Ch. 161..170

Chapter 0161

I wish I would have been able to see Oliver’s smile one more time. I hate that my last thought of him is going to be that moody scowl of his walking away from me angry. My brother finally got to see the real me and was proud. I wish I could have been more for him. Stronger, by his side. Not weak, needing his protection all of the time. I take a deep, slow breath, it hurts so bad. I guess I really don’t need to anymore do I? Breathing makes my whole chest sear right now. It really would just be better to stop. I’m so tired.

BANG!

It's so noisy. What happened to the quiet crushing me? Can’t I just die in peace?

Firms hands. My head is floppy. I don’t like all the moving, it hurts so bad. But my mouth won't say anything. What’s happening? My whole body is throbbing. I think someone is talking, but it sounds like we’re under water.

“Oh...Don’t. Wake Up. Keep... Open."

What? Don’t do what? Keep what open? I can’t open anything. I’m so confused, is someone talking to me?

I just want to die in peace.

“Breathe, Skylar! I need you to open your eyes sweetheart. Let me know you can hear me. I know it’s hard, there’s a lot of silver and wolfsbane in your system, but I need you to keep fighting it.” I know that voice, it’s deep and stern, but comforting. Who’s voice is that? Why do they want me to fight? I just want to go to the Moon Goddess in peace.

“Mmmm.” It’s all I can manage and my eyelids don't want to move from this kind of open position.

“She’s still with us! We have to move fast. Sky try and stay with me, keep trying to talk to me."

“Who y..?” I think that was a whole thought, did I say it or think it? My mouth is swollen and puffy. I think I am floating now, cold air hits my skin and a breeze is blowing over me, cooling me down. I didn’t know I was hot until right this second. “Mmm hod."

“Your body is trying to burn off the silver in your bloodstream. Don't worry we’ll get you fixed up. You were right, it is her, she was left to die down there, but why? There was no scent but hers and there’s no way only one person pulled this off in the time they had to get to her.” I still can’t place that deep voice, but I should knowit. It’s familiar and makes me feel safe. I don’t want to feel safe though.

My head starts to hurt, like a blinding migraine coming on. I groan out the pain, but my body can't move to curl in on itself or wrap my arms over my head to try and soothe it. Iam completely numb, but everything hurts at the same time. A squeal of pain leaves my lips and I can feel tears fall down my deformed face.

“T know, I’m sorry."

“Let me die.” I whisper.

“Never.” A growl comes out. This time the voice that was so comforting was scary, menacing.

The next thing I know is darkness.

Chapter 0162 The End of Act 1

I'm sorry for the cliffhanger...Kind of ;)

I am currently editing and scheduling out Act 2 chapters. The goal is to have no gap in time for publishing, but I also want to make sure the quality and story get told in the best possible way.

Thank you for all who have stayed with me up to this point, it has been an incredible journey. This is the first time I am not writing from a contest prompt, but from my own imagination. These chapters are also far more dense than anything I have written before. I am not a professional writer, but I have enjoyed studying the craft as I develop this book and get more confident each day.

The story has been broken down into three main parts following Skylar's life:

Act 1 - Skylar's early life experiences

Act 2 - Skylar's evolution once she leaves her pack for the first time.

Act 3 - Coming home, Skylar as a woman returning to a life she left as a child.

For any writers out there reading through with me. Please give me any and all feedback that you have. I love to learn and grow as I go through this process.

For avid readers, please let me know how I can enhance the experience.

I have an inspiration board on P*******t and a playlist on Spotify. If I can get my life organized enough to get ahead. I will post links to enhance the experience and you can see where my crazy brain is at. :D

I have also started a F* group for discussions.@MissLWrites It is easier for me to interact there than here.

 

Chapter 0163 Act 2-1

I blink away the crap gluing my eyes shut. Then take a slow look around trying not to move much. I am really getting tired of waking up feeling like I got hit by a truck and not recognizing where I’m at. This has become an all too familiar situation and it’s pissing me off.

“You’re awake Little One. It’s nice to see you moving around again. You gave everyone quite a scare. You don’t seem to do anything halfway though, do you?”

I tilt my head sideways on the scratchy pillow. “Where am I this time? And why does it hurt to talk?” That hurt far more than it should have. I must be really messed up. I blink over at Warrior Osiston standing next to a door that, I assume, leads to the hallway.

