“That is the second worse landing I have ever seen!” Efraim barked out as he glared at William’s heaped form. “Nicolas, you have got to be faster than that. Look at yourself!” Nicolas stood up on weary legs that buckled slightly under his weight. He was completely exhausted. The blond werewolf lowered his head and looked at his own body. The act was in itself mildly amusing and William got the humor of it but Efraim was far from pleased. “You are the slowest in your pack, you’re the weakest in your pack, and you have the stamina of a toy poodle!”
Nicolas’s head jerked back as if he had been physically hit by their instructor. “It’s not like I’m not trying. I don’t need to take this kind of shit from you!”
William closed his eyes and turned his head away. He didn’t have to see what he knew was coming. Moments later there was a harsh thud sound and gasp of pain. William opened his eyes to see Efraim standing over Nicolas’s body as he lay on the ground, belly up breathing heavily in obvious pain.
Efraim stepped back and away from Aceso and the other two so he could turn around and face all four them. He clenched his claws at his sides and stared at each of them. It was disconcerting to William that he could make it appear that he was looking at each of them at the same time. “You still haven’t learned anything yet.” He spoke in a quiet deadly voice that only a fool would mistake for being tired. “Do I have to remind you, any of you, of what almost claimed each and every one of you? Do any of you believe that you were not partially responsible for what happened to your pack?” He looked down to stare at Nicolas directly, “You fail yourself with your poor performance, Mr. New York.” He raised his head to glare at Aceso, “You fail your pack for not demanding more from him.” Efraim shook his black furred head, his ears twitched at the other werewolves in the group, “The weakest link always breaks and right now you know who your weakest link is. I can’t help you when you go out there.” He spat as he jammed his arm at the cavern walls. “But then you already know that, don’t you? Have you forgotten your failure?”
William tried to stand up but his broken leg shot hot bolts of electric pain through his body and it was all he could do to stifle a cry before it left his throat. With difficulty he watched as Aceso stood there, proud and defiant holding a steady gaze with their instructor. His Alpha was proud and strong and he knew that what had happened in the Whyte Plain weighed heavily on her. Aceso said simply, “No, I have not forgotten.”
Efraim’s stance seemed to soften somewhat, “Good, I have done all I can for you and your pack. Each of you has to draw your strength from each other and you, Aceso has to learn to channel that strength for the good of your pack mates. That’s what being a pack Alpha is.” He looked down and Nicolas but talked to group, “That is what being a pack is all about. If you see yourself as being too good for the pack you will fail and you will all die as individuals. The lone wolf doesn’t survive long in the wild. And if you needed any more of a reminder to the fact, what we do and who we face is ten times more dangerous than anything that exists in the wild.” Efraim walked over to where William was crumpled in a heap by the Tower. “Fix him up,” he said as he pointed down to William’s tan form, “Then you are to see Elder Li, he wants to have a word with you.” With that Efraim bent down on all fours and took off at incredible speeds to disappear into the darkness surrounding the obstacle course.
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William rolled his head on the ground from side to side. Leave it to Efraim to make such a cheery and uplifting speech to leave them all feeling totally worthless. He watched as Aceso made her way over to her Enforcer. She bent down and inhaled sharply at his legs and back and arms. She lunged forward with her jaw and with three quick stabs of pain he watched as she stood up again. The effect of Aceso’s healing was almost immediate. There was a harsh tingling in his bones and then a soothing sensation and he was able to straighten his body out on the floor. Placing his hands down on the ground he pushed his body up and kicked his legs under him to stand upright.
Aceso stood there with her back to William looking at the other two members of her pack. “You two can go back and get something to eat” She nodded over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to change back into your human form before you go to the cafeteria, Nicolas.” The blond simply shrugged his shoulders.
Katherine glanced at William behind her, “What about you two?”
Aceso turned her head and nodded at William, “We have some things to discuss. You two go, he’ll catch up.”
Katherine nodded and Nicolas nudged the cream colored werewolf in the ribs with his elbow as a sly smile crept over his face. Katherine shoved Nicolas’s arm away and dropped onto the ground and took off. Nicolas stood there with that stupid smile on face and nodded at William with a wink. William wanted to seriously hurt him but before he could think of the perfect place to hit him or just the right thing to break, Nicolas dropped down and followed after the rapidly disappearing form of Katherine as she followed the trail out of the obstacle course zone back into the underground cavern that housed the City under the Mountain.
When they were both gone Aceso wheeled on William, “What was that?”
He stood there a moment not speaking. He held her gaze and replied as calmly as possible, “If we are talking about the obstacle course… I wanted to win.”
Aceso’s gaze hardened, “You wanted to win? So, you break yourself trying and then you expect me to what? Just drop everything I’m doing to heal you? What if this had been real, then what? Would you expect me to drop everything, forget about the rest of our pack just to heal you because you wanted to win?”