Carmen's POV
"Pick up the pace you two! Don't even think about going easy on each other!"
"Artemis," Sapphire panted out, "I don't want to hurt her. We're too worn out, we've been at it forever."
"Well maybe if you two stopped having sex all the time, then she'd have more energy."
Sapphire growled, but Artemis held a stern look.
Everyone has been practicing their skills on each other since early morning. No one was to be on patrol anymore.
Sapphire was currently in wolf form sparring with Luna. They were doing great so far, only right now, they were too exhausted to go on. When they came back from patrol, they didn't have time to rest, and were to start training immediately.
I looked up at Artemis. She was standing next to Jen with her arms crossed. They were taking a break, along with Griffin and I. Everyone else was practicing.
"Come on, give them a break, Artemis." I requested. "Let them rest for a few minutes."
She looked down straight into my eyes. I was in wolf form also, so I lowered my head a bit, then eventually laid it back down on Griffin's lap. "Or not..." I sighed.
"Fine." Artemis finally surrendered. "Take ten, then get back to training."
Sapphire quickly plopped down on the ground with her limbs spread out. "Thank goodness." She said as Luna sat down and leaned against her. Sapphire licked her face, then nuzzled her.
Darcy came walking towards them. Things have been interesting between those three for a while now, so I listened in on their conversation.
"So uh," Darcy started, "seems like everyone else has a partner except for me, so, I'm training with you guys. You know, after you rest."
Luna and my sister exchanged a look. Luna nodded, then said, "Alright, I can take both you and Sapphire on."
I was a bit surprised by Luna's confidence. I don't want to be mean, but she's not the best hunter around... She has been improving though, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes.
Sapphire's POV
Darcy shifted to her wolf, then stood next to me. Luna stood across from us. she was getting herself prepared. Jen and Artemis went off to train together while Carmen and Griffin stayed behind to watch.
"You sure you want to do this?" I asked Luna.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just don't hold back."
I glanced at Darcy. She gave me a nod. Then we shot off at Luna at the same time. I wasn't planning on seriously injuring my girlfriend, but I'm not too sure about Darcy.
Luna dodged Darcy by stepping to the side, but she stepped on something which caused her to lose balance. I took the opportunity to attempt to pounce on her. She quickly rebounded though, and pulled out a huge curved blade. She held it horizontally so That I ended up chomping down on the metal blade. Luna held me back for a few seconds, since I wasn't giving it my all.
Darcy came from behind Luna and pounce on her. She let go of her knife, and I threw it across the ground. Darcy had Luna pinned on the ground, but Luna kicked Darcy's gut, and managed to break free. She then kicked her snout, causing Darcy to flinch and step back. I ran towards Luna again, but she saw me in the corner of her eyes. She did a flip, and landed on my back. I never even knew she could do flips, but it figures she'd have a few tricks up her sleeve.
Darcy regained her composure, then attempted to come at us, but Luna pulled out a knife from her back pocket. She wrapped herself around my neck, and aimed the knife towards my skin. "Move any closer, and I 'slit' her throat." Luna called out to Darcy.
Darcy instantly froze in her tracks. Luna loosened her grip around my neck.
"Good strategy babe, but, it might not work 100% on our opponent."
Luna jumped off my back. I signaled to Darcy, telling her to break for a few. I turned my attention back to Luna. "See, the Elders, especially my grandmother, are one to think that if a wolf is clumsy enough to get themselves stuck in a hunter's hands during battle, then they're no use to the pack."
Luna stared at me, dumbfounded.
I sighed. "I mean, they'll kill the weakest link in the pack to ensure victory. So if you take one of them hostage, they'll kill you, and the wolf you've captured."
She sighed, then sat down. "These guys are going to be hard to crack."
"Yeah, no kidding."
The rest of the day flew by way too slowly. Everyone except for the usual group had gone to rest. Luna, Carmen, Griffin, and I stayed so that Jen and my sister could address something.
Before Artemis spoke, she whispered in Jen's ear, who in turn, nodded. My sister sighed, but then cleared her throat.
"I know you're all tired, and I know you all probably hate me for pushing you past your limits, but you guys did an acceptable job today. It's gonna be 10 times more worse than what went down today though. With that said," she paused, "Jen and I have agreed that you three hunters will not be fighting with us."
Now with this news, you would've thought that they'd be relieved with this right? Well, they weren't. To my surprise even, Griffin and Luna were upset at the change in plans.
"So, what will we do instead of fighting?" Griffin asked.
"We're going to be out of sight from the scene." Jen responded. "I know a place that's near here where we can stay until everything dies down."
