Day Drinking

Oliver

I had been trying to take Sundays off for years now. I enforced a day off for my warriors, so I should try to enforce a day off for myself, right? It had been eight years, and the closest I had gotten was a half day or so. I could safely say the werewolf immune system and the natural instinct to pour every waking hour into the pack was the only reason I hadn’t worked myself to death.

Lya had been a breath of fresh air, and my desperate attempts to carve out time to spend with her had made it abundantly clear that what I thought was enough delegating was, in fact, not enough delegating. My well oiled machine was quickly rusting.

For that reason, I was thankful she was out of the packhouse and with Rose for the day. It provided for no distractions and no excuses to leave all the work I had to catch up on. That, and Cody sat across from me to aid in keeping on task.

Cody let out a huff, sitting back in the chair. “I know she’s your mate and all, but she’s really created a lot more work for us. War is a lot of work.”

“I think she actually provided us a head start,” I murmured.

“Well, wars that we don’t know are coming require less planning,” he said.

I looked up at Cody and cocked an eyebrow. “Those are wars we lose.”

Cody rolled his eyes and leaned back over the paperwork. Patrols were being increased, scouts were being sent further out, and the possibility of increasing required training for pack members looked like it was on the horizon. All of these moves would raise questions within the pack, and I really didn’t want rumors to start or let word get out of what was going on. Not yet.

“We need more information,” I grumbled. “We need to attack first this time instead of waiting for them to make a move.”

Cody sighed and looked up at me. “There is a person we could ask and potentially get some intel.”

I clenched my jaw. The idea of drawing Lya into this didn’t sit well with me at all. “She didn’t even know they were hunters.”

“No,” he mused. “But she probably knows where their home base is, and friends her ex was close with. That’d give IT and scouts something to run with.”

“Are they still considered your ex if they are dead?” I chuckled.

Cody laughed. “I think the murder part constitutes a breakup, personally.”

I walked over to one of the bookshelves that surrounded my office. Hunters had been the one topic it had been glaringly difficult to find information on. For the most part, we only had names of key hunters and tactics they used. They were incredibly skillful at running under the radar. Hell, Trevor didn’t even realize a Marsan had been under his nose for weeks.

“We really shouldn’t interrogate Lya about any of this until she’s pack,” Cody said, keeping his eyes trained on the documents of training schedules on the desk. “We need to know exactly where her allegiances lie.”

I shot him a dirty look. Adair growled at the accusation. My mate wouldn’t be a traitor.

Cody held up his hands in innocence. “I’m not saying she’s playing for the other guys, man. I’m just saying she knows literally nothing, and that’s dangerous.”

I sighed and backed down. Unfortunately, he did have a point.

“So anyway, what if we upped recruiting tactics? Try to get more career warriors in,” Cody suggested. “The towns are growing, and we need to increase the number of folks available for patrols, anyway. Artificially inflate the numbers… maybe a part-time option.”

I nodded slowly. “That could work,” I mused.

“I mean, you’ve said it yourself, you like to keep the towns small so they stay out of suspicion… With the way you’re growing the pack, we need to look at developing another town. We could use that as a perfectly fine excuse,” he added.

“We don’t know how much time we have. I don’t want to take on a project like that just yet,” I pointed out. I looked over at the clock, seeing it was only mid afternoon. Time was dragging at an almost painfully slow rate. It felt like everything that got done was just leading to more and more things to do. I sighed. “I’ll check in with Gregory on how committed he is to completely retiring. Maybe he’d be interested in being a gamma once he steps down as Beta.”

Cody stood up and made his way toward the door. “It’ll be good to have Trevor back. Now c’mon, Sundays are for day drinking.”

I smiled and followed him out. Some things never get old.

Cody beelined for the fridge, but my eyes quickly found Lya sitting out on the patio. I grabbed an extra can for her as we made our way out.

I tapped Lya on the shoulder and handed it to her. “It’s one of Trevor’s sours, it’ll be good,” I assured her as she eyed it warily.

“Thanks,” she said with a quick smile.

I flopped down and threw my arm behind her. Adair purred when she made no effort to scootch further down the couch. “So where’s Rose off to?” I asked.

“Her brother apparently neglected to do a pretty big project due tomorrow so she’s helping him,” she giggled.

“Is it cool if Ellie comes over?” Cody piped up, staring down at his phone.

“Sure, Brandon will be over soon,” I said. “But tell someone to pick up some more beer.”

“Duly noted,” he confirmed.

Lya shifted uncomfortably and bit her lip. “Do-do they know about… me?” she stuttered.

“Brandon is a gamma up north, so he does,” I explained. “But Ellie doesn’t.”

“Whose Ellie?”

“Elise is my mate who doesn’t like me,” Cody spat.

Lya furrowed her eyebrows. “Why do you want her to come over if she doesn’t like you?”

I chuckled. The girl had a point. Especially given the conversation I had had with Cody just a couple nights previously, I was just as curious as Lya.

He sighed and took a long swig of his beer. “Because it’d be nice if she liked me.” Cody filled her in on the story so far, leaving out his thoughts of potentially rejecting her. I studied her, trying to gauge her reaction, but she kept her face stoic. I had hoped I’d see something, just to get an idea of how the prospect of mates even made her feel, but Lya remained a remarkably closed book.

