#8 The Archer and her Wolf

Thea

I managed to sneak out of bed without waking Xaiver, or Cain, honestly I wasn’t sure which was in control at this point. I was starting to think something else was controlling me at this point as well. It’s the only thing that would explain my behavior of late. I crept into the shower, surprised I managed to do so without waking Xaiver. He was snoring away, his face shoved into the pillow I traded for my body, his arms clinging to it like it was a lifeboat and he was adrift at sea.

I showered and dressed quickly in a pair of long maroon leggings, combat boots, a black tunic that covered my butt, and a black leather jacket. I braided my hair down my back and silently left the bathroom. Xaiver was still snoring. I shook my head at him as I hurried down the steps and out the front door. I was sure I’d hear about this later.

It was 3:30 and I was the first one to enter the packhouse. It wasn’t abnormal for me to be awake, in the packhouse kitchen, before anyone else. It was something I often did during my time with Alpha Sal. I brewed a strong pot of coffee and poured it into a travel mug. Popping the lid on, I wandered out of the kitchen and bumped squarely into someone.

“Lion?” I was shocked, “You’re awake?”

“I got the sense that my Luna was running amuck.” He laughed, tapping me on the top of my head like a child.

“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow at him, looking him up and down.

“I live to serve.” He mocked me, “Where’s Alpha?”

“Still asleep. I snuck out.”

“Naughty, naughty.” Lion tsked.

“Coffee?” I sighed, walking back into the kitchen.

By 6 o’clock, the packhouse was much more alive and several pots of coffee were brewing now. The kitchen was bustling with familiar and unfamiliar faces, an absurd number of dominant males sucking the life out of the air as they competed silenting with each other. After a while, I couldn’t stand it anymore and I left, Lion hot on my heels.

The grounds were awake as well with morning training. There were about twelve wolves sparing on the grounds, the tributes for Alpha Sal’s position, I assumed. The rest of the pack was empty, sent home on holiday or vacation while the trials were being conducted.

“That can’t be Kol and Kade Hayes?” I gasped as I caught sight of the red headed boys. The turned around and grinned,

“Thea?” They said in unison. I nodded and greeted them each with a hug.

“Little Thea Greyback.” A man with salt and pepper brown hair walked up behind his sons,

“Alpha August.” I laughed, offering him a hug as well.

“Not anymore, not for a long time.” August chuckled, “Not since Kade took command.”

Alpha August Hayes of the Crescent Moon pack in Rhode Island. The first Alpha to connect with the packs of the four corners, the Alpha who took a wolf-less Luna without pause. Luna Josephine bore his three children, Kade, Kol, and Kassidy. Fifteen years ago now, Kade took command of Crescent Moon with Kol as his Beta. Kassidy became the Luna of the Silver Moon pack along with her mate, another legacy, Shepherd Landry.

All three were trained here, under Alpha Sal, just as Alpha August was trained here before them. They were ten years older than me, but came back to the pack often as guest trainers. Of course, my father and August were good friends and, thus, the Hayes and Greyback families remained close. In fact, most of the children of the legacy families were trained here.

“I shouldn’t be surprised that you all were called here as well.” I said.

“And your father?” August asked, looking around.

“No, he stayed back. You know how he is with Mom.” I scoffed and the three men laughed.

“Yes, I know all too well. I think our mates were quite okay with getting rid of us for a few days, though.” August chuckled, looking at his sons.

“I know Lucy was.” Kade laughed, thinking of his mate and Luna, “She secretly likes when I leave and she’s the head of the pack.” He winks at me.

“How are the twins?” I asked.

“Growing fast! Josie and Jon are ten now.” Kade grinned.

“And you, Kol? How are the kids and Stella?” I turned towards the younger brother.

“Sarah is thirteen and Colton is nine, Stella loves being their mother above literally anything else. She’s the crowning jewel of the PTA.” Kol snorted.

“Kass and Shepherd have two now, Maggie and little Luke.” Kade added, speaking for his sister.

“And who’s this?” August nodded towards Lion who was standing awkwardly behind me.

“Oh, right!” I waved Lion forward.

“It’s fine, she forgets about me all the time.” Lion shrugged and I glared at him,

“This is Gamma Lionel, Lion if you’d like.” I introduced them.

“And why do you have a Gamma following you around, pray tell?” Kol looked at me smugly.

“Because she runs away from her Alpha all too often.” A voice called from behind us. I couldn’t help but laugh as Xaiver’s arms snuck up behind me,

“Alpha Xaiver of Valor Moon.” He said, holding his arm out beside me to shake the hands of the Hayes’ boys.

“Alpha Xaiver?” Kade cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes, yes, I’ve mated with an Alpha. It’s all well and good, let’s move on.” I grumbled and all the men surrounding me shared a loud chuckle at my expense.

“A new development, I assume?” August said, “Otherwise I suspect I would’ve heard from Archer.”

“We met a month or more ago, but she just decided to stick around a few days ago.” Xaiver said,

“Poor bastard.” Kol mumbled under his breath, earning a jab from Kade.

