Midnight Howls

Climbing to the Top

*chapter six*

[unedited]

-

A week later, Phoebe and I were back to normal, we brought the girl back and Phoebe was back to her normal self. She could hunt now and I had grown a little. Phoebe walked into the cave and sat beside me. I looked at her curiously.

"It's been sorta one month, you know?" She asks. I cock my head, confused.

"Sorta one month of?" I ask.

"One month of you being a wolf." Phoebe smiles at me. I'm still confused.

"Sorta one month?" Now Phoebe looks confused. "Sorta?" Phoebe looks away and winces like she said something she knew she shouldn't have. "What? What is it?"

Phoebe looks at me, "nothing, it's nothing. C'mon, it's time." She gets up and walks outside, as I follow, running to keep up.

"Where are we going?" I ask, running a little faster to meet Phoebe's pace.

"I thought you and Rome could start training together, so I want you to learn how to get to their territory," Phoebe explained. I nodded and started to pay attention. We reached a part of the forest I had never been to. Instead of pine trees, it was oaks and birch trees and some trees that leaked a sticky syrup that got stuck in my fur. We ran for about ten minutes before Phoebe stopped me. In front of us, there was a huge cliff and a large tree trunk had fallen across the canyon and it was the only thing that connected the sides. "Be very careful crossing. If you fall, I can't get to you, okay?"

I glanced down at the large river that separated the two pieces of land. Looking up at Phoebe I nodded. Phoebe made me go first so she could catch me if I slipped. I stepped onto the large trunk and my nerves buzzed. This was fear, fear of falling, fear of dying, fear of everything at this moment. I wanted to close my eyes and walk across but I knew how it would end. Taking another deep breath I placed one paw in front of the other until I reached the end. Phoebe landed behind me and smiled.

"You did great! And don't worry, you'll get used to it, but never be overconfident, or you will fall. Okay?" Phoebe asked while grinning. I looked at the churning waters behind me, then quickly nodded. "This is Romulus and Remus's territory. They have quite a large pack but they also allow other packs to use their territory. They even have a shifter high school for the packs that have shifters." I nodded intently.

"What about our side? Is that all of your territory?" I ask. Phoebe cocks her head as if deciding on what to tell me.

"Sort of. All of the land there is mine. Every wolf in Grimmview Valley knows it's mine. The reason why you never see any other wolves on our side is that our side is dangerous. Romulus and Remus decided to start their pack on this side, the safe side. Most wolves either find a different piece of land that is uninhabited and starts their own pack, which is barely ever. Or they join a pack on the Alpha's land. In this case, few wolves ever go on our side due to the problems." Phoebe explains.

"What are the problems?" I ask. Phoebe looks down at me as we continue to walk.

"Do you remember how I told you I was powerful?" She asked. I nodded. "The side that we're on, is too. Faeries, magick herbs, mythological creatures tend to live, grow, and thrive on our side. The reason few packs ever enter our side is that without permission, they are unprotected. They're gambling with magick, and magick always wins. You can venture anywhere, and you will not be harmed by anything involved with magick. Because you're associated with me. The wolves the night you were almost killed, the didn't know about this land, its properties. They risked their lives coming to this side. And because we hadn't formed any type of bond yet, you were at risk too. Romulus and Remus can venture anywhere because they have a bond with me because I raised them. You have a bond with me, because I shifted you, and through something else." She explained. I wanted to ask what it was, but I didn't want to interrupt.

"Artemis, I know you worried when you were told about Romulus and Remus leaving to start their own pack, but you shouldn't. I'm not going to kick you out or make you leave. And I do have some secrets that you don't know about, but when the time comes, you will. I promise. But before I can tell you anything, you have to train. Rome will be coming over a lot and you too will form a bond. So every day, either you will go to Rome, of she'll come to the cave."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you have a lot to learn. I expect you and Rome to go out to the other packs and make friends. You need to know them and be respected, not liked, but respected by each pack. I want you to know every crevice of the land, and you need to be able to protect yourself. There are many packs on this side and just a few on our side. If you can even call them packs." Phoebe laughed. "I hope you have been practicing climbing?" I smiled, I could make it up the wall within fifteen seconds. "Because you're going to need it." Phoebe stopped and looked forward. Following her gaze, my jaw went slack.

In front of us stood a mountain it looked like, all of rock. It was at least one hundred meters high. "This is Rune Stone Hill. Housing only the Rune Pack. The mountain overlooks all of Grimmview. The top is a large cave, filled with rhinestones, moss and freshwater springs. There are fifty-three caves holding a family each. The bottom caves are for the lowest ranking families, and the top, for the highest ranking. The second biggest cave is in the middle where any wolf may enter at any time. It's the Pack house. They also hold meetings there, but we're not going to a meeting. We're going to the top." I stare at Phoebe. "Rome is the same age as you, but is bigger and stronger because she has to climb this every day."

A moan escapes my lips and we start to climb. We reach the top in fifteen minutes and are greeted by Rome barking and Romulus and Remus smiling. Phoebe smiles at me and mouths 'have fun.' "Ready to go?" Rome asks.

"Where?"

"Up and down!" She squeals.

"Up and down this?" I ask. Rome nods and leads the way down. We reach the bottom in ten minutes and Rome isn't even panting.

"I know this is going to be painful, but your muscles are underdeveloped compared to mine. So you're going to go up and down this at least seventy five times, no breaks. I know it's painful, but it'll boost your muscles, so by midnight, your stamina, breath control, agility, speed, flexibility, muscle memory, strength and everything else, so it'll be equal to or surpass my abilities. Phoebe wants you to come here every day for the next month, and just climb. After that, you'll continue to come to my side, for the next five months. One month climbing, then pack exploration and introduction, whatever that is. Then we'll practice improving senses like sight, hearing, and smell. Then we'll practice hunting, and recognizing animals scent, and analyze stuff they like to do. Then we practice camouflaging and hiding, then exploring all of this side. Then we do the last five months on your side." Rome begins to pant by the end of it. She looks at me with curious eyes. "Why aren't you climbing?!" She laughs.

I sigh and begin to climb. According to Rome, I started to move more comfortably by the twentieth time up. I didn't pause before I jumped, I just jumped. By the fiftieth time up, I was starting to reach the top a little bit faster. By around nine o'clock, I had climbed up seventy-five times and climbed down seventy-five times.

***

It was the last day of the month. All of Rome's pack gathered at the bottom of Rune Stone Hill, and Phoebe, Remus, and Romulus sat patiently waiting. It was a race between Rome and I. Who could climb all the way up, and down first. Rome hadn't grown much but I had. I was at least fifty pounds heavier from new muscle. We sat beside each other, waiting for the start signal. Phoebe howled and we ran, bursting with speed, as we jumped rock to rock. Within two minutes, I had reached the top and was jumping rock from down. Rome was right on my heels. There were seven rocks left, whoever got through them first, won. I pushed off the rock, skipping three and land, slightly hurt my hind leg. Four, three, two, one! I hit the ground with a thud and a thud right beside me. I had won! Phoebe barked excitedly and Rome tackled me.

One month down, ten more to go...

A/N

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