"Again. Your footwork is sloppy. Your stance and your punches aren't right. At the rate you're going, you'll be knocked down in no time." Axel, a newly recruited warrior, groaned and got up. Khal clicked his tongue and positioned himself into a fighting stance.

I was sat on a wooden bench with a pack of skittles in hand. The warriors were engaged on a training session with their humanly bodies today and I decided to watch and learn a bit about their style of fighting. In my previous pack, we usually do meditation first to calm and test our senses. This allows us to be more in tune with nature and our surroundings. As a tracker, it is vital for me to have a greater understanding and connection with my senses than the others.

Here, I see they train like gladiators ready to be put up in a ludi, or a gladiatorial contest, during the ancient Roman times. They sparred mercilessly until one bled or tapped out. I was almost scared when I saw a woman holding a chunk of her opponent's hair in her hand. I shivered as I remembered the memory. This is why they're deemed one of the toughest and most feared pack not only in North America, but in the whole werewolf society.

The forest grounds reeled with a thick atmosphere of tension and grit as the people continued to spar. Sweat mixed with the metallic smell of blood heavily hung on the air, and I could see droplets of blood fuse with the rough uninviting soil. 

"No, Ax. When landing a counter jab, you've got to be fast and calculated! I could sense the overwhelming fear and hesitation with your stance, pup," Khal sermonized with squinted eyes.

Axel's body slumped in defeat and I could see his eyes begging for mercy, "But how can I do that when I'm against you? You're the Beta, for Goddess' sake!" he countered, throwing his hands up in the air to add more emphasis.

"And you're my brother. What now?" Khal deadpanned and I snorted. Yep, Khal and Axel are brothers. Axel, who just recently turned 16, started his day with the unexpected emergency call to training. He looked like a younger version of Khal—has the signature charming eyesmile, warm ivory skin, messy brown locks, and small adorable freckles visible on his face.

Only difference was that Axel had their mother's hazelnut brown eyes, while Khal had their father's cerulean blue. And of course, Khal looks older.

When Khal ran up to us during that night at the gazebo, he brought with him grave and disturbing news. The so-called "werewolf zombies" were spotted in New Hampshire, and that's only around 200 miles away from us. We immediately hurried to the pack house and Storm called the main circle for an emergency meeting. In a flash, all the other important people arrived and we were discussing behind tightly closed doors.

Right now, Storm, Bain, the omega, two of his strongest warriors, and a tracker went to New Hampshire to aid the Detinu Pack. Alpha Dexus, Detinu's leader, was a bit shaken up since he just saw his dead mother of six years come back to life.

"Slightly bend your knees," Khal kneed Axel's kneepit, causing him to falter a bit, "right hand up by your ear; like you're calling someone. Chin down. Tuck it in firmly into your chest. This is for protection. We don't want your brain sloshing around inside your skull and making your brain cells more dead than they already are." I laughed at his wry taunt. Axel stared at his brother with disdain.

"At least I beat your ass in Tetris." Khal snorted  at the poor attempt of a comeback his brother embarrassingly did.

"Your point exactly? Anyway, let's try to master the jab first before moving on to more complex techniques like Tetris, yeah?" I stopped listening in on their banter and took a look around the warriors. I was in a daze with how graceful and cunning, yet critically deadly each of them were with their techniques.

I still haven't done anything worthy of being their Luna, but I already felt a sense of immense pride knowing that I am by introduction.

"Luna, aren't you going to join the trackers with their drill session?" I blinked at Axel's question and jumped up, patting my pants to get rid of any dust particles it accumulated.

"Oh, yeah. They're by the falls, right?" Both brothers nodded before continuing on with their sparring.

I trailed down the pathway to the falls. It wasn't really that far from where we were, so it didn't take long before I arrived. There was a small crowd positioned in a circle and two people were in the center—a male who looked like he was in his early thirties and a teenage girl. Everyone was halfway submerged in the water. I noticed the girl in the center was in a blindfold and the man was saying something. I went nearer to catch what he was saying.

