22 - Team Building

Iris's POV

It had been 2 weeks of endless training and learning and I had barely had any contact with my siblings or Vlad and Dante. These people really meant it when they said the wanted us to learn individuality.

They moved us from our rooms and put us in different sides of the castle where the only people living in the rooms next to us are our teammates.

Speaking of teammates, being the alpha of our group has not been easy.

I made Delgado my beta, Lauren, the female alpha, the warrior and Araceli, the other beta, our pack doctor.

They have not been happy about me being their leader, not that we even talk long enough for them to outwardly voice their thoughts.

Even with us living right next to each other, we barely see, much less, speak to one another.

When I have world diplomacy and war tactics, Delgado would have peace keeping and pack balance, Lauren would have attack and defence and Araceli would be in the infirmary learning different ways to heal or kill a supernatural.

It was like we were college students with our timetables never matching.

And my classes only consisted of other alphas that I don't know and neither of us even tries to know each other cause we see ourselves as the competition.

You don't want to get to friendly and accidentally let something slip that would lead to your competition getting ahead of you.

Today though was different. We didn't have to get up at the ungodly hour of 5 in the fucking morning like every other day, no, the shitty bell sound from the speakers didn't come on until 9 in the morning, the proper time to wake if you ask me.

We all got ready and met in the lounge that connected all our rooms, all of us sitting on opposite sides of the room like we were fucking magnets repelling each other.

We waited for about 10 minutes in total silence until we heard Luna Hay's voice over the speakers. "All teams, report to training ground 4. "

Training ground 4? We've never used it, it was just shown to us when we were given a tour of the castle and it's grounds.

We all got up and made our way out the door, through the halls, down the various stairs and finally, out the castle door as we headed for the forest where training ground 4 was located.

This has to be the first time in a long time that all of us lycans have been gathered in the same place since our first couple days here.

Hell, it's the first time I've spent this much time with my team since we got assigned.

We walked in the forest towards the training ground with other teams walking around us while I was busy looking around to see if I could spot Vlad, Dante or my siblings but to no avail.

We got to the training ground and I started frantically looking around for them and I finally spotted Vlad across from me.

I immediately made my way to him and when he spotted me, his face broke out in a huge smile. "Vladdy! " I practically squealed as I jumped into his arms and he held me tightly, spinning me around a bit like we were in a movie or some shit.

"I missed you so fucking much Pixie. " He mumbled into my ear before pulling back to look at me before we shared a passionate kiss. The kind that I imagine lovers shared before one of them went off to war.

We stayed glued together, neither of us willing to part to catch our breaths, at least until someone clearing their throat interrupted us.

We pulled away and I turned to the person who clearly has a death wish with the meanest glare I could muster, only for it to fall off into a large smile when I saw Dante behind me.

I had Vlad put me down, despite his reluctance and gave Dante a hug. "Hey Flower. " He said when we pulled away, with a wide smile on his face.

"Hey. " I said with a beaming smile before facing Vlad again. "I've missed you so fucking much, " I said to him then looked at Dante. "The both of you. You guys don't know how lonely it's been all by myself. "

Vlad pulled me back into his arms, hugging me tightly. "I'm here now Pixie. " He told me before placing a kiss on my forehead.

"And I'm here too. " Dante said, once again interrupting our moment, much to Vlad's visible irritation.

I heard him utter an added 'unfortunately ' which just had Dante smiling from ear to ear.

Before we could talk more, we heard alpha Demetrius's voice and turned our attentions to the sparring ring where he was standing.

I'm surprised to see him alone, I thought the members of the council were also together.

"Lycans, it has come to our attention that most of you are unwilling to cooperate in your given groups, and so, we have come up with some... team building exercises to help with that. " He said to us.

I don't like the sound of that.

"First, I would like you all to locate your teammates and stand together, you are to all stay together for the duration of these activities. " He instructed.

"I guess I'll see you guys later. " I said glumly before returning to where I had left my team, noticing that they weren't there, but on a quick glance around, I saw them each coming from different directions, back to our original spot.

It took a little bit, but everyone found themselves back with their teammates, and the look of irritation on most people's faces led me to believe that my teammates and I weren't the only ones who couldn't stand each other.

"Now, before I tell you what activities it is that you'll be partaking in, let me first announce your rewards and penalties for your performance. " He said, gaining everyone's attention. "If you are among the top 3 groups to finish first, you get a week to do whatever you want with whomever you want from any other group. "

This got a loud uproar from all of us, as we were all excited to spend a week doing anything we wanted with the people of our choosing.

"However, the 3 groups to finish last shall have a week long penalty of doing team activities and if they still fail to act like a proper team, they shall be eliminated and sent back to their packs. " That got us to quiet down immediately, as everyone dreaded what our failure could entail.

"Now, you shall be partaking in an obstacle course and in order for you to pass, you have to work together as a team and all members of said team must finish the course together. " That had a couple of us grumbling but we quickly hushed down.

"If that's settled, you can all proceed further into the forest to get your instructions on your tasks. " He dismissed us and we all started walking into the forest.

With the way my team is, if our victory depends on us working together, then we might be royally screwed.