As the echo of his booming voice faded, it felt as though the entire room held their breath.
"I have never seen such an immature group of trainees that seem to not see the need to take this training seriously." His growl sent a shudder through us and I'm pretty sure I heard a whimper.
"Each year I watch my Pack grow and flourish. I enjoy seeing advances made by every wolf. I know that their hard work means our Pack can be kept safe. Can be protected and defended." He paused to bare his teeth, eyes gleaming with anger.
"Yet this year, I don't see that. I know many of you lost your families in the raids twelve years ago. But we, as a Pack, raised you. Maybe we pampered you too much? I don't know. But I do know it ends today. There will be no more parties, no more days off, no more workdays even, until the Qualifications weed out the unworthy amongst you. Only training."
The Alpha glanced at his chosen trainers. "Scout trainees of Violet. Stand."
In a flurried rush, Holly, Callum and a few others stood.
"Go with your mentor. Training begins immediately."
Violet swept through the room, head high. Her students scrambling to follow suit.
Again, the Alpha spoke. "Trackers. Go with Reed." Another flurry of activity ensued.
As the noise of their leaving broke the silence, I couldn't help but hear the hushed whispers. "She's not Defence. What's she still doing here?" I caught the stares of a few people and focused my attention back on the Alpha.
He quickly instructed Coal to take the Defence trainees. Steely gaze finally settling on me. I lowered my gaze, as is expected in his presence, but not before catching the curious looks of the other students.
We had kept this quiet so long. It seemed the time had finally passed for hiding.
As the silence began again, the Alpha moved from the podium towards me. "Leave us." He barked, and I hopped to my feet. Only to feel a large hand land on my shoulder, gently pushing me back into my seat.
"Not you, Charlie. Look at me." His voice had softened, but I could still feel the power radiating from him in waves.
I looked up in time to see the Luna and Beta pass by, sad smiles on their lips.
Jack followed slowly. Drawing level with the Alpha to look down at me.
I suddenly felt very small in the giant room, seated at the feet of two huge men.
It had been many years since I had been in the Alpha's presence and I wasn't sure what to expect. The vague memories of playing chase with him as a child seemed like an outlandish fantasy.
The Alpha blew out a breath and relaxed, dropping into the seat beside me and taking my hand.
"You look just like your mother." He smiled sadly. He had trained my mother as her mentor, back before he became Alpha.
I peeped up at him shyly, a small smile managing to grace my lips.
He turned his attention to Jack then. "So? How is she doing? How worried should I be?"
My face flushed with indignation, but I knew better than to comment.
To my amazement, Jack laughed and slapped the Alpha on the shoulder. "Relax, man. Didn't you give me the job because you knew I could do it? More importantly... she can do it." He smiled at me fondly. "She works hard and even keeps me on my toes now. The few weeks to Qual's is all we need, I'm sure of it."
The Alpha looked at me doubtfully but nodded. "Fine. If you're sure. But the same applies to you two as to the rest. No days off..." he looked to me "no coffee shop..." then to Jack, "no dates."
I grinned at the same time as Jack grimaced.
"Aww come on, Jules. I can't train her 24/7." Jack grumbled.
My jaw near on hit the floor. Not only was he talking back to the Alpha, but he also called him Jules. The only time I ever heard anyone so much as mention Julian Row's name was from the lips of his Luna.
The Alpha smirked. "I'm certain it won't kill you to go without a mount for a couple of weeks."
I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Feeling very out of place I wished fervently that I could leave.
Jack sighed and rolled his eyes but conceded. "Fine."
Pleased, the Alpha nodded. "Good. Then it's settled. I expect you to keep me informed, Jack."
He stood, not bothering to say goodbye as he strode from the room.
As soon as we were alone, I kicked Jack in the shin.
"Ouch! What was that for!?" he grumbled, rubbing his leg.
"Seriously? You aren't going to explain? Jules?" I questioned. Equally intrigued and hurt that I hadn't known that they were so close.
Grabbing my hand, Jack pulled me to my feet. "Nope. Now... you heard the man. Training starts now."
We left the pack house and started down the gravel pathway into the woods. I was about to take the left to the training centre, but Jack grabbed my arm. "Nope. Coal will have his students there. We won't be able to fight while I'm shifted safely."
I nodded and followed, unsure what to expect.
We walked in companionable silence while I went over the plan I had been working on for our fight. I had been concocting it all morning and thought I might actually have a chance at winning if I could pull it off.
Thirty minutes later, almost out of the reach of our Pack-Land, we came to a big old building.
