The Falcon Ridge Series Book 2 Not Just A Girl
Chapter 25

(Chapter song ‘Confident' by Demi Lovato)

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"Alright! Eyes on me!" I boom as I look down the long line of recruits.

"Today, I will show you just what controlling your shift looks like! One fluid motion! Being able to shift on the fly, allows you to manipulate the battle field. It allows you to redirect the fight to your favor! It’s can also be a cool, dramatic entrance.” I smirk with a wink and the recruits chuckle.

“There are many situations that you'll encounter where your human form will be better than your wolf! Now, I know some of you are still getting to know your wolves, so here's your chance to learn control! Take charge! You and your wolf will be one machine! Like this...."

I set myself at the top of the line. I hook a hand to the back of my shirt and pull it off. I drop my shorts and throw them aside. My eyes catch Sarah’s and she’s biting her lip with a leg kicked out and her arms crossed. I grin and bounce my brow.

I lower my head, concentrate and tell my wolf what we're doing. I ball my fists flexing my chest.

I raise my head and take off down the field. I leap into the air, shift my light, brown paws hit the ground. My wolf takes a few steps, jumps and I shift to human form. Landing on my feet, I’m still running. I jump and shift into my wolf again, who lands still running and jumps. I shift and land on my feet.

I do this right to the end of the line of recruits.

Sounds of "whoa" and "so cool" Come from the line as the kids' eyes follow me.

For the last 4 years, these kids have pretty much just been learning how to effectively interpret their wolves feelings and communicating in a way their wolves will understand. Shifting is a slow process to get them used to the pain of it. The winds we call signal the start and finish. Now, they have to stop relying on that part of it and speed things up immensely.

Well, as of today, pup school is over. They need to pull this all together if we’re going to survive this.

I turn, run back to my clothes and throw on my shorts. I wipe the sweat off my brow with my shirt as I walk to start of the line.

"One fluid motion can give you the advantage. You won’t have time to wait for the change. It will be very painful at first, but you need to take that pain and use it against the enemy. To sit and wait for the winds to complete will only get you killed. When you do this, you need total… control! Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" A big kid named Craig throws his and up and steps forward.

I motion to the start line. "Alright, Craig." I place my hand on his shoulder. "Remember, shift just before the peak of the arch so your wolf will get its bearings. Too early or too late and you or your wolf will be too confused to land it properly."

He nods.

"Show me." I clap his shoulder and back off.

He strips his clothes off and prepares himself. He runs, jumps and the wind picks up, heading straight for him as he approaches the arch of his jump. He calls his wolf a little too late and his wolf skids across the grass on his chin.

Cringes and Ooo's come from the line as Craig's wolf stands and shakes. He looks around and starts to growl.

"SHIFT!" I command.

He shifts and groans as he rubs his jaw.

I wave him over. "A little earlier." I say as he gets close. I lean to him. “Trust your wolf’s instincts in the jump. He’ll tell you when.”

I push him back to the start and he makes it halfway before his wolf shifts early and Craig panics in the air and lands on his back. He lays there, flat out as he tries to get his air back.

Groans are heard from the line along with a bout of chuckling.

I walk over and stand over him. "Too early."

"No kidding." He coughs as he rolls to his knees and stands.

"Again." I bark and we jog back to the start and this time he completes it.

The line cheers as he rejoins them. They clap his back as he blows out a breath.

I stand at the center, put my hands on my hips and eye them. "Who's next?”

Excited hands shoot up and I smirk at all the eager faces.

"You." I point to a girl next to Ashley.

Wolf after wolf runs down the field, bouncing like jack rabbits, shifting over and over.

After a while, the kids start getting fancy with it. Twisting in the air. Doing flips. Zigzagging. They’re totally showing off down the field.

Sarah and Shane did it side by side like the twins and show offs they are, shifting in perfect synchronization and doing front flips while shifting at the top of every bounce. They land and hive five each other. I smile and shake my head as they run back. I give them both high fives as they back to their clothes.

