Chapter Sixty-seven: Equals

We all went our own ways after leaving the Dome. Nuria stayed with me while I showed her more of the territory.

It starts to get dark overhead, and so we start to make our way back to the pack house. As we were nearing, I received a mind-link from Jorge.

“The room is ready for Nuria, Luna. Please take her to the first guest room on the left as you enter the second floor.”

“Thank you again, Jorge.”

I cut off the link and turn to face Nuria who has a weirded out expression on her face.

“That still looks very weird when you do it.”

I laugh at her remark. “Trust me I’m still getting used to it myself. Anyway, your rooms ready, let’s go and I can show you where it is.”

We reach the pack house in a short time and head straight up to the second floor. I lead Nuria to her room, and stand to the side of her door. “Here it is, Nuria. I hope your stay will be comfortable. Please let one of the Omegas know if you need anything, clothing, cosmetics...” I say with a smile, realising she’s not got anything with her. She reciprocates my smile.

“You know I can teleport whenever I want, right? Don’t worry, I’ll be fine and will grab some of my things from where I’m keeping them. I’ll still be here by morning.” She smirks, opening her door with the key provided earlier. I wave her off and she closes the door behind her.

I wonder where she keeps her things but decide I’m not going to be nosey. I decide to just head back up to my room. I get in and hear the shower running. I guess Lukas must have headed back early. I get changed into my pj’s quickly and wait for him to come out of the shower.

I lie down on the bed and think about everything that’s happened today. I smile thinking about Nuria finding me instead of the other way around. Luckily she’s very easy to get on with and has caused no issues so far.

Lukas opens the bathroom door with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, leaving next to nothing for the imagination. I feel Athena purr in my mind and I can’t help but roam my eyes over his body as he looks back at me with dark eyes.

He walks over to the wardrobe and heads in, coming out a minute later with some lounge pants on. His smile slightly falters and I can feel a