I had never been here before, and the dusty porch told me that it wasn't a frequent haunt of anyone's.
"What is this place?" I asked, as Jack led the way through the creaky old door and down a dark hallway. The walls had been smashed up quite a bit and cobwebs hung in every corner.
Jack looked sad for a moment before answering. "This is the old Pack House. No one comes here since the raids."
Suddenly, I saw the place with new eyes. The scratched and broken walls from wolves fighting. The brown stains on the floor from old blood of lost lives.
"Surely there is somewhere else we can go, Jack?" I half whimpered as we turned into a giant hall. It had clearly once been a large dining hall, but the furniture had long since been removed. All that was left was a thick layer of dust coating the entire floor, combined with plenty of broken crockery.
Jack ignored me and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the doorknob. He began kicking debris to the sides of the room, indicating for me to do the same.
He disappeared into a closet for a second before coming back triumphantly brandishing a broom.
"Clean up here, I'll be back soon ok?" he asked, while shoving the broom into my hands.
I tried to protest, but he was already out of the door.
Grumbling, I wandered over to the crank for the windows, high above my head. It took all my strength to break through the years of rust and get it to turn.
As fresh air wafted in, I began to sweep. Coughing as the dust billowed up with each brush stroke.
Grumbling, I tore off a strip from the bottom of my coffeeshop t-shirt and tied it around my nose and mouth as a makeshift mask.
I was just scraping what I could of the dirt pile onto the largest piece of crockery I could find when Jack got back. He was wearing his paper training clothes and lugging a huge duffle bag.
Standing, I wiped my dusty hands on my trousers and pulled my mask down to finally breathe cool air.
Jack laughed and dumped a bag on the floor, pulling out a jar of lemonade and throwing it to me.
I caught it easily, drinking thirstily and dripping some down my front. The cool liquid dripped down to my exposed midriff and I sighed contentedly.
As I finished, I looked up to see Jack watching me. His eyes were so dark they were almost black.
"What?" I asked, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand self-consciously.
Sighing, he shook his head and drank from his own jar. "Nothing. You ready to train?"
Shrugging, I looked down at myself. My jeans were less than ideal. "Ready as I'm going to be, I suppose. What's in the bag?"
Jack glanced down at it as if he had forgotten it was there. "Oh. Supplies. We are staying put until your Qual's."
I raised an eyebrow. He couldn't be serious.
Ignoring my obvious disbelief, he reached into the bag again and threw me a pair of women's shorts.
I narrowed my eyes at them before asking, "who's are these, Jack?"
Getting my answer from the smirk on his lips, I rolled my eyes. "You're such a whore."
I heard him laughing as I went into the hall to change.
Whoever they belonged to was clearly much smaller than I was. My large hips and muscular thighs made them swell, stretching them tight. They were cut quite low, displaying my abs, and almost showing my panties.
Grumbling, I walked back into the hall, throwing my hands in the air. "These are ridiculous! I'm going back to get my own clothes."
Jack had already shifted when I entered the room. He growled low in response and stalked between me and the exit.
Great.
"Fine. But don't blame me if I end up flashing you." I muttered, backing away from him as I lowered myself into a fighting stance.
My tactic was simple, keep him moving until he tired slightly, then take my shot.
We began our usual sparring, although today's lesson seemed much more violent. In the first five minutes, I had a large open scratch on my left calf, and he was limping slightly on his front right paw.
Again, and again, we tumbled and rolled, clashing and springing apart as I dodged the sharp points of his teeth and claws.
Eventually, just as I was tiring and accepting my plan was doomed to failure, I noticed him slowing too. His reactions became more sluggish and attacks less frequent.
Taking a deep breath, I harnessed the last of my energy and channelled it into my attack.
Rolling out from yet another pounce, I sprung to my feet.
I ran as if to leave the hall, hearing him dash after me.
As I neared the door, I shifted direction slightly and ran at the wall, jumping and using it as a base to propel myself backwards in a flip.
I landed with a breathless thump on Jack's back as he skidded to a halt.
Giving him no time to buck me off, I grabbed the soft fur around his jaw. Jerking my hands in opposite directions, I stopped short of snapping his neck.
We froze in position for a moment, before he let out a small growl of approval and I released him.
Staggering backwards. I fell to the floor against the wall, exhausted but victorious.
Padding out of the room, Jack was soon back in a pair of old grey shorts and a grin.
"I can hardly believe it, but you actually did it."
He grabbed us both some water and slid to the floor beside me.
I gulped my drink. the fizzy thrill of victory still buzzing inside me. I had finally won!