I take a good look around and assess my situation, my eyes seeming to be the only thing that work without pain, still moving slowly through the stiffness. I’m covered in IV’s and wires, but none of the awful beeping sounds are coming from the machines.

“I turned all the damn sounds off.” Osiston says, noticing where my focus is. “Eight days of that sh*t is torture in itself. Speaking of torture, when you regain the full ability to speak, I want to know who put their hands on you.” The absolute menace in his voice made me gulp. He was terrifying without trying, this was a whole new side for me.

“I…I…d-d-don”

“If you finish that lie I will have Doc Sylvia dose you with something that will help you loosen your tongue. I prefer you just tell me the truth though.”

I took a deep breath, deciding what I was going to do. He was going to get the answers he wanted whether I was willing to give them or not. Which made me angry. I let the anger melt away the pain in my face and stared him in the eyes, challenging his authority openly.

“You want the truth? The truth is, I have had a bully for far too long.” I take a second to scootch up in my bed and clear my throat then carefully grab a water cup that is next to my bed. I take small slow sips, my teeth hurt and moving my jaw reminds me how many hits I took to the face. Osiston just waits. “The story is long and painful, I don’t really want to go into it, but my bully is rarely the one who puts her hands on me or anyone else. She has people for that. She directs her ‘punishments’ and supervises to make sure they are carried out. As for this time, I didn’t see who tortured me and they broke my nose early so there wasn’t a way for me to catch their scent. She did speak to me though and informed me that ‘I will stay away from the twins permanently, they are hers and I am just in the way.’ As for her, no one believed me when I brought it up originally, it’s been going on for years, it’s allowed behavior that actually gets rewarded when I get punished based on the manipulative lies she tells. She preys on the weak and I tend to step in, no one should have to go through this, especially innocent children. I won’t allow it. So that is all the information you will be getting on that subject. Next question?” I continue to look him dead in the eyes.

“The scars on your back. They are not from this round of torture. Was this done by the same ‘she’ you were speaking of? When was this?”

I take in a deep breath struggling not to wince at the pain in my ribs and let it out slowly, trying to rid myself of my irritation. I choose to ignore his question and ask one of my own. He didn’t answer me when I woke up and I want to know who is waiting beyond that door. I take another slow drink to stall for time. I don’t recognize this room, but that doesn’t mean anything, I never stayed long in the pack hospital the few times I did actually go and I was usually too angry or disoriented to pay much attention when I was leaving.

“How about an answer for an answer? I answered your question, I have some too. Where am I and why are you guarding me? Has it really been eight days?” I try to keep my face neutral and as blank as his.

Chapter 0164

“That is three questions, but I will let it slide due to mental exhaustion. You are in the hospital of the Royal Pack. It was decided that this would be the best place for your healing. I turned the sound of the machines off eight days ago, you have been here for 14. Your turn.” He raises an eyebrow at me.

My eyes go wide, two weeks, my injuries were so bad I was out for two weeks? This is going to be a long ass interview if I have to work this hard to get basic answers out of him. And I didn’t miss the omission of him guarding me.

“Both sets of scars are from an interaction with her, but I don’t think she did the whipping herself. The silver powder on the second set, I believe, she did herself. I have no proof and was strung up in a way that I could not see anyone behind me. I only knew her from her voice, I could not detect any scents. Not even hers and my nose wasn’t broken that time. Your turn. Who decided this was the best place for me?”

“Several people were involved in that decision. You were going to come to us eventually and given the situation, it was deemed necessary for you to come sooner than planned. Your turn.”

“You know that isn't a real answer to my question right?”

“And yet, still an answer.” His face does not change from the emotionless mask he’s had the whole time we’ve been talking.

I sigh again. “You are giving me a headache.” He lets out a huff that might be considered a laugh. “What happens now? I am technically too young to do warrior training, I still have a couple years left of school. What has everyone else decided is best for me?” I let my irritation show.

“That is three questions in a row. It is my turn to ask a question, Little One.”

“But…” I groan and roll my eyes. He raises his eyebrows at me. “Fine, shoot.”

“If Doc Sylvia can get rid of your scars, would you want her to?”

