Chương 223: TRAINEE RANKINGS AND OUR PACK'S STRENGTH

Watching the match with the guys, particularly these three guys, was very boring. There were no girls around to chat things up during the lull or say funny things about whether someone was wearing underwear or not. Mate was carefully posed to watch the proceedings. I'm sure if I interrupted him, I would be scolded like the kid he saw me as. >. < I'm sure Killion would happily entertain me, but Mate would probably lash out at Killion for being noisy.

Poor Ki, it seemed like he was treated worse as a Beta in the Lorent Pack than as a dog here at Night Leaf sometimes. And Harvey would politely humor me, but he looked really serious tonight, only smiling his usual closed-mouth smile when we made eye contact. I didn't feel he was in the mood to act silly, and I would feel bad to force him and get in his way of studying the matches. I'm just considerate like that.; P I hope Harvey wasn't being too hard on himself about placing last or anything like that.

As future leaders, watching and studying the fellow trainees might provide a lot of insight into each wolf's abilities and potential, so actually, I should be paying attention too. I started to miss Ben and Jonah and Shannon and the other guys. I'm sure they would have had something funny to say or squabble over, which would be just as amusing to watch. I sighed very quietly to myself. Grrr... I can't even breathe loudly with three serious "mature" guys. Eh, did thinking like this mean I was really still a kid? T.

T Anyway, left to my own devices, I decided to pretend to be a fight commentator (silently, of course), which was much less fun, but I could also pretend to have an audience, and my imaginary audience had a good sense of humor and loved my wisecracks. So, ladies and gentlemen, here are the highlights of the rest of tonight's matches! After watching their Alpha's amazing control and merging technique take down top fight dog Keys with their own eyes, the other trainees were keen to prove their mettle.

With the elders, trainers, current and future warrior captains, and their most awesome future Alpha presiding over the match, certainly the pressure was on! (It's my commentary, so I can say what I like.) The first thing you'd notice was how there were more Morning Light Goons in this training session than Night Leaf wolves. It was a reminder of the year of barrenness two years before I was born. And remember, in Jessica's year, she was the only pup in our pack, so yeah, we were outnumbered.

To tell the truth, the Morning Light Goons were also beating us up pretty bad. I think it all came down to the lack of experience. We were stronger and drilled more excessively, but the Morning Light Goons were out in the field patrolling the month after their first shift. They were that short on manpower. So these goons had patrolled and maybe even fought and killed before. Our Night Leaf wolves didn't start warrior duties till they reached 18.

Plus, because Night Leaf was, for the larger part of my 15 years of existence, rogue-free, our wolves had never really fought or killed before. We just trained and did drills on the mat and sparred. No matter how competitive, e. g., Jack, Jessica's big brother, was the school martial arts gold award hero, competition and a real fight were different. I'm not going to go into the details. You get the idea. So here are the Top 10 trainees: [NL = Night Leaf, ML = Morning Light] Sam — NL — Tier 1 (I'm the Alpha. Of course I would rank first.) Bell — NL (Lorent) — Tier 1 — TIED 2ND & 3RD PLACE (As in, seriously, in our training records, Mate's name was Bell...) Ki — NL (Lorent) — Tier 1 — TIED 2ND & 3RD PLACE (Also, Killion's name was recorded as Ki. Then again, Titanium did say his real name wasn't Titanium... Our warrior administration had some form-filling issues.) Harvey — ML — Tier 1 Keith — ML — Tier 2 (Harvey's training partner, the stubborn one who was built like a ton of bricks.) Link — NL — Tier 2 (This did seem a lot like luck. But Link had good reflexes, and yeah, it was probably luck. The guy he fought felt bad and pulled back a few punches.) January — ML — Tier 2 (This isn't a month. It's a name... of a guy. I think to survive with such a name, he had to be strong. But he seemed like a nice guy.) Kayden — ML — Tier 2 (Beat his identical twin up. Note that they were identical. I couldn't tell them apart during the match, even though they were wearing different clothes. Yes, I'm sorry. They were both wearing gray T-shirts, and I didn't notice they were printed with different designs till later.) Jayden — ML — Tier 2 (The twin that lost the match. At least according to Harvey. I mean, who would know if they swapped T-shirts? Harvey had laughed at my suggestion." You would know after a while, Princess. There is a difference." But that's just what they want you to think! If I had a twin, I would also try to make it obvious to my friends which twin I was... until I wanted to get in trouble. Muahahaha.) If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Jack — NL — Tier 2 (Our Night Leaf continent-wide gold medalist. Just made it into the Top 10. Seriously... And only because he had a mean uppercut, which I was determined to avoid catching with my jaw at all costs.) Unlike the Tier 1 matches, they were pretty tame. Everyone pulled back the moment they heard the whistle. Very disciplined. Put me to shame...

just a bit, but not enough to regret my awesome fight. Anyway, the Tier 2 fights were not all that interesting. Coming to Tier 3, it didn't even seem like the guys wanted to fight anymore.

Either fighting wasn't their thing, or they didn't really care for the ranks at that level. Actually, I would have given it all I'd got. In a fight, enthusiasm helped a great deal. Like, look at Jayden. Seriously, Jack's skill was polished to perfection, but whatever Jayden lacked in finesse, he made up for with pure hardheaded desperation. As in, literally, he headbutted Jack really hard. The girls competed separately within their own tier: Lola placed first. She fought like she had something to prove.

