Alex mumbles something to one of his guards. The guard nods then exits the room.

"You're very kind for letting me stay here." I say.

"Am I to be a ruthless, heartless and an aggressive Alpha?" He asks.

"No, I suppose not." I respond.

He smiles and sits down at his desk to do his work. He is quickly interrupted by an angry Jason.

"Alex, I am not sure it is best that she should stay here!"

I glare at him.

Alex sighs, "You find a problem with every rogue, Jason."

"And you know why!"

"Jason, I've had enough!" Alex stands, "You are among my best fighters and you WILL help her with her training!"

Jason instantly stops talking, "Of course..."

"You wanted to see me, Alpha?" A womanly voice says.

I turn around to see the source. The woman was fit and muscular. She had a single long brown braid that reached her mid back. She stood with her hands on her hips and a determined stare in her green eyes.

"Ah. Thank you for coming." Alex says. He walks back over to his desk.

"You are one of- if not the best trainer we here in our pack, correct?"

"Indeed." She says

"Then you should have no problem training a new member," Alex says as he gestures towards me.

The girl glared at me before turning to him and giving him a small bow. She then exits the room.

I look at Alex and he gives a small laugh.

"You are to follow her." He says.

"Oh I, um... Thank you again." I say. He nods and I jog after the girl.

"I'm sorry I didn't know I was suppose-"

"I don't care." She interrupts. "I am Candice. Though some- few- call me Candi."

"Ironically I presume?" I ask myself.

She glares at me.

"I am-"

"I still don't care." She cuts off. "You earn your name when I do care."

"Oh, I just-"

"Alpha Alexander is generous for allowing you to stay in our pack," Candice says. "He is not like many Alphas. He is kind. I fear it may be his undoing someday..."

We make our way outside the large house. Trees stand tall, their branches reaching out to touch the sky. The sun manages to shine through them. Children play and run around as the older people chat among themselves.

"This is a small pack," I observe. "Has it always been this small?"

Candice stops walking. She stares at the ground for a moment before looking up and glaring at me.

"Stop asking so many questions." She continued on.

We make our way to what looks to be a training area. Weapons lie on the racks neatly polished and sharpened.

"Sorry I didn't mean to push," I say. "Curiosity just-"

"I come from a long lineage of great trainers." Candice interrupts. "My family has trained many Alphas and great warriors! I would be lying if I said you were the highlight of my career."

I glared at her and crossed my arms over my chest. She walks over to one of the racks and picks up the only two blunt weapons.

"I owe Alex nothing." She says. "You will prove to me, through combat, whether you are worth training or not."

She tosses one of the blunt weapons to me and I catch it.

"Shouldn't I shift into my wolf first?" I ask.

Candice rolls her eyes, "I teach skills meant to be used in the human form. The wolf is powerful, but it is built for long battles. For a quick and deadly blow to the enemies, you will need to train yourself to fight without shifting."

I try to speak again but I am quickly cut off when Candice lunges at me. I move out of the way at the last moment. She slashes her weapon inches from my face causing me to stumble backward.

I steady myself. I growl and jump at her, hitting her in the face with the hilt of my weapon. She falls backward.

"Crap!" I yell. "I'm so!-"

Candice jumps up Instantly. She slashes at me then kicks me in the stomach knocking me into one of the weapon racks. After the sound of clanking metal vanished, I looked up to see Candice looking down at me.

"You showed sympathy for your enemy which led to your loss." She says. "We're done here."

I move the weapons off of me. I sharp pain shoots through me and I grab my shoulder with my other hand. I hear footsteps approach me and I look up to see the smirk on Jason's face.

"Seems like now is a good time to see the doctor."

_________________

I sit as still as I can as the doctor examined me, flashing light in my eyes and checking my reflexes. Jason stands against the wall, arms crossed and his usual frown on his face.

"Are you just going to stand there?" I ask.

"I would leave, but Alice made me promise I would make sure you're ok." He answers.

I looked down as the doctor continued to look over me.

"Your fight with Candi will be one to remember." He chuckled then placed his hands in his pocket. "For a moment there it looked like you were about to win."

"I don't think she likes me..." I say.

"Candice hardly likes anyone, let alone an outsider." Jason says.

I glare at him and he shoots me smug look.

"Huh, looks like a dislocated shoulder." The doctor says.

"Look, Jason, I'm trying here," I say. "I just don't know what to do! I- ARGH!"

"Sorry." The doctor says. "Had to pop it back into place. You should be fine now."

I thank the doctor. He nods and leaves the room as Jason walks up to me.

"You know what I think your problem is?" He says.

"I don't have any-"

"You're afraid." He says.

"Afraid?" I question. "Afraid of what exactly?"

"Don't know." He responds. I roll my eyes. "Maybe your afraid of doing what it takes to prove your worth."

"Jason, where the hell are you going with this?" I ask.

"You need to fight her again."

"I don't! I can't beat her..." I say. "And I surely don't need to prove myself to you!"

"You're right..." He says. "You need to prove yourself to Candice."

He walks out of the room. I stay seated, thinking to myself. After some time I sigh and hope down from the table. I walk out the door and towards the training area. Candice looks over at me. She lets out an annoyed sigh.

"This outsider again." She says.

I growl, "That is not my name! It's-"

"For the last time! I. Don't. Care."

She tries to walk past me but I push her back. She growls at me then charges knocks us both down. Before she could land a punch, I kick her off me. I scramble to my feet and quickly duck to avoid a hit to the head.

I quickly grab a dulled spear, hitting her in the stomach with the pole. I swing it at her head knocking her on her back. Before she can stand, I place the dulled tip towards her neck.

We stay there for a moment, both ignoring the crowd that had gathered to watch us.

"My name is Dalia!" I say. I throw the spear down on the ground and take one step towards her.

"Care now, bitch?"