I still for a moment and then shift uncomfortably in bed, looking down at my hands folded in my lap. I’m sore, but not nearly as much as I should be after that beating. I guess that makes sense if I’ve been unconscious for 14 days though. Do I want to get rid of Kaley’s daily reminders that she thinks I’m worthless and just someone in the way? Proof that the truth doesn’t always win out and really ambitious and resourceful people can get away with multiple attempts at m*rder.

“I don’t know. I’ve never thought about that. Scars are just something that stay with you forever. I do know that sometimes the ones that have silver in them will open up if I take a hit too hard, like they are fresh. I never understood that, they are a year old now, they shouldn’t still open up, but maybe that’s the silver, maybe I am too weak to heal from them properly. They are a reminder of one of the worst situations of my life, but at the same time, I am still here with them so they also show that I survived. I don’t know if I want them to go away, but I would love for them to not be a weakness.” I look him straight in the eye.

“Spoken like a true warrior.” He nods. “As for what happens next, it is actually up to you in a way. You will not go back home, that is not an option. But, you may join our school here and finish out your high school career, then join the warrior training, but I think that might be a little too mundane for you, Little One. That is what is expected of you by the people who truly care about you. Warrior to warrior my suggestion is join the Warrior training while you take classes. We will make sure your schedule allows for it. Looking at your transcripts, which took far too long to get accurate reports on you by the way, you only need about 5 credits to graduate high school. Something you could probably accomplish this summer. I would allow you to join the warrior training in a limited capacity, as you said you are too young for some of what we do. You will not receive the official Elite Warrior brand, which I will explain later when it applies to you, and you will not be allowed to go on missions

until you are at least 16, but you can get a head start on what it is we do here and get out of whatever box you seem to have been placed in by people who think they know what’s best for you.”

Chapter 0165

“That sounds like my best option. Going home would just cause more problems and I have nowhere else to go. And I am done with most of my school credits. It would be a waste of time to have to sit through classes when I could be doing something more productive.” I try really hard to hide my excitement, but I don’t know how well I do.

“You will be held to the same standard as all the Elite Warriors. While you are in training, no contact with anyone outside the training program while you are here. We have designated family visits, but you are bound by the Alpha King to secrecy of the details of our program.”

“I understand. Speaking of family. Does my brother know I am here?”

“He has been brought up to speed on your current situation and is aware of your living arrangements.”

I just nod my head. ‘Up to speed on my current situation’ means he knows how bad this beating was and probably agreed to send me here.

“I know you have some more questions for me, but Doc Sylvia and Doc Ganon would like to come in and check on you now that you are awake. We can continue talking if you don’t mind additional ears.”

“That’s fine, there isn’t much point in hiding now.”

I barely got the words out when the door opens and I about jump out of my bed. If Osiston hadn’t told me her name I would have thought it was Sierra coming to see me.

“Oh my dear, I am so glad to see those beautiful eyes! Sierra has been so worried, she will be so excited to hear that you are finally awake. Now we are going to be running lots of tests on you. There are so many fascinating things that I want to know. Please don’t think that I am trying to pry

but someone your age should not have been able to withstand the levels of torture that you have undergone. I can’t wait to see what makes you tick.” She is practically jumping up and down and I don’t know if I should be more intrigued or scared of her excitement of my many levels of tortuous adventures.

“Sylvia, settle down, you are going to give the poor girl a heart attack. I am sorry for my mate, she loves studying remarkable things and you dear girl are nothing short of remarkable. I am Doctor Ganon Malcia and this is my mate Doctor Sylvia Malcia, we are Sierra parents, if you didn’t figure that out already. Since we’re both here, everyone just calls us Doc Sylvia and Doc Ganon.”

I nod and look between them. “Nice to meet you. Can I see Sierra? Is she here?” It would be nice to see a familiar face so far from home while I am apparently being turned into a lab rat.

“Now that you are awake, I think we can arrange something. I would like to take some more samples. Some of your wounds are in various stages of healing and you were given quite the cocktail of sedatives. I have a few theories, but I need to run a few more tests before I can make any clear hypothesis. Do you mind?” Doc Sylvia holds out a few test tubes in her hand. “Also, have you talked to your wolf yet? I have a few questions for her too, when she comes back around.”

