Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Riley arrived at the training grounds wearing a pair of leggings and a lightweight blue shirt. The air was cool and some leaves had blown off the trees, blowing past her feet as she walked towards the sparring rings. Warriors were sparring, men and women alike, fighting and training. She watched for a moment, impressed by how well many of them fought. "You ready?" She turned to find Patrick in a pair of black shorts and a long sleeved black shirt behind her. "Yes," she said, smiling. "My wolf is ready to stretch her legs. My last assignment wasn't a safe one so she couldn't run much." "Is the alpha joining us?" Patrick asked cautiously. "No, he's not." He raised an eyebrow but chose to not say anything. He motioned for her to follow him into the trees. They walked for a while until they were out of view of the training grounds. "Our border goes about thirty miles in the trees in this direction. In some areas it's more and in others less. Just follow me and you'll see the trail as we go." Riley nodded. "I'll give you some space to shift." He walked away, disappearing between some trees. Riley found a space out of sight and slipped her clothes off, stuffing them into the small bag she had brought out. She allowed Rose to take over, feeling her bones crack and shift as her body changed shape. Riley was surprised that the shift hurt more than normal, taking longer than it should. Once it was over, Rose stood up and shook out her cream colored fur. She was a beautiful wolf, cream colored with light brown spots over her back and tail. Why was that shift more difficult? Riley asked. I don't know, Rose answered, scooping up the bag of Riley's clothes in her mouth. Maybe whatever illness you have is affecting me too. Maybe. Riley sat back and watched Rose start to move through the trees to where they last saw Patrick. There was a large gray wolf with a black stripe down his back sitting on his haunches when Rose approached. He picked up his own bag and took off, Rose following. The gamma's wolf was fast, but Rose was quick too and didn't fall behind. The wind danced through her fur as she moved agilely over the rocks and roots, following the clear path that marked the pack's border. As they ran, Riley was surprised by the vastness of the pack's territory. She was starting to see how easy it could be for rogues to come up on them. They consistently passed well timed patrols of wolves working in groups of two to four. She knew from talking to Patrick that the number of wolves on patrol had to do with the skill levels of warriors. More skilled warriors ran in smaller groups than less skilled warriors. Finally they reached an area where a dry riverbed ran down into a shallow ravine. Riley saw that the border of the pack stopped before the ravine, but the gamma's wolf veered off pack territory, weaving through the trees to climb the steep slope up to the top of the ravine. Rose carefully followed him, picking a path through the deep underbrush and rocky terrain. Finally they reached the top and the gray wolf motioned for Rose to stay before disappearing into the trees. Rose looked around, taking in the shallow gorge below where a powerful river must have flowed. The trees here < Chapter 20 were thick and beautiful as their leaves changed colors. +15 Points) Rose turned her head at the sound of crunching leaves and Patrick, in his human form, wearing only his shorts and sneakers appeared. He sat down beside Rose and she stood up, carefully going into the trees and finding a spot to shift. The shift back to human was even more painful. Riley was grateful when it was over. She slipped her clothes on and carefully found her way back to where Patrick was sitting. "Does it always take you that long to shift?" he asked as she sat down beside him. "No." She rubbed her forehead. Her headache was back. "I'm still not feeling well and I think it's starting to affect my wolf." He furrowed his brow. "That's not typical for illnesses. Most human illnesses don't affect wolves." "Yeah, I know." She sighed. "Let's not talk about it right now." He frowned. "Fine, but we will talk about it." He reached into his bag, pulling out two bottles of water and several sandwiches. "I knew we'd be out past lunch so I grabbed us something to eat." "Thanks." They ate in a companionable silence for a few minutes, watching the wind shift the leaves through the trees. "It's beautiful out here," Riley commented, taking a sip of her water. "This is my favorite spot to come in the woods." Patrick looked wistfully into the trees. "Whenever Lily got upset when we were kids, she would come out here. She used to call it her peace." He smiled slightly at the memory. "After she was killed, I found myself coming out here more and more. Seems like the only spot I can think clearly some days." "She was your sister, right?" He nodded. "And you were close, I take it?" He nodded again. "I was only a year older than her. Our parents used to joke that we were twins born a year apart. Growing up we did almost everything together. She never wanted to be left behind when I was with Max and Kent." "Did she and Kent always get along well?" Riley asked curiously. "No." Patrick laughed. "If anything, I always suspected that Lily had a crush on Max. She was competitive with Kent. Lily was a good fighter, stronger than most men. She could take me and Max down sometimes when we sparred, but never Kent. She tried so hard though and he would taunt her every time she failed. She would be spitting mad for days afterwards." "Kent is a good fighter then?" "The best. No one in the pack has been able to take him down. He's never lost a fight since he became alpha. His dad raised him with the phrase 'A strong Alpha makes a strong pack' so he has always pushed himself hard. He truly believes that and feels that the stronger he is, the better his whole pack will be for it." "There's truth to that," Riley noted, "but it's more than strength. There's intelligence, fairness and so forth." Patrick nodded. "Kent is all those things. He's a good alpha. Much better than his father in a lot of ways." "So what happened when Lily and Kent found out they were mates?" 2/4