"Wait, so we're just going to go into hiding while everyone else fights?" Luna asked.
Jen nodded.
"This is bullshit. I'm not going to sit around while everyone else risks their lives like this."
"You three are the main target. The pack's main focus are you three. That's why you need to be out of sight.'' Artemis tried to explain.
"Yeah but..."
I put my hand over Luna's. "I'm gonna have to agree with this. It's probably best if you're not around when the pack arrives."
Luna stared at me for a while, but then surrendered. Carmen managed to calm Griffin down as well.
Artemis dismissed us so we all retreats to our rooms. I quickly changed out of my athletic clothes and replaced them for a tank top and black laced underwear. I then slid into my bed and pulled the covers over my body. Luna stayed by the door and just stared at me.
"Um, is everything alright?" I asked.
"No." She said. "I can't believe you're just going to let Artemis make all the decisions, and have us not fight by your side. Instead you'd rather us go into hiding?"
I sat up in my bed. "I don't understand why it's a big problem? You'll be safe and away from the violence."
"But, I want to give the pack a piece of my mind. I'm not going to run away like a coward."
"It's not a cowardly thing to do. I just think that You sister and mine have a point. It makes sense for you guys to be out of sight since you're the main target."
"Yeah, but I want to avenge my parents an Tina. They died in their claws. I'm not going to let them get away with killing those that I loved."
I sighed. "I understand your point, Luna."
"No, I don't think you do." She raised her voice at me. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love in the hands of a monster."
I squinted my eyes at her. "Oh, so now we're monsters now?"
"Not you, Sapphire, you know what I meant..."
"And for your information," I interrupted her, "I do know what it's like. Your parents killed my father the same night your family was attacked. I wasn't really close to my dad, but I still loved him."
"I... I'm sorry, I didn't know."
I stepped off of my bed and walked towards her. "You know, not once did I classify you hunters as 'monsters,' even though you guys have killed numerous pack members that I've associated with." I felt myself start to shake slightly, but I tried to control myself as best as I could. "So, what makes my kind monstrous? Is it because of the fact that we have another being living inside of us?"
"You know I didn't mean it like that." Luna tried to explain herself.
"Then what did you mean? Please, explain it to me."
"Sapphire, just please calm down." Luna brushed her hand against my arm to try to calm me down.
I stepped back. "Don't touch me. If you really feel that way about what I am, then don't even bother speaking to me either." I brushed passed her and stormed out of my room.
I walked out from the house, and shifted mid stride outside. I heard Luna call after me, by I didn't bother turning back. I just needed to leave and get some fresh air before I did something that I would regret.
Artemis' POV
"Oh god, harder, harder!"
I smirked to myself as I felt Jen grind herself against me in a rapid pace from under me. We wasted no time getting it on as soon as we entered the house. We only had a few days until battle, so I wanted to make sure to cherish the moments I had left with my girl, just in case one no us doesn't make it.
I sat ourselves up from our former laying position. I pushed her against the wall that the bed lay against and continued pleasing her. She moaned in my ear as I rubbed against her the best that I could.
Just as she was coming, I heard faint footsteps in the living room. I then heard the front door open then slam shut. Next, I heard Luna shouting after someone, but I didn't know who because Jen was currently screaming in my ear.
When we settled down, I laid Jen back down on the bed. I got up and put on my blue robe. "I'll be right back." I said and kissed Jen on her forehead.
"Hurry back." She winked at me.
I left the room and saw Luna looking out the front door. I turned the porch light on, and saw human footprints that had changed to paw prints.
"What happened?" I decided to ask.
"I got Sapphire upset." Luna answered. She wiped away a stray tear. "She ran off somewhere."
I stared at the girl, wondering what she could've said to get my sister upset. Sapphire's head over heels in love with this girl so why did she run off?
"Don't worry. She'll be back by morning. She probably just needs time to think."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." I nodded. "We used to fight all the time, and she'd run off without letting us know of her whereabouts. But, she'd always be home the next day. If she doesn't return by noon, I'll go search for her." I turned off the porch light. "Go get some rest."
Luna nodded, then went back to her room. I returned to my room also, took off my robe, then cuddled next to Jen.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Sapphire and Luna got into a small argument, so my sister ran off."
Jen had a concerned look on her face. "Is Luna okay? Maybe I should check on her."
"Trust me, they'll be fine by tomorrow. Think of them as our past selves." I assured her.
Jen looked at me, but then relaxed. "If you say so." She said, then closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep.
I smiled, then relaxed myself. My sister is such a drama queen, but I hope she doesn't get herself in trouble out there.