“No, I haven’t heard from her. Not since the attack, whatever they gave me cut off our connection. Right now this is the only useful thing I can do and it can’t hurt more than what happened to me, have at it.” I shrug.

“I would like some samples from the scarring on your back too if you don’t mind.” Doc Ganon asks and I just nod. “Hopefully we will have answers for you soon. And we will talk to Alpha King Reggie and Warrior Brogen about letting Sierra visit.”

I nod again and just let them get on with their sample taking. Doc Ganon gives me a warm smile and Doc Sylvia gives me a gentle hug before they go.

Chapter 0166

“We will be taking samples every hour until your wolf reappears and we will send up some food. I’m sure your body could do with more than the nutrients we are giving you through your IV. When you are ready we will also send up a hairdresser to fix the butcher’s job they did on those beautiful blonde locks.” Doc Ganon says with a smile that is so like Sierra’s knowing look.

I give asmall smile back. The muscles in my face are still sore, but I’m not sure if it’s from the beating or lack of use. I completely forgot about Kaley cutting off my hair. I can only imagine what I look like right now. It’s going to be strange to not have my waist length hair.

I reach up and run my hands through the jagged locks and I want to cry, but I won’t. Even if she can’t see me, I won’t give Kaley the satisfaction of having me cry over my looks. That is something she believes makes you important, and I couldn't agree less. My hair will grow back, this is not a big thing.

Deep breath, I made it to the Royal Pack and Elite Warrior training. I look over to Warrior Osiston while Doc Sylvia and Doc Ganon do their thing.

“So back to my questions, when can I get out of here and get back to school and start training?” I’m not beating around the bush any more. He said I can train and finish school at the same time, so that is exactly what I am going to do. I need to focus on moving forward with my life, not dwell on past things I can’t change.

“As soon as the docs clear you to leave the hospital, which I assume will involve you connecting with your wolf again, we will move you to a room on the training property. Will you ever tell me the whole truth about your enemy?"

“Probably not. It’s not worth talking about her over and over and over again. I didn’t choose to be her target at first, but I also wasn’t going to stand by and let her beat on younger kids just because it made her feel better. I chose my place between her and them.

She will get her karma eventually and I hope I am around to see it, but other than that, she’s not worth the mental space. Can you tell me more about what I can expect out of Elite training?” : We went on like that for a really long time. Doc Ganon chuckled at my more bold questions and Doc Sylvia patted my arm when they had to ask about more personal things surrounding my injuries. My food came and it was actually really delicious. I was given a burger, fruit, veggies, chips, three different flavors of water and then my choice of dessert. Definitely not what I expected hospital food to be like. My throat was a little sore, but 1 wasn't going to let that get in the way of a full meal.

Warrior Osiston left me for an hour so I could get up and shower off the two weeks of grime that had developed on my body. I've never enjoyed showering as much as ! did then. ] kept trying to communicate with my wolf. I wanted to talk to her so badly and see if she remembered anything from my attack. but I also really wanted to talk to her so we could get out of this hospital and get on with our lives. We are finally free and I can't help but think that the sooner I get started the better my life will be.

The docs were not kidding when they said they were going to come take samples every hour until I got my wolf back It actually became kind of a fun game to see if I could predict when they would come into my room. Doc Sylvia always had some little anecdote about Sierra when she was little, and Doc Gannon was always very professional and a little uptight, but not in a bad way, just like his sense of humor was something only another scientist would understand.

Over the next few days we followed the same routine.

I did get to learn about their adventure, as they called it, which is the reason they sent Sierra to my pack.

They were overseas looking into a rare herb that they thought was included in a poison that was given to and wiped out a pack not far from here. The herb they studied ended up not being what they thought it was but they discovered more Alchemy with a coven of witches that they met over there. They decided to extend their trip which is why Sierra was able to stay the whole year with me and had been planning to stay part of the summer. They would have stayed but the Alpha King called them back on an emergency case. I assume that was me. Which made me feel bad, it sounds like they were on the verge of learning and discovering something new and he brought them back to tend to my battle wounds.

Chapter 0167

When I apologized for being a burden and the reason their trip was cut short, Doc Ganon put a firm stop to it. “You have nothing to apologize for."

