Moving out of the city was not her idea. Moving to the middle of nowhere in a foreign country was definitely not her idea, and leaving everything she knows and loves behind is the farthest thing from what she wants; since living with a Father, who h...
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Lily was aware of Damien watching but it wasn't her main focus. Her main focus was the white wolf squaring off in front of her. She knew on some level that beneath that fur was her friend and packmate Klaus, but more importantly, he'd had the nerve to challenge her wolf. He wasn't as large as she was but he was close.
Damien wasn't the only one watching either. The entire pack was here, in a circle around them. Both of them were panting. She'd gotten in a good hit on Klaus, injuring his back leg, forcing him to limp. He hadn't managed to touch her yet. Even Amara was present, bearing witness as she did for every wolf to undergo the training.
Turns out embracing her wolf hadn't been so difficult. It had only taken three days in the form of a wolf before she managed it. Now they were as one being in most things, except for Damien. Her wolf still wasn't convinced he was a fitting mate.
Once she'd turned back into a human, she'd been told by Damien that she was ready for training. Lily had been expecting to hit up a gym or do some hand to hand sparring or something. As it happened, training was really a kind of gauntlet. You were to square off against all able members of the pack. It was a way of establishing your hierarchy within the pack. First, she'd gone up against the females, from weakest to strongest, then the males all the way up the chain to Klaus. After Klaus, she would face Damien.
Lily alone didn't want to fight Damien for dominance but her wolf demanded nothing less. Since they were as one now, she found she could not deny her wolf's instinctual need for this. She'd been brutal with every wolf she'd faced and she knew it was because her wolf was an alpha. The weaker members of the pack had submitted without too much injury, but Klaus wouldn't go down so easily.
It didn't matter that they cared for each other like siblings. In matters of dominance personal feelings had no place. It was about which wolf was the stronger and that was all that mattered. They circled each other, waiting and watching for an opening. She feigned a stumble, and Klaus pounced. It was a rookie mistake, but he was tired and injured and desperate to maintain his position as the second.
She spun around behind him, slammed into his injured leg, forcing him to go down with a yelp of pain. In a second she was on him, mouth closing around his throat just hard enough to draw blood but not hard enough to kill. Warning growls rumbled through her and filled the silent clearing with deadly intent.
After a moment's hesitation, Klaus carefully twisted so that his belly showed and let out a low wine. She released his throat immediately and he licked her muzzle to show his submission. She licked his neck to soothe the teeth wounds there and then backed off, letting him turn back into a man. Klaus struggled into a standing position and smiled wanly at her through the pain. He was chagrined at having lost, but she could tell he was also proud of her and she knew there would be no hard feelings between them. She prepared to shift back into a human herself. expecting the next and hardest fight to be tomorrow, but she was wrong.
A low growl sounded behind her, full of challenge. She whirled and ducked just in time to avoid being knocked into oblivion by Damien's huge black wolf. She just barely managed to scramble around in time to meet his next attack. How was he so fast? Even fully rested his size should have slowed him down, but it didn't. He was so quick she was only just barely managing to avoid his teeth and claws.
His attack pattern was perfect. He didn't let himself open to attack even once. She could feel herself growing frustrated and angry. Her wolf was close to seeing red and she knew that would be a very bad thing. If they were going to win, they needed to be smart. Damien had watched her in every fight she'd won and he knew by now how she moved. Not only that but he was one of the original Werewolves and had centuries of experience on his side. The advantage in this fight was all his.
Finally, exhaustion made her stumble, and he wasted no time in taking advantage. He was on her in seconds flat, teeth sinking into her side. She yelped and twisted around trying to get her teeth into him but he was stronger than steel, evading her snapping jaws at every turn. Finally, she managed to shake him off, twisting quickly in her rage and she managed to get her jaws into his left flank.
She was exhausted and she knew she was outclassed, but if she didn't fight with everything she had she knew the outcome would never be true. She had to give it her all, so she locked her jaw and held on for dear life while he did his damndest to shake her off. finally, she could hold on no longer and she had to release him and stumble away. He was on her faster than she could compensate for and before she knew what hit her, his jaws were around her throat, biting down dangerously. He was playing no games.
Lily went still and allowed him to knock her to the ground. It galled her to do it but she knew she had no choice. She twisted so that her belly was vulnerable and whined her submission for all to hear. He held on to her throat for a long moment more and then he released her. She rolled over onto her stomach and then shook off her exhaustion from the fight.
She shifted back and got tiredly to her feet, uncaring of the blood running down her body from the wounds that were even now beginning to heal themselves. Damien stayed a wolf and howled for all to hear that he was still the dominant wolf, and still the alpha. Her pride was smarting, but she couldn't help smiling at his show of pride and victory. Now her wolf knew as well as she did, that Damien was a worthy mate.
And now, she was Luna in every sense but one. When Damien shifted back and met her gaze, she knew he was thinking the same thing.
