Arya sat on the ground, trying to breathe. The sweat on her forehead dripped down her reddened face.
Her trainer, Myers, stood a meter away, lecturing her about something, but her attention was on Alfa, who was laughing.
She had come fuming to the training arena thinking it would be her and Alfa, but here, Alfa stood with Rohan Myers, a middle-aged person, who boasted at training hundreds of undefeated warriors.
His record was that anyone who trained with him never fell in battle. Arya was wondering where his trained men were when the rogues attacked.
"Are you listening to me, Luna?"
"What?" Arya looked at Myers. "Yes, I'm listening."
"What did I just say?" Myers folded his arms over his chest.
"A... about... about the..."
"Luna, you are our strength. Our Alpha is just a leader, but you are his strength; meaning our strength. If something happens to you, our pack crumbles. Enemies won't attack our Alpha. They will attack you! Because killing you means killing the Alpha and his entire pack."
"He's right, love. You are my weakness. Myers is trying to make you my strength," Alfa chimed in.
Arya got off the ground and took her position.
"Eyes should always be on the enemy. Focus on his movement. His every step. Keep all your senses open and..."
Arya felt someone's hand coming from behind and she ducked and as the arm came into view, she quickly pulled at it, and Alfa came flying from behind and landed on his back in front of her.
"Well done, luna, well done," Rohan clapped his hand and cheered.
"See, my Alpha, I told you she will learn the basics easily. After lunch, I'll see you back here for another half an hour," saying that Rohan grabbed his bottle of water and a towel and headed to the pack house.
"Who's the coward now? Huh?" Arya said, as her mate got up.
"You did well, love. Now, let's grab lunch."
"Lunch? What time is it?" Arya said, shocked.
She had just woken up, freshened up, and rushed to the training arena after persuading Natalie for her training clothes. She didn't even have breakfast.
"Love, it's one-thirty. Now, let's go!"
Arya ran to catch up to him but couldn't stop in time and bumped Alfa from behind. She staggered backward, but before she fell, strong arms caught her.
Time stopped as they stared into each other's eyes. Arya was arched backward with Alfa above her, holding her in his arm in mid-air.
The air around them seemed to ring with a beautiful melody, and for the first time, Arya felt something like an electrical current run through her body.
Arya felt a longing inside her. She wanted him. The same man because of who her parents died. Her friend died. Her life turned around.
He had explained about her parents' accident, but no amount of explanation can rid the feeling of losing both parents together with a possible sibling. Her brother never even got a chance to live; to see the world.
She hated Kane, his father, for all this, and she wanted him dead. Kane is the reason they all suffered. Alfa may not be responsible for his father's actions, but how could she give Kane the chance to meet his grandkids, when her parents didn't even see her grow up, let alone see their grandchildren.
'Arya, I know how you feel, but mate isn't responsible for all this. If you want to live with him, you need to forgive and move forward. Mate loves us. He will do anything for us. Just give him a chance.' Bella said, sensing the shift in mood.
'Bella, something is happening, and I'm afraid of it. I want Kane dead. Even before I arrived, I wanted him dead. Won't it be unfair for Alfa that his own mate wants his father dead?' Arya said.
"Aria? Something wrong?" Alfa asked.
'Great. Now he knows we're thinking about something.' Bella said in Arya's head.
"Aria?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in... thoughts," Arya said, straightening up.
"Aria, what were you thinking?" Alfa asked, pain laced his voice.
"Nothing, just... training," Arya replied. Her eyebrow twitched.
Alfa just turned around and walked away.
It was only after Arya calmed down a little that she realized her heartbeat had betrayed her. Alfa knew she was lying.
'Braxen? You there?' Alfa asked, wanting advice from his wolf.
'She's pained. She cannot get over the past, and now, she feels she's betraying her family by coming closer to you.' Braxen replied.
'But I apologized.' Alfa said in his defense.
'She needs closure. The closure she never got. Don't worry, she loves us, and we will win her over.'
Lunch was quiet. Everyone could sense the change in the atmosphere. There was something amiss, but no one dared ask their Alpha or Luna.
After eating, Arya went back to the training arena.
"Luna, we will go to lesson two. How to defend yourself," Myers was saying, but Arya, try as hard as she may, couldn't concentrate.
"Luna, did you understand?" Myers asked. "Luna?"
"Huh? Yes, defense. How do I defend myself again?" Arya asked, feeling like a total fool.
"Luna Arya, I think we should continue this tomorrow. You seem distracted, and this distraction would get you hurt. If possible, practice what we learned today. I'll see you at six tomorrow morning," saying that Rohan bowed and walked away, leaving Arya to her thoughts.
"Arya!" Natalie called out.
By now, everyone knew about the human relatives of their Luna, so no one bothered them. Yes, the werewolves kept mostly to themselves and let them roam free, while certain areas, like the forest, were off limits.
"Hey, Nats, how's it going?" Arya greeted her.
"I love it here. How's your training going? Where's your trainer?" Natalie was looking around.
"Training is over for today. I was just going to head back," Arya replied, her voice pained.
"You don't sound too good. What's wrong?" Natalie asked.
"Just tired."
"Your eyebrow says otherwise," Natalie said, and as Arya looked at her, she quickly added, "But it's ok if you don't want to share. It's not like I can solve any pack problem anyway."
"Natalie, wait. Look, I have a friend who's also a werewolf, and her mates family made her parents' lives miserable in the past. Her mate was the reason her parents got killed, and now, this friend came here to take revenge, but realized that her mate bond is too strong for her to resist, yet she thinks if she doesn't take revenge, her dead parents will... feel betrayed. Yet, if she does go ahead and kill the father of her mate, her mate will feel pain, and she will feel his pain. What should she do?"
"First question, did she know all this before, or after getting marked... the 'his family destroyed her family' part?" Natalie asked.
"I think before."
"Then your friend should talk to her mate, and maybe there could be a solution they could both work on. Say, the father lives somewhere else, and she doesn't see him every day, and her mate apologizes for killing her parents..."
"He already apologized. But there's so many..."
"Arya, if your friend has to live in the same pack as her mate, she has to either trust in karma or simply talk to your mate."
"My mate?"
"Yes, Arya. Your friend, Arya, needs to talk to her mate, Alfa."
"How'd you...." "Mom told us everything in hospital. Everything."
"Mate...." came a growl.