The conversation devolved into mindless banter as we waited for Brandon and Ellie to show up. It was nice to see Lya getting along so seamlessly with other higher ups in the pack. It’d be necessary once she was Luna.

Brandon was the first to show up, lugging a case of beer. “I will say, thanks to you two, I was forced to sleep with another girl who was not my mate.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I am sure that was such a struggle for you.”

“The horror!” he cried. “I truly hoped that a lay like her would be the one.”

“Anyway,” I dragged out, “Lya, this is Brandon. Feel free to shut down any and all advances he tries to make.” I shot him a glare.

Brandon’s hand flew to his chest. “Why Alpha,” he drawled, “I would never.”

A scoff came from the doorway. “Brandon, avoiding anything with a pulse? We must not be talking about the same guy.” I looked up and saw Ellie. She strode across the patio and sat herself down on Cody’s lap, bringing a palpable tension with her. “Who are you?” she demanded, glaring at Lya.

I had never liked Elise. She acted before she thought and it was out of character for her to be any semblance of nice. Truthfully, she was only a mediocre warrior, at best. Even then, with only one year out of four of training under her belt, she still acted like she was the Goddess's gift to the pack. My standards for warriors surpassed just what they were able to do on the field, which resulted in her never getting selected for anything off of the territory. Her piss poor attitude - especially to other women - would jeopardize her position as a warrior, except for the fact that she was Cody’s mate. I had truly hoped once I found out that they were mated it would help her back off her desperate need to fluff her ego at every corner, but so far there was no such luck. I suppose she had until her full time warrior training was completed to shape up, but if it didn’t, I would have absolutely no qualms refusing to let her pass.

Lya offered her a warm smile. “I’m Lya,” she said coyly. “You must be Ellie, I’ve heard a lot about you! You’re a warrior, right?”

“Yes,” Ellie replied smugly. “What’s it to you?”

“Oh, you know,” Lya shrugged, “I was just hoping I could get some training in while I’m here, and it’d be nice to know a few other friendly faces around the training grounds once I’m cleared to train.”

“Only pack members train,” she sneered. “But if you want, I can show you a thing or two.” Ellie stood up, walking off the patio. “Let’s go, then.”

Lya looked down at her sundress. “I really don’t think I’m dressed for it today, but rain check?”

Ellie crossed her arms, staring her down. “Fights seldom wait for appropriate attire. Let’s go.”

I gritted my teeth as Lya stood up and walked over to her. Ellie fought dirty, and Lya wasn’t trained. I stole a glance over at Cody, who sat rigid in his chair and eyes wide.

Ellie didn’t even wait until Lya was facing her, but Lya quickly caught her wrist before it could make contact.

“I never agreed,” Lya pointed out. “I just came over here.” Ellie growled as Lya twisted her arm ever so slightly. “I’ll continue if you just answer a question for me real quick.”

“What?” Ellie spat, trying to wiggle her arm free.

Lya’s smile was kind, not the cold sneer you expect of someone about to fight. Her tone was one of genuine curiosity. “Well, you walk into the packhouse like you own the place, but I’ve been here for a week and no one has even mentioned you yet. Talk and act like you’re a seasoned warrior even though I’ve been told you’re just about to complete your first year of training. And then you treat me like a threat when I have absolutely nothing you could possibly want. I would think an ambassador of the pack would handle themselves with a bit more poise. So tell me… just who do you think you are?”

Ellie’s growl was more audible this time, flinging her other arm with so much of her weight behind it she lost her footing. Lya didn’t let go of her wrist, causing Ellie’s arm to twist behind her. I tried to hide my smile as a bit of pride bubbled up in me.

“Ah, a bitch. Gotcha.”

'So… bets?' Brandon’s voice drifted through the mindlink to Cody and me. 'Because I am putting hard money on Luna.'

'I haven’t met this Lya, actually,' I said. It was like a flip had switched. Aside from the occasional sass, Lya had presented herself as a bundle of nerves. But, I had really only known her a week. I didn’t know the girl that well at all. Maybe this was the Lya that was under that hard exterior she had?

'Ellie hasn’t been any good recently,' Cody offered. 'If the Luna has anything to back up her talk, she will be fine.'

Lya was cool and calculated, but lacked the organization and flow of a trained fighter. That still, she had thrown Ellie off enough that she easily maintained the upper hand. Potential and ability was clearly there, and I had no doubt she could hold her own against a much, much more skilled fighter than Ellie.

Lya offered a final jab of her knee to Ellie’s stomach, sending Ellie to the ground. Lya crouched down beside her and whispered so we could barely hear, “You’ll demand much more respect around here if you change your attitude. I don’t know many who would see behavior like this as attractive or a desirable quality.” She stood up, offering Ellie her hand to help her up. “Now, back to Sunday day drinking?”

Ellie glared before struggling up by herself, bumping against Lya’s shoulder as she pushed past. She stomped through the patio and back to the packhouse. She stopped and looked back at Cody.

“Are you coming?” she demanded.

Cody waved his hand, making no move to get up. “I’ll stay. See ya around.”

Ellie huffed and walked off. No one said anything until we heard the front door slam.

“So Lya,” Cody said, breaking the silence. “I wasn’t aware you had training.”

Lya smiled brightly. “Oh, I don’t. Just cousins.”