She was a skilled fighter. Her mum had taught her since she was young, but this was her first year training in a group. Marissa placed second. There wasn't much competition from Jessica. Marissa was actually pretty good. Steady and strong. She would probably kill me pre-shift. Jessica placed third. She nearly lost to Savy, but maybe because she didn't want to lose to her junior, she kept fighting. Jessica came for training for only two things.

At first, it began with her admiration for her brother, and when Jack said a girly girl like her would never make it in the tough warrior training sessions he had to go to after shifting, Jessica joined warrior training to prove him wrong. Then later, she realized how it was a good place to meet and chat with a lot of warrior-level guys our age, and she never looked back. Savy... Ah, cute Savy placed last. She was the youngest, after all. Still, she was fast and agile and actually performed pretty well.

(She could've beaten some of the Tier 3 guys for sure.) The other girls all crowded around her to make sure she was okay and encourage her. Girls can be kind like that. Okay, I know this isn't always the case. But sometimes, when it is, such as tonight, it is an awww... moment. Our girls were so kind and sweet. Compare this to the guys who were yelling, "Hey, Omega!" Then when Dean turned around, another guy would kick him in the butt, and they would all laugh.

The weirdest thing was the bullies were the lower-ranked Tier 3 guys... and all Morning Light Goons. WTH. I wanted to go over and kick all of them, but Ki stopped me.

"Hank's taking care of it." Grrr... But Ki was right. Hank had blown his whistle, and the guys were being berated and then sent to run around the hall. Hank gave Dean a pat on the back before moving over to talk to the elders and other trainers. I felt bad for Dean, all alone. We used to be training partners, and I thought we would be together all the way till we became warriors. Normally, Jessica, Dean, and I would hang out since we were the only wolves our age.

But Jessica was with the girls, so Dean couldn't join her. And I'm here with Tier 1, and it's not like Dean could just walk over. Normally, I would just go over to Dean anyway, BUT Mate might get mad. This mate bond thing is really messing with me. If I walked away from Mate to hang out with Dean again... Eh, I dared not. Well, not so much because I feared Mate's anger. I think I got over that by now.

And mostly, I'm getting to understand that his anger was the kind that wouldn't actually hurt me physically anyway (even though I still hated it). But now that I'm linked to Mate's feelings, I realized Mate was an incredibly proud wolf. I mean, seriously so. If I were to leave him to hang out with the omega... Gah... My life used to be more carefree.

"What's wrong?" Speak of the devil. Mate picked at a rampant lock and gently smoothed it down next to my face. I stepped back before anyone saw it and made fun of us. If my gang was here, for sure someone would sing about Sam and Bell sitting in a tree. But fortunately, or unfortunately, they were not.

"Princess?" Mate asked. His voice was low and gentle. Did I tell you how my mate's voice was low like deep waters when he was speaking softly? It was infinitely soothing to my Wolfie's ears—but that could also be the mate bond messing with me again.

"Nothing, just feeling sorry for Dean," I managed.

"The Omega?" Mate asked.

"Let someone else take care of that. You're the Alpha."

"He's my childhood friend, and his name is Dean," I said. Mate sighed a little.

"Princess, your kindness is misplaced. The Alpha is the head of the pack, and the omega is the tail. There is no sense for the head to keep turning back to check on the tail, even worse for the whole wolf to bend backward just to ensure its tail's comfort. The whole pack is following you. The tail will just have to hang on with his own strength." Oh. Why did Mate have to sound so right when he was saying stuff I didn't like? I saw Link go over and sling an arm around Dean.

They walked to the side of the hall to get a drink together. Link was making sure the ML Goons knew that Dean had friends in higher ranks. Link was always kind like that. He was the type who always stopped to help us kids get our Frisbee out of a tree or didn't mind being pestered to drive the younger boys to City Gate to hang out. I heard he used to have a younger brother, but the younger brother had left for Night Forest Pack. I've only heard the rumors, but Link's parents were separated.

According to rumors, Link's mum wasn't his dad's real soulmate. Both of them had thought their soulmates died during the war. After the war, they decided to start anew together. They got mated and started a family here at Night Leaf. But his dad met his soulmate while on a mission a few years after Link's brother was born. Link's dad offered to take both boys. His soulmate seemed to love the boys too, but Link chose to stay with his mum. He was older and could take care of and protect her.

His dad still sent alimony, as if that made everything okay. Link's mum had reportedly said she understood her mate's decision. The mating bond could not be denied. At least she still had her Link. Link was her pride and joy. She worked at our pack's hospital now, and life was peaceful. I'm less understanding. Link's dad was an idiot. (Don't argue with me here. I've kept my opinion to myself for so long. You can keep any differing opinion to yourself too.) Anyway, Link was strong.

He often told us that our pack's kindness made us strong. And he was always looking out for the smaller guys. Mum thought it was because Link missed his younger brother. Bless his heart. I think Link was just that kind of good guy. And Link was right. This was something Mate would not understand until he experienced it for himself. Our pack's kindness made us strong.