"I'm the hero this story, don't need to be saved"

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One Month Later

One month had gone by, and Alpha Cain and his Pack Leaders had not discovered any leads on who had poisoned me. Luckily, whoever poisoned me didn't use a strong enough dosage, and I recovered within days.

On the night of the poisoning, Cain was mindlinked by Beta Jax because him and a few other men on patrol had captured two rogues trying to sneak into their territory.

Alpha Cain went to the prison to question the rogues, and it wasn't too long after that he felt my pain through our mate bond, and came rushing back. He found me nearly dead on the floor.

When I recovered, he told me that he found the note, and informed me that he did not write it. Whoever left the note left no scent or traces that could be linked back to them.

When I suggested to Cain that it may be one of his pack members who poisoned me, he went into a rage, telling me that no one from his pack would ever harm their Luna. The way I saw it, only a pack member could have snuck into his Pack House undetected and leave the note. Alpha Cain and his Pack Leaders disagreed. They thought it was related to the two rogues they caught sneaking on to their territory.

Even though they tortured the rogues in every way imaginable, neither of them confessed until the day they died, about two weeks after my poisoning.

Cain was smothering me in attention and affection since the attempted assassination. He rarely ever left my side, and when he did, he assigned 3 guards plus a Pack Leader to watch over me. Typically, the Pack Leader was Gamma Axel, because Axel was not only the third strongest in the pack, but swore to the Alpha that he would rather die before letting anything happen to me. I suspected he felt guilty about my whipping, and wanted to make it up in this way.

I could tell that Cain felt extremely guilty for the poisoning, and blamed himself for leaving me alone in the Pack House. I knew I would never be without a guard for the rest of my life because of the incident.

In a way, the poisoning changed things between Cain and I. We had somewhat bonded due to spending so much time together, since he would take me with him almost everywhere. I typically sat in his lap as he worked on paperwork, and he even would explain what he was doing, not keeping me in the dark about pack matters. I wouldn't say I liked him, but I had learned to tolerate his presence.

Cain and I even woke up early and spent two hours every morning training. Most of our training was sparring, both using powers and not using powers. Initially, Cain was hesitant about fighting me, worried that he would hurt me. After I (nonlethally) injured him by sending a dagger into his gut, he was much more willing to be rough during our trainings.

I had taken a few hits of fire as a result of the fighting, but I reassured Cain that it was fine, and part of the training. Eventually, I got better and better at dodging the flames until he couldn't hit me with them if he tried. He always succeeded in pinning me down eventually, but I could tell that it wasn't easy for him to.

I convinced Cain to let me train with his pack warriors for extra practice after a combination of begging/ guilting/ threatening him. This morning would be my first session, and I could hardly contain my excitement.

I threw Cain's heavy arm off of me when I woke up, and leaped out of bed to get dressed. Cain grunted half asleep, and said in a husky voice, "Has anyone ever told you that you're extremely gentle?"

Immediately, I ran back to the bed and jumped on his waist, holding a knife to his throat before he could open his eyes. Gentle, huh? I teased.

His eyes sleepily blinked, but he nonetheless played along, flipping me over on the bed so he was on top. He plucked the knife from my hand and sent it clattering on the floor.

"Like a little bunny," Cain smirked, and I growled playfully, snapping my teeth at him. "You're in a good mood," he remarked.

I shrugged, I get to beat people up today, why wouldn't I be happy?

Cain rolled his eyes. "I forgot who I was talking to. Should I be alarmed that you're so ready to harm my pack members?" I squirmed underneath him until he got off of me and I went to get dressed.

As long as they respect me, nobody should be too hurt, I didn't add that one of his pack members harmed me with the poison, not wanting to start an argument when I barely was able to convince him to let me train.

"Nobody would dare to disrespect my mate. They know that would mean instant death," Cain threatened.

And you say I'm aggressive? I laughed. Alphas.

I walked out of the closet after getting dressed. I wore dark red leggings, a black sports bra, and black running shoes.

Cain frowned when he saw my attire. "You couldn't even put on a shirt?"

I snorted. Says the one who walks around half naked at all times.

"That's different," Cain protested.

How? I challenged, and he just glared at me in response. Even right now, he wasn't wearing a shirt, only boxers, which was his sleeping attire every night. I tried not to stare at his muscles, but in my defense, I was merely appreciating the muscle definition as a fellow athlete. Besides, you said nobody would dare disrespect me, right? Which is it? Either they'll respect me and you don't have to worry, or they won't and I'll beat them up anyways.

Cain sighed heavily, knowing he lost the battle. "Fine, but tell me if anyone says anything to you, I'll handle it."

I glared at him. I can handle myself, Alpha.

"Trust me, little mate. I am well aware," He rolled his eyes, and I smiled thinking of all of the times I got a punch or kick in on him. "Axel will be leading the training session, and I know he'll tell me if anything goes wrong."

I snorted. He's a snitch. And he was. When he was guarding me, if I so much as sneezed, Cain knew about it.

Cain finally got out of bed and walking into the closet, returning a few seconds later, only wearing sweatpants. Hypocrite.

"He cares about you, Ares. Remember how often he was there for you while you were in the hospital after the poisoning," Cain reminded me. How could I forget? Even when Cain was there, Axel would sometimes stand guard outside of the door, and he especially would stick around when Cain was gone.

Only because he feels guilty I took his punishment, I countered.

Cain shook his head. "I don't think it's that. I think it's his instincts to protect his Luna kicking in. He's been waiting for a Luna just as long as I have."

I frowned. Don't call me Luna, I'm technically not the Luna yet.

"Speaking of, there is a Blood Moon in a week. Since you are fully recovered from the poisoning, I figured we should do the Blood ceremony then," Cain proposed, grabbing my hands as he spoke.

