The rightful Luna

Chapter 17. Winter magic

During one of the hunts, the blood of a deer attracted two large bears and she was the one who had killed both of them swiftly, gaining their deepest respect. The moves and strength she used at that time had left them speechless. They were werewolves, but most had been living inside packs protected by their elders. They had not come face to face to bears, so even though they had the power to kill a bear themselves they were still late in reacting when they came near one, even less two. And a second of distraction could mean a serious injury.

Celia did not bother about Lisa, or the other girls for that matter. She assigned the tasks on the first day, considering the strength of each individual, but as the papers she handed to everyone were tossed in the fire and was followed by a snicker from the girls, she gave up.

She had explained the importance of the exercise and that the grade they would be given would matter in their final grade. She also explained that the teachers were watching them, but would not intervene in any way during the exercise, only if it was a matter threatening their lives, but other than that, they had to fend for themselves.

She tried, but only the guys listened and understood the importance and only about two of three girls that handled the cooking. But most of the girls did not want to help in any way.

She did not care about Lisa's father being a Council assistant, she was not afraid she could be excluded from the watcher course. The problem was that when she insisted on them doing their chores, they had made a mess intentionally. She did not want to risk the whole pack's grade for the rest of them.

So when Lisa complained about the cold, none of the guys and Celia reacted in any way.

They took their weapons and left the area near the creek, trying to find the following day's food, the large pack needed about two or three deer a day to feed. It was already getting dark, but it was better than staying near the campsite, and night also did not pose a problem for them if they used their wolf vision.

Going deeper in the forest, they hunted the first deer. Celia's arrow swiftly found its way in the middle of the deer's eyes, a fast and without suffering death was the least she could do for the animal.

Assuring there were no more preys around, they each left their hiding places, and gathered around.

"Wow, another clean kill. You are amazing Alpha." One of the guys enthusiastically stated, a sentiment shared by the others too. It wasn't the first time they had seen her shots, but it still amazed them each time.

Celia nodded calmly and left to follow the scent of another deer. The expressionless face, which had made it difficult for them to understand her thoughts at first, no longer concerned them. The guys were not affected by her lack of response, they had gotten used to her personality.

They walked slowly on the icy ground, following the tracks that had yet to be covered under the snow bed, with the last ranked wolf dragging behind him the prey.

Walking some more time through the snowing and already dark view, the werewolves sensed the scent of yet another deer. For humans it would be hard to see through the multitude of fast falling snowflakes, but they could easily check the position of the animal in the dark with the same ease they would during the day. They slowly got in positions, trying to not scare it away, hiding behind snow covered bushes and trees. Most of them had dressed in white clothes or at least in light colored ones to blend in the environment, so their camouflage was almost perfect.

Silently they checked who was in the best position to fire his arrow. Looking around, Celia identified a guy who was in a better position than herself and nodded her head in his direction. The pack member understood the silent message and returned the nod preparing to fire.