Raven (Book One of the Dark Lycans Series)

The three guards and the Beta just stand and stare at my wolf. I growl in annoyance, already tired of them gaping like idiots. They quickly snap out of it and the Beta slowly walks over to me.

"What the hell are you?" He reaches out to touch my fur as if to make sure I am real. I snap my teeth at his hand, narrowly missing his fingers. He jumps back in surprise.

"Shift back, we need to talk about this." All of the men turn away and walk to the end of the hall. I slip back through the bars and shift, changing back into my uniform but leaving my cloak in the cell. My wolf is smaller than my human form, so I can no longer fit through the bars.

"Can someone come and let me out?" I yell down the hall. They walk over and start fumbling with about thirty different keys. After five minutes of trying keys I groan.

"Nevermind!" I yell, feeling quite frustrated. I grab two bars in front of me, and using my werewolf strength, pull them aside creating a large gap. I step through to see shocked faces once again.

"Are you done staring?" I smirk, crossing my arms over my chest. The Beta shakes his head and proceeds to drag me across the hall to a tiny closet. He grabs a set of clothes and tosses it at me.

"You need to change into those. We can't exactly have you walking around the pack covered in silver armor, now can we?" he smiles sarcastically. I walk past him and into the bathroom I see behind him. I quickly take off all of my armor, including my boots, wristguards, and neck collar. Putting on the clothes, I realize they are more specifically, women's training gear. I gather my uniform in my arms and walk out of the bathroom to see only the Beta waiting. I remember that I still don't know his name.

"What is your name?" I ask.

"I am Beta Jackson of the Silver Bloods Pack" he announces, rather dramatically. I gasp.

"This is the Silver Bloods Pack?" I may have never met them, but I know that they are the strongest pack in North America. Just my luck.

"Yes, and you my dear are going to decide right now, if you would rather be a rogue, or try and gain a place in the pack. Keeping in mind, that if you decide to become a rogue, we will kill you right now."

I am surprised that they are going to let me try to join the pack. I decide to give it a shot, after all, I can't exactly get revenge on those damn Hunters if I am dead.

"Why the hell would you even give me the option of joining the pack?" I scoff, these wolves are dumber than I thought.

"I guess that means you want to be a rogue," he shrugs and nods to the two men behind me who aim their guns at my head. I put my hands up quickly.

"I will try to join the pack," I mutter. He smiles.

"Wise choice. Follow me." He leads me through the pack house and into what I assume is the training center. There are several gyms, and equipment stations inside. He suddenly stops and I almost run into him.

"Now, you will fight several pack warriors to determine how much training you will need before you become strong enough to enter the pack. And if you do finish training, then you will complete another series of fights to determine your ranking in the pack. Whether that be a warrior, healer, or other."

Once he is finished, I smirk. I wonder how much training I am going to need, considering how a Hunter's training is far more difficult than that of a pack warrior.

"Where do we fight, and who is the first victim?" He seems a little skeptical about my confidence, but I will soon prove him to be wrong in doubting my abilities.

"We will fight here in the training arena. Wait here, I will call everyone over. They enjoy watching these things." I set my armor down, and look around the arena. It is a large gym room, but it has no equipment, and a large set of bleachers on one side. I looked at the center and noticed a small circle is painted, similar to a wrestling mat. The arena is filled with many male and female wolves within minutes. Beta Jackson stands in the center and his voice echoes around the room.

"So today we have someone who wishes to join our pack. Sadly our Alpha could not attend, but we will still follow our standard customs and complete the training ritual." I suddenly wonder why the Alpha cannot attend, but I then realize Jackson is gesturing me over to him. I walk over and stand tall next to him. I am only about five foot seven, but I have been told that I can be more intimidating than a seven foot man.

"This is Raven Blackwood, daughter of the late Luna Blackwood." Whispers filled the room at the mention of my dead mother. "She wishes to join the pack. The first she is to fight will be Henry." I see a large man stepped out of the crowd. He is at least six foot three. If I didn't have an extensive knowlegde of martial arts, I would have been intimidated by him.

