Markian's POV
It had been a long day. We had practised defence for the last 4 hours and I was exhausted. Defence training usually took more mental undertaking rather than training to attack which was more of a physical workout. My brother and I always trained side by side with our soldiers. We made sure they knew that if we were not ready to carry out an order, we wouldn't make them carry it out as well. So far, it had worked well as we had become strong....A strong pack that grew even stronger as we relied on each other to protect our loved ones.
We, my brother and I,had decided to take over the patrolling of the Southeast perimeter of our land for today. We knew that there was a small lake on the periphery of our land. It bordered an area which neither belongs to us nor the pack closes to us, the Moongazer pack. We had found the lake by accident behind a huge thicket which took both of us about a month to clear. We knew by experience how cool the lake would be at this time of the year.
I couldn't wait to jump in and feel its chilled waters soothe my aching muscles. I could already imagine the cold water of the lake cradling me in its freezing embrace
It wasn't easy being the Alpha to the strongest pack around. Many Alphas felt that it was an open challenge to them. Even if Starfall didn't believe in invading nearby territories, the other Alphas thought that as Starfall's alphas being comparatively younger than the rest of the alphas around, they would be easy to defeat. They had come in droves, ready to take on our pack and more importantly, ready to fight the two young alphas of Starfall.
So far five other alphas had learnt the bitter lesson that we may be younger but we are smart and well trained. We have been in training since we were in diapers and not many alphas have had the privilege of training under a king's guard who was coincidentally our father as well. Xander, our father, had been given the opportunity by the King Of Wolves himself, to become an Alpha and have his own pack as a reward after completing 25 years of faithful service to the King and his family
Father always used life experiences as his training tools while he trained us to assume the title of Alpha after him. He knew that we would have to prove our worth in battle so he trained us from the time we could walk. Mother had often complained that she never got to see her kids growing up as we were always training with Father and his Beta. She understood the need for us to train as she had seen many alphas lose their lives in battle so as much as she complained, she also made sure we didn't default our training.
We were both also pushed to excel in academics as all brawn and no brain accordingly, was a recipe for disaster. We studied the Art of War by Sun Tzu until we could recite the passages by heart and explain it in detail even while we were sleeping. While Mitchell's strong suit was tactical positioning and strategy of war, I leaned more towards the study of people and their weaknesses. It was one of the reasons why many of the neighbouring alphas also seemed to respect our decisions and looked to us to sign treaties with them.
To be safe, our father made sure that both Mitchell and I were well versed in hand to hand combat as well as sword fighting. To Mitchell's credit, he is slightly better in the use of a bow and arrow but I know that he would never admit that to anyone. It didn't though stop him from rubbing my nose in that particular fact whenever I missed the centre of the target in practice. We had spent many hours perfecting our skill and aim so that we would be ready for any eventuality
I, on the other hand, prefered the sword. The sharply pointed sabre was my weapon of choice in a fight. I fought using all my skill and prowess and this made me a danger on and off the battlefield. I fought to mainly to injure or maim and very rarely to kill. We at Starfall, respected all life and had vowed to only shed the blood of an opponent if we had no other choice
As twins, our parents always made sure that we realised that we will compete with the other pushing each other to our limits, but never against each other. Our parents making sure that our enemies never had the opportunity to come near enough, to hurt either of us. They hammered it into our heads so that we grew up knowing that we will share the Alpha position fairly. That's not saying that we didn't have our arguments. There was healthy competition between the two of us always but when it mattered, I know that I would lay down my life for Mitchell at the drop of a hat as he would do for me.
We were now called the Double Threats or Double Trouble as we both fought in tandem and as usual back to back instinctively knowing what the other was going to do therefore defending each other's weak side and attacking simultaneously causing more damage. Using this method, many an enemy was defeated even before we ourselves sustained many injuries
Father made sure we didn't become cocky by always making sure that we were on our toes and ready by mounting surprise attacks on the both of us with the help of his beta and gamma wolves. Many pails and broomsticks were sacrificed in this endeavour.
Mother kept having to rescue the 'assailants' from being broken into pieces as we fought with them. She kept scolding the Gamma and Beta for allowing the destruction of her household appliance to such a scale that she had to buy brooms by the dozen.
There were times when we were nearly bested by my father and his team but Mother would use her veto power to stop the "war" and divert Father's attention to something else.
We had acquired more land and pack members after defeating the invaders as most of the Alphas fought until death. Many alphas chose this way as it was deemed dishonourable to walk away from a battle. We could not understand why it was so, as a life wasted in the pursuit of victory through battle was just that....a life wasted.
We believed that if the defeated alpha could see for himself the error of his ways then, we would help him get back on his feet and bring him and his pack under our protection. By doing so, we would not only ensure that our pack was safe but his pack also taken care off.
We preferred allies rather than enemies so we hoped that the defeated alphas would choose that option instead of death. We also gave the choice to others in the defeated packs. They had a choice to either stay and work with us in peace or leave and become rouges.
If the pack members choose to become rouges, we would give them a sackful of clothes and food, and told them that if they need any more food, they could come back anytime. We tried our best not increasing the number of rouges surrounding our packs as rogues were a menace through and though
Mitchell and I do not believe that violence against the defeated packs would help them assimilate into our pack nor any other pack that they wish to join. Many wolves chose to remain and live in peace in our pack as we have never thought that the whole pack should pay for the stupid decisions of its alpha.
