Their forced luna

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Zale joined me, and all I could focus on was the scent of Amanda all over him. In normal circumstances, such a thing would just make me want him more. But right now, saddled with the majority of the pack watching my every move? I wanted to throw him into a furnace or two.

"How's it going?" he questioned, eyeing my recruits.

"It's... going," I replied with a sigh. Our warriors weren't slouches, they were strong and fast and worth more than a normal pack member five to one. But the problem was, they still weren't enough to fight what we needed to. "Is this really going to work?"

Zale stared at his open palm, squinting hard at it. "It has to," he replied instead. "I'm not the type of ruler to use my people like meat shields. They will get stronger and we will take out the demons. By that time should have control of my powers and able to share it with my mates. Until then, this is our only course of action."

I stared at the rows of warriors. Sweat dripped from their bodies. They were putting their all into the training, but I couldn't help but worry. Normally, Javier would be in this kind of position. Why in the hell had Zale chosen me this time?

"What have you covered so far?"

"Evasion, close quarters combat, and ranged weaponry." I ticked the points off on my fingers. "What would be the most helpful is if they had something they could train against."

Zale nodded. "You need a captured demon." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I don't know where you plan to find one. Sounds like Javier went to town on Yale. I haven't noticed any of their stench on our men today either."

"And the women?" Zale suggested. His cold eyes flickered over our warriors. I had separated them earlier. All the remained were the men in today's class.

"I planned to work with them after I figured out what would work for the men. Didn't seem worthwhile to go ahead and mix them together until I was sure." It was an excuse. I didn't want to work with the women mainly because I didn't want to even touch another female body other than my mate's.

Zale continued to study the group. "I'll find you a demon to practice on. However, the men must be strong. No matter what I bring back, they have to be prepared. These things don't just infect adult men."

"They'll be prepared." No matter what it took, we would keep our Kingdom safe for our Prime.

"Good." Zale smacked his chest and lifted his voice in a howl.

All the warriors stopped their sparring and turned their full attention to them. They tilted their heads to the side in perfect sync, waiting for his orders.

"Warriors, we have two great wars in our immediate future. One is against the devils in the south that hide a wizard in their ranks. A highly skilled monster that once fought the previous Prime."

A chorus of growls and snarls erupted. Everyone had loved the former ruler.

"But we are not yet ready to take them on. Our Luna is still new to us and though her power flows through me unlocking my powers by birthright, it's not enough. Instead, we will turn our focus to the North."

"Alpha?" One of the men called.

Zale paused his speech, zeroing in on the man. "Yes, Dustin? What is it?"

"What happened to Yale? He's been missing, and before that he was acting strange."

The fierce winter wind howled around us. Zale took his time in crafting his answer. "Those to the North are demons. They've sent their kind to infiltrate our packs, those that have gone on scouting expeditions, and took over their bodies. Yale was one of the victims. We were forced to put him down when he tried to kidnap our Luna and escape back North with her." Zale paused to stare every wolf in the eye. "Do I have your word that you will offer your lives in her place to save her if it comes down to it?"

Once more the area rang out with their cries. They loved the former Prime, but the current one had their loyalty and respect. They would die for him, and for Amanda as well.

"Good, I will hunt you a demon to train on. You'll know their weaknesses, their strengths and their combat styles. Until I return, I'm counting on each and every one of you to keep my woman safe."

Zale turned and walked away from their howls of approval.

How was I supposed to follow up with that?

"Having trouble?" Javier strolled over, leaning on the wooden railing.

Wasn't he supposed to be with Amanda's kid? "What are you doing out here? You should be with Amanda and Clara," I scolded him. He's lucky Zale hadn't noticed, he'd get more than a tongue lashing from him.

"Amanda wanted to talk to the extra for a minute alone. I thought it was a great chance to check on you. Don't worry, I'm going right back. I haven't even been gone from the hallway for two minutes. Just know to keep these guys in line and listening you've got to be an Alpha with them." He stretched. "Well, back to babysitting duty for me. Have fun out here in this weather, Bo. I'll be thinking of you while I'm by the fire."

Javier strolled back away and I resisted every urge to lunge at him. I was supposed to be training pack members not sinking to the level of a child.

A howl erupted from the hallway that Javier had just entered and a moment later he slammed the door open, eyes searching the courtyard. "Where?" he snarled at us.

Unease pricked at the back of my neck. We did not just lose track of our Luna again. "Where what?" I said, all too aware of what his next words would be.

"Amanda is gone, and so is Clara. There was just a note left that had sorry scribbled on it." He snarled his words. "I'm going to track them down and rip that extra limb from limb for taking our Luna away."

I understood his rage, but I'd been with Clara. There was something else going on here, something we didn't understand, yet. But we would because there was no way we'd ever let Amanda get away from us.

But one thing bothered me more than anything. Something I couldn't quite understand. How had she avoided alerting Ares?