“What is it, wolf?” Siya stood up, feet stanced and ready to attack. Her heartbeat quickened. Why am I prepared for a fight?

                He was her wolf after all, his alliance should be to her.

                I can’t know that yet; he hasn’t proven it.

                Jate brushed past the alpha and replaced her spot on the padded bench. Siya turned her body to allow her eyes to be trained on the wolf.

                “Still warm.” He commented.

                “Answer me, Lambda.”

                “Jate”

                Siya grimaced in irritation. She would call him whatever she placed. “Are you refusing a direct order from your alpha?”

                Jate shook his head and leaned back on the bench until he was parallel with the floor. “No, I am not. I came in here because I needed to speak with you, and I knew Mia had disappeared.”

                Mia must have been the name of the wolf she had been speaking with for hours. Siya ran a hand through her hair, shaking it out and watched as Jate curled his fingers around the metal bar.

                “What did you want to speak with me about?”

                “Eio.”

                Siya tensed. “What about Eio?”

                “Leave him be—he shouldn’t be a Warrior.” Jate’s fingers whitened as his grip on the bar grew tighter with his words. It was clear to Siya that Jate must have had a personal reason behind refusing Eio an opportunity to join the prestigious Warriors. “Add weight.”

                Siya wasn’t sure what compelled her to listen to him, but she found herself picking up a forty pound weight and sliding it onto the metal bar alongside the others. She repeated the action to the other side and waited for Jate to lift, but he repeated his command.

                And Siya obeyed.

                “Are you sure you want me to add more?” She asked, after a fourth time of this. She counted nearly 400lbs on the bar at this point.

                Jate nodded, and she added the last that she could fit on. Siya stood across with her arms crossed, and eyes trained on him

                “Are you going to lift or just stare at the bar?” She joked

                Jate chuckled and flexed his fingers around the bar. “Spot me, Alpha?”

                She stepped around toward Jate’s head. His grey eyes watched her as she gently rested her hands underneath the bar outside of his. Jate nodded and Siya braced herself, following the bar as he lifted it off the rack and lowered it to his body.

                Jate lifted once, twice, and third time before his grip slipped.

                Shit.

                Siya’s hands curled around the bar milliseconds later, catching it before it fell onto the wolf underneath.

The weight was noticeable, and would’ve done some significant damage to Jate’s chest. She lifted the bar and slipped it onto its rack, before glancing down at Jate.

Siya’s eyes were met with an upside down smile from Jate.

                “Are you an idiot?” She hissed, realizing he had dropped the bar on purpose. “What if I hadn’t caught it?”

                “But you had.” Jate moved to sit upright on the bench, turning to lean an arm along the metal bar and starred at Siya.

                Siya moved her hands to her hips. “You’re crazy.”

                He muttered something under his breath, but not even Siya’s enhanced hearing could pick up what it was. Before she could open her mouth to question it, Jate spoke up. “You have beautiful blue eyes, Alpha.”

                Siya’s mind fell empty and her stomach knotted. What was his strategy? Suck up to the alpha, and get whatever he wanted? She pursed her lips. “Your comment is a little out of line, Lambda.”

                “So it may be.” Jate said nonchalantly. “It’s quite refreshing to see the striking blue rather than our grey.”

                It occurred then to Siya that his flattery was merely an attempt to persuade her to take Eio out of Warrior training. She would not fall for his games. Siya was a much wiser alpha than his previous alpha had been. 

                “Why do you not want Eio to become a Warrior?” She questioned.

                “He doesn’t have the maturity for it. In a few years? Maybe, but by then it will be too late for him. You start your Warriors much younger than our pack.” Jate explained, his eyes focusing onto the wall behind Siya.

                “You are telling me he isn’t qualified for it?”

                “I believe he will be able to endure anything you throw at him. But I don’t think his alliance will be with you; Eio is a little egotistical.”

                “That can be fixed.” A knowingly evil smile crossed Siya’s lips. Jate shook his head, humor in his eyes.

                “Not with Eio. People always told him he looked like Jacobi.”

                “Is that so?”

                “He must have gotten it into his head that he is part-alpha, since their resemblance was uncanny.”

                “We can arrange for that nonsense to be driven out of his head.”

