A knock on the door stirred me out of my sleep. The sun was already shining through my window, making me groan in pain as it blinded me when I opened my eyes. Goddamnit. Yuri obviously took that sound as an invitation and barged right in.

“Wakey, wakey, Reid,” he called out way too loudly and threw something at me. I blinked away the colorful spots in front of my eyes and picked up the wrapped chicken sandwich.

“Wha?” I asked, yawning, still feeling half asleep.

“Breakfast, eat quickly, we have stuff to do,” he said and went to my closet.

“Stuff?” I looked up at him in confusion and realized he was wearing shorts and a tank top. Gods that little shirt only made his muscular torso seem bigger. I shook my head, rubbing my face. Shit, he should have brought me coffee instead of a sandwich.

“Yeah, Trystan is calling us down for some training,” he said and threw me my new sweats and a t-shirt.

“Us?” I asked ironically knowing damn well he would never be calling for me. I got up though and quickly went to the bathroom while Yuri made himself comfortable on the bed.

“Well yeah, he’s calling me and Colwyn. Just be grateful I came for you.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks, man.” I splashed my face with some cold water finally waking myself up fully. After that, I got dressed and ate my sandwich before we even got to the kitchen.

The house sounded quite empty, most of the warriors were probably on a patrol, the rest I could hear behind the house. Trystan had assembled the warriors in training and others under the porch, obviously ready for one of his speeches. When we walked out he turned around and frowned at me, then at Yuri who squirmed uncomfortably under the Prince’s gaze. Oh, Yuri… You must be getting a lot of hate for being by my side… I felt both really guilty and really happy. In the end who wouldn’t want the support of their best friend?

“You’re late. Get in line,” he said and turned his back on us. In the said line there was already Diego, Marc, Akira, Colwyn, and Dyson. That meant Ryan, Nikolai and Katashi were on a patrol.

“Considering everything that has happened,” Trystan said when we took our positions, “Alpha and I decided to have a training session to make sure you all know how to fight our enemy. First, we’ll start with some hand-to-hand combat then we’ll train with daggers. Fighting against cadracs in wolf form is actually harder than in human form so be aware of that.”

Everyone was wearing either shorts or sweats and a t-shirt even though there was snow everywhere. Trystan even had us take off our shoes and socks. Damn the snow was cold but since we were all so manly and super powerful no one made even the slightest sound. Fucking hell this posing was so stupid…

It has been a long time since I got to join an honest to god training session. The main circle of the pack, which was the Alpha, beta, shield, and warriors had a training session at least once a month and young wolves and warriors in training had one once a week. The last session I had was when I was sixteen… With Bran and Yuri. Fuck that was a long time ago.

Trystan of course took the lead, he always called down two wolves and watched them fight, commenting on their moves. The rest of us backed up on the porch and watched as well. Right now Dyson fought Yuri and Akira fought Diego. She wolves didn’t mostly join pack fights, some packs were stricter about this rule than others. The Silver Hearts had a she-wolf beta and Akira was a damn good fighter, she had no problem kicking me down on my ass when we were younger. Yeah, the Ghealach blood wasn’t made for good little princesses. No, my sister was a fighter.

As we watched, Sina, Lowell, Ivan, and Hiro came out of the house as well watching intently. Damn this all felt so… familiar… Nothing has really changed here, I realized suddenly. And why would it? Just because I left and struggled for years didn’t mean anything would change around here.

“So, you up for a fight?” Colwyn suddenly appeared by my side. I looked at him, raising my eyebrow. He smiled leaning on the fence of the porch. “That’s how I planned to start the conversation but I’m too afraid you’ll take it seriously and kick my ass.”

“That so?” I laughed, thinking that he had a pretty good chance of taking me on. He wasn’t the little unconfident kid anymore. I saw it in his eyes as he looked at me now, he gained confidence, enough to become a warrior it seemed.