“My dear, you are not a burden, do not apologize. You are one of the most fascinating cases we have ever had. We wouldn’t miss being a part of your journey for anything.” Doc Sylvia says with that hint of manic excitement I have come to associate with her.

“I don’t understand. How is tending to my attack injuries fascinating? I'm sure you see stuff like this all the time with the Elite Warriors."

“You really don’t know what happened to you or how special you are, do you?” Doc Sylvia asks over my shoulder, taking another sample from my back scar.

“There is nothing special about being held down and beat into unconsciousness."

“Is that what you think happened to you? If that was the case you would have died long before anyone ever found you."

“I don’t understand.” I look at Doc Ganon who Is taking his fourth test tube of blood from me.

“The amount of wolfbane, silver and poison we found in your system should have killed you almost instantly. Not to mention the amount of physical abuse your body took on top of that. Your body and mind are completely intact as if you just have a few minor bruises from everyday training. Not to mention the extent of your previous attacks.” Doc Ganon says as if that is common knowledge.

“Your body dispelled most of the poison within a few hours of your attack. The only reason we know how much was there originally was from samples we took from your clothes. Either your attackers

had no idea what they were doing and just gave you a bunch of things to weaken you or they were testing you to see how much your body could take.” Doc Sylvia finishes his thought.

Doc Sylvia did take advantage of when I tooka shower. She came in to assess all of my wounds before I got fully dressed. Some of them needed stitches and she wanted to make sure that I didn't pull anything with all of the moving around I have been attempting in the small space of my room.

I am beginning to get antsy being stuck inside, especially when I found out how long I was out. So I have been stretching as much as my body will allow and doing some light workout movements. It's hard being attached to so many machines, but I had to do something.

Neither of the Docs or Warrior Osiston have made an attempt at stopping me, so I assume everything I am doing is alright or someone would have tried to stop me by now.

She wanted an unobstructed view of all my scars and wounds without the hospital gown being in the way.

She did explain to me what some of my injuries look like and how soon she thought I would be able to leave. She also alluded to having an idea for the reason that the scars that had the silver are healing differently than every other injury.

She said it’s stilla theory and she doesn’t want to change the results if it has something to do with the way I view the injury so she isn’t going to explain it to me yet, but soon, whatever that means.

Which left me thinking that more happened to me than even I know, and maybe I don't want to know.

I get the feeling that there are things about my situation she wants to tell me, but she isn’t sure and she is using her ‘skewed results’ line to keep me from asking too many questions. Maybe she's not allowed to tell me, and her theories and assumptions are not something that are to be said out loud

until she has proof. But that might just be who she is. She doesn't want to give me any false hopes or false fears based on her theories.

It also took some convincing but she did allow me to put ona pair of shorts and a t-shirt as long as she was able to cut it up the back and safety pin it together. It made me a little bit more comfortable with Dr Ganon and Warrior Osiston coming and going. I'm becoming more and more comfortable showing off my scars and injuries to people though, not like I have a choice here. Doc Sylvia and Doc Ganon both seem to find all of my injuries and my scars very intriguing.

They take lots of notes and discuss over their mindlink what their theories are. It's a little weird to be comfortable in my skin.

 

Chapter 0168

I did not get to see Sierra for two more days. The doctors wanted all of the silver and the wolfsbane out of my system. they still wouldn't tell me what else was in the ‘cocktail,’ but I assume it's other types of poisons or sedatives because of the way that my body reacted to them.

They also took out most of the wires and monitors when I was able to eat and put ona couple pounds, which made moving better.

I thought I was going to cry when Sierra walked through my door and I had a pang of guilt when my instincts made me look behind her to see if the guys were there too. I didn't realize how much I missed them all. Sierra told me that the guys are all here at the Royal Pack doing their training. She's not allowed to speak to them either, which makes me feel a little better.

I thought I was being kept from them because of something Kaley might have said or because they were mad at me for leaving.

They need to stay focused on their work with the other ranked leaders in their training. But if they are allowed to leave their compound, she said they're going to try to come and see her and possibly me.

Which leads me to believe they all know that I'm here with them. I don't know if I am more excited or scared of the idea of them coming to see me right now. I'm not ready to talk to them about the night of the attack and I don’t know what they know or were told.