                Jate looked up at his alpha with serious eyes. “What I am trying to say, Alpha, is that his alliance will be with the Lambda pack. He will gain too much knowledge and skill from Warrior training, and will not learn to appropriately practice it for the Omega pack.”                               

                Siya took in this information quietly. Jate made sense; she had seen the rebellion in Eio from the moment she had encountered him. But her gut was telling her to push Eio through Warrior training.

                “Why do you think this is so, Jate?”

                “It happened to me.”

                Siya waited in silence for him to continue further.

                “When I went through training, I had a distant relative who had separated from the Lambda pack, and was now alpha of a pack in the Northwest. I assumed that must have meant alpha was in my blood.” He shook his head, smiling slightly as memories clouded his vision. “I got my ass kicked one too many times before I learned. I worry that Eio will never learn.”

                Siya nodded. “I appreciate you sharing your concerns.”

                “But you’re not going to change your mind.” He guessed. Correctly.

                “It is my decision to make. I see a strong Warrior in Eio. I want to personally train him.”

                Jate seemed surprised by her answer. Siya couldn’t explain her desire to train this young wolf, but she felt it burning passionately in her. “You’re quite an alpha.”

                “Is that a compliment?”

                He laughed. “It’s however you take it.”

                Jate rose from the bench press and moved around to his alpha. Siya watched him as he delicately lifted a few pieces of hair that rested on her shoulder. He sifted his fingers through the auburn strands slowly. Siya could feel the air coming in shallow and fast as Jate held her blue eyes with his grey ones. The blood pulsed through her body quickly, and her stomach was tighter than it was in the moments before a battle.

                He smiled slightly. “Have you thought anymore about bathing in the river?”

                “It’s filthy.” Siya breathed, cursing herself for how weak she sounded.

                “A lot of good things are filthy.”

                Oh my…

                “Some of those things just simply should not be done.”

                Jate moved closed and Siya could feel the warmth from his body radiating onto hers. She wanted to run, wanted to get far away, but something held her close. Jate moved to run his fingers through her hair further and Siya nearly whimpered at how wonderful that felt.

                “And why is that, Alpha?” He was teasing her, and Siya knew it.

                Play with my hair again…

                Jate teased the tips of a strand of her hair. His eyes never left his alpha’s bright blue ones. She was captivated by the grey ones.

                “Are you afraid, Alpha?” His voice was low, and sent Siya’s heartbeat into overload. She suppressed a chill that ran down her spine and bit her bottom lip. Jate growled lowly, sliding his arm around her waist and pull the alpha against his chest abruptly.

                Unprepared, Siya’s hands flew up and landed on his pectorals. She couldn’t pull her eyes from him.

                “Let me show you what you’re missing.” He murmured seductively. She could feel his cool breath on her lips as he spoke, but Siya found herself speechless next to him.

                “Fuck.”

The moment was ruined when Siya felt that annoyingly familiar pull on her soul from her beta. Siya pulled back, breaking out of the trance that Jate had held her in. Her body felt shakey, but the tug on her mind was unrelenting, and Siya could hardly ignore it.

                Jate stepped back to give her space.

                “I need to go—Renald needs me.” She spat out. Siya wasn’t sure why she gave Jate an excuse for her leaving; she was alpha. She didn’t need to provide reasons to her wolves.

                He nodded and inhaled deeply. Siya moved past him, careful not to touch him for fear of falling into his hypnotic pull once more. She hurried over to the door, and had her hand on the handle when Jate called out to her.

                “If you ever want to take me up on my offer, Alpha…” He trailed off with a wink.

                Siya left without a word, but her heart beat louder than her footsteps as she jogged through the hallway.

                ~*~

                “What is it?” Siya snarled as she entered her office. Renald jumped slightly from the anger in her voice before bowing to his alpha.

                “My apologies, Alpha, I did not mean to cause anger in calling you.” He said, approaching Siya carefully. Her eyes followed him, warning him to keep distance. “But there has been an… incident that you might be interested in handling.”

                “What type of incident?”

                “A disagreement of sorts.”

                Renald was being purposefully vague. Why?

                “Renald…” She growled. His deliberate avoidance of the topic was beginning to irritate her more than his call had.

                Renald cleared his throat nervously. “Alpha, I think you should try to calm down before you go hear what happened.”

                “Tell me.” She ordered.

