From the moment I asked Adela to help me become a Luna, a lot of things changed, and my training got vigorous. I learned to improve my combat not only with Adela but also with Ramon.
That was because Rieka nagged me about learning how to fight without her help nor that of my blood rage and I obeyed. I got a hang of it later.
As for Adela, she was a killing machine. She was fast, too fast, and too strong for me. During the first two weeks of fighting with her I couldn't keep up with her, she would beat me to a pulp and have me treated, then beat me up again. She was brutal.
Soon, I began to last longer in my fights with her, even though I still could not beat her, I could defend myself better.
This also helped in all my training, the knife practice, arrow and even shooting practice. It helped me get better at everything.
I had also been moved to the highest floor in the castle, where Adela and the leaders of the lair lived, despite my protest. They all knew about me, so there was nothing to pretend about. Adela had said to win the argument.
As for the other leaders, they were supportive, mighty supportive.
I got involved in everything, learning how to balance the accounts of all the transactions that happened between the pack and other packs, learning how everything ran, who was who, and who was in charge of what.
I found out that the lair had affiliations with other packs. Allies, Adela liked to call them, even though I knew the other packs must have done that out of fear for Adela because I also found out. We had to raid other packs, non-affiliated packs mostly to get our own food and supplies when we needed them.
Sometimes the affiliated packs would send food and supplies to us in exchange for protection, that was how the dark mistress lair was funded. The mountain we lived on, could not support any form of food production so we stole from those who could or accepted them in exchange for sending well-trained warriors to them.
I learned everything together and even began following Adela to many meetings she had with other pack leaders, especially the allies. Those who weren't allies came to the lair to beg for assistance too. Especially if their pack was in trouble or they feared they might be our next target.
I always stood behind her along with Ramon and listened carefully to what each alpha and pack leader said. Whenever the meeting was done, we sat down and analyzed the true intentions of the alphas. Most of them were honest while others were bloody liars and we always set traps which they easily fell into before we went ahead to raid their packs.
And like that, I began to visit a lot of packs, seeing what they were like, watching silently how the leaders of those packs negotiated, comported, and carried themselves, especially the Lunas, but I also didn't fail to realize that my presence behind Adela brought new fear to the pack alphas. It was my red eyes I knew, but there was nothing I could do to help them.
I just tried to avoid the pack members as much as possible.
Today, we were all hidden in the thick bush that surrounded a pack called 'Grata night', it was leagues away from the Ice Mountains.
We had traveled by a magical ring that had the ability to open a portal that could bring us anywhere we imagined, I didn't know that Adela possessed one, not to talk of Ramon.
They also had a large map through which they looked at the various packs and chose their targets.
Now that I think of it, only the goddess knows how long Adela has been friends with Kira and Rona. Kira once told me that they both traveled the world. So it had to be them who provided the ring and the map.
It was late in the night and we had just surrounded the pack border. We didn't go in, we also avoided the border patrols, lying in wait as we always did.
The routine was the same, we snuck into the pack and hid outside the borders, then allowed two people to sneak in and threaten the alpha with the lives of the pack members, which was enough to make him surrender their food.
Most Alphas didn't succumb and liked to prove dominion, that never ends well. The alpha would be beaten to a pulp by me or Ramon. Really stubborn alphas always mind-linked their warrior and we would mind-linked ours.
Those fights never lasted long, not when we had weapons of silver, all we did was injure them, not lethal injuries, we didn't kill them either, we just incapacitated them enough to run away with the food.
Cheesy, right? I know but we were still rogues, no matter how orderly the lair seems. We were all still rogues.
Our opponents however are never sure what we were, especially, if they are far away from the Ice Mountains. Some thought we were hunters because of our weapons and because we never shifted but it was obvious we were werewolves, we smelled like one after all.
"Let's go Silveen." Ramon whispered and I immediately followed him sneaking away into the dark forest and border of the Grata night pack. We ran as fast as we could for the small town for a few minutes, our feet were soundless and our scents concealed.
Ramon was fast, even though he wasn't an Austan wolf he was fast enough to keep up with my pace, probably because he had been following Adela for years.
On these raids, Adela never followed us, she stayed behind in the pack to protect it.
We stopped by the small bush that surrounded the alpha's home where the pack store room was usually located and observed the surrounding.
It was clear, not many patrols were seen but something was a little different. I frowned and shifted uncomfortably in my crouched position, Ramon noticed my uneasiness.
"What is it?" he whispered.
I shook my head, "I'm not quite sure but I smell danger in the air." I whispered back with confusion.
How does one smell danger? I don't know, but I could smell it and I knew better than to just ignored it.
Something was not right about this pack. I glanced at Ramon, not knowing how to explain this new set of feelings.
He nodded, "Then we would be cautious." he said then stepped out of the clearing towards the house.
"Rieka," I sighed worriedly.
"If you don't feel comfortable, let's go home." Rieka said with alertness and I frowned, the only time Rieka backed out of a fight was when she sensed clear danger.
"Silveen hurry!" I heard Ramon mind-link me and I looked up to see him climbing the window on the first floor of the house with ease without getting noticed. I sighed and stood up,
"I can't go back now, I have to help him, I would be careful." I said to Rieka but as I was about to run towards the house, I saw one of the guards who was guarding the door, glance at Ramon who was slipping in.
I froze on the spot.
But the guard looked away.
"He saw him. He saw him didn't he?" I asked Rieka.
"It's a trap. Call him out Silveen! It's a trap!" Rieka said just as I saw the slight smile on the guard's face as he nodded to his colleague.