Sierra doesn't say much about the night of my attack, she avoids it whenever I ask questions. So I don't know if she doesn't know, if she's not allowed to say, or if it was so traumatic that she just does not want to talk about it.

She is very interested in me getting to start my Elite Training early though and we spend a lot of time speculating about what will happen when I do. She asked if I would get to take classes with her or if my training and classes would all be done on the elite compound. I made a mental note to ask Warrior Osiston about that.

She also helped me figure out what I am going to do with my new shoulder length hair. It wasn't as bad as I had originally thought, but this is her department and it brought me a sense of normalcy to have her playing with my hair and talking about all the different ways I could wear it. I did not mention that I would never be able to do anything she suggested on my own and I would probably just go with my standard ponytail.

Speaking of the warrior he has blatantly stopped answering my questions about training at this point.

He said everything that I will need to know will be taught in training and I don't get to know anything before I have been released from the hospital. I think he's purposely trying to frustrate me.

It took another full week before my wolf started to wake up. I could feel her stirring in the back of my mind but I couldn't hear her talk to me if she was trying to and I don’t know if she could hear me but I could feel her which gave me hope and Doc Sylvia was very excited.

When I told her she ran into the room with a notepad, out of the room, back into the room with the notepad and her pen, back out of the room, back into the room with a vial to take a blood sample and then right back out of the room again. Her antics made me laugh, at least I know where Sierra gets it from, the excitement is almost contagious. She might have been more excited than I was.

Chapter 0169

The first time I heard my wolf since coming to the hospital made me almost fall out of my bed.

Oh my sweet girl, there you are, I've been trying to talk to you for days. I was lost in a kind of foggy haze for a really long time. I'm not really sure what happened.

We were attacked. That's what happened. Kaley got to us right before the Mating Ball. How much do you remember before you disappeared?

I remember being in the locker room and you were being chickensh*t about going to this dance with the boys, and I remember heading towards the door.

That's the last thing that I remember.

Did you scent anyone before you disappeared? You don't remember detecting anybody coming anywhere near us? That's one thing that we are really good at and I can’t figure out how we missed it. Neither of us had any warning.

No, I didn't scent anyone coming near us. That's why I was taken off guard.

That's what I figured. Doc Sylvia is going to have a field day with that information. Somehow somebody has been moving around our pack masking their scent. I think that's how the first threat was able to leave those Luna’s fingers and nobody was able to figure out who it was. And I think that's what happened every time I got jumped in the hallway, I never saw it coming. I never thought of it until now but that's the only way that I would have been attacked and not been able to at least react.

I think you're right my dear girl, you're going to have to fill me in on what has been going on for the last...

how long have I been out?

I filled my wolf in on everything that had happened since the day in the locker room. I can't believe it's been almost a month already. She was appalled by what had happened to us and the few things that I can remember. She is very amused by Sierra’s parents and keeps trying to push me to talk more about Kaley and everything that has happened with them, saying they would understand and just listen. She also said it would help them with healing me to know all the details of all of my attacks. I wasn’t buying it and told her the same thing I told Warrior Osiston, Kaley isn’t worth the irritation of bringing her up over and over again.

Warrior Osiston and Alpha King Reggie both came in to talk to me two days after she came back and started having conversations with me about what happens next.

"Little One, you certainly know how to put on a show, I know you wanted to be in the Elite Warrior training.

I just didn't know how badly you really wanted it."

Alpha King Reggie tries to make a joke. I could only give him a half smile, it’s still too soon for any of that.

“I'll keep that in mind for next time.“ I smile at him.

“Are you up for a little tour? I would love to show you around this portion of my territory before we get you settled into the training compound. Then you will be starting training immediately tomorrow morning."

"I would love that! I can't wait to get started. being locked up in this little tiny room for 3 weeks has been torture!” | sit up excitedly.

“You have a long list of things that qualify as torture, Little One."

“I think that joke might be a little too soon, Warrior Brogen.” Alpha Reggie tries to scold him, even though he made his own joke not a minute ago. | “Well she's going to have to get used to it, those kinds of jokes are never going to go away and she's going to get sick of them very quickly! None of our warriors are going to give you any slack because you are younger, and they have been made aware of the basics of your particular situation. Just be ready."