                Renald couldn’t object as beta of the pack.

                “Earlier today, there was a fight between two young wolves over the integration of the two packs. Nothing bad happened, but they did manage to scuff each other up.”

                Siya sighed, rubbing her temples. Of course, she had expected this type of behavior, but she couldn’t help but be frustrated at herself for not being there immediately to put an end to it. “And?”

                “The two girls are sitting in my office now waiting for you.”

                “Send them in.”

                “Yes, Alpha.” Renald turned toward the door, pausing for a moment before turning back to Siya. “Both parents are ashamed of their child’s behavior, if it makes a difference. I do not believe the parents provoked this.”

                She nodded, appreciative of his input. Renald turned and fetched the two girls. Siya had a moment of silence before she could hear three sets of footsteps headed her way.

                The two wolves were young, perhaps eleven maybe, with scratches across their face and their exposed arms. Siya scanned their bodies for any serious damaging, grateful to find none. Had there been any bites, she would have had to deal a much more serious punishment than what she intended on.

                “Hello, ladies.” Her voice did nothing to ease the tension in the room. Authoritative and strong, Siya watched the two terrified wolves with serious eyes as they slowly moved forward to take a seat across from her.

                Once seated, the two wolves nodded in unison.

                “It is to my understanding that you fought with each other over a disagreement that revolved around the Lambda and the Omega pack, is that correct?” Siya asked.

                “Alpha she—”

                “Is that correct?” Siya repeated, effectively silencing the protesting wolf.  Their heads bobbed once again. “You both were in attendance at the Ceremony, correct?”

                Another pair of nods.

                “Then you understand that there is no Lambda pack any further. Both packs have merged into one. You are sister wolves now.” Siya said, her attention specifically on her own wolf. “I expect you to act like it.”

                “Yes Alpha.”

                “I understand you will have differences, but you both need to work past it.” Siya instructed. “We cannot grow stronger when our own family is fighting amongst itself.”

                The pair was silent. Siya’s eyes flickered back and forth between the two for a moment longer before she continued with her lecture. “As punishment for engaging in unnecessary fighting amongst pack members, you both will be assisting garbage disposal from now until the next full moon.”

                Siya noticed her own wolf’s face grimace while the new comer seemed to not understand her predicament.

                “To clarify, you will be waking at 6 am each morning and assisting the trash disposal crews in ensuring all trash has been collected throughout the territory. I want you two to work together; you will be assigned your own portion of the territory that you will be responsible for. If there is any trash not taken care of, on any day, you can expect to run until sunset.”

                There was a small whimper from one of the wolves, but Siya ignored it. “Do you understand why you are being punished?”

                “Yes, Alpha.” They murmured.

                “Why is that, my little wolves?” She asked, her voice growing softer.

                “We fought.” The Lambda spoke up.

                “Over something that should not have been an issue.” The Omega added.

                Siya nodded, folding her hands. “Exactly. You are both dismissed now. Understand that if I see either of you in my office again for a similar reason, your punishment will be much worse.”

                They nodded, hurriedly rising and leaving the office.

                Siya waited until their footsteps could no longer be heard before she leaned forward, holding up her head with the palm of her hands. Renald quietly slipped in after the two girls to inspect his alpha. He could feel the stress flowing through her.

                “Talk to me, Alpha.” He encouraged.

                “I hate being the bad guy.”

                “You are the alpha, not the bad guy.”

                “I hate punishing these young wolves, but if they aren’t punished for their actions, then they will never learn.” Siya sighed, leaning back in her seat. “I wish this was an easier process.”

                “It will become easier over time.”

                She shook her head and closed her eyes. “That is not good enough. This is all too stressful.”

                “But remember,” Renald said in a soothing voice. “You are saving nearly the same size as your original pack from becoming rogue. This is for the good of the wolves. You are helping more than you are hurting.”

                “We better become so much stronger.” She joked with a half-hearted laugh.

                Renald smiled. “We will alpha.”

                “Beta, I need alone time.” Siya said, still not looking at him. Regardless, the beta nodded and began to leave. “But before you disappear, would you mind finding a Lambda wolf named Eio? I want you to tell him to meet me in my office at 5am tomorrow. He will be joining us on a patrol of the territory.”

                “As you wish, Alpha.”

                “Thank you.”