Chapter 16

Chapter 16
Happiness POV
I managed to wake up bright and early today as it was training day. I got dressed in my usual training attires before making my way downstairs for a hearty breakfast. The house was still pretty quiet as I assume everyone was still asleep. It was peaceful sitting there, nursing a cup of tea and listening to the birds outside chirp their songs. I suddenly heard footsteps approaching me,
"Oh, good morning Happiness! Wait…Happiness? The same Happiness we have to practically drag out of bed each morning? What are you doing here and awake?" exclaimed Claudia in a complete state of shock. I laughed at her disbelief,
"Oh come on, I am capable of waking up on my own sometimes. I had to get up early today I wanted to head down to the training fields to practice before the duels take place." Claudia got over her initial shock and smiled,
"That is a great idea! Well, you are going to need to fuel up if you are going to practice that much! A cup of tea is not enough, what would you like for breakfast? I can make anything!" I grinned,
"Anything? Well, then I request chicken noodle soup." Claudia gave me a weird look but did not argue. She grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup from the pantry,
"I am not even going to ask…" Claudia shook her head as she started to prepare the soup. I beamed from my seat,
"It was something that my mom always made for me when I was little. I love chicken noodle soup so much that she allowed me to eat it for breakfast on occasions." Claudia turned to look at me and carefully said,
"You must miss her a lot." I smiled sadly and looked down at my almost emptied cup of tea,
"I do, she was the best mom anyone could ask for."
Once the soup was ready and served, I thanked Claudia and started eating.
"How is it?" asked Claudia as she cleaned the pots and ladle used to make my soup. I gulped the warm liquid before answering,
"It is delicious! I am going to have so much energy to let out on the training grounds!" Claudia smiled,
"You better dominate out there Eevee! Get a good tan in for me too, I can not attend training today as Matthew requested me to help him with some pack work." I nodded,
"I will! Good luck with the pack work Claudia." She smiled once again before exiting the room.
"Mandel? Are you ready to train?" I asked my wolf.
"You bet I am! That soup was tasty and restored my energy to the maximum!" she answered cheerfully.
I walked on the crisp, newly watered grass and inhaled the fresh morning air, mentally preparing myself for the exercise that was to follow.
"Alright, let's do this Mandel!" I let my wolf take over my human side and soon I was on all fours. We first warmed up by sprinting laps around the vast field and then we took time to stretch. Once all of our muscles were warmed up, we started practicing all of the techniques we learned since the first day of training.
"We are looking good happiness!" Mandel huffed out during our quick break.
"I agree, I just hope we will be able to do well during the duels today," I replied.
"I am positive that we will be fine!" Mandel assured me. We continued our individual training until we spotted Louis and a few other pack members come to view, "Good morning Happiness and Mandel. Please do not mind us and carry on with your training while we wait for the rest of the students to arrive," he said, in full Alpha mode. We nodded our understanding and carried on with our solo training until more and more students showed up. Once everyone was present, we hid behind a tree to shift back into our human self.
"Alright class, gather round everyone and listen up," commanded Louis in his powerful Alpha voice. I walked over and joined the rest of the group.
"Today is going to be a very special training session. As you all know we are not going to teach any new techniques today and are going to only do duels today. I will be choosing who you will be going against so please listening carefully when your names are called." We listened attentively as Louis read out all of the pair names until finally, he called out Winter and me,
"Happiness and Mandel, you will be up against, Terry and tilla." I looked over at a tall blonde guy who was grinning and waving at us, that must be Terry, he looks quite strong. I thought to myself as I walked towards him,
"Hi! Nice to meet you fighting partner." Terry smiled back,
"Nice to meet you, Happiness, I have heard a lot about you. You are the werewolf that beat Mark's ass on your very first day of training." I grinned,
"Sure did! Are you a friend of Mark?" Toby smirked,
"Well, he is my twin brother so yeah, I'd say we are pretty good friends." My eyes grew wide,"Twin brother? But you guys don't look anything alike! I would have never guessed." Terry shrugged,
"We get that a lot but yes we are twins, at least, I hope that the truth and that mom did not lie to us." I laughed,
"Let us hope not, what a revelation that would be. Anyways, that is so cool though, I have always wanted to befriend twins!" Terry chuckled,
"Well your wish is now granted."
"Alright class, now that you are acquainted with your partner, please shift!" commanded Louis. On cue, everyone shifted instantly into their wolves, the sound of clothes ripping echoed throughout the training grounds.
"Please spread out and get into a fighting stance," he ordered. We crouched down and took a fighting stance in front of Terry and Tilla, ready to attack. They mirrored our actions as did the rest of the werewolves around us.
"You guys are going down." Mandel and I mind-linked Terry and Tilla.
"Sweetheart, we are the stronger twin." they mind-linked back.
"Good positions everyone, I will be counting down from three and on my mark, the duels will begin. 3…2…1!" Louis announced. Terry and Tilla initiated the first move, they leaped into the air and landed right in front of us. Jaws snapping, they lunged, aiming for our neck to pin us down. We felt their teeth sink into our neck, not hard enough to kill but there was enough power to render us immobile for a few seconds.
Fighting back, once we got over our initial shock, Mandel and I quickly bit their hind leg causing them to whimper and fall to the ground, successfully us from their hold. We took that as our advantage and proceeded to take the chance to attack, leaping onto them to in turn pin them down. Despite their pain, Terry and Tilla dodged swiftly causing Winter and I to miss.
"Mandel, we need to come up with a plan to take them down," I told my wolf, as tried to catch our breath.
"I have one, let me fight. Happiness, let me take over completely. You have to trust me." answered Mandel, full of confidence.
"Are you sure?" I asked, letting a wolf take over completely was something that was rarely done amongst werewolves, you need a strong bond with your wolf or the consequences could be dire.
"Yes," Mandel replied.
"Alright, I trust you, Mandel. Be careful." I took a deep breath and let my wolf side take over my human side, allowing Mandel to take over my soul completely.
"Happiness, come back." called out Mandel. I slowly let my human side come back.