~Tristan~

I awoke early, earlier than I normally would, with Alyce wrapped around me like a snake. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her, my smile growing at the sight of my mark on her neck. She was now officially mine in every way and I couldn’t be happier. She stirred a little as I ran my fingertips over the mark and I pulled my hand away, not wanting to wake her, and reached up to touch her mark on my neck. It had been an amazing evening.

Alyce hadn’t been lying at the party when she told me the wait would be worth it, she had slipped on an open lace baby doll teddy with a garter belt that had matched her Luna gown and the site of her in just that and her stockings and heels when I finally got her gown off was worth every excruciating minute of the party. It had been a long night, and one that neither of us would ever forget. Just thinking about the evening was making my dick stand at attention, but I also knew that she would be beyond sore after some of the things we did and the number of times I sent her over the edge.

I slipped out of the bed, tucking my pillow into Alyce’s arms and making sure she was going to remain sleeping before I headed into the bathroom. A cold shower was what I needed, but I didn’t have the motivation to deal with that this morning, so I settled on a luke-warm one and stepped in. I made the shower a quick one and after stepping out I put on a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top. I was up, so I would go to training this morning.

Walking back out to the bed Alyce had shifted and was sprawled across the entire bed. How a tiny thing like her managed to take over the entire King size bed I will never understand, but she did. I crawled onto the bed, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her chin, and finally her lips as her eyelids started to flutter.

“Mmm, what a nice way to wake up.” She murmured against my lips.

“I’m going to training this morning and I wanted to see your gorgeous eyes and radiant smile before I left.”

“Suck up.” She laughed a bit and smiled at me as she reached up and ran a finger over her mark on my neck, “If you give me ten minutes I’ll join you. I’d drag Mattie out of bed, but I think I’ll give him a pass this morning considering.”

“You can drag him out of bed if they don’t show up for breakfast like they’re supposed to. We also have a lunch meeting this afternoon to start assessing the situation with Silver Moon. Father sent out a few scouts when we first got back. They should be arriving back to report by 0900 this morning. Meeting is scheduled for noon.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let me get dressed and we’ll go down to training before breakfast.” Alyce stretched from head to toe arching her back up off the mattress before she rolled out of the bed headed into the closet.

When she emerged she had piled her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head and donned a pair of black leggings and dark purple tank top over a black sports bra. She slipped on a pair of flats and walked back over to my side, “Ok, let’s go.”

I grinned, with her hair up her mark was clearly visible to everyone, “My mark looks fantastic on you. Best looking mark I’ve ever seen.” I opened our bedroom door and led her out.

“I dare say your opinion is biased my dear Alpha.” She laughed at me as we headed down the hall toward the stairs.

“Perhaps, but I dare you to argue with me, my lovely little Alpha-Luna.”

“I would never.” She looked taken aback and managed to keep a straight face for all of thirty seconds before she was laughing again.

“Mmhmm, I don’t believe that for one moment. We both know damn well you’d argue until you were blue in the face if you thought the situation warranted it.”

“That’s very true, but I never argue unless I can win.”

“That’s fair.” I chuckled at her as we headed down the stairs and through the house to the back door. We headed across the large yard toward the training grounds on the other side. Victor and every pack warrior that wasn’t on duty were already there and some of the other pack members were starting to trickle in.

“Alpha, Luna, good to see you this morning. I’ve been looking forward to Alyce actually training with us.” Victor greeted us as he approached.

“Good morning Victor, I do apologize for not sticking around the other day. My patience for such dramatics is limited.”

“Nothing to apologize for Alyce. You handled that better than most would have. Where is your shadow?”

Alyce gave him a funny look and I grinned, “He means Mat.” I whispered to her.

She grinned and laughed, “I guess he is kind of my shadow, or I his depending on how you look at it. I assume he is still in his room. He found his mate last night and that is the only reason I didn’t drag his ass to training this morning.”

“Ah, yes, yes that makes sense.” Victor grinned.

A large crowd had gathered now and after many scattered greetings to Alyce and I, Victor signaled for everyone to get in formation and warm up. I took a spot in the back and Alyce stayed off to the side but still went through the warm up with everyone.

*I would like to observe the training for just a short bit before I join in.* She used the mind-link to alert both Victor and myself. Both of us gave minuscule nods in acknowledgement.

We spent a good 20 minutes stretching before we paired off and started working through the basic positions. My attention was divided between Alyce and training. I was thankful that I could go through this part of training with my eyes closed.

~Alyce/Faelyn~

I wandered through the edges of the group, watching the placement of their bodies in the movements. Making my way over to Victor and speaking quietly, motioning discretely to the members I was referring to, “That one needs to shift her weight onto her back foot more, she’s leaving herself off balance and easily open. And he needs to protect his left, it’s his weak side and he keeps leaving it open. Third position would be stronger if they pivot on their toes rather than moving their whole foot.”

Victor was nodding, looking at what I was pointing out, “You’re right, good observations.”

I raised my voice as I realized Tristan wasn’t actually paying attention to the training, “And our Alpha needs to pay attention to his training and not his Luna.” I grinned a bit as Tristan sheepishly grinned, his partner taking the opening and laying him flat on his back. I laughed as did several other pack members. Tristan jumped up and I turned my attention back to Victor.

“Who have you trained with?” Victor asked.

“Mattie, Jake and Faith. They’ve taught me everything I know. Jake is fierce, he would make a good asset to your training. Faith is fast, hard to catch and she could bring in fresh agility training.”

“And Mat?”

“Mat is deceptively tough, he doesn’t know the meaning of staying down. He’s the perfect blend of his parents.”

“I will reach out to them, they usually come to training during the week. We have a bigger crowd this morning than I expected to have given the party last night.”

“It is a pretty decent group, but I shall let you get back to leading training. I just wanted to get a feel for things before I joined.” I grinned, and he nodded as I moved back to the group. I kept my distance from Tristan, only because I didn’t want to pair with him and for a couple of reasons; a) as my mate it was likely he would go easily and b) there was a good chance I could take him, or at least draw and I didn’t want that to be the first impression of the pack to be that I took down their Alpha. There was still some unease amongst the pack members about me.

“Alright, our Luna needs a training partner. Any volunteers? NOT our Alpha.” Victor called out. I could see Tristan visibly pout when he was not an option, but he quickly smiled at me and I grinned.

One of the warriors stepped up, “I would be glad to help our Luna train.”

“Ah, Kevin, thank you. I think that pairing will work well.” Victor nodded in approval.

I stepped over to the pair, Kevin bowed his head in respect, “Luna Alyce.”

“Please, just Alyce. On the field I’m just another pack member trying to be prepared to protect this pack if ever necessary, just like the rest of you.”

“As you like, Alyce.”