*

Brooklynn watched as Connor sat down on her bed, rubbing his forehead.

She had just told him the news about the possible attack, and by the looks of it, Connor was worried. Brooklynn understood why, three packs were coming to kill him. He was in deep shit.

Connor's mind was racing with thoughts, he didn't think the day would come where packs would become allied against him. He thought that by being the most feared pack in the nation, they would leave him and his pack alone.

But things were different now, he'd taken a girl that almost every pack knew of. He should've known that her father would do anything to get her back. Connor knew he would do the exact same.

He felt naive for thinking that there wouldn't be any consequences to his actions, he thought maybe her father would give up.

But it was clear that he wouldn't, and now Connor found himself biting off more than he could swallow.

"What have I done?" Connor mumbled to himself. Brooklynn glanced at him and snorted. She watched as Connor looked up at her with a glare. "Is this funny to you?" He snapped, standing up.

"Kind of," She replied. "You were too stubborn and self-absorbed to realize that kidnapping a future alpha is kind of a big deal."

Connor stared at her, dumbfounded. "You were their future alpha?"

This took both Brook and Connor by surprised. Brook expected Connor to already be aware of that. He wasn't, but now it became obvious to him. From the day that he'd met her, power had radiated off of her.

"Connor, you're screwed." Brooklynn said, but Connor brushed it off as if he didn't hear it.

"I'll call alpha Forenzo and Alpha Luca later and set up a meeting, until then I'm going to put you in charge of training the teens in combat," Connor finished.

Brooklynn raised her eyebrows at him, and crosses her arms.

"What makes you so sure that I'd be willing to teach them to fight?" She asked in a pointed tone.

"Because I need you to teach them. Percilla clearly isn't our best fighter anymore."

"Who's Percilla?" Brook asked, watching Connor look at her in confusion.

"The girl that you fought..." Brook bursted out laughing once she heard that.

"She was your best fighter? My blind grandmother could've put her in a grave." Connor tried to ignore the taunting that was being done to his cousin.

He understood why Brooklynn was laughing though. He had always thought of Percilla as the strongest fighter, and personally when he heard that they were going to fight, he was worried for Brooklynn.

But she proved him wrong by kicking Percilla's ass in a matter of seconds. He remembered how excited she looked when she got to fight, and it made him wonder if maybe Brook was slightly a sadistic fuck.

It didn't matter because Connor was one too.

"Brooklynn, please. They're kids, none of them deserve to die. I want them to have the best chance at surviving, and I think that you could help them do so." Connor spoke with a sense of urgency, and Brook saw that. She saw how much his pack meant to him, and she respected that.

"Okay. I'll do it." She said, watching relief spread through Connor's face. "But if any of those little shits disrespect me, I have every right to beat their asses." Brook threatened, making sure Connor understood how serious she was.

Connor nodded his head, letting her know that he was okay with that.

"Then let's do this," Brook said.

Brooklynn stood there in disbelief at how unfit these teens were. She didn't understand how the most feared pack she had ever known, could find so much difficulty in running a mile.

"Keep slacking and you'll be running all day!" She barked, watching the kids that had previously slowed down speed back up.

She noticed how many kids were panting and dropping with sweat, and that worried her.

These kids wouldn't last five minutes in a war.

"Everyone stop!" She shouted, wanting to slap some of the kids when she saw them cheer. She motioned them over to her, watching as they all shakily walked towards her. She spotted the kid, Tre, who she met in the cafeteria when she first came here. She was happy to see that he was in better shape than most of the other kids, but he was still dying.

Once they all stood in front of her, she started talking.

"That was pitiful. I mean seriously, you guys are acting like I just cut your legs off and made you run to fucking Asia. You think that when you're in a fight that your enemy is going to care if you're tired? No they aren't, in fact they'll see that as an opportunity to kill you."

Brooklynn paused to look at the kids who looked at her as if she had just pissed on their Lucky Charms.

"How many of you actually think that you could take me on in a fight and win?" She watched as a few of the guys raised their hands hesitantly. "Then let's go." She said, taking her wind breaker off.

"N-now?" One of the guys stuttered, looking as if he wanted to throw up.