So far only one alpha, who had lost the fight with us, wanted to continue as the alpha of his pack. Alpha Nelson was the only one that accepted his defeat with the grace of an Alpha who knew we were trying to help his pack. We made sure he understood that he is under our care and guidance now. Any threat against his pack was a threat against Starfall as well. This ensured that other packs didn't try attacking Alpha Nelson and his pack just because they knew he had lost to us and he was still alive. We now make sure that his pack and ours are allies with the same amount of protection awarded to both packs. The other four Alphas that went up against us did not want to live after being bested by Mitchell and myself. Most of their pack members have assimilated into our pack and the packs nearby as they wanted to continue their lives, living in peace.
"Mitchell, I am going to complete this round and then go to the lake for a swim. You coming?" It had been a hot day and I was looking forward to going for a swim. My muscles rippled under my shirt as I hastened my steps towards the lake.
Mitchell, my twin or as I like to call him...my ugly twin nodded. He was too exhausted to even talk. We had completed a whole morning of mock battles with our guards to ensure they were fit and ready for any eventuality. After that workout, we had run the ten-mile perimeter of our southeast border to ensure that rogues had not set up traps in that area.
Rogues were a perennial problem to all packs. They were lone wolves but sometimes they ran in their makeshift packs. They trespassed territories and harmed the wolves living there as well. It was the responsibility of the Alpha to ensure that none of his pack suffered because of a rogue's action. There were many reasons why a wolf would turn rogue but staying alone for a long time was not good for a wolf. They turned nasty in seclusion and eventually went mad. Wolves were not meant to be alone, they were meant to be with their family or their packs. That is why the Moon Goddess had given all wolves mates. It was just a matter of finding the one meant for you.
The sun warmed our backs as we trudged towards the lake. I could already picture the silky water of the lake running over my parched skin. Soothing my muscles that had been used throughout the day. My daydreaming was interrupted by loud splashes and a high pitched giggle.
I motioned Mitchell to be quiet and we crept toward the sounds, climbing over the low lying branches of the trees that encircled the lake.
Mitchell POV
Markian was in front of me. We heard splashing sounds from the lake. Who was at 'OUR' lake? Who else knew of this lake? We had managed to keep the secret safe from the entire pack as we had only just cleared the area of traps that a few rogues had placed. The gruesome contraptions that snapped shut when someone inadvertently stepped onto it,had been placed by a group of rogues who had passed by a few months back.
These traps were not put down as a method of catching their prey for food. These rogues put down these traps mainly to injure their victims. They put it down to feel the power of seeing another get injured. We had found a few traps with blood around it as well as body parts thrown around carelessly. These rouges maimed for fun and we were going to stop them. Life was not something that should be treated so callously
We could not have members of our pack being injured or maimed by these traps so Markian and I had scoured through this entire area ,literally on our hands and knees making sure that there were no traps left. We hadn't told anyone about this lake yet and it came as a shock to us that there were now, people swimming in the lake
The lake was in our territory. It belonged to our pack and these were intruders. Were they rogues? Why were they in our lake? My fur rippled just under my skin. It ached as it tried to push its way up, out of its hiding place."Relax Apollo! You will get your chance to come out soon. Just let me check it out a bit" I cautioned my wolf
I glanced towards Markian, he expression mirrored mine. A snarl escaped his parted lips as thoughts of someone trespassing in our territory, they also had the audacity to use 'OUR' lake.
As I crept slowly towards the sound, the low branches of the trees bending away from my face, I caught a glimpse of caramel brown skin over a smooth back. The multiple indentations denoting the vertebras made up a straight spine adjoining the long smooth arms. I ducked my head lower in hopes that I could see more.
Suddenly with a mighty splash, the beautiful vision dipped low into the water. She resurfaced beside two young children and started to play a game of water tag. The three of them were splashing around without a care in the world.
She looked ethereal with her long black hair flowing down to her waist. Her trim body covered with a hideous looking swimsuit that looked like it belonged to someone else. My wolf bristled to the surface.
"Can you calm the blazes down Apollo! What is wrong with you??"
I cautioned him to no avail. He was shivering in delight at the divine beauty that was frolicking in the water.
I didn't understand why my heart was beating so fast. We were wolves. The naked body was a norm to us. Every time we shifted, we had to look for clothes to cover up as our clothes didn't shift with us. Why was my heart reacting so weirdly when she wasn't even naked? And why was she wearing such an ugly suit was beyond my comprehension.
Markian came closer. I could see his eyes dilating at the sight of the beauty in the water. His eyes turning from his emerald green to a tumultuous black."Damon must be going crazy as well" I smiled to myself. Markian's wolf, Damon, was more difficult to control. Being elder by 1 minute made him think that he had the right to order everyone, I included, around.
As both of us made our way closer to the bank of the lake, we could see that the girl was enjoying herself in the water. The two children with her ganged up against her and had begun splashing water in her direction.
She dove into the lake and came out spluttering a few feet away from the children and playfully dunked them into the water. The sun rays drew rainbows around her as water droplets glistened on her skin
Markian and I decided to climb up and sit on a large black rock just beside the water. We were waiting to see this beautiful creature rise out of the cold water and walk towards us.
"A real water baby I see" grinned Markian wolfishly knowing that she would have to come out beside us as he saw a pile of their clothes on a mat lying close to the large rock we were sitting on.