FEARLESSNESS CAN KILL YOU TOO

4 FEBRUARY, THURSDAY, AT TRAINING

"How can you say she's fine?" Jessica scolded Ben, "We all saw her fly across the hall."

I struggled out of Mate's grasp to sit up and looked around. Oh yeah, I was on the wrong side of the hall. I guess Jessica wasn't exaggerating.

I stood up.

"Princess, sit down and rest for a while." Bell told me.

I stopped, "Are you saying this as my trainer or my mate?"

"Your mate." Bell said.

He said he was my mate. In front of everyone. Yay! Mine! He said he was mine! Hahaha. Happy!

I grinned, "Then what makes you think I'd listen?"

I stood up and threw back a quick raspberry at him. Taking the few steps over to the others, I grinned, "I'm fine."

My eye caught Ki hovering by the side, "Good fight, Ki."

Ki bowed, "My apologies, goddess."

I laughed it off.

I'm the alpha. I can take it. I can take a lot of things.

"Are you really alright, Sam?" Lola asked.

I nodded, "Hn? Of course I'm alright."

And because no one in the hall looked even the slightest convinced, I added, "I might look like this, but I'm actually pretty invincible."

Ben handed me a bottle of water. Oh yeah, invincibility was thirsty work!

I noticed Bell gulping down a second or third bottle of water too, and then Bell and Ki went down the lines to do more healing. This round, most of the guys "survived" the charge.

After the second time, their wolves had learned the value of minimizing the damage taken in a fight.

In hindsight, I should have blocked. And I shouldn't have busted my shoulder at first contact. I wished I hadn't come in so late. I bet I would've learned a lot from a second and third round too. This method, it was intense, not just for the warriors but the healers too, but I bet it really pushed everyone up the learning curve fast - it's like a cheat to real battle experience in a controlled environment.

"Last point: In a fight, fear would kill you. But fearlessness can kill you too." Bell said.

Now he tells us.

"Thank you for the lesson, Luna!" Harvey bowed.

"Thank you for the lesson, Luna!" Everyone bowed.

Wow, and they sounded like they really meant it too.

Bell simply waved it off, "Alright. Runtime. Ladies first."

The girls made their way to the exit. Oh wait. Me too. I quickly ran over to join them.

"I thought for sure she would at least cry." I heard Link say.

"Your Alpha's inhuman." Keith told him.

"She's your Alpha too, Keith." Harvey reminded his training partner.

"Aw, Harv, but she's a girl." Keith protested, "Ooof!"

Harvey had hit him on the back of his head.

Over the beta mindlink, I heard Harv prod Ki.

Harv: You okay, Ki?

Ki: Feel like s***. F*** off.

Ben: You are s***.

Harv: It's not his fault. He was under alpha command.

Ben: Still s***.

Harv: Ben, put yourself in Ki's shoes.

Ben:...

Ki: I'm s***. Just F*** off.

Harv: Hmmm. You better sit out of the run, Ki.

Ben: S*** don't get to run with the Alpha.

Harv: Ben, you're the head alpha. Grow up.

Ben: Make me.

Then the mindlink turned quiet. Did they realize I was tapped on the link? Or were they simply called away for something?

I finished shifting and came out into the snowy clearing. Looks like I was first out again. I looked around. The snow feeling cold and crunchy under my paws. The air was crisp and fresh. The moon was unnaturally full (because mate was here! Yay!) My wolf was pleased. It was a good night for a run.

The guys came out. Unlike before when their arrival was accompanied by personal chatter and friend jibes, tonight they were pretty quiet. It was almost as if they were trying not to draw attention to themselves.

And then the reason for their apprehension appeared... Bell, Harvey, and Ben, wearing matching p***ed off expressions. I mean Bell and Ben, yeah, I knew their bad tempers only too well, but even Harvey!

This surprised me, not so much that he was wearing it, but that the look actually suited him so naturally. It was almost as if that could be his everyday face. Hahaha. Imagine that, my cool and collected good beta, a p***ed off punk.

Those guys needed to lighten up. Even the girls had stepped back slightly behind me at their approach.

And if their humans were bad, their wolves were worse. They came out to the clearing, as snarling monsters. White, Red, and Black hackled fur with a lot of large sharp angry fangs.

Naturally, all the other wolves pulled back. Nobody wanted to be in snapping range.

What the hell was wrong with those three? And where was Ki? Was he really going to sit out?

I wanted to call Ki over, but then I remembered him telling the other two betas to F off and decided to give him some space.

I'm not entirely sure what was going on, but runs were supposed to be fun. Oh well, I'm the alpha.

I trotted out, my dark blue wolf shaking her huge head. I opened the mindlinks to the trainees, and to an extent the rest of the pack. I reveled a little in the rush of shared pack emotions, "Time to run and have some fun!"

I head bumped Bell and then circled Ben and Harv, "Ben's first run with us! So fun! Let's go play!"

