“We were too busy being caught up in ourselves.” Mateo huffs.
“Training, becoming the next leaders, the idea of being in power is all we focused on.” Oliver adds on, not raising his head.
“She has done more to protect pack members than we ever have.” Dakota whispers.
“She is making the tough choices and defending those who need it regardless of what happens to her.” I finished. “She asked us not to do anything, said if we try to protect her now, it makes her look weak, but we can’t just stand by and let this keep happening. She may not want help, but is there anything we can do to make this end? These bullies have to be stopped. No one should be able to openly harm pack members for no reason.”
“Well, as bad as this situation is, for the first time, you boys are thinking like the leaders you are meant to be. Let’s think through this and see what we all come up with. I do have a few things that I can’t avoid today, but let’s get back together tonight. And Mateo, we will discuss your request to have her moved, it has to be her choice though, I will not force her into anything she doesn’t want.” My dad says
“Where is Sky now?” My mom sniffles out.
“Home probably, holed up in her room. She used a ton of energy last night. She’s fast as f*ck and has the endurance to back it up and then she shifted on the fly, mid run. Did any of you know she could shift?” Mateo asks, he’s taken to running his hands so aggressively through his hair it’s standing completely up like a blonde Einstein. He glares at the adults who all look stunned except for my mom. Of course she knew about Sky shifting.
“We’ve been working on a fast shift. Females, especially ranked females and female warriors, tend to be targeted and a slow shift can get you killed. I didn’t know she could do it mid run though. That girl is something else.” Mom finishes in a whisper and smiles for the first time since she entered dad’s office this morning. Beta Daniel just huffs. He will never see past his rage at losing his mate and it’s a shame, both of his kids are amazing.
We all go our separate ways after that. The guys and I try to figure out what we can do to fix the situation. Even my dad said we were “finally’ starting to think like leaders. Have we really been that bad?
~Skylar—
I fell asleep quickly wearing Dakota’s shirt. His scent made me feel calm and relaxed. When I finally rolled over and looked at the clock it was after 2pm. I sat up quickly, I have never slept that long before without any nightmares waking me up. I actually felt really good, until I remembered why I had Kota’s shirt on in the first place, then the sadness took over me again. I moved to go get in the shower and started to feel antsy after not training for two days. So, once I was cleaned up, I changed into training gear and headed for the gym. Maybe lifting weights will burn off some of this energy. I took extra precautions leaving my house. I didn’t want to run into anyone. It was going to be exhausting avoiding all of them all of the time.
I made it to the gym and only a few people were here this afternoon. I put my headphones, phone and water bottle down on a bench and begin setting up my weights for a warm-up. I can’t help overhearing a couple of the guys talking about elite warrior training.
“Did you hear? There were so many applicants this year they are holding trials in each pack before they will accept anyone.” A tall guy I recognize from advanced training says.
“Yeah, someone told me the Alpha King himself is going to come to some of the trials.” Tall guy’s friend responds. “And they are letting juniors and seniors join the trials. I guess even if they don’t get chosen, they get seen by the recruiters and if you’re good enough, they will remember you the next year.”
I feel my heart flutter. Maybe I won’t have as long as I thought. If I only have to make it through next year at school I can get out of here sooner than I thought. Elite warrior training is year round, and most attend while doing college courses. I just have to be good enough. My head and heart feels lighter, I have a renewed sense of purpose. Something finally just for me. I will have to talk to Luna Ava and her warriors at training this week
