His Lover, My Mate

Forty-Four: Finding Perspective

I know, late update. But a promise is a promise and I ain't giving up on writing! <3

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*Aletha*

"Harder, soldier!" Sirka's harsh voice commanded.

Aletha slammed her teeth and pushed hard against the male warrior. His violet eyes glittered, but he made no sound of pain or exhaustion. For three hours, the brute male warrior had been her opponent, and he'd won against her mercilessly. He was just too strong.

"Where's the will, Luna?" he taunted. "You're stronger than this. All I'm getting is a pathetic attempt at a tussle, which we don't do, by the way. When we fight, we fight to kill."

"Is that what Rush has taught you?" Aletha retorted. "To kill instead of working things out?"

He grinned crassly. "Luna, in the Darklands, there is no such thing as 'working things out.' If you let your guard down, you perish. It really takes no effort." In a flash, he tackled her to the ground before holding her down by the throat so she wouldn't struggle more. "Got you good, didn't I?"

She wanted to slap that arrogant look on his face.

"Get off, Virago," Sirka said, approaching them. "You're done for the day. I'll take her back."

"Sirka, I thought you'd give me a challenge this time," the Virago said, rising to his feet. "She is nowhere close to having the strength to survive around here. How the hell is she still alive?"

"I'm still alive because I fought my own way," Aletha said brusquely, rising to her feet and dusting off the filth off her suit. "Killing and drinking blood aren't the only ways to survive, you know."

"Oh I know," he drawled. "There's also cannibalism and raping, but we don't resort to such lowly methods. Our ancestors in Castira do that kind of work. And Alpha Lucien, but with your naive logic--no offense--I don't think you realize what being a Darklander truly means."

"I'm learning," she said. "But I'm already accustomed to some of the cruelty of the Darklands long ago when Vicera and her men destroyed my pack and burned my family alive."

Virago regarded her solemnly now. "Then you realize, don't you, how much we need to kill to survive? It's never pretty around here. You can't trust anyone but your own pack. We're the only ones who will follow you through the darkest night and fight for your life. I didn't have to fight for you, Luna, but you are our Alpha's mate. That means you are our Luna. Our loyalty belongs to you."

Aletha sighed. "You warriors are impossible. You show all that brawn and roughness on the outside, but you're all soft on the inside."

"Took you a while to figure that out too," Sirka cut in. "We're not evil people, Aletha."

"Only to our enemies we are," Virago said, giving them a wave. "I'll be going. I need some food and some sanity before I come back and destroy you again, Luna."

"Oh, I'd like to see you try," Aletha said with a glare. "Just try to fight me again. I'll defeat you!'

The male warrior only snickered as he disappeared into the fields.

"I will never defeat him," Aletha said, sighing. "He's so rough with me, just like you."

"Hey, don't put the blame on us. I thought I'd let you train with one of my prodigies today. Virago is a ruthless warrior in battle. He takes the frontlines and murders most of our opponents with a snap of his teeth."

Aletha snapped her head toward Sirka, clearly incredulous. "And you let me fight with him? He's way more trained than I'll ever be!"

Sirka shrugged. "It's better to get a dose of reality. Helps you clear your conscience gain perspective to push harder. Besides, now you know what the problem is. He caught it the moment you two clashed--you're too soft when you fight."