“Yeah, you look even more scary than ten years ago. Damn, I was so happy when you finally left the pack,” he said, making me stiffen. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to phrase it like that.” He shook his head and I realized he was nervous, so damn nervous. “What I’m trying to say is… Well…”

“He’s fucking your sister.” Marc turned, yelling over Colwyn’s mumbling.

Colwyn froze, dread in his eyes. I just stood there and stared at him in shock. I so did not need to hear that.

“Oh, go to hell Marc, that is none of your business,” Akira growled as she threw Diego down into the snow. “Or Reid’s.” She frowned at me.

“Yeah, it’s totally not.” I shook my head, taking a step back, not wanting to get murdered.

“Well, I didn’t mean to say it all like that.” Colwyn sighed, hiding his face in his hands.

“Hey, this is a training session. Less talking, more fighting,” Trystan ordered, frowning. “Reid, you're up against Diego.”

“Shouldn’t we be looking for the Mercenaries? Why are we training now?” I said, my wolf still feeling the hunt. I so didn’t want to fight Diego. I could swear Trystan picked him on purpose…

“What is it? Scared?” Diego said, his eyes glowing yellow almost orange.

It was a challenge, such a damn childish challenge. But I was a dominant wolf, I could never step back from a challenge. “In your dreams, old guy,” I growled, jumping down from the porch. Diego was shorter than me with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He came from Spain with his son Marc when I was only six. He quickly worked his way up the hierarchy. He was ruthless when it came to fighting, as far as I remembered, Katashi, Nikolai, and my Father were the only ones who could beat him in a real fight.

I took my place in front of him, taking the proper stand. There was no counting, there was no start. He just lounged at me, fists flying, fast, aggressive. He forced me to back off to block and didn’t give me time to counterattack. I expected that it might have been ten years, but seeing him fight with Akira brought back all the memories. Diego fought hard, not smart. I was more patient though, dodging and blocking, waiting for an opportunity. I didn’t have to wait long. Soon I managed to crouch and hook his foot from under him, quickly followed by a kick to his stomach so he would lose balance. He rolled in the snow, anger making his eyes glow. I winked at him feeling a bit breathless but full of energy from adrenalin.

And so we danced. Right, left, kick, left, punch… And so on and on. We both didn’t want to lose. He was the Warrior fighting with a lone wolf. And I was the misfit son proving I was still strong enough. It was totally about pride. Claws and fangs were still hidden but I felt the itch in my gums and fingers. My wolf wanted to rip into him, show him his place. Diego hit me in the face making my jaw snap together, my whole skull vibrated from the impact. I growled and tried to hit him in the ribs, but he grabbed my arm, spinning me around and twisting it painfully.

“Look at yourself.” He laughed in my ear mockingly. “Still the useless fucking faggot, no wonder Alistair was so ashamed of you he kicked you out.”

I roared then, the anger in me too sudden, too big to stay contained. I reached back, grabbed him by the nape, and threw him over my shoulder. The hand he held me by almost popped out of my socket. I ignored the pain though, too angry to care. I looked down at Diego who seemed stunned, his eyes going unfocused for a second. It would be so easy to kill him then. One swift move with my clawed hand across his throat and it would be over. Oh how much I wanted him dead. My wolf howled for the kill, but I couldn’t. I just roared my frustration as I took off around the side of the house, trying desperately to calm down my wolf. Killing him would make me feel good, but in the long run, it would get me killed as well. My father would have to execute me.

“Where are you going, coward? The fight is not over!” Diego yelled behind my back, not realizing at all I just saved his life. I lost. By pack rules, I lost the fight, showing everyone that indeed I was as useless as he said. That made my wolf even angrier… But it was either losing or killing him. I kicked at the snow, trying to calm down. But I was losing that fight too. My fangs popped out from my gums and tore my lip. My heart was racing and sweat poured down the back of my neck as I desperately tried to push my wolf down.