Odin's Prize

Learning

Thank you @pinkforest for the great banner

The darkening grey clouds in the distance are bundling up, stacking, colliding against one another forming columns that stretch high into the late afternoon sky. The sound of faint thunder rumbling the world in the distance is something that I can hear now.

The destructo twins are nipping at my heels with teeth leaving little scratches down at my ankles that they will pay for. They persecute me with Fang, and I avenge with my plants. For every nip of my ankles or thighs, I give retribution in all sorts of wickedness my mind can conjure up.

My mother employed them to run me hard and fast, knowing how much I hate to be chased especially by these two. It takes all my constitution not to turn around and lay siege to these wolves who think at the moment they are more than me.

Running past the group of wolves that are leaving the training facility I can alway tell when one of the females is from the Far North they always bow slightly to me, with low words of blessed, honored, before going on their way.

It's still hard to get used to. They seem to think that the Moon has given me the highest honor a female could ever hope to get, to be the mate's with the Alpha of the Far North.

Racing through the training facility my mother's been timing me how long it's taking my runs now. Every day there's small improvements, I'm getting faster, more sure footed. Even the twins are having a hard time keeping up with me in their fur form. They can't stay in their skin because I can beat them now in a running race on two legs and I think soon I will be able to outrun their wolves.

Skidding to a stop, Mom has all the knives laid out, the targets set up. She likes me to throw when I'm out of breath when I feel the most tired. Over and over again we practice the art of knives until I bleed from the callouses being ripped away. My father handles all my combat lessons.

It's monotonous, her giving me directions when the knife is not straight lined with the tip of the blade hitting the mark exactly dead center. Shamus has made it, comes walking in slightly stiff; he's been training with both my Dad and Uncle Grey. They don't take it easy on him. Instead, they demand more from him than anyone else in the pack.

Over and over again we throw only to retrieve the knives; boring doesn't do justice to the word.

Tedious

Unexciting

Repetitive

This is the worst waste of the day I can think of, more important things await me once finished with this. Lana the healer allowing me for the first time to make the herb mixture that suppresses a female's heat so no future can grow inside her nest. This takes a lot of preparation and a lot of concentration; we do this for all the females that have decided to go to the Far North Pack, they at least will have control of time of their heat and not by getting marked to bring it on.

"One more time Charlie." My mother is handing me the knives that Shamus collected from his turn at the targets. As he walks by her, she lets her hand touch his hair, ruffling it up.

"You're doing very good Shamus." He tries not to look proud pretending to shrug off the compliment.

Uncle Grey is giving him a nod of approval as he passes by him. That makes Shamus stand straighter, taller. I can see the smile that creeps across his face before he stands beside his mother who puts her arms around him, kissing his head. Nuzzling into his neck, "stop I'm not a pup mom." Stepping away from her, she looks hurt but doesn't try to touch him again.

"I'm tired mom." Letting the knives fall on the ground that she just placed in my hands. I'm hot and haven't eaten for a while. Feeling edgy as if everything is bugging me.