gods see fit and, in no time she will be taking over the pack completely. Let her breathe until then.”

My mother rolled her eyes. I was safe on the subject for now but her face told me she would not let it go.

   I put my right hand in a fist over my heart and gave my father a small bow. When I looked back up I also gave him an appreciative smile as I began to rise. However, the appreciation didn’t last long. As I turned toward mother he slapped her on the ass before making his way out of the kitchen. He put his hand on my shoulder as he passed. I shrugged it off yelling, “Get a room” to his back. I could hear his laughter throughout the room as he walked down the passage. They behaved like adolescent teens when no one was looking. I was always the one to catch them.

   After he was gone without another word my mother began to walk out too. I followed my mother out of the pack house. She led me through the gardens and onto the training grounds. I noticed as we walked through the training grounds no one spoke to me as we walked through.

   I made a mental note of those that needed to be corrected in their skill, so that I could let them know later. I’d tell them through mind-link but, I know mother has most likely conjured her cloaking spell on us by now. She’d feel it if I tried.

I huffed a little bit as one of the younger adults lost footing and his older opponent did not correct him.

   We’d made it through the treeline of the woods where we would portal to her study.  As we stepped up to the spot she turned to me and made a gesture for me to take over and get us through the next part of our journey.

Time to follow the rabbit down the hole I thought.

   I sighed  and started to feel for the lining of her barrier. My energy almost bounced off of it as I forgot to switch from the fire element to match my mother’s earth magic. Once her barrier recognized my blood I was able to take hold of the spell.

I took a breath as I tried to relax for the next step.

   The second part was only tricky because it always startled me to connect to this portal. The portal couldn't be seen unless you were skilled enough but a well taught witch would be able to feel it. My issue with this portal was because every time I made the connection it would amplify my energy faster than I could keep up. After connecting enough times I realized what it was doing to me. It was like a puppy waiting for its owner to walk through the door when they knew their human was home. The portal was happy to have me there as if it knew me and was always waiting and excited.

   I slowly wove the elements to form a portal connection. As slowly as I could I eased my energy forward. I could feel my eyes begin to get warm so I knew they started to glow as I got closer. The portal started to open up to me. I tried to dim my eyes right before the connection formed. No bueno.