Forged in Fire (Forgotten Series, #2)

Chapter Nine: Part Two

I ran through the forest, pushing my body to the limits. My breath came in ragged gasps but I forced myself to continue because I had not been told to stop. My mother called it training. I called it torture and if she would have heard me say it I would have been slapped upside the head.

What is an Alpha's main concern? My mother's voice was sharp in my head and I struggled to breathe as I thought of the answer. I was forced the think as I ran, it was how she trained. I needed to learn to make plans, decisions, and formulate thoughts even as my body wanted to give up. It would make me stronger.

The pack, The family, the future. I sent it back and leapt over a fallen log. My legs burned but I could feel my wolf lending me her strength. My legs grew stronger and I surged forward. I laughed as I fell back into her strength. We were a team, stronger together than we ever were apart.

Wrong. Do another lap. Her voice was sharp and I wanted to groan but I refrained. An Alpha's main concern is always family and the future because without either there is no pack. You never put the pack ahead of your family. It breeds weakness. If the Alpha family is not strong, the pack is not strong. Your family is the blueprint for how the pack runs. If you have a fractured family. You have a fractured pack. The words were said carefully and delivered with an edge of bitterness. I winced before thinking of a quick way to pull her mind away from Torvus.

An Alpha's faults are Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Vanity, Wrath, Lust, and Sloth. Every shifter experiences the faults but the power that comes with the Alpha position increases these faults until the point they can consume. An Alpha must always keep his mind on the main concerns to temper the faults or the Alpha will fall and the pack will fail. I bolted around the marker tree and headed back in the direction I had come from.

Very good, Shey. I didn't ask for it but you said that flawlessly. You've been studying. Pride laced her voice and I beamed widely, even as I panted. My run was starting to wear on my wolf as well. Her strength was limited while we were in human form. It wouldn't be long before I would collapse from the strain of the maintained speed.

Your second in command suggests you take over a settlement to the east of your territory but it's dangerously close to an enemy territory. He has made a plan where you can take the settlement without the other territory knowing. It seems to be in order. How do you respond? Her voice was back to being hard and sharp and I thought for a fraction of a second.

I shook my had slightly, I didn't have enough information. Size of the enemy territory? Every bit of information mattered when making decisions of a pack. I needed to pay attention to everything that was said and was told to me.

Smaller than yours but runs more male warriors while your territory is more families. You run female warriors to balance that but despite their training they are more inclined to stay with their children. She delivered it quickly and I dodged to the side, avoiding a tree before I narrowed my eyes. With the enemy territory having more male warriors and mine using both male and female, I had a numbers advantage.

Allies of enemy territory? Knowledge of the enemy was just as important as the knowledge of my own territory. I would know the insides of my own territory and if I had an enemy territory then their allies would be my potential enemies.

Only one but it's much larger than yours with more warrior. Enemy territory Alpha Female is the daughter of the ally territory's Alpha. Family always made for a more complicated situation if things got out of hand. The Alpha of the ally territory would do anything to protect his daughter if he saw there was a threat. The reaction would be instantaneous and probably not in my favour.