Chapter 30
25 Points
ng with Megan
Lyra stood awkwardly at the entrance to the training grounds, trying to ignore the obvious stares from passing warriors as she scanned the area for Russ. She had spen and Donovan, leaving them shortly after lunchtime. Now she shifted he dreading what was to come.
“Hey, Lyr!”
m foot to foot,
She turned to see Russ walking toward her, wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt. He swept her into a hug before motioning for her to follow.
“I’ve got you set up with a group of entry–level warriors,” he explained as they walked. “These are kids who didn’t make it into the academy but still want to train. Not all of them will make it, but we don’t like to turn people away right at the beginning. Sometimes people surprise you.”
“I won’t,” she muttered.
“Hey.” Russ gave her shoulder a light shove. “Don’t talk about my friend like that.” He shook his head. “They’re all really young. Most are seventeen; I think one is eighteen. So you’ll definitely be
the oldest.”
“Great,” Lyra sighed. “Just what I need. To be shown up by a group of pups eight years younger
than me.”
“You’ll be fine,” Russ said. “Plus, the trainer is Lexi. She’s awesome. I made sure to pick someone who wouldn’t be so…” He waved a hand in the air, searching for the word. “…hostile toward you.”
“Hostile?”
“Okay, fine. Asshole–ish.” He grinned.
Lyra laughed despite herself. “Is that the official term?”
He shrugged. “I know Jake wants to believe everyone in the pack will welcome
arms, but I grew up watching how people treated you. I wanted to make sure
open
aired you
with wouldn’t hold your background against you. You already have enough stacked against you, I don’t want to make it worse.”
Lyra stopped and threw her arms around Russ in a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For always looking out for me.”
“Of course.” He patted her back and then pulled away, studying her closely. “Are you okay? I know yesterday was rough, but you seem… more off than I expected.”
“There was some other stuff too.” Lyra sighed and adjusted her ponytail. “I’ll tell you later when we have more time.*
Chapter 30
He nodded. “Yeah. Definitely.”
+25 Points
They reached a small group of very young–looking warriors who were laughing and joking together but fell silent the moment they saw Lyra. There were three men and two women, all looking at her with a mix of curiosity and barely concealed judgment.
“Good morning,” Russ greeted, glancing at the group.
“Good morning, Gamma,” they chorused.
“This is Lyra,” he said, introducing her. “She’ll be joining your training group.”
No one responded. They only looked between her and the gamma.
“Good morning!”
Lyra turned to see a petite blonde hurrying over.
“Glad to see everyone is already here.” She smiled brightly. “Good to see you too, Gamma. This must be Lyra.” She extended a hand. “I’m Lexi. It’s nice to meet you.”
Lyra shook her hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
“The gamma already filled me in on everything,” Lex said warmly. “I think you’ll fit in well with our group. Right?” She gave the others a pointed look.
They murmured a lukewarm agreement.
Russ nodded. “Alright, Lex. I’ll leave you to it.” He gave Lyra’s shoulder a squeeze before walking
off.
**
Training was intense. Lexi started them off with a run, something Lyra hadn’t done in a long time. She struggled to keep up, but one of the women, an eighteen–year–old named Halle, stayed by her
ou had side, chatting about whatever came to mind. She said running went by faster w something else to focus on, though Lyra wasn’t so sure she agreed.
After the run, they moved on to combat drills. Lexi paired Lyra with Halle again, who clearly had experience and guided her through the moves when Lexi was busy with the others.
They hit the weight room afterward, where Lyra felt even more like a weakling watching the others lift far more than she could manage. But no one said a word about it. Gage, one of the guys, even helped correct her form on a few exercises.
They ended with another run. Lyra was sure she was going to die, but Halle stuck by her again, talking and encouraging her all the way. They finished with stretches back at the starting point.
“Good job today,” Lexi said with a smile, wiping sweat from her forehead. “We’ll meet again tomorrow at the same time.”
Chapter 30
TI be dead by then,” Lyra muttered.
+25 Pointa
Halle laughed. “You won’t, but you’ll probably wish you were. You’re going to be sore tomorrow.”
“Oh, good. Something to look forward to.” Lyra flopped onto the grass
“You’ll get used to it,” Halle said reassuringly, taking a sip of water. “C
won’t seem so bad.”
or so, and it
“I doubt that.” Lyra wiped her face and stared up at the blue sky. Then she smelled it. Eucalyptus
and mint.
“Hello, Alpha.” Halle jumped to her feet nervously.
Jake leaned over Lyra, filling her vision. “How was training?”
“It sucked,” Lyra replied.
He chuckled and looked at Halle. “What did you think of training?”
“It was good.” It came out like a question.
“I heard you were helping Lyra out,” he said, smiling.
She nodded, clearly unsure what to say.
“I appreciate that. I appreciate anyone who looks out for my mate.”
“M–mate?” Halle stammered. She glanced down at Lyra. “You didn’t mention you were the Alpha’s
mate.”
Lyra shrugged. “Slipped my mind.”
Jake laughed. “I doubt she wants everyone to know just yet,” he said to Halle. “But I’ll tell anyone
who’ll listen.”
Halle placed a hand over her heart. “That’s so sweet,” she whispered.
Lyra snorted. “Just ignore him, Halle.”
Jake smiled down at her. “She thinks I’m sweet.”
“Goddess. Just what your ego needs.”
“I should probably get going,” Halle said quickly, glancing between them. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lyra?” Her cheeks flushed. “Or should I call you Luna?”
“Lyra is fine,” she sighed. “And yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Halle scurried off, glancing back over her shoulder at Jake.
“Did you have to tell her?” Lyra asked, still lying on her back.
Chapter 30
He looked down at her. “I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen. want everyone to know you’re mine.”
It was sweet, and it made her heart swell.
He reached down, took her hands, and pulled her to her feet. He held
over, then lifted a hand to her chin and tilted it to inspect her neck.
“All healed,” she whispered.
+25 Points
turning her wrists
“I see,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her neck softly. “I’ll keep it that way.” His lips moved to the
corner of her mouth, sending her heart racing.
“It’s dinner time.” Jake tugged her hand, pulling her along. “Let’s eat, then we’re heading to the
woods.”
“The woods?” She wrinkled her nose.
“You need to shift again today.”
“Ugh.” Lyra groaned. “Do I really have to?”
“Yes.” Jake gave her a firm look.
“I’m already exhausted from training.”
“I know. But we can’t slack off on building your strength. After what we learned yesterday, it’s more important than ever.”
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