I'll think about it, I reluctantly responded. He didn't look pleased with my less than enthusiastic response, but he was lucky I was agreeing to consider it at all.

Despite my opposition to being Luna when I first arrived at Blood Moon, after spending time with Cain learning about his Alpha duties, I realized that it actually would be kind of fun. I knew Lunas typically weren't involved in any of the decision making or battle strategizing, but Cain was willing to make an exception for me, unable to doubt my prowess when it came to war. My former position as Gamma certainly came in handy. I can't imagine Cain would have let me be involved if I didn't already have experience.

I grabbed the fur pelt I slept with every night off of the bed and wrapped it around me. "Do you want to be carried?" Cain asked hopefully.

I shook my head no, I want to warm up my legs before training.

Cain looked disappointed by my response, but didn't press the matter. We left the pack house after Cain forced me to eat an apple. I hadn't been taking my daily dose of wolfsbane, not wanting to compromise my immune system so close after my poisoning.

We stepped into the wintery outside as wind violently shook the surrounding trees as we headed to the training center. Cain was right. The winter was no joke in Blood Lake. Snow covered everything in sight, and temperatures at night often went below zero. Werewolves were more resistant to the cold than humans, but I wasn't as resistant as Cain or other Blood Lake members, who grew up in these harsh winters.

I shivered as we trudged through the snow, even noticing it lightly snowing as we walked. Suddenly, my skin started feeling warmer, as I were sitting next to a fire.

How did you do that? I asked Cain, knowing he was responsible.

Cain smirked, "I don't only just start fires. I can make things warmer too. Do you remember when I, ah, escorted you from Red Crescent to Blood Lake and you burnt your hand on the car handle when you tried making a run for it?"

I snorted, Escorted is not the word I would use for what happened, Alpha.

Cain chucked. "It would have been a more pleasant experience if you weren't so resistant." I rolled my eyes. I certainly put up quite the fight. I wondered if other Alphas have similar problems with their mates.

Finally, we reached the training center and I whined when Cain walked me inside. I felt like I was being dropped off at kindergarten by my parents. "Don't worry, pup. I'll leave as soon as I make sure you're situated and talk to Gamma Axel."

If he called me pup in front of the pack, we would have serious problems, regardless of the loving undertone beneath his words. He had continued to use the affectionate nickname, and eventually I stopped complaining about it.

A few wolves were already warming up individually, but for the most part we were early. I handed my pelt to Cain once we were inside, not wanting to carry it. There are a lot of things I hate about Cain, but at least he always carries shit when I don't want to.

We approached Axel, who was beating the shit out of a punching bag. Since werewolves were stronger than the average person, the punching bags were often reinforced with stronger materials than just a cloth bag.

Axel also had a penchant for not wearing shirts, his muscular back glistening with sweat as he continued throwing powerful punches. Despite having a mate, even I could appreciate the attractiveness of this male. It had been far too long since I had sex, and I could feel too much pent-up energy. I nearly jumped Cain last night when he got out of the shower with a towel slung lowly on his hips. My wolf was incredibly frustrated.

Cain growled lowly at me, "Watch yourself, pup. I won't hesitate to take you on the floor in front of all of these people." My eyes widened. I wouldn't put it past him to do that, and in this moment, I don't think I would have stopped him if he tried. A girl has needs, you know?

Axel heard Cain's voice, and turned around at the sound. He smiled and greeted us, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"She is allowed to fight males, but do not let the injuries get too out of hand," Cain commanded, and Axel nodded. "I won't hesitate to kill you if she is mortally wounded on your watch, Axel." Again, Axel nodded. I didn't doubt Cain's threat.

Cain turned towards me and bent down to place a tender kiss on my forehead. "Behave, pup. And please don't kill any pack members," Cain requested jokingly.

No promises, I responded, and Cain took it as a joke even though there was truth behind what I said.

Cain turned away and left the training center, leaving Axel and I standing alone as a few more wolves poured in. Much to my dismay, females weren't allowed to be pack warriors in Blood Lake, their sole responsibility being to raise pups. As soon as I officially took the Luna title, I would change that standard.

I began stretching with Axel accompanying me. His eyes almost popped out of my head when I sat on the ground and touched past my toes, my nose pressed to my legs.

Axel tried touching his toes, but he could barely reach past his knees. What are you, made of stone? I teased him.

Axel grinned wickedly. "Something like that."

After we finished stretching, we waited for a few more wolves to come. In the meantime, we went back to the punching bags, each using our own.

I punched and kicked slightly less intense at the beginning, until I felt like my body was fully warmed up. Using all of my strength, I sent a powerful punch directly in the center of the reinforced bag.

Immediately, I broke the bag and the sand poured out. Whoops, I mindlinked Axel. Someone broke your punching bag.

Axel's mouth dropped open. "Are you made from stone?"

I laughed. I knew I was a strong wolf. Cain loves reminding me, and I liked hearing it. Who says men have to always be the violent and tough ones?

Finally, 50 pack warriors arrived. 1/2 trained at the beginning of the day, and the other 1/2 trained at night, so there were about 100 total. Cain's pack was huge, and I understood why Alpha Wilson had wanted Cain's support in a war.

Axel clapped his hands loudly, and everyone gathered in front of him. "We will be sparing in hand to hand combat today, so I will assign everyone a partner based on skill level, and I will switch you after one of you gets pinned. Remember, no lethal blows. Everything else is allowed." My lips turned up viciously.

Axel walked around, putting people together. Finally, he matched me with one of the smaller warriors. I scowled at him. This is what you think my skill level is at?

No offense to the person he matched me with, but he certainly did not look as formidable as some of the other warriors.

Axel shrugged. "Take him down and you can fight whoever you want."

I flashed my canines maliciously, already knowing who I wanted to take on next.

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