His Reluctant Luna

Ch 10 - Tough To Kill

ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Iona. Or Kole. Or Konnor. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘

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Freedom.

The word hung in the air, heavy over my captors and I as we stared out at the glorious landscape. It was so close, yet trapped as I was it felt a million miles away. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to find some peace before I exploded in frustration, but a strange sound bothered my ears.

"What's that noise?" At first I thought I was imagining things, but after a moment I heard it again. Shouts and the sound of muscle hitting muscle carried on the wind.

"You can hear that?" Konnor asked, "you have good hearing for a human."

"I thought you might like to visit the training grounds." Dinah smiled, the noises growing louder as she led us across the clearing.

"Why do I get the feeling you have an ulterior motive for this visit too?"

"She read you, Mom."

"Of course she did." She paused, turning to face me, "Tell me, what can you smell?"

"Smell? Am I looking for anything in particular?"

"No, just tell me if you can smell anything." She tilted her head at me, curious and waiting. Deciding to humour her, I inhaled.

"Damp earth, pine trees, the coffee you had with breakfast. The salt and metal of blood and sweat." I turned back to her, "why?"

"I just wondered if your sense of smell was as good as your hearing." She led the way then and I followed her in silence, enjoying being out in the open after days of imprisonment.

The sounds from the training grounds were truly exhilarating. I gasped as they finally came into view. The grounds, a vast open space, seemed to be split into various training groups. My gaze flitted from group to group, trying to take it all in.

"You guys fight with weapons?"

"If we have to. Pack wars are thankfully not as common as they used to be but they still happen. We have to be prepared for them." Her tone was grim and I could see old worry behind her eyes. Worry that had been there for so long it had engrained into her soul. She'd told me in that jail cell that they had troubles with a rival pack but I hadn't realised how serious that was until now. This rival pack could be the best thing for me or the worst. I would have to play that angle very carefully.

"Are you a strong pack?" I couldn't help but wonder what kind of pack I'd been thrown into, where they ranked in the grand scheme of werewolves. Were they bottom of the ladder or the top shelf sort?

"One of the strongest, though our history has fluctuated over the last fifty years. Despite that, our alpha's have always been fierce and well respected across all continents." She sounded proud and I couldn't blame her. "The pack weakened during my mates father's rule. When Jonah took over, we grew strong again, especially as Kole grew. It was clear from a young age what a good leader he would be, he gave us all so much hope for the future. But over the last decade we have grown weaker, still feared, but the enemy circles like jackals. There are few places we can settle and live freely in this human inhabited world, you see. This land we own is prized and there are many who would take it from us if they got the chance."

"Hence the training."

"Hence the training." She watched me out of the corner of her eye. "You could learn to fight too, if the alpha will allow it. Proper precautions would be taken of course but you should know how to defend yourself."