“Yes, sir.” Oh, goody, I am already the freak of the warriors, this should be interesting.

Doc Sylvia got me all checked out and told me she would be dropping by the training compound to check in on me and to continue to take samples as | get stronger. I didn’t have many belongings since they cut off all my clothes to tend to my injures.

I packed up the few outfits Sierra had brought me ina small bag and followed Alpha Reggie and Warrior Osiston out of the hospital. The Alpha King’s territory was amazing. The minute we walked out of the hospital it was like stepping into an old time fantasy wonderland. I didn't even imagine this when he was describing it to me when we were talking about all of the different ways to protect his pack.

 

Chapter 0170

The inside of the hospital was just like any moderm- day hospital, full of bright fluorescent lights, white walls and white tile. Everything was clean and modern and had that disinfectant smell. But when you stepped outside the entire exterior was a dark gray brick with wood framing the windows and the top had turrets like in an old English country manor home. There were planter boxes full of different types of flowers and vining leaves placed along the border of the building. The walkway was gravel not paved and everything was manicured to perfection.

The mountain air smelled clean and I could feel my energy lift just from being outside, having the sun on my body and this view is breathtaking. My wolf agreed, training here is going to be amazing.

We walked just along the path to the right of the hospital entrance, and from this vantage point I could see a majority of the territory. The hospital was set near the base of the mountain, but still higher than most of the other buildings I could see. It was not built into the mountain like the King’s castle though.

My eyes bugged out of my head and my jaw hit the floor. This is the most beautiful place that I've ever seen.

Off in the distance to the left was the Alpha King's Castle. There were several layers of white and light gray stone built up into the side of the mountain. It looks like they've added layers and floors over time and the hodgepodge doesn't make it look clunky or bad at all; it's actually majestic and very peaceful, like the mountain grew the castle out of its side. Further to the right of the castle is the lake that they mentioned with a massive waterfall that I could hear from here.

No wonder that was something they talked about being a security risk. I couldn't wait to get free time to go swim in that lake. Just beyond that, you can see the extent of the massive forest.

Every now and then you could see little pillars of smoke, as if somebody had a fireplace or a fire pit going. Even from this high up, you couldn't tell where the little clearings were that they described to me back at Alpha Lucas's pool party. It was a very well set up, well thought out plan. You can see how vast the territory is, but with the trees dispersed the way they are you wouldn’t know where people, houses or important buildings are concentrated. It forces an enemy to enter the territory to do any kind of recon.

I'm going to have a lot of fun exploring this territory. We walked around to the right of the hospital and a path took us down a sloped hill on the southwestern side of the territory and into some dense evergreen trees.

It got so thick at one point, that we would not have been able to see had we not had our werewolf site. After walking about 30 minutes we finally came across what I can only describe as the biggest house I have ever seen in my whole life.

It’s bigger than the packhouse back home. : “Welcome to the Elite Training compound, Little One.” Warrior Osiston says over his shoulder, giving me a small sideways glance.

“This is where I get to train? There's no way this is a training compound! It looks more like a country club on steroids."

Alpha King Reggie just chuckles under his breath then looks at me. “Don’t let the exterior fool you, our warriors take their training very seriously."

“Oh, I believe you. I remember the way some of them hit.” I wince and roll my shoulders remembering being thrown like a ragdoll, by a female not much bigger than me. “I think I actually expected more minimalist wood barracks, that’s all.” They both shared a look and a smile, then headed on forward without another word.

The enormous white stone building is clean and pristine. The roof and shutters were black and looked brand new, nothing was out of place. Osiston led us up the u-shaped gravel drive, under a covered walkway held up by two massive columns and led us through heavy looking, carved wood double doors that had to be at least 20 ft tall that stood in the direct center of the building.

Walking into the entryway I was no less stunned, on either side of me were two grand staircases leading up to the second floor and off to I assume where rooms or offices would be. We bypassed the stairs and headed straight forward into a massive living room.

Just like in the packhouse back home, the back wall was a Wall of windows overlooking the backside of the property. The only thing hindering the view is a massive fireplace that I could probably stand inside and not have to duck and fit four of me side by side.

The sitting area facing the fireplace is made up of five large couches that even Alpha Prince Xander could probably lay on comfortably. They were made with extra large warrior’s comfort in mind.