The Lupine Necklace

Chapter 2

I was glad that John had come to visit, even if our meeting wasn't the best it could have been. Ian was really happy to see him and I was happy for Ian. John was really friendly and very funny. I could understand why they were friends.

When I left for training they were wrestling in the living room over some teasing insult that I missed when Jason asked if I should be getting ready for training. I yelled goodbye to the boys and ran out the door.

No one wants to be late for training. Dylan would work us to death if we were even a couple minutes late. We tend to get there at least five minutes early, just to make sure that doesn't happen.

Xena and Nate were already there, so we were just waiting on Lee. On Fridays and Saturdays we all train together, Sundays we all get off and then we each get one other day off during the week. Mine is Monday, Xena gets Tuesday, Lee on Wednesday, and Nate on Thursday.

"Hey, girl!" Xena called when she saw me walking towards the house. "How was your run?"

I smiled as I came even with them. "It was eventful, that's for sure."

Nate got serious. "What happened?"

I put my hand in his arm and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing bad. Ian's friend, John, came to visit and surprised me. I pinned him to the ground and Ian told me who he was. He's at the house with Ian right now."

"What made you pounce on him?" Xena asked me.

"He knocked Ian over," I told her. "Although, at the moment, I'd probably attack any strange wolf that happened across our territory."

They nodded and Xena said, "I'm with you there," as Lee bounded onto the porch.

"Whatcha guys talkin' about?" he asked cheerfully. We repeated the story for him and he laughed at me.

"Good girl," he praised. "You kick everyone's butts and we won't have to worry about you anymore."

I shook my head at him. Even if all this wasn't going down, they'd worry about me. They'd been watching out for me ever since Lee found me, even if I don't need it.

Now that Lee was here, we all headed inside together. We train in Dylan's basement most of the time. We've only been out in the woods training twice. Once was to learn to pick one scent out of multiple scents and one was to learn to track someone through the woods as a team.

The second didn't end well, seeing as I got attacked by a couple wolves and was injured. That training session was cancelled. Obviously. Hopefully, if everything stays quiet, we'll pick it back up.

"Good afternoon, guys. Let's head down to the basement," Dylan greeted us. He's pretty muscled, not quite up to Nate's level and he has sandy blonde hair and pale blue eyes.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Dylan's basement. We did some cardio and conditioning before we did some mock fighting. We started one on one and then two on two and then Dylan decided to do some uneven fights. This is normally something we do for fun, but during training, Dylan will yell instructions and things he thinks we are missing and tips for specific fighting techniques. Sometimes he will even stop a fight in the middle to explain a new maneuver and then tell us to resume and find a way to use it.

They're always very educational sessions and we learn a lot. Dylan is an excellent trainer and I wouldn't be surprised if he trains others when he's done with us. He began training us as a favor to Jason and Alice because when they step down, I will be alpha and Lee, Nate and Xena will be my second, third and fourth.

The other teens in the pack are trained by their parents, or if they're parents don't want to train them, they can train with their friends or not at all. Jason likes to leave that decision to the parents. If they need help finding a trainer, Jason is always happy to help.