Which way? I sniffed the air. It's a beautiful night. The air felt right. Let's go! Let's go!

My wolf started running. I felt Mate follow, he took the traditional Luna position, just half a pace behind me. From the back as usual, Harv and Ben were flanking and making their way up to the front. That meant the last wolf was moving in formation. That's good. We were off!

"Hang on tight and away we go!" I mindlinked cheerfully as I picked up the pace.

I felt the atmosphere lighten, but it could also just be the wind in our fur.

Pretty soon, Harv and Ben were in position, running in tandem just behind Bell and I.

Feels good to run in a pack. I highly recommend it. When you run in a pack, you reconnect. And every time a reconnection is made, our bonds grew stronger.

It's too bad only warrior wolves ran together... I bet normal wolves would like it too... Maybe not at this speed though. Although the speed was part of the fun. Why run slowly when you can run fast?

I ran letting my lucky sense of direction lead us. I knew this land and the land knew me. My land. All of this. Mine.

Following the running trails into the woods, we continued without slowing. I liked running in the plains. I liked running in the woods. I liked running in the snow. I liked running in the dirt.

I tried to think of where I didn't like running.

I didn't like running on the road. No, I mean, I liked running on the road less than on the grass or dirt. But I still liked running, even on the road.

The only thing I didn't like about running was not being able to run.

And the only thing I liked more than running was hunting.

Hunting was the BEST!

On the Colored Mountains, they got to hunt monsters called Gyaras. I wish we had Gyaras in the plains too!

There weren't that many things to hunt here. I was tempted to head into Morning Light or Lorent Territory, maybe we might meet some rogues.

But no... My wolf was quite sure the rogues weren't out tonight. At least not on my grounds. I guess they were all in the Red Packlands? Things had been pretty quiet since the Red Packlands hooha. We were still on yellow alert, but face it, there was zero threats for miles.

There was a clearing by the border and my wolf finally slowed. We had been running for an hour maybe? Our breaths billowed like white clouds against the cold night sky. The stars twinkling like diamonds.

"Let's take a break here." I said.

"10 minutes break." Bell called.

Harvey and Ben relayed the message to the wolves, and slowly our formation broke off around the clearing.

My wolf rolled around in the snow. Nice! Then I noticed something different about the warlock lands next to us. I got up to check it out.

Mate was immediately by my side. Wait, was he guarding me?

Oh! There was a section, just off the clearing where there weren't any crystals hanging in the trees. Were they hidden somewhere? Did they fall off?

I poked my head in to investigate.

"Be careful, Princess." Mate mindlinked.

"Of what?" My wolf made a snorting sound, "Rabbits?"

I stepped in to the enclave of trees. It was silent. I could literally feel the magic under my fur, but there were no crystals, none further on either. I took a few steps deeper.

"Stop, it's dangerous. You might get hurt." Mate warned.

My wolf chuffed my amusement. Overprotective mates! "Please! I never got hurt in my life!"

Mate froze and then growled, "Are you f***ing me? What did you call that just now?"

"Call what?" I was only half paying attention to the conversation, but now I turned my Wolfie head to face Mate. Why did he suddenly get mad?

"Nevermind." Mate sighed, "Let's just go back."

"Why?" I wanted to explore more. Maybe find Fount for Dad.

"Last minute. Fall in." Harvey's mindlink to the rest of the trainees interrupted our conversation.

Oh. I guess that's why.

As I passed Mate, he suddenly said, "When I saw you flung across the hall... like a broken doll..."

He didn't continue his sentence but suddenly our mate bond was emotionally charged.

Okay...

"It was fine, just a training exercise." I told him, "No biggie." (Definitely nothing to get emo over.)

Mate's wolf followed mine out or the warlock forest without another word. The other wolves lined up and ready to go.

I projected my best Alpha Wolf into our group mindlink, "Okay! Ready to go home? Let's go!"

My wolf sped up into a run. Again Mate took his place beside me, just half a pace behind. And the betas fell back and then flanked till they caught up to the front.

"All accounted for." Harvey reported.

Oh yeah, I guess it's a good idea to count. It's better we didn't leave anyone behind.

{We wouldn't.}

Eh, Boo? What was Boo doing here? And how could she be so sure?

{I'm the alpha. I would protect my pack's happiness.}

Yeah, me too, Wolfie. Me too.

And that was why talking to my wolf sometimes felt a lot like talking to myself.

You don't have to tell me - two words: Merging Technique.

For all I know, I might be losing myself.

{Or just discovering your true self.}

You're telling me that my true self is a mean black wolf?

{Had anyone ever pointed out your circumscribed capacity for self awareness?}

Just that I'm a bit slow. Wait no, why am I even talking to you?

I shut Boo off and finished the run. Tonight was pretty fun. I was late for training, but we had a good run.

And whatever Boo said, I think I would know myself better than that! I'm Sam. Just Sam. Always been, always will be.