It was perfect. They were all like sponges, absorbing my knowledge and putting it into practice. Normally, this type of shift control is higher level stuff, but these kids are eating it up.

I clap my hands, signaling that practice is over. "Alright, guys. Lunchtime."

They all break from the line, hooting, hollering and gossiping about the lesson.

I find Sarah in the crowd of teens. "You were awesome, babe" I plant a kiss on her hair.

"Hey, I was awesome, too." Shane caught up and walked beside me.

"Yeah. You were OK." I ruffle his hair and he cringes away.

"What's next?' Sarah asked.

"Sparring. We need to keep the humans fresh." I say as I walk hand in hand with Sarah to the dorm.

Shane puts a hop in his step. "Ooo... I learned a cool move in training back home. Dude, I'm so going to kick your ass."

I snort. "If you say so. We'll see who's doing the ass kicking."

****

The next morning was an all-day event.

A simulated wolf battle.

We divided the kids into two groups. Each opposing sides. One being the invaders and one with a territory to defend.

They're sitting on the grass as Kale, Deacon and Cass set up the course. They’re all talking about the war and how they think it’ll go down.

"Ok. Settle down!" I bark as I walk around with my hands behind my back. "This battle will be winner take all. The first group to surrender loses. This is a friendly battle, so no inflicting major injuries. We can't afford anyone sitting out the real one. Make sure you can communicate with your wolf properly. If you're having problems, mind link your Alpha and they will force the shift."

I place several pylons at the middle of the field. "That is the border. You, on the defense side, cannot let the invaders cross it. Once they do, you must put them down. If they reach the town..." I point to several wooden crates at the end of the field. "It's over. You lose."

"Invaders, if you are less than ten members standing, you lose. Now, if you are down, you stay down. You're out. Dead. Shift, change and join the Alphas on the side of the field. You can fight as one, or divide into smaller groups or units. You'll have thirty minutes to develop your strategies and then the battle begins. Any questions?"

I walk around looking for hands. Seeing none, I continue.

"Alright. Prepare to fight." I wave them off to start the game.

After I get the go ahead from the group leaders, I blow my whistle and the invaders run to the border. Everyone shifts to their wolves and prepares to engage. The invading wolves run down the field and clash with the defenders before the border. Wolf fighting with each other across the field.

The invaders get pushed back toward their start, but then some defenders take some minor damage and are downed.

The invaders advance forward. Like a wall.

Sarah's wolf targets the leader. She lunges lands on his back and bites into his shoulder. The wolf goes down.

Hayden shifts and grits as he holds his bleeding shoulder.

Sarah shifts and is clearly apologetic "Hayden! I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean to bite that hard."

Ashley joins them. "Hayden! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He twists his head to look.

Cass runs onto the field with towels. He puts it to the wound and pulls it back as Hayden growls in pain. "It's fine. Just punctures. You're out man.”

"Yeah. Figured." Hayden gets up as Ashley holds the towel.

Sarah helps him to the side. "Hayden, I’m so sorry.”

Hayden waves her off. "It's ok. Really. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

Putting my hand to the side of my mouth, I call out to the girls. "There's still a battle going on, ladies."

They wave to Hayden, he waves back and they shift, rejoining the fight.

The invaders start taking down defender after defender. They advance closer to the border and I can already see how this battle will end.

The defenders kept a handful behind in case the border was breached which was smart, but not good enough.

Some invaders cross and make a play for the town.

"Defenders! Put them down!” I order.

With loud growls, the defenders attack. Two invaders go down just inside, but then five more cross.

The defenders fight with everything they got. Pummeling each invader, but the enemy isn’t phased. The invaders move like a machine with one goal. Get the town.

Three defenders line like a wall. The invaders come down on them like hell fire. They're overwhelmed in seconds. A minute later, the town is over run.

I blow my whistle and wave everyone in.

The wolves perk their ears, leave the field and shift. Everyone's exhausted, some are hurt, but healing. The defenders look beaten and broken, having lost the battle.