"Um...yeah. Come on." She said, and without even having to ask the rest of the kids formed a circle around them. "Who's first?" She asked, and one of the boys raised their hands. She nodded, and the other boys blended into the circle.

She stood across from the boy who looked sure of himself.

"What's your name?" Brooklynn questioned.

"Kai." The boy answered, taking his hoodie off to reveal a set of not-so-noticeable pair of biceps.

Kai had just turned 18, making him the same age as Brook. He was a bit taller than her, but he was scrawny and still had acne.

Brook remembered the terrible acne stage, but honestly acne didn't bother her. She didn't think dots on someone's face made them any less attractive.

Brook returned her attention to the boy, who had already squared up.

"You know the rules," Kai paused. "You challenged me, you throw the first hit."

"Fine by me," Brook answered, preparing to throw a hit that she knew he would dodge.

He ducked quickly when she swung her fist towards his face, and he attempted to kick her.

Brook grabbed his foot, and twisted it to the side. He twisted horizontally through the air, and it almost reminded Brook of a worm. He landed on his side but he recovered in seconds and charged at Brooklynn again.

But just as he reached his arm out for a punch, Brook threw a jab at his throat. She heard him gasp for air, but she didn't pause to let him recover. She spun around and delivered a swift kick to his forehead, knocking his head backwards.

That's going to be some serious whiplash.

Brook heard him groan, and she saw him staggering to get back up. Brook being the kind sport she was, went over to give him a hand.

But his next move was almost too predictable for Brook. Kai swung his legs around, kicking Brooklynn.

She let herself fall to her back, watching as Kai became overly confident and straddled her. He went to throw a punch at her face, but she grabbed his fist and yanked it over her head.

They both rolled over so that Brooklynn was now straddling Kai's hips. Without hesitation, she head butted him hard in the head. Kai's eyes slowly rolled back into his head as he lost consciousness.

Brook got off of him quickly, and turned back to face the rest of the teens who stared at her in disbelief. All of them had heard of how good Brooklynn was at fighting, but they had to see it to believe it. And now they did.

They boys who originally wanted to fight Brook backed down.

"You two," She pointed to two boys. "Take him to the pack doctor," Brooklynn ordered.

After they dragged Kai out of the circle, the slightly shaken teens brought their attention back to Brook.

"I like Kai." She said out of nowhere, catching some of the group by surprise. "Sure I might have kicked his ass. But he put up a good fight, and that's what matters. He didn't give up until the end, and ultimately when you're in a battle or a war, you can't give up. Giving up will cost you your life."

She let her words sink into their heads, slowly but eventually they understood.

"Now I'm sure you've heard a lot about me. I don't know whether those are good things or bad things, and I honestly don't care. I'm here to help you. I am not here to make you feel weak or feel like shit. I'm not here to make you fear me, I'm just here to help." She watched their faces, noting the ones that were paying attention and the ones that weren't.

Have fun running suicides you little shits. She thought to herself.

After having them stretch, she dismissed them.

The majority of the teens scampered away like rats, cautiously looking back at Brook as if she'd give them more conditioning.

"Brook," A voice called. She turned around to see Tre and a girl who looked to be about a year younger than Brook herself.

"Hey," She greeted. Tre smiled at her, and so did the girl. "What's up?" Brook asked Tre.

Tre looked at the girl who nodded.

"T-this is my sister, Taylor." Tre stated, motioning to the girl. She bowed her head in respect, flashing a smile at Brook.

Brook saw the resemblance in the two now, they both shared the same brown hair with the same brown eyes. They both looked closely similar.

"...And I was wondering-well we were wondering if you could possibly teach us to fight," He paused, "Without everyone else." His voice became quiet, and he looked down in embarrassment.

Brook glanced at Taylor and smiled. She wasn't surprised that Tre would be the shy or embarrassed type.

"Of course I can. Meet me tomorrow an hour before training," Brook said. They both nodded, before saying their goodbyes and scampering off.

"Brooklynn," She heard Connor say. She looked over her shoulder at him, immediately noticing how alarmed he was.

"What's the matter?" She asked, warily.

"Rogues."