Author's note: this is from Ottavio's point of view

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I was pleased to hear reports from Martine, Nila, and Horacio that the newcomers did well. They completed their tasks and didn't complain. That's good enough for me.

As someone who allocates duties, it's important to know that they are done. Teenagers can be willful and tend to skim over responsibilities, and I was prepared to give them a speech on how everyone needs to contribute, but these pups did well.

Before dinner, Fynn warned me, "She is mine and you are to stay away."

I would usually yield, but my wolf growled in protest. Jett doesn't talk much, so when he speaks up (or growls), I listen.

It took me less than a second to come up with a response for Fynn that will make me stay close to Seraphina.

"It doesn't appear she is smitten by you, Fynn. How about this… I will be your wingman and if there are signs that you are making a progress, I will let you have your privacy."

Fynn is good at training soldiers and commanding armies, but when it comes to the fine skill of conversation, that's my forte.

I could see him weighing his options for some time before he nodded in agreement.

Our kind is known for strength, speed, and tackling challenges the hard way. I am an odd one, a thinker. I also have good communication skills that earned me the nickname 'silver tongue'.

Damiano recognized my talents in verbally convincing others to do what I want, and he put me to work in managing non-warrior wolves at the Bluemoon pack.

I was doing great. I had a status that came with the finest suits, wine, and women. Everyone wanted to be on my good side, and many were giving me gifts and doing favors or bootlicking me. Ah… those were the good times. And then the war happened, and it all collapsed.

The she-wolves in our community are not bad, but the mated ones are off-limits, and the others wore off a few years ago. No toy will be interesting forever, and without the mate bond, we don't form attachments. To spice up our lives with some variety, we go to town, and this was the first time that a female of Seraphina's quality came to us, so it was natural that everyone got excited.

It was also understandable that Ari was boiling with jealousy. She loves to be at the center of happenings, and since all eyes were on Seraphina, Ari felt neglected. Yes, it's childish, but that is Ari. I hope she doesn't do anything reckless.

When I caught Lazarus's scent and confirmed it's coming from Seraphina's shawl, I thought that Fynn will blow a fuse. Lazarus and Fynn are not exactly enemies, but they can't stand each other. It's like the same side of a magnet, there is a repulsive force between them.

But then Seraphina said that they are friends and all three of us (Fynn, Bert, and I) stared at the girl like she was growing a second head. Lazarus? Friends? It sounded unbelievable.

Seraphina accepted to sit with us in the common room and when Fynn pulled a bottle of Blueberry Flame, I was shocked. Does he plan to get her drunk? He should know that if Seraphina gets drunk and something weird happens, Aldus will use us for his experiments. All of us.

No one knows exactly what Aldus does with his specimens (how he calls them), but those few that survived, refuse to talk about it, and all others just disappeared. I personally believe that he allowed those few survivors to live so their existence sends a message that whoever dares to cross him, will suffer immensely.

Well, if Fynn planned to get Seraphina drunk, it backfired.

Fynn was asking her questions about her background and she skillfully avoided revealing anything we didn't know already, and the next thing I knew, we were telling her details about our routine and lives, and then someone turned off the lights.

"Ugh…", I groaned as I shifted in my bed. How did I end up here?

'You should drink less.', Jett spoke in my head.

Oh, shit! Did I pass out? It's daylight outside which means that the night ended and Jett didn't get his run in the forest. No wonder he is grumpy.

'What happened to Seraphina?'

'She was fine when you fell on the floor. Vitto brought us here.'

I hoped that Jett was kidding, but he is not the one to crack jokes.

Jett and I are an odd pairing. We are total opposites to the point that our minds and bodies work as separate. We found out about this accidentally, when Jett ate poisonous mushrooms, and I was not impacted. For a whole week, every time I shifted into wolf form, my stomach would ache unbearably, and I would vomit, but in human form, it was all normal. The same is with alcohol. I can get drunk, and Jett is just fine. Too bad that I can't give him control over my body, it would save me some face as guys wouldn't tease me about low alcohol tolerance (for a werewolf); and we can't shift into wolf form either because I am too drunk to coordinate with Jett.

I dragged myself out of bed and looked outside to see the training ground. Fynn and Bert were there with pups and there was a small audience gathered and… Seraphina.

