Alpha Queen [1]

xxix

We had two unexpected visitors show up on our doorstep the next morning. Ares was busy so I went to see what was happening at the entrance.

"This is ridiculous!" A very familiar voice echoed down the hall.

I rounded the corner and my two best friends were being blocked by Roman.

"Alex! Thank God you're here. Tell your bodyguard who we are." Tasha crossed her arms impatiently.

"It's okay, Roman. You remember my friends, Tasha and Milla?"

He bowed his head and stepped aside, "My apologies, Luna."

They finally walked in and I gave them both a big welcome hug. We used to see each other everyday at school but now it was more like once every handful of weeks. And since we were deep into the woods, there was no service or anything. I'd have to ask Ares or Blake to install some sort of satellite up here.

"What are you guys doing here? Aren't you missing school?"

It was hard to believe I would've been finishing my high school years with them. I would already be enrolled in college and set off to leave home for the first time come autumn.

That was, if I hadn't met Ares.

"Exams are over. Besides, we wanted to see you, silly!" Tasha stared up at the tall ceiling. "I can never get over how big this place is."

"How have you been?" Milla asked.

"Very good so far. Ares and I just got back from a little out-of-town trip yesterday so you made good timing."

"Where did you guys go?"

"We went to a ball."

"Another one? Don't you guys do anything else?" Tasha laughed.

"That's just part of the gig I guess." I laughed with her.

"So what would you usually be doing right now if we weren't here?" Milla asked.

"I'd probably be checking in with people, helping out around the castle, making sure everything was running smoothly, that sort of thing."

Some days were chaotic, some days were calm. Today happened to be a relatively calm day.

"Boring," Tasha yawned. "There has to be something fun we could do around here."

"We always have training at the start of every morning. We could go watch?"

"Watch?" Tasha shook her head. "No, we want in."

"Are you sure? It can get pretty intense." Wolves were much stronger than normal people so their fights could get bloody. I'd seen so many of Marvel and Roman's opponents get sent down to Soren. Luckily they healed fast.

"Yeah, we could use the exercise." Milla agreed.

"Okay then, follow me."

I led them outside the castle and we walked through the courtyard. It was a cool day for the beginning of summer.

When we got to the training grounds they had already started. It looked like they moved on to one on ones. I recognized a few familiar faces like Marvel, Griffin and Belladonna.

"Marvel leads training every morning."

"You mean the same Marvel who killed my brother?" Milla asked point blank and I couldn't believe that thought hadn't crossed my mind. Marvel had issues controlling his wolf due to his temper, but he hadn't had an accident in years now.

"Yes, the same one. His control has improved a lot since. . ."

Milla didn't say anything. She just took off her denim jacket and joined the other trainees. Tasha followed after taking out all of her jewelry.