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This one is a touch longer than normal and definitely emotional. Fair warning.
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"Faster!" I yell during shift training.

The men are getting much better. I leave them with Malak and walk over to my select group to work on our combat.

"Okay boys. When you fight shifting should be a natural thing. You should be fluid in your movement. As a wolf you are deadly but you are a bigger target. Use both forms to confuse and disorient your opponent. Never be predictable. Pair up and show me what you got." I order. I pair off with Randy the teen who hates me. I was right that he can be a strong warrior.

"Show me what you got. Remember to focus. Don't let emotions drive you. You have a task. Take me down. Nothing else matters." I tell the boy and he nods snarling at me.

He lunges at me and I dodge him. As I go for a counter strike he shifts nearly biting my arm. Impressive! He charges in wolf form than shifts to human at the last second landing a solid punch to my jaw. This just got fun!

We spar for a while and let me tell you the boy is good. The commander would have loved to have him as a Dog Boy. I shake the thought as I grab a couple bottles of water.

"Here." I toss one to the boy. "You did good. You'll be the top warrior if you keep this up." I compliment him.

"I still hate you." He growls as he storms off.

"Noted." I say as I sit down drinking my water.

"He's just an angry pup. He'll come around." One of the men, Carter, says as he sits next to me.

"Maybe... I don't blame him tho. He saw the aftermath of one of our missions. I'll tell you it's not a pretty sight." I tell him.

"I know." He says and I give him a look. "My big brother was Beta in one of the packs you took out. I had joined the royal pack a month before you killed my entire family. I went to see what happened. I was there hours after it was over. I saw everything. You were ruthless. Bullet wounds, silver daggers, teeth marks... It was carnage."

"I'm sorry." I choke out. How is he able to stand me after that? I killed his family! "Carter, there is nothing I can say or do to make up for.."

"You're right." He cuts me off. "There is nothing you can do to make up for killing them. But... I see who you are. You aren't responsible for it. You were a confused pup manipulated by the enemy. Right now you are helping us take out those truly responsible. If when you learned the truth you still turned on us this would be a different conversation but from where I sit... you were hurt just as badly by the hunters as any one of us if not worse. Keep being a worthy Gamma and you can honor those fallen. Train us so we can honor our families. So I can honor my brother."

"What was his name?" I ask and he smiles.

"Travis." He says and I nod.

"We win this war for Travis." I tell him as we stand up. He bows to me.

"Its an honor to fight with you Gamma Asher." He says.

"And you, Carter. You are a valued warrior." I respond and he walks away.

Maybe I can be redeemed.

"Asher I need you in my office." I hear the king link me.

"On my way." I respond. I take off my vest and throw on some clean clothes from my training bag before heading to the pack house.

"You called sir." I say as I enter the office. The room has three couples sitting on a sofa and a few chairs along with the king and Emily. I only recognize one other man as Alpha Ryan. All the people in this room exude power so I'd say they are all Alphas. "What's going on Alpha?"

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