After everyone was dressed, I gathered them all and had them sit on the grass.

I pace around in silence with my head down. I want them to feel this loss. I want them to get the seriousness. I glance at the grass and at them. "Does anyone know why the invaders won?" I stop and stare at the group as they look to their neighbors. A girl named Rachael puts her hand up.

"Yes."

"They're stronger?" She answers. A few mumble around her.

I point to her. "No. Anyone else." I flick my eyes around them.

Sarah put her hand up.

"Yep."

"There were more of them?"

"Nice guess, but no. Anyone? Did anyone notice the difference?" I question the tired confused faces.

When it seems no one has the answer, I stand tall in front of them. "Ok, I'll tell you. The invaders won because they wanted to win. They salivated for it. They pushed on the defenders like they didn't give a damn. The only thing they had on their minds was your town. That's it."

I turn and pace back and forth. "Defenders. You put up a good fight, but you treated it like an assignment.”

I point to the boxes as my eyes float around them. “That town was your home. Your friends. Your families. They all live there. You had no heart. If we're going to win this, we need our heart in it. We need to get angry. We need to save people, not punch a clock. The invaders bulldozed you down because they're mission was more important than yours."

Everyone's eyes were on me intently.

"Yes, you follow orders. Yes, you follow the book, but if your hearts not fully invested, if you don't want it bad enough..." I put my hands on my hips. "We all lose and you all will die."

I watch as some lower their heads.

"Now, I know Black Lake is home to only a few members here. Myself, included, but we've come to know all of you and I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like we're all not just friends and classmates, we're family. What I want you all to understand is if the rogues take our town, yours will be next.” An air of concern rises as they look at each other. “Just something to think about. Dismissed." I mumble and they all rise to their feet and start for the dorm.

Through the crowd, Deacon found me. "Little grim, don't cha think?" He stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"It's the truth. A lot of these kids don't know what it's like to have your pack threatened to almost extinction. If they're going to fight by our side, they need to know that it's not just about us. It's about them, too."

I stop and turn to him. "They need to be told the truth. They need to be shown the reality of what they signed up for, but more importantly, they need to be with us. One hundred percent."

Deacon nods. "I get that. Maybe, though, try not to scare them off."

He claps my shoulder and joins the recruits.

I don't want to scare them. They are just kids who've never fought a day in their lives, but I need to express just how important this battle is. Not just to Black Lake, but to the rest of the Alliance should the rogues take hold.

Lost in thought, I didn't see Sarah come up and snake her arms around my waist.

"You, ok?" She asked looking up at me.

I drop a kiss on her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

****

Later that night, with Sarah softly sleeping in my arms on my chest. I lay awake with an arm behind my head.

I'm nervous. No. Scratch that. I'm fucking scared.

I remember as a kid, huddled in the pack house as my dad and the others fought the nonstop rogue attacks. Each one took more and more of our pack.

I remember the constant nightmares. With me waking up screaming, thinking they were breaking in and coming to get me. My mother would run into my room and hold me while I cried.

The attacks were so bad, I almost lost Nate once while we were playing in the woods. We were chasing each other through the trees when a rogue picked up our scent and started its pursuit.

I grabbed Nate and we ran for our lives. We screamed for help as the rogue tried to chase us down. He managed to corner us and I remember hanging on to Nate's head as we huddled in fear. I watched the animal stalk us, its teeth drooled. I felt it’s growl through my whole body. I remember screaming at it to go away as my baby brother cried in my arms.

We would have died if it wasn't for a border patroller who heard me and came running. He fought the rogue and killed it right in front of me.

It was at that moment I vowed, that if I ever became Alpha, I would have an army that would kill all the rogues. My little brother and my people would never live in fear again. That vow has never changed.

As I gaze at Sarah's beautiful, sleeping face, I vow to protect her. My army will be for her. I will lead it and fight to the death for her. She will never have to live in fear as long as I'm breathing.

I will win this war.

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