I woke before my alarm the next morning, despite being exhausted from yesterday's events, followed by the run. I was determined to make it to training this morning. Peeling my eyes open I was sprawled over Tristan’s chest, encompassed in his arms, as per usual. I smiled, waking up this way in the morning was always the best in my opinion.

Carefully I slipped from his arms, heading for the bathroom for a quick shower followed by a trip into the closet to put on some clothes for training. I heard Tristan coming around as I was pulling on a pair of leggings.

“Good morning sunshine,” I called to him as I slipped on a pair of sneakers.

“Mmm, good morning gorgeous. Why are you up this early?”

“Training?”

“Isn’t for another hour.”

“Ah, but I have to get Mat’s ass outta bed.”

“That’s fair I suppose. I’ll get ready while you get him up and moving then.”

“Ok. If I don’t see you before then I’ll see you on the field.”

I went over and gave him a soft kiss, narrowly dodging his attempt to pull me back into bed. I giggled at him.

“Nice try. I’ll see you shortly.”

“Can’t blame a guy for wanting his mate next to him in bed.”

“No, I certainly can’t.” I grinned at him and slipped from the room, heading down the hall towards Mat and Cedric’s room.

Banging on the door loudly I hollered through it. “Good morning Mattie, get your ass up or I’m coming in! This is your only warning! Also, sorry Cedric!”

I waited a moment, heard a pillow hit the other side of the door and Mat growling, “Go away, Aly!”

“Training this morning Mattie. You have 10 seconds! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5-”

The door swung open, Cedric behind it in a pair of shorts and Mat clearly still in bed. I grinned at Cedric,

“Good morning. I should have known it would be easy to get a head warrior up for training.”

“I try to never miss it.”

“Mattie on the other hand… Has to be drug by his ear, kicking and screaming sometimes.”

“So I’m learning.”

I laughed a bit, “Tristan will meet us on the field depending on how long it takes to get Mattie up and moving. I can handle that if you want to get ready.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, I’m sure. Been doing this for a long time.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.” He headed into the bathroom.

I ran over to the bed, jumping on Mat, “Gooooood mooooorning! Time to get up!”

I squealed and laughed as he threw me off onto the empty side of the bed. “Aly, you’re far too chipper in the morning. Go back to bed.”

“Nope. Training this morning. Cedric’s already getting ready.” I grabbed a pillow and hit him in the chest with it. “Come on!”

“Fine, fine, I’m up! You’re evil Red.”

“And you have a death wish!” I smacked him with the pillow again. “Do you want I should get Mom next time?”

“No! Evil little imp!”

I laughed and rolled off the bed to my feet as he got up, turning away when I realized he was naked. I only turned around again when I heard him shuffle into the closet.

Cedric emerged from the bathroom and Mat from the closet before the crossed the room, meeting in the middle and sharing a brief kiss before swapping locations. Mat headed for the bathroom and Cedric for the closet.

“I will see you both on the field in thirty. Do not make me come back up here Matheau!” I growled at Mat, then flashed Cedric a smile and a wave.

Slipping out of their room I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed a protein bar out of the pantry and headed out the back door for the training grounds.

~Tristan~

I was just leaving the bedroom when Mat and Cedric emerged from their’s. Since I didn’t see Alyce with them, I assumed she had already headed down.

“Well don’t you look bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, Mat.” I smirked.

“Yes well, my sister is as sweet about getting me out of bed as I am about getting her up, so I suppose it’s fair.”

“Where is she anyway?” Cedric asked.

“If she’s not with you two, she must be down at the training field already.”

“Let’s get moving then, if I’m late she’ll kick my ass.” Mat grumbled.

Cedric and I chuckled as we headed down the stairs and out to the field with a bit of a hurry in our step.

As we approached the field I saw other pack members gathering, but I didn’t see Alyce. My eyes were darting along the group, looking for her. Finally I spotted her and made my way over to her, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her temple lightly. “Hello my love.”

“Hey there. Did Mattie make it down?”

“He did, as did Cedric.”

“I wasn’t worried about Cedric, he was Dark Forest’s Head Warrior. Training is in his blood.”

I laughed a bit, “You’re right.”

I turned my head and caught Cedric’s eye, waving him over to join us. He and Mat came over, Cedric nodding to Victor. “Good morning Victor.”

“Good morning Cedric, Mat.”

“Morning, I don’t know about good, but morning.”

Alyce rolled her eyes at him, “So grumpy in the morning.”

Mat threw her an annoyed look and she laughed, reaching over to pat him on the head. “Oh stop it. You like training and you know it.”

“That’s true. I just hate the ungodly hour that it occurs at.”

I chuckled and turned my attention to Cedric and Victor, “I would like Cedric to work with you today Victor, observing, getting a feel for the way we train so that he can help out and it will be essentially a seamless transition.”

“That sounds like a good plan. I wouldn’t wish to hinder training and who knows, maybe I can bring something useful to the table as well. I’ll simply observe this morning's training if that’s ok with you?” Cedric asked.

Victor nodded, “Absolutely, but do feel free to speak up if you see the need too, otherwise we can compare notes after training, so to speak.”

“I will, thank you.”

“I will also be calling an impromptu, brief meeting after breakfast. It’s about time we sent Lucian an invite to visit, and I’m thinking that a celebration of Cedric joining the pack might be the perfect excuse, but we can discuss all that later this morning.” I threw the information out there for them to mull over in the meantime.

“We will get Rian after the meeting then, no need for him to be privy to all of this going on.” Alyce said.

“I agree. He’s much too young to overhear any of this. He’ll grow up soon enough.”

“We all do, some faster than others.” Mat said softly.

Alyce nodded a bit, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.“Let’s try and keep his childhood a childhood.”

I smiled and squeezed her hand gently. “Of course. We can show him the room that will be his and start planning it. It’ll be a nice distraction for a short bit.”

“Absolutely. Alright, enough procrastinating. Let’s get this training started already!”

Mat and Alyce headed off to join the rest of the pack that was waiting on training to begin. I stayed up with Victor and Cedric for the moment.

Victor let out a loud, sharp whistle, getting everyone’s attention and I stepped forward to officially introduce Cedric. “Good morning everyone! Before we begin today’s training I have a brief introduction to make.”

Everyone’s attention was now on me, “Many of you know that Mat, our Beta, found his mate at the Luna Ceremony. They have been gone for a few days, back in Dark Forest where Cedric is from, getting his things so that he can join us permanently.”

There was a scattering of cheers and whistles. It was always a celebration when someone found their mate. I raised a hand quieting them down. Cedric stepped forward as I continued. “Cedric was Dark Forest’s Head Warrior. He will be joining us and stepping into a multi-purpose role for the time being. He will assist Mat with Beta duties when needed and he will also assist Victor as Head Warrior. Today he will simply be observing. I expect respect from all of you and know you will show him a warm Moonlight welcome!”

Another round of cheering and applause, Cedric clearing his throat as it died down a bit, “Thank you, I’m not really one for long monologues. So let me just say that I appreciate the enthusiasm and I am happy to be part of Moonlight with Mat and all of you. I hope to bring useful skills to the table and improve upon what I’m sure are already fantastic training skills. A second set of eyes on the field never hurts though and there is always room for improvement. That being said, let’s get to work!”

I went and joined the others as Victor started the training for the morning, Cedric watching, eyes always darting and observing. He would wander through the crowd at times, saying nothing, hands folded behind his back. He observed Mat from afar, but kept his distance so as not to distract him. This was how training went the rest of the morning.