“After that we are in preliminary, or prelims.
Again this lasts 30 days.
If you make it that far you get to be inducted and get a temporary warrior brand and can start going on smaller missions.
Wyatt says around a mouthful of taco.
“What is this brand that everyone keeps talking about? Why is it so special?” This is like the fourth time I have heard about that today.”
“The brand is what links you to the warriors.
Think about it like a pack link, but just with us.
We all come from different packs and we don’t want to renounce our pack connection just to do training, so we are given this brand that is applied to the inside of our right wrist.
Nathaniel indicates the spot.
“It doesn’t sever your pack link, it just brings you into the warrior link You can communicate with the warriors on your team while out on missions and you have access to the lead warriors no matter how far away you are, which comes in handy from what I have heard from some of the veteran warriors.
“I wonder how that will work for me then? Warrior Osiston said that I won’t be able to join missions until lam 16, that’s just under a year from now.
I hope my probationary period doesn’t last a year, that would suck! I let out a little whine.
“Who knows.
The Alpha King and Warrior Brogen already seem to have plans for you or you wouldn’t be here.” Nathaniel deadpans.
Yep, he’s a keeper, I think right before he starts talking again.
“The other thing the brand does is shut down your mating hormones.
I choke on my water and almost spit it across the table.
“It what?”
“It shuts down all the hormones that make you want to mate, at all.
You won’t be able to find your mate while you are branded, I think that is the most obvious thing.
But, you also won’t have any s*xual desires or any kind of attractions either.
At any given time there are about a hundred warriors in this building, both male and female.
We are all very active and fit, even for werewolves, which usually correlates with our drive.
By shutting this down, there is no relationship drama or other distractions that come from sleeping around.
It allows us to focus on the task at hand keeping those emotions in check”
“Who gives us this brand and what happens if someone wants the chance to find their mate?” I ask, a little horrified.
I can’t find my mate for another three years, but I don’t know how I feel about the option to find them taken away from me.
“The brand is applied by the warrior elders and a coven of witches. It is temporary and wears off after a while. I don’t have many more details about it than that. I do know that every five years the Alpha King requires warriors to remove the brand for a full year and travel to try and find their mate. So, mates have been considered.
“Nathaniel, how do you know so much about this? It seems like a lot of detail, that isn’t common Imowledge.” I ask, truly curious. He must be a sponge.
The quiet observant guy that no one thinks twice about talking in front of, but he gathers every piece of info he comes across.
Clearly this isn’t something either of the other two thought to ask as their heads whip towards him looking expectant.
He stares at me for a moment, clearly deciding something.
I don’t feel any animosity coming from him and I hope he doesn’t find any from me.
He really is just a fascinating person and I have only known him a couple hours.
“My dad was a warrior. He found my morn on one of his sabbaticals.
She died when rogues attacked our pack, it almost killed my dad to lose her.
He brought me here and joined the warriors again to remove the pain of the broken bond.
He looked back into my eyes, a kindred spirit in a way.
Somehow he knows what my family, what I, went through. I just nod, confirming his unasked question.
