Present Day

I wake up to my stomach grumbling. It’s dark out, so I lean over and grab my backpack and get my phone out. Goddess, it’s 3am. I’ve slept for hours. I get up to pee, finding the ensuite on the other side of the room. When I’m done, I go to the sink and wash my hands as I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are puffy and red from crying, the remnants of the nightmare still lingering in my mind. In the mirror behind me, I notice an oversized shower with various jets and decide to take a shower. I grab a towel from the cupboard near the sink, undress, and turn the water on as hot as I can stand.

Water shoots out of the jets in all directions and standing beneath them feels like heaven. I wash my long auburn hair and feel slightly better afterwards. When I’m finished, I exit the shower, wrap myself in the large fluffy towel, and return to my room. I unpack my backpack and find the extra clothes at the bottom. I put on my workout shorts and top, my runners, and head downstairs to find the kitchen to have something to eat before I meet Beta Jason to join the pack training. But I’m too busy looking at my phone that I run straight into an Omega, knocking her onto the floor.

“Oh, Goddess! I’m so sorry,” I say as I offer my hand to the poor girl on the floor.

She takes my hand and stands up. “Oh, it’s okay. I’m Carol. Are you Miss Argos?” She asks.

“Please, call me Athena. It’s nice to meet you, Carol,” I smile down at the soft-spoken girl. She’s a plain-looking girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes.

“Can I get you anything, Athena?” She asks with a small smile.

“If you could please direct me to the bread and toaster, that would be lovely.”

She goes to the fridge, pulls out a loaf of bread, then bends down to a cupboard under the kitchen island, pulls out a toaster, and plugs it in on the bench.

“How many slices would you like?” Carol asks.

“Please don’t go to any trouble. I knocked you down. The least I can do is make my own breakfast.”

She smiles and nods, then goes to the pantry and pulls out an array of different preservatives and spreads and places them next to me on the counter as I put four slices of bread in the toaster.

“Thank you, Carol,” I say with a smile.

She smiles back and then heads out of the kitchen, leaving me alone. ‘Lovely girl,’ I think to myself. I make my toast and sit down at the counter to eat it as I scroll through the messages that I missed yesterday.

Half an hour later, I’ve cleaned up from breakfast, and I’m waiting in the living room for Beta Jason. At precisely twenty past five, he comes down the stairs to meet me.

“Good morning, Athena. I hope you’re well-rested,” he says.

“Not exactly. But I’m ready to see your training routines,” I reply with a small smile.

“Let’s get to it then,” he smiles, and we go out the front door.

We walk through the neighborhood for five minutes, making small talk as we walk, until we reach a large oval with a building to its right.

“Over there is our gym, if you’re interested in seeing it after training,” Beta Jason points to the building.

“Sounds great,” I reply.

Beta Jason jogs over to stand next to Alpha Peter, and I stand at the back of the training group and start to stretch.

“Good morning, everyone,” Alpha Peter addresses the group. “Today, we have a special guest from the Blood-Moon pack joining us. Please welcome Athena Argos.”

Members of the pack turn to me and either nod or wave to me.

“She will be visiting with us for a couple of days, so I hope you all make her feel welcome. Today, I have decided to do combat drills in human and wolf forms. Catherine, I would like for you to pair with Athena, please.”

A tall girl with dirty blonde hair comes and stands beside me with a smile.

“Instructors, please go to your assigned groups, and we’ll get started,” Alpha Peter instructs.

Everybody moves in different directions, and I follow Catherine to Beta Jason’s area.

“I will be your instructor today, ladies. The only rule is to get your opponent to submit in either form. So, please take your positions, and start on my whistle.”

‘I hope this girl knows what she’s in for,’ Enyo says.

‘Oh, now you decide to make an appearance,’ I say back crankily.

‘Look how cocky she is. I can’t wait to take her down a peg,’ Enyo says with a smirk.

I stand in a defensive position and wait for the whistle. As soon as Beta Jason blows it, Catherine shifts into her wolf and attacks, going straight for my throat. I dodge her easily and punch her in the ribs. I hear her whimper as she lands on her paws and turns to attack again. This time she tries to attack my legs, and again I dodge her easily and land a kick on her jaw. She tries this a few times, each time ending with me hitting her. When she turns this time, her hackles are raised, and she’s snarling at me, her teeth bared.