Bert was talking, and it seems that they were getting ready to start.

I remember Bert saying yesterday how he will make the pups perform some activities so that he can establish a benchmark and then work from there. Bert was quite excited, it's been a long time since he got a chance to work with recruits.

In order for our wolves to be healthy, we need to exercise in both forms, and Bert is an expert in activating every muscle in the body. Mornings and daytime are reserved for the human form, while at night we shift and let our wolves on the loose.

I quickly changed into exercising gear and headed downstairs.

Seraphina was wearing leggings and a t-shirt, will she participate? Maybe we finally get a hint what she is. So far, I know that she has an impressive alcohol tolerance, she is not a she-wolf and not a vampire. She smells like a human, but there is no way that pups would willingly follow a human so… I don't want to miss this.

"Don't be nervous…", I heard Seraphina say to the pups. "Just do your best and it will be fine. Let's do the warmup together." Seraphina started running in a light jog, and the three pups followed.

Fynn asked Bert to show him the plan and Bert was talking while Fynn's eyes lingered on Seraphina. Why did Fynn ask Bert for information if he will pay attention to Seraphina's ass? It is a lovely ass with just the right amount of bounce.

"What did I miss?", I asked when I joined the spectators who started slowly dispersing.

Normally, everyone would do their own thing outside or in the gym, and now that the show is over, I guess they are going back to their routine.

Ari snorted. "The Saintes offered to give company to scared pups. Yeah, right. Like a human can compare to werewolves."

"What is your problem, Ari?", Tessa snapped. "It is normal that pups will be uncomfortable because they are in an unknown place surrounded by strangers. Maybe you can't find it in yourself to help them out, but you should stop berating them. At least the woman is trying."

Tessa is usually calm, projecting the motherly vibe around her, and based on the irritation in Tessa's voice, I guessed that this was not Ari's first snarky comment.

Ari rolled her eyes at Tessa and Vitto interjected by asking Tessa to help him out. It was obvious that he was trying to split them up before it escalates.

Really, since Seraphina showed up, Ari is like a rabid porcupine.

I wondered how Ari would behave if a sexy she-wolf joined our community permanently. Seraphina is here only temporarily, and Ari can't keep it together. Talk about being childish.

I worked on my pull-ups when Seraphina and pups ended warmup of three laps around the main building and the parking lot.

It was not unusual that pups were only slightly breathy, but Seraphina didn't break a sweat. That is some good stamina.

Aldus joined on the training grounds when Bert was talking about a 400m run to the pups. "I want you to give me your all. The path is around this training area, don't cut corners…"

Seraphina waved at Aldus and jogged toward him.

"I did a warmup with them.", she said with a smile.

"Why only warmup?", Aldus asked. "Join them for other exercises."

Seraphina frowned for a second and Aldus waved to get Bert's attention. "Serina will join Zoe, Ash, and Luca. Is that a problem?"

Bert shrugged. "Not a problem…" His eyes lit up as he thought of something. "Tessa, can you join for the runs? It will help pups to see how professionals do it. Don't go easy on them."

"Don't worry about them.", Aldus told Seraphina. "Just do your best. I'm not comparing them with you, but when someone is ahead of you, it will help you improve."

"Yes, father.", Seraphina responded with a smile and joined the pups and Tessa who lined up at the start line.

All current activities stopped. Tessa is the fastest runner among us, and we all wanted to see how much distance she will put between herself and the others.

Bert puffed his chest while giving final instructions. It was obvious that he was trying to impress Seraphina. The same was with Fynn who stood next to Bert with his arms behind his back. Showoffs.

"Ready… set… go!", Bert announced the start of the run.

Just as expected, Tessa immediately took the lead, and with every next step, her lead was increasing. The pups were not a match for her, and I could guess that even after we feed and train them, they will still lag behind.

However, the surprise was that Seraphina was not allowing Tessa to increase her lead to more than two-to-three meters.

Tessa glanced back and pushed herself faster. Seraphina was right behind her, gradually reducing Tessa's lead.

Isn't Seraphina human? How is this possible?

I glanced at Aldus and his expression told me that he didn't expect this performance either. Interesting.

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