Chasing Forever: Jacob's Story

Warning Shots.

 I flip Saemus off my back, my hand around his throat and I slam him hard into the ground, holding him there. "You need to stop holding back. They aren't me. They'll actually rip your throat out with their claws."

 He nods and I stand, pulling him up with me. "Okay, J." He coughs, his throat obviously slightly sore. "Can we go again?"

 I shake my head as Julius makes his way over to me with Alison on his shoulders. "Go spar with Mike." I tell him. "He's not doing anything."

 I watch as he jogs away towards where Mike is leaning against an oak at the edge of the clearing, turning to Julius a moment later. "Nobody is taking this as seriously as they should be." I murmur to him when he's close enough. "They're all training like they normally do. They aren't moving fast enough or applying as much force as they should."

 Julius nods thoughtfully, his green eyes moving slowly around the clearing. "They have never had to take training seriously," He says crossing his arms over his chest. "War hasn't been threatened during your time. They don't know how serious this is."

 "Exactly." I say, reaching up to run my hands through my hair. "They don't know how to respond so they're just responding as though nothing is happening at all. They are going to get themselves seriously hurt. Or dead. And they aren't taking it seriously."

 Julius reaches out, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Patience Jacob." He murmurs, looking into my eyes. "They will all learn their lesson when the battle comes."

 I blink, looking around at my friends. "What if they don't..?"

 "They will." He says simply. "Our pack isn't one for the week. When they face their enemy's they will learn to reach a part of themselves that they didn't know existed."

 "What do you mean..?" I ask utterly confused.

 Slowly he leads me further and further away from the pairs practicing in the clearing. "What you must understand Jacob, is that war brings out parts of a man that he didn't know he had. It tests your strength, makes it even harder to break. They will be forced to meet the part of themselves they have always kept hidden."

 I blink. I can tell by the far away light in his eyes that Julius is retreating into a part of his brain that he has kept buried and I wonder what it is. "Julius?" I say slowly.

 "Hm?"

 "How many wars have you fought?" I watch his face harden slightly and a look of complete loss floods into his eyes.

 "Too many," He whispers.

 I pause for a second, not wanting to upset him. "What was it like?"

 He too pauses, and once again he retreats into himself for so long that I start to fear I've crossed a line I shouldn't have. "It was unnecessary." He says under his breath. "It did not need to be."

 "What happened.."

 He looks at me and all the hardness of being the pack Beta returns to his eyes. "Get back to the clearing. Break them into two patrols for dusk. You are to lead one, Mike the other. Start at opposite ends of our territory and make your way to the other. Cover all the land, do you understand me? Report back to me when you return."

 I nod. "Yes sir."

 He turns away quickly, running off into the trees faster than normal and for a second I'm torn between chasing after him and following his orders. Eventually the latter wins and I turn back to the clearing, wondering what war is going to do to us.

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