I step into the circle, as did he. I briefly hear Jackson say something about no shifting, but I don't take my eyes off the man in front of me. I hear a whistle blow and we start circling each other.

I watch him, looking for weaknesses. Following his eyes, I figure out that he thinks I am waiting for him to make the first move. I lunge at his legs and catch him off guard. He falls with his face on the ground, when I take out his legs. I quickly stand up and jump onto his back, preventing him from standing up.

Taking his wrist in a strong grip, I twist his arm so that if he moves anymore, his shoulder will pop out of its socket. I hear a whistle blow, and let go of his arm, stepping back. He stands up and extends his hand. I shake it.

"Very nice," he compliments me. I stand shocked, I guess I am just too used to the Hunters who can't stand to be beaten by a girl. I fought three more warriors, all just as easy to defeat as the first.

Then suddenly, I hear Jackson say he wants the strongest pack warrior to come down and fight. The man who comes down is extremely buff. I mean his arms are larger than my head. The only thing though, I know this from past experiences, that people with muscles that big, are pretty slow. I know, that I am going to have to use my speed and agility for this one. As well as my knowledge of pressure points.

I hear the whistle blow and he immediately jumps at me. I duck under him and stand up under his legs, shoving his body so that his face hits the ground. I whip, around jumping on his back and pressing hard on his neck, before he can stand. The spot on his neck, if pressed hard enough, will knock you out. His once struggling body falls limp. I walk over to a shocked looking Jackson.

"You killed him?" He gapes at me.

"Nah, I just knocked him out, he will wake up in a couple of hours," I say trying to contain my laughter. I can't stop thinking about how stupid Jackson looks with his mouth hanging open.

"Well I guess I am just going to have to fight you since you KO'd my best warrior," he frowns, apparently not liking how good I am. I am getting really bored with this, so I decide to make it a bit more interesting.

"I bet I could beat you blindfolded," I challenge.

"I hope you enjoy getting your ass kicked, because I have never lost a fight," he smirks.

"Neither have I," I shoot back, along with my own smirk. \I turn around to see someone waiting with a red blindfold. I allow them to put it on me, remembering back to my days in training. They required us to practice fighting like this, because it made our senses grow stronger. Hunters' senses are almost as keen as a wolf's, so me having both, I can fight easily with, or without my eyes covered.

Refocusing, I turn towards where I can feel Jackson's presence. I am already at the edge of the circle, so I get into a fighting stance and wait for a whistle to blow. I feel the air change as he runs at me, so I fling out a fist and it collides with what I assume is his nose. I hear a crack, and then a loud thump as he falls to the ground. I kick him in the side, hitting his ribs. He grab my foot and tries to make me fall. I use the momentum he gives me to land on his stomach with my knee. I then twist around and latch my fingers around where his neck should be. I can't see his face, but I bet he is actually afraid I am going to kill him.

"I win," I say simply. I smile and pull off the blindfold to see his eyes full of fear, then what appears to be approval. I stand up taking my hand away from his neck, and give him a hand to pull him up. I gasp when I realize the damage I did to his nose.

"Damn you punch hard!" he curses, cradling his broken nose.

"You deserve it after the shit you pulled when you first captured me," I snicker and he glares.

"I probably did deserve it," he sighs.

"Probably?"

"Okay I did deserve it," he growls and I smirk. He suddenly has a very evil smile on his face and I take a step back.

"Well, there is only one more person for you to fight'" he says, and I am not entirely liking where this seems to be going. I realize he is mind-linking someone, because his eyes glaze over and he is still for a few moments. He turns back to me with normal eyes.

"Since you beat me so easilly blindfolded, now you have one last fight. You must stay blindfolded though." His evil grin is still on his face.

"Who will I be fighting?" I ask, though I already have a feeling about the answer.

"The Alpha."