Before I could yell at the pair of them, Alpha Sal joined the training grounds with a crowd behind him. The crowd was sporting nearly thirty men and women, Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Lunas, Warriors, and the like.

“Before we begin, brief introductions.” Alpha Sal’s voice boomed easily and we all gathered around him, “First we have Thea Greyback of the Satin Moon Alpha bloodline. Royal Archer and future Luna of the Valor Moon pack. Accompanied by Alpha Xaiver and Gamma Lionel of Valor Moon,

“Prior Alpha August Hayes and his sons, Alpha Kade and Beta Kol of Crescent Moon. Alpha Simon Landry, formally of Silver Moon, now leading over Grey Moon with his Luna Monroe. Female Alpha Sage Landry of Blood Moon and her Gamma, Phillipe. Alphas Lexi and Levi Oxford of Silver Moon. Alpha Briggs Greystone of Blue Moon and his Beta, Bourne Greystone. Female Alpha Blossom Greystone of the White Forest Pack and her Beta, Luca.”

Alpha Sal went on, rattling off more members of his judging panel, but, quite frankly, I stopped listening after the legacy families were named. The legacy families, the next generation of the Landry, Greystone, Oxford, and Hayes families, the new leaders of the packs of the four corners. How could one not be impressed by such a lineage? And, of course, they were all trained up right here.

“Why did you sneak out this morning?” Xaiver whispered in my ear when he noticed I wasn’t paying attention to Sal anymore.

“You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you.” I replied, turning in his arms to face him.

“Always wake me.” He said sternly, kissing me soundlessly on the mouth, “Always.”

“Yes, sir.” I saluted him sarcastically and he smirked at me.

Finally, Alpha Sal was finished with the introductions and he began to explain the process of his trails.

“Today, you will simply observe the tributes. There are a dozen of them. They will go through a series of training exercises, quite like they normally would here. You will be able to freely move around and watch them. You’re being provided with journals now by some of my staff so you can record notes and rankings,” He said as his staff handed out normal looking journals with the pack’s emblem stamped on the front,

“Before dinner, we will have interviews in the dining hall. You will all sit as a panel and the tributes will come in one at a time to give their biography. You will be free to ask questions then. That will end today’s business. Tomorrow, we will have exercises specific to the challenges the next Alpha may face, taken from experiences I’ve had personally as Alpha. Each of these exercises will be new to the tributes. This should end sometime before dinner,

“After dinner tomorrow I’d like to convene a meeting between the panel to discuss what else we need to see from the tributes. The staff will have the night to prepare exercises that suit our needs which will be completed by the tributes the next day, day three. This will be the final test. You will have an opportunity to interview the tributes one last time. It’s my hope that a decision can be made by the end of day four.”

We all nodded in agreement once Sal finished speaking.

“Alright then, Tributes, line it up!” Alpha Sal called out and all twelve tributes came running.

Of the twelve, there were seven men and five women. Alpha Sal introduced all of them and I began scribbling in my notebook so I remembered who was who. Grim, Felix, Queenie, and Angelica were from Alpha bloodlines in their pack but were not first in line, instead they were Betas or Warriors. Corbin, Ferb, Jane, and Phoebe were from Beta bloodlines. Vince, Coleen, Carver, and Zeke were Warriors from old wolf bloodlines, but not ranked. They were all in their twenties.

“All werewolves then, Sal?” I asked, after the crowd dispersed.

“You know you’re the only known wolf to come through my pack, little red.” Sal chuckled before walking off.

“Why does he call you that?” Xaiver asked.

“A joke. You know, Little Red Riding Hood? He thinks he’s hilarious. That’s why I became the Crimson Archer, from his nickname.” I answered as I began to walk through the training grounds.

For hours, we watched the 12 tributes train. They bounced from one training area to the next, and there were many within the Warrior Pack’s grounds. There were the sparring arenas for both human and wolf forms, weight training, archery, sword fighting, dagger throwing, an obstacle course for the wolf form, parkour for the human form, and the little known alchemy station.

Alpha Sal believed that the practice of alchemy was an important, albeit old, skill for wolves to know, especially those who protect Alphas and Lunas. Enemies, young and old, were not opposed to poisoning our leadership.

“No wonder these 12 were chosen as tributes. Hell, they’re all amazing.” Xaiver said and Lion nodded, chomping on some popcorn.

“Is the popcorn really necessary, Lion?” I sighed with a laugh.

“Good show!” He shouted like he was at a movie theater, throwing a handful of popcorn into the car.

“What an idiot.” Xaiver said, shaking his head at Lion.

“He’s your Gamma.”

“Oh no, he’s your problem now.” Xaiver teased me and I looked at him with a face full of false horror.

“I’m standing right here!” Lion shouted, waving his hands in our faces.

“Are you? Always forgetting you, Lion.” I said, grabbing a handful of popcorn and throwing it in his face.

He jumped and wiped the salt from his face before he started chasing after me with a vengeful expression.