Outliers

Thirty Seven

"The responsibility of love; To keep another's heart safe."

Bridgett Devoue

Daniel was going to finish his training in Colorado. He only had a year to go anyway, so it seemed stupid to throw it all away now. To my surprise, Astrid - his mate - was transferring here to train alongside him for the remaining year. From everything that Nero had told me about her so far, Astrid was a very quiet girl that didn't socialise much with the rest of the pack and stuck to the company of her family. The fact that she was willing to travel to a completely different pack, to a completely different lifestyle, all for her mate was more than enough to garner my respect.

After Daniel's final year, he was going to return to Nevada to train under Samual - Thane and Allister's friend currently acting in the place of Nevada's Alpha - to become the packs Beta ready for Riley's eventual return. I was told Samual had centuries of experience working as Alaska's Beta alongside Allister, so I had no doubt he would be a good mentor for Daniel.

Riley would be transferring to a different pack after the year and complete another years training under another Alpha. He would continue to do this with all of the packs, until Thane - and the rest of the Alpha's - believed he was ready to run a pack of his own.

It had been two weeks since Russo's attack, and Riley was still quieter than usual, still reserved, but he didn't hide away in his room for most of the day any more. He insisted on continuing his training with Thane that very next day and already I could see a noticeable improvement in him.

The young male stood straighter now, and didn't shy under people's gaze. And he was more confident in his training, picking up everything Thane taught him quickly. He was eating more too, and sleeping easier - from what he had told me - and training longer and harder as a result. If things kept up I knew he would begin to fill out more and his confidence in himself as an Alpha would grow.

This didn't mean he still didn't have tough days. I would still see him at times with red rimmed eyes, or whispering to Daniel with a miserable expression on his face. I wasn't naive enough to think a little bit of exercise could ever change the fact that he had still lost his father, still been betrayed so heinously and thrown into a situation no other wolf should ever have to deal with. But I still saw hope in him, still saw that drive to keep going and better himself. As long as he had people to lean on when he needed it, as long as he knew he could confide in those he trusted, I too had hope that he would endure.

It was a sunny afternoon, that I found myself sat alongside Nero on the main house porch. Riley was out on the field a distance away, with Thane and Lorcan beside him as they worked on various grappling positions. The sun was beginning to set, its glare sharp in our eyes as we watched in silence.

Nero sat with his camera, no longer so shy about taking photo's around the other wolves. And the enforcers didn't seem to mind too much when he photographed them training. In fact, I think it made them train harder, and I was sure I'd see a few of them flexing muscles and puffing out their chests.

Sandra's hunters, that small group of females, were especially deadly when it came to training. They were quicker than any wolves I had ever come across, and when they spotted Nero out with his camera they turned almost feral - clearly eager to prove themselves.

It certainly didn't help the rivalry I was beginning to notice more and more between the enforcers, between the three distinct groups they divided into amongst themselves. Sandra's female hunters - the quickest and stealthiest wolves that prided themselves on the precision of their attacks and their ability to work as a group to conquer any opponent. Lorcan's warriors - that included both Taron and Zahra - that never showed fear and never conceded unless they absolutely had to. They were strong, ferocious, and terrifying when they wanted to be. And finally, Adriel's wolves - those in charge of patrolling the territory, that had more endurance than I ever thought possible. They never tired and had the best defensive training from what I had seen. They waited out their opponents, playing with them almost until they were on their last dregs of energy.