Our own fight

"Hey," Andrew approached me as soon as I walked out of Violet's room, "How is she doing?"

"Could have been better," I huffed at his question and noticed his bitter expression.

"Sorry I can't be there to help," he patted my shoulder, "But I have something to tell you," his usual playful voice turned a pitch lower.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's about Quinn's manor."

"Spill," I massaged my temple as I opened the door to my room. I dropped my body onto the sofa, then stared at my previous wound as it slowly healed by itself.

"She's dead," he grimaced, "Her remains were thrown out to be fed to the dogs."

"What a bunch of savages," I sighed. I had expected her to be dead, but not in such an atrocious way. How the hell am I supposed to tell Violet? She obviously wouldn't take this well.

The newly acquired information caused my already throbbing head to pound even more. I rubbed my head in a circular motion to ease the pain. For now, the main thing that I needed to focus on was the rogues' attacks. What the hell do they want? They tried to take Violet twice, not once. I assumed they were probably in the same group, and it was in their plan to take Violet away. They targeted my people last time, and now my mate. I couldn't take this any longer. If war was what they wanted, then war it is.

"When will Maggie be back?" I queried.

"They are supposed to be back tomorrow evening. Why?"

I took a piece of paper and scribbled on it, "Ask her to put a magic barrier around our territory as soon as she arrives back. And starting from tomorrow, train all pack members on how to fight. The only exception will be the sick, elderly, and pups. They need to know how to defend themselves in case the warriors are not around to help."

I seized an envelope, then put the piece of paper in, "I will send a letter to the other packs to do just the same."

Andrew hummed in response. He circled my room with a curious look on his face, "When will you tell her?"

"Tell her what?" I questioned, not knowing what he meant.

"About what kind of being we are."

I felt my face fall after his words, knowing that I had to tell her sooner or later. I wanted her to be more comfortable around me before telling her about it. "I don't know," I faltered, "I will tell her when I think she is ready for it."

He frowned, his voice firm as he said, "She can't stay in the dark for long, Luke. What kind of normal human would want to live in a werewolf's den without knowing?"

I exhaled my breath in vexation. I knew I should have told her the first day I met her, but... I was scared. I was scared of rejection. What would happen if she knew I was the same person as the black wolf she met days ago? If I told her, what if she didn't want to meet my wolf anymore? I will lose the only time I could spend with her being so relaxed and open to me. 

"I just wanted to remind you so that she won't have to stay clueless for long," he asserted, then placed his hand on the doorknob, "I'll leave for now. You should rest."

I nodded to him as I laid down on my bed. I haven't had proper sleep for the past few days due to my clouded thoughts. So many things happened in such a short amount of time, and most of them were bad. The only good thing that happened was meeting my mate. It was a very delightful encounter.

"Mate is cute!" My wolf exclaimed. A chuckle went out of my mouth, as I agreed with what he said. She indeed was cute. I couldn't help but want to tease her whenever she was around.

I could tell that she was still wary around me, but I couldn't wait for her to show me more of her side. I wanted to explore every side of her, I wanted her.

Should I visit her now? Thinking about her made me yearn for her presence despite meeting her just hours ago. If possible, I wanted to be with her in every passing minute. Was this what loving someone feels like? It felt like I was engulfed with euphoria, making my everyday life worthwhile. I felt happy, sad, angry, and many other emotions I haven't felt for a long time when it concerned her. I had a soft spot for her, and I didn't hate it at all.

When the time I announced her as my mate came, all of the people who wanted to overthrow me would think of her as my weakness, but to me, she was my power. I will fight whoever dared to touch my loved ones, as I fight not because of what was in front of me, but for what was behind me.

I rounded up my longing for her and decided to just stay in my room. I didn't know how she felt about me, so if it was contrary to mine, I would just be a bother to her and she wouldn't rest well. As much as I wanted to meet her right now, I also wanted her to be comfortable in her own space.

I hope I won't have to withstand this for long so that I could perceive what it felt like to be loved by her. My one and only mate.

...

It was still early in the morning by the time I woke up seeing there was no light struggling to get past my window blind. My mind was still in a daze as I grudgingly flutter my eyes open. I sat up at the edge of my bed for a few minutes, trying to gather my soul to prepare for the new day soon to start.

After successfully taking control of my own consciousness, I stepped out of my bed and headed straight to the bathroom to have a quick shower. Fifteen minutes later, I was ready to deal with any predicaments that might happen throughout the day as it usually did.

Today was the first day of the pack members' training, so I needed to be there to encourage them on this matter. My feet willingly brought my body to the training grounds, the place where the training will be held.

Before the rogues' attacks, the only ones who were allowed to train in the training grounds were the warriors. The selection of warriors was strictly carried out due to the massive number of pack members, so only the qualified were accepted. It was no surprise if there were some who were happy with this situation, as they were probably the ones who failed the trials.

By the time I arrived at the aforementioned place, it was already packed with the pack members, be it men or women. Most of them were excited about training, but some were also dejected. The place was bustling with mixed emotions of excitement and despondency, but when they became aware of my presence, it soon died down as their attention was all on me, their Alpha.

"Ahem," I deliberately coughed, "Nice to see you all here." I looked around the area to take a look at my pack members. It was rare for me to meet them.

"As you all know, today we will start our first day of training. Maybe there are some of you who don't like the idea of participating in this workout, but this was all made for your best interest," I announced.

"You can see from the recent occurrence, our pack was attacked by uncivilized deranged wolves, causing great loss and grief to us," their faces turned sorrowful after my words, "And to prevent another loss, it is just right for you all to learn how to defend yourself. I will also do my best to solve this problem we are facing as soon as possible, so I do hope that you will aid me by training hard."

A loud enthusiastic roar boomed throughout the vast field, indicating their excitement and agreement in the cooperation. "We will not remain silent to the repeated attacks that were directed at our way," I trailed off, "We will protect our family, our friends, our loved ones—" The people hollered, "WE!! WILL!! FIGHT!!" I declared with a powerful and thundering shout, followed by the people.

Our shouts echoed in the air, every and each one of us was in sync with what we are all feeling right now. I smiled and nodded in satisfaction after looking at my pack's eagerness.

"Now, let this turbulent passion we feel right now, be the source of our vigor!" I finished off my speech with a proud look splattered on my face.

"YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" Their loud screams reverberated in the whole area. The atmosphere surrounding us was full of zealousness.

With that, the first day of training officially began.