"Rid yourself of all unnecessary thoughts, Sylvia. Focus on the now—what you're hearing, smelling, feeling. All of the others, including me, will be moving randomly. We won't be making any verbal sounds though. Your task is to sense if someone left or if everyone stayed. It would be a bonus if you'd pinpoint who, if ever someone did leave, but not a must, since we're in water and our scents are a bit muddled up." The man, whom I assume is their instructor, positioned Sylvia to her place. The others moved farther into a larger circle, and the man finally gave his attention to me.

"Luna! It's a pleasure to have you here. I'm Velichor, the head of trackers. I heard you're an exceptional tracker yourself. Would you like to join the drill?" He smiled and I felt my heart skip a bit with excitement at his offer. It's been a while since Bella and I trained!

"Yes, I'd love to! If you'll have me," I shyly said. Velichor laughed and gestured to come to them.

I could sense the anticipation and curiosity of the crowd of trackers and felt a bit of pressure showcasing a bit of my expertise to them. They were, after all, considered the best of the best.

They repositioned to make space for me as I took off my shoes and dress, leaving me clad in my sports bra and cycling shorts. It was important to be as light as you can when in a tracking drill session.

"Luna, can I be more familiar with your scent first before we start?" Sylvia asked with a timid smile and I nodded, wading nearer towards her.

This was a new and thrilling experience to Bella and I as we never did this with our previous pack. It was indeed hard to track when there's water as a hindering factor. I'm incredibly interested with what would transpire in the few moments to come.

"Thank you, Luna. You may go back to your place." I smiled at her and nodded, deeming myself dumb as she was in a blindfold and she wouldn't see that. I mentally facepalmed myself and pouted sheepishly as I went back to my position.

As soon as Velichor saw everyone was ready and already in their places, he shouted, "Start!" We proceeded to move randomly, going in and out of our circle and sometimes nearing Sylvia to a dangerous distance if on an actual battle.

Sylvia's movements were sharp and precise; turning her head to wherever noise was coming from, and her body twisting to support her movements. "Five more minutes!" Velichor yelled out.

Our movements became more frantic and loud. She cursed and I could see her frustration with her creased forehead matched with the jaded frown she was sporting.

I shifted places with stealth and quietude as I slipped out of the circle and leaned on a nearby rock. Velichor and the others gave me the go sign to step out of the circle, but not go out of the water.

"Stop!" The water was baptized with strong ripples and slapping sounds as each small wave   collided with another at the sudden pause of movement. The only sound heard were the harsh descent of water on water from the falls and the occasional chirping of birds.

Sylvia was breathing hard; exhausted with trying to keep track of who might've stayed or went out. "Now, Sylvia... Did someone step out?" Velichor questioned. I could feel my heart pounding and skipping beats from its melodious rhythm; I was nothing but tense with anticipation.

"That depends on which context of 'stepping out' you are referring to—out of the circle or out of the water. Either way, someone did." My mouth shaped into an amazed 'o' with her accurate instincts, despite the hindering factor of water. She was a damn good tracker.

Velichor asked who and she answered, "Bia and Jaren went out of the water, while...Gyle? Stepped out of the circle." On second thought... But she was still able to pinpoint that people stepped out of both the circle and water, so she's still good.

"Yes and no. You were right about Bia and Jaren, but Gyle is still in the circle. As a matter of fact, he's at your right center. Luna Yzavel stepped out of the circle; she's by the rocks." Sylvia groaned at what Velichor said, aggravated with her wrong answer.

"But that's okay. You were still able to sense and track that someone left. This is a lesson to all—since the Luna's scent is still new to us, we have to pay more effort to tracking unfamiliar scents. This will be the real situation when faced in a battle. Dismissed." The trackers came to me and introduced themselves. They were a chaotic bunch, but you'd know they'd be unstoppable when in serious situations.

We were laughing to a funny experience they had when someone walked towards the falls, "Luna, Alpha has called for you."

• •

I AM BACK! I had to take a step back and go on a mini hiatus from writing to improve my mental health. I'm much healthier now and I promise to update more often. Thank you for all the messages of support and encouragement. You guys are my lifeline!

See you next chap!✨