‘Well, that didn’t take long,’ Enyo yawns, clearly bored.

I smirk at the wolf in front of me, which earns me a low, deep growl.

‘Oh, she did not just growl at us,’ Enyo says excitedly. ‘Let’s show this bitch how we do things.’

I wait patiently for Catherine to make a move, and as she does, I run at her at full speed and launch myself at her, shifting mid-air, jumping clear over her. When I land, I quickly turn and grab her by the scruff of the neck, forcing her down to the grass, but she refuses to submit.

‘Stubborn little thing, isn’t she?’ Enyo says.

I growl at her, signalling that she should give up, but instead, she rolls over and frees herself from my grip, scratching us across the face as she stands up. I lose control of Enyo at that point. She propels herself forward and takes control. She towers over the wolf in front of us, her chest rumbling with a low guttural growl. Catherine’s wolf cowers, but I see a defiant look in her eyes, as if she refuses to give up. She tries to tackle us to the ground once more, but Enyo dodges her, drops low, grabs the wolf by the throat, and rolls, landing on top of Catherine, and squeezing her neck hard.

‘ENYO, STOP!’ I yell at her, as Catherine’s wolf struggles underneath our large frame.

But Enyo growls again and tightens the hold on the wolf’s throat. Just then, I hear a whistle blow, and Enyo freezes.

‘ENYO! LET HER GO!’ I yell at her. ‘IT’S JUST TRAINING!’

Enyo releases the wolf from her mouth and steps back slowly, her teeth bared and snarling. It’s then that I realize everybody has stopped training and is watching us, and Alpha Peter is now standing with Beta Jason. Catherine shifts back to her human form and stands before us, holding her throat.

“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” She screams at us and then runs away towards the gym.

Enyo gives the poor girl a low growl as she runs away. I hear a growl come from Alpha Peter, and to my utter shock, Enyo turns towards him and growls back at him, and everyone who has gathered around us gasps. Alpha Peter shifts and stalks towards us, his teeth bared in a scowl.

‘Enyo, what the hell has gotten into you?’ I ask her.

“Stand down!” Beta Jason yells at us.

Enyo refuses to submit to Alpha Peter, who now stands just a few steps in front of us. Instead, she maintains her position, even as Alpha Peter warns her with another growl, his Alpha aura emanating from his wolf. Enyo gets low and snaps aggressively in his direction. Alpha Peter roars and rushes towards us, ready to attack, when I’m finally able to regain control and quickly lower my head, baring my neck in submission. He comes to a halt and growls at us. I get as low to the ground as possible to prove that we’re not going to attack.

‘What are you doing?!’ Enyo yells. ‘We can take him!’

‘Have you lost your mind? This is an ALPHA!’ I say as I slowly back away from Alpha Peter.

“Athena, go to the gym, please. You will find spare clothes in the women’s locker room to change into. We will meet you in the main hall when you’re done,” Beta Jason tells us sternly.

Before Enyo can do anything else, I turn towards the building and begin sprinting. I run into the building and follow the signs for the change rooms. I finally find the door, and I burst into the locker room and shift.

‘What the fuck was that about, Enyo?!’ I ask her as I find the cupboard with the spare clothes in it and get dressed into sweats and a t-shirt.

‘What? She deserved it,’ she says, acting innocently.

‘She deserved to get her throat ripped out, did she? And what about challenging the Alpha? You nearly got us killed!’

‘Please, we were bigger than him. We could have taken him,’ she says nonchalantly.

‘If you have a death wish, you better speak up now, Enyo. Because you are never pulling that shit again,’ I say to her angrily.

‘I do not have a death wish. But we are a Gamma, a warrior, and we shouldn’t be cowering from other wolves!’

‘So what? We just kill everyone who challenges us? We were in a training exercise! But then, to threaten an Alpha? An Alpha who has welcomed us into his territory and could help us find the truth?! You crossed a line, Enyo!’

Instead of answering me, she blocks herself off from me again and curls up in the back of my mind.