by Anna G Berry
Lavender said that she was going to investigate and then get back to me on it. I liked all these memories I was having, but it was strange, it was like I had forgotten Claudia’s face as soon as I saw her again. They were just a bit confusing to follow.
I decided not to worry about it too much until Lavender came back with all the information. So, sleep would have to do for the time being.
I slipped into sleep and let the dreams take me where they would, however, I wasn’t expecting the next dream to go in the direction that it had.
I came to a wood line and the moon was high in the sky. I grabbed a cigarette from my pocket and lit it as I looked off into the dark to clear my head. There was a rustle to my left, the scent of a wolf that I knew reached me. I wasn’t sure who the wolf was, but it seemed very familiar to me and I knew it came here a lot. I smiled. It would normally never show itself but that night it decided to shift back to its human from. To my surprise it was Emmett. It had been years since I had last seen him, that was why I recognized his scent.
He walked up to me and gave me a smile and I returned one back to him. He was very young when I left for school, and his mom and dad left the pack for another. I wasn’t mad because at the time my dad and Waylon were having issues. Emmett sat down beside me and we spent the next few hours catching up.
When I woke up, the windows were open, and I was the only one in the bed. I sniffed the air, but Claudia’s scent was faint. I decided to go take a shower then look for the guys. I made my way to the bathroom and turned on the water and stripped my clothes off. I walked into the shower and let the hot water hit my back and let the tension wash away. I grabbed the body wash and soaped up and then washed it all off. I turned off the water then grabbed a towel from the hook and wrapped it around my waist.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and noticed that I needed to shave. I shook my head and brushed my teeth then decided not to shave. I could do it later. I walked into the bedroom and grabbed a shirt, boxers, and shorts then headed downstairs to where Lavender was watching tv.
I walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. She was watching some ghost show.
“Hey, did you find anything out?” I asked her.
“Yes, I did. When my mom took Claudia’s memory, it took some of yours as well. As soon as you saw her again, you forgot those memories. I didn’t think it would affect you, but it looks like it did.” She told me as she grabbed her teacup.
“Thank you. I thought that might be the case, but I wanted to be sure.” I said.
She gave me a smile and turned back to tv. I got up and went to look for everyone else. I made my way to the back of the house where the kitchen was, and I found Ryden and Lorren eating.
“Have you seen Claudia?” I asked.
“I thought I saw her outside with the rest of the pack.” Lorren said as she slid her hand in Ryden’s pocket.
“Thank you, I’ll check outside.” I gave them a nod and shook my head as I walked away.
I opened the door and walked outside. I saw the yard was filled with wolves. I looked out across the lawn and leaned on the deck railing. Before I walked out on the lawn, Brooklyn shifted and walked over to me.
“How’s training going?” I asked her.
“It’s going very well. Claudia is a great teacher.” She told me as she pulled her ponytail out.
I gave her a small smile and saw that they were slowly shifting back to their human forms. I could see Claudia and Max were talking and I made my way across to them. As I got closer, I realized that Emmett, Marco, and Paul were there also.
“Hey, guys. What’s going on?” I asked.
“Just talking about how training went.” Marco said.
“That’s awesome. What did y’all do today?” I asked.
“We teamed up and worked on maneuvers in wolf form.” Claudia said.
“Who is the most aggressive wolf out here?” I asked as I looked around.
“Max’s wolf, Griffin is, but we could use Zeus from time to time also.” Emmett said.
“Would you guys like to train with Zeus?” I asked them.
“I think that would be a great idea.” Paul stated.
I gave him a nod, took off my shirt and shifted into Zeus. I waited for the rest to shift. We spread out across the yard and got into formation. Logan was standing in front of me, Griffin was standing to the right of Logan, Poseidon was to the far left. Noah was to the left of Logan, next to Poseidon and Finny was standing next to Griffin.
I mind linked them, “Who would like to go first?”
Noah walked forward with a big smile on her face as she sat in front of me. I shook my head as I walked past her. I got into my position and waited for her to catch up.
We walked around each other a few times. I could see that she was waiting for me to make a move, but I was waiting for her to make a move as well. We must have walked around for a good five minutes until I let out a growl of annoyance. She playfully let out a nip that showed that she was having way too much fun at this.
I had enough of her shit so I lunged at her just so we could get this training started. She moved to her left and I landed on my side. I got up and shook the grass out of my fur. It was her turn to lunge at me and this time she landed a hit me on my side and made me hit the ground. She let out a nip letting everyone know just how proud she was of herself.
I got up and rammed into her with my shoulder, catching her off guard. She stumbled to the side but quickly regained her balance, then she took off running. I couldn’t help but smile as I saw the frustration on her face.
“Who is fighting me?” Zeus mind linked Noah.
“Claudia, she won’t let me fight you.” Noah replied.
“Let me talk to her.” He told her.
“Ugh, let me fight you.” Claudia said as she lunged for me again.
“No, you need to let Noah fight me. Be one with your wolf.” I told her as she grunted in frustration again.
“Ugh, fine!” She yelled at me.
I let out a snarl. She didn’t even get phased by it. I shook my head then grabbed her by the throat, she turned and snarled at me. She tried to turn the tables on me. I let her go so she could get back on her feet. She pawed the ground and let out a snarl, her eyes held a fiery purple blaze. This was the first time I had seen her eyes like that.
“Let’s go. I’m letting Noah take over with training.” She said.
I shook my head and stepped back. Noah ran headlong as she came straight at my ribs before I could make it out of the way. She jumped and hit me right in the ribs with both paws full force. I flew back and hit the tree behind me, with a loud thud as I hit it. I got up and shook the hit off.
I thundered towards her and grabbed her by the back of her neck and threw her almost as far as the other side of the house. She landed in the Hawthorn bush. She got up a bit gingerly and shook off all the thorns as well as the hit. She walked around me eyeing me, waiting for an opening so she could come in for the next hit. I let her attack first, she grabbed at the chance to hit me and went for my shoulder. I let her lunge into the attack and jumped over her as she clipped my shoulder midair.
I spun in the air and landed on my feet as she finished the hit. I gave her a nod and she walked back to the guys.
“Who’s next?” I asked as I mind linked to the others.
“I’ll give you a shot.” Griffin said.
I gave him a nod and let him get into position before we started. I let him take the first hit, he went for the easiest hit, the throat. I put my head down as he charged forward. He got a surprise when my head hit the side of his jaw. I grabbed his throat and spun him around in the air. He fell and let out an irritated growl as he got up.
He tried again, this time he went for the shoulder, hitting me harder than I was expecting and rammed me into the tree. I had to say that I really wasn’t ready and definitely wasn’t expecting the mount of power he put into that hit. We went round for round for several minutes before I
put him on his back and he finally submitted to me.
I stood up and shook off the grass and leaves.
“Who would like to go next?” Zeus asked.
“I would, long time no fight brother.” Harper said as he walked in front of me.
I gave him a nod and walked back a few steps to give us some room. It’s been so long since we fought, or should I say sparred with each other. I knew our fighting styles were very similar but also different at the same time. This was going to be fun.
I let him take the first hit, he went for the hardest hit of all, the stomach. I knew if I jumped, he would make a grab for my stomach. So, I put my head down and ran straight for him to knock him on his ass. It took me by surprise, he went to my right and hit me from an angle. He made me fly all the way to wood line. I didn’t expect him to have such force behind his hits. I got up and shook it off. I walked over and eyed him he never took his eyes off me. I ran toward his left back leg and rammed my head right into him.
I took a lot of good hits and was very surprised by them. He hadn’t lost his touch and he was actually kicking my ass. I needed to get a few good hits on him. One thing that us Blackmen didn’t do was we never hid our pride. He was letting his pride get the better of him, so his guard was down. I ran at him, grabbed him by his throat and threw him down on the ground. He got up and tried to land another hit, but I put my head down and used that momentum to flip him up in the air. He flew up in the air and across the yard where he hit a tree just past the wood line on the other side of the yard.
He got up and walked back to us with a smile on his face, he licked my jaw to tell me he submitted to me. He walked over and sat down with a whine next to Griffin.
“Logan or Finny who would like to go next?” I asked.
Finny walked forward and gave me a nod as he walked over to the other side of the yard. He let out a growl and ran full speed ahead towards my face. As he got closer, I took off and ran left of him and rammed my shoulder into his and he flew to the side. He hit a tree and let out a loud growl. I decided to let him get a hit or two in. He took off full speed again and hit me on my right side. I flipped in the air and landed on my feet. I gave him a nod to let him know to come at me again. He nodded and walked around me, I stayed put. My eyes never left him, and I felt the hit before I saw it coming. I felt the pain in my ribs as he rammed his head into my side. I didn’t hear anything crack, but he sure did bruise my ribs.
I got up and shook off the hit. I gave him a nod and before he could give me one back. I ran straight at his unprotected side. I hit his side matching the force that he hit me with a second ago. He stumbled to the side surprised by the hit I’d just landed. He shook it off and snarled. He came back with teeth showing and drool dripping from his mouth.
Finny grabbed my left shoulder and dug his teeth into me. I let out a snarl and reached behind me and grabbed him by the leg and pulled him off. I dug my teeth into his shoulder and held him there for a few seconds. He let out a howl. I let go and he got up and limped over to Noah.
I looked over to Logan and waited for him to walk out and give me a nod, indicating he was ready to begin. He nodded. We eyed one another up and down, circling each other. I wanted to see what he had. I could tell that he was doing the same thing. I gave him a nod and gave him a look that said to come at me. He returned the look and let out a snarl. I decided to make the first move. I ran at him and went for his side. He saw the move before I could make contact and he moved out of the way. He came in for an attack. He grabbed me as I shifted myself back and away from the attack. He came at me again, this time making contact. He threw me across the yard, and I landed on the ground with a thud.
I got up and let out a big huff. I could feel my ribs aching from the hits that he’d landed. I ran towards Logan and surprised him by laying a hit to his left hip. He hit the ground and let out a snarl. He got up fast, lifted me off the ground and threw me again, but this time I landed on my feet. I ran toward him again attempting to land another hit, this time to his side which threw him across the yard. He landed hard, more than likely he’d have some bruised his ribs as well. He got up and shook it off. I could tell he didn’t want to continue. I gave him a nod and walked over to Claudia.
We all shifted back and Max was holding his side as he sat on the grass. I must have gotten him with a good side hit. I gave him an apologetic look. Emmett had a big smile on his face that showed that he must’ve had fun. Marco looked like he had fun with the training, and I was glad. Paul looked like he’d had fun as well even though he was holding onto his ribs. Claudia had a big smile on her face as her eyes still blazed with a purple fire.
“Did everyone have fun and what was learned here?” I asked them as they all sat down on the grass.
“I had a lot of fun…it was like old times.” Emmett said as he gave me a big smile.
“It taught me to not go for the easy shot, also not to let my frustration get to me.” Max said as he laid down.
“I learned that frustration won’t let you win in a fight and always watch your enemies before you go in for your own attack.” Marco said as he lit a cigarette.
Paul laid down as he grabbed his side and said, “I had fun, but man did you kick my ass!”
I let out a chuckle and said, “Sorry, next time I’ll let you kick my ass.”
He gave me a nod and closed his eyes as the rest of them did the same.
“I just need to let Noah be in control even when I think she shouldn’t be.” Claudia said as she got up from the ground.
“She knows what she’s doing when it comes to fighting. What are you afraid of?” I asked her as I wrapped my arms around her.
“That I won’t know what the outcome of the fight will be. She made all the kills, but it was when my parents passed away and at that time, I didn’t have any control. It was all black and she was on a rampage until I was ready to take over.” She said as she buried her head in my chest.
“Everything will be okay. I won’t let her do that again, you have my word.” I said as I kissed the top of her head.
I looked over at the guys and saw that they were all about to pass out from the training. I let out another chuckle.
“Why doesn’t everyone come in and relax inside? I have some pizza for you guys and the sofas are calling your names.” Lavender called out to us.
We looked over and saw Lavender out on the deck with a huge box of pizza in her hands. We got up, most groaning a little and made our way inside to the sofas. The coffee table was covered with pizza boxes. The smell of the different kinds were amazing and making my mouth water.
I grabbed a plate and opened the first box that was close to me, it was pineapple pizza. Not my favorite but I took a slice and opened the next box. The next box was a meat lovers and that one was one of my favorites. I took a piece and opened the next to find that it was a pepperoni. I grabbed a piece. There was one more box. I opened it to find a veggie lovers pizza and I shook my head. This one had to be for Claudia.
I look over to see that Claudia had a piece of every pizza on her plate. The guys had either the meat lovers, pepperoni, on their plates. Lavender had the tv remote, snuggled up with Max and she had handed him an ice pack. Marco and Paul also had ice packs on various body parts. Emmett had a heating pad on his back as he finished his second helping of pizza.
Claudia laid her head on my lap and her legs across Paul’s lap. I pulled the big maroon throw blanket over us as we finished our food and glanced at the tv but wasn’t really paying attention to the movie that was on. I also grabbed a pillow that was down on the floor and placed it under Claudia’s head.
I gave her a kiss on the head and laid my head on the back of the sofa. The training wore all of us out and I decided to take a nap before I had to do anything else. I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Carson
I got pulled into a dream where Claudia was chained up and there were two cribs next to her.
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br /> There was crying coming from both. I walked over to the cribs, but I heard a loud clunk coming from behind me. I looked down to find shackles on my ankles and a heavy chain attached to the wall by a very thick ring. I looked around the room and realized I was in a basement of some sort. There was a dark shadow in the corner by the stairs. As I tried to see who it was, I startled awake.
I woke up to find Lavender standing over me with a worried look on her face.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
“I need to talk to you.” She said.
I carefully got up and followed her outside. We walked to her shed and I took a seat on one of the pillows that were on the floor.
“Okay, what is it that you wanted to tell me?” I asked her as she sat down.
“I might have found out who is giving you and Claudia those dreams.” She said as she handed me a cup of tea that she had brewing.
“I thought we already knew who it was?” I said a bit confused.
“We kinda do but I didn’t know her name. Now I do, it’s Camilla. She is a lot more powerful than I expected. I can give Claudia the tea, she needs a block so y’all can focus on the blood ritual. The tea will help block the dreams, but I will still give you the tea the night before the ritual, so your minds are clear.” She said.
“I can bring Claudia the tea after we’re done here.” I said to her as I took a gulp from my own steaming cup.
The tea was nice and warm, it had bits of peppermint, lemon, rose, and I think vanilla. It was very soothing to my throat as well.
“I will be gone tomorrow until about five in the afternoon so please tell Claudia that I will be out.” She said as she too took a sip of the tea.