Fall of the Packs: Blood Ties

Chapter Two

"Let's go!"

Cameron's booming voice rang across the clearing as the shafts of sunlight broke through the pine branches. Aaron hastily swallowed the last bite of his breakfast and stood up at his father's call. The giant sable shepherd strode up, grinning. "Are you ready? Today's going to be difficult!"

"More difficult than when Chronos made us run laps for an hour?" Seamus asked sullenly.

Cameron laughed. "Yes. Well, I suppose it depends on your strengths. You worked on endurance then. Today we're going to work on your balance."

"Have fun!" called Sunlight, a slightly mocking tone to her voice as she left with a patrol. She and her siblings had been trainees not long ago, but they had just attained their full-ranks and no longer had to do grueling training exercises.

"Yeah, thanks a bunch," Aaron grumbled, falling in beside Tara and Seamus as they followed Cameron, Blizzard, and Dusty out of the clearing into the forest.

They trekked for a short while until they reached the river, which flowed through their territory and into the lake. A fallen tree was lying over the expanse of the river and Cameron trotted up to it.

"Balance is incredibly important in battle," he barked. "If your opponent manages to knock you over, then things will begin to go south pretty quickly. They can attack your stomach, which is very vulnerable, or even go for your throat. So, in order to avoid that, today we're going to teach you how to keep your balance. Can I get a volunteer?"

"Me!" Seamus jumped forward. "I'm great at balancing."

"Well, we'll see," Cameron said simply. "Dusty?"

The Anatolian Shepherd nodded and suddenly ran across the tree to the other side. The trunk shook beneath him but he didn't look like he was even close to falling off.

Tara's eyes widened. "Wow," she said, and Aaron nodded in agreement.

Cameron turned back to Seamus with a smile. "Think you can do that?"

Seamus sniffed. "Of course," he said, but Aaron saw uneasiness flicker across his face as he eyed the tree. Taking a deep breath, he jumped onto the trunk. It wobbled and he froze. After a few moments, he began to inch forward haltingly.

"Come on, we don't have all day!" Blizzard barked.

Seamus gritted his teeth and began to walk faster. He was about halfway across when he suddenly slipped and fell into the river.

Aaron and Tara burst out laughing. After floundering in the river for a while Seamus clambered out, glowering at them. "Yeah, you laugh now," he snapped. "I'd like to see you make it!"

"On that note, who'd like to go next?" Cameron asked, hiding a smile. "Shall we see who can make it across first?"

"Oh, I can do it," Aaron said confidently. I'll show that smug little jerk.

He climbed onto the tree trunk, digging his claws into the bark. It shook beneath him but he tried his very best to make it look like he was not at all concerned about falling off. He started slowly then began to pick up speed as he went further along. This isn't so hard, he thought. Although it's not too surprising Seamus couldn't do it--

A piece of bark suddenly gave out beneath his paw and before he could even realize what was happening, he fell headfirst into the river.

The first thing Aaron heard when he got his head back above water was Seamus' mocking laughter. With a growl, he splashed water in the Shiloh Shepherd's general direction. "Yeah, yeah, so it's not as easy as it looks," he grumbled. "I still got farther than you did!"

"It's always tough the first time around," Cameron said generously. "Dusty's good at it now, but you should have seen him the first few times he tried it. Kept tripping over those long legs of his!"

The trainees snickered while Dusty gave Cameron a good-natured glare. Blizzard nodded to Tara. "Well, you're up. Do you think you can do better than these two?"

Tara smirked. "I can do better than them in my sleep, Dad." She jumped up onto the tree, tail waving confidently. "Just watch and see how natural greatness does it, boys."

"My dinner says she'll fall in before she makes it halfway," Aaron whispered to Seamus.

He grinned. "You're on."

Stepping carefully, Tara made her way along the trunk. She was a short distance from the other side when her legs began to wobble. After hesitating for a split second, she jumped and just made it over the tree's roots. Recovering quickly, she pranced to Dusty's side.

"Looks like someone doesn't have dinner tonight!" Seamus laughed while Aaron muttered a curse under his breath.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Tara called teasingly.

"Whatever, Tara," Aaron called back. "I didn't ask for your opinion!"

"All right, that's enough," Cameron chuckled. "Good work! But can you make it back across?"

The training session lasted until late afternoon until all three trainees were soaked and Aaron's stomach rumbled with hunger. Both he and Seamus had managed to make it across more than once, while Tara had taken a few dips into the river herself. The older dogs kept pushing them to make it across faster and faster than last time, and Aaron's paws were raw and sore from gripping the rough bark of the tree. Still, Aaron knew why they were pushed so hard. Defenders were meant to be the deadliest fighters possible, and Storm Pack had a standard of excellence they had fought hard to obtain. Aaron was determined to make his parents and his pack proud.

The three trainees were relaxing in the clearing, chatting amiably about the training session, when the hunters returned, hauling a deer. "Hey!" Sortita called as she and Mercy bounded up to them. "How was training?"

"Exhausting," Aaron replied.

"And for some of us, costing of our dinners," Seamus smirked. Aaron shoved him in response.

"Well, ours went pretty great if I do say so myself," Sortita said, no small amount of satisfaction in her voice. "We practically brought down that deer by ourselves, didn't we, Mercy?"

"Not all by ourselves," Mercy said modestly. "But we certainly helped a lot more than we did last time."

"Oh, you mean you didn't scare off all the prey for a mile?" Tara asked with an eyebrow raised.

Sortita flicked her sister's nose with her tail. "Hey, out of the two of us, which one looks like a drowned rat?"

The friendly bickering came to a halt as Kestrel called everyone around for the meal. Solstice, Tara and Sortita's aunt and the preceptor, said the prayer and then the dogs began to come forward for food in order of hierarchy. Aaron twitched impatiently, hoping there would still be enough left for him even after Seamus took a double portion. Thankfully, the deer was big and Aaron took a large chunk with him when he went to sit with his family.

"Aaron made lots of progress today," Cameron was saying proudly. "He definitely takes after his mother."

Rachael gave a pleased smile. "Oh, I'm sure. But he's just as much of a charmer as his father."

Aaron rolled his eyes and whispered to Mercy, "Why do they always have to get so lovey-dovey when we're around?"

"I think it's sweet," Mercy said. "Don't you want to have something like that someday?"

Aaron's gaze flicked across the clearing to where Sortita was eating. "Maybe. But when I do get a mate, we're not going to make everyone sick by mooning over each other constantly."

Mercy just shook her head, smiling, and took another bite of her food.

WOO! What a week. My hands are bruised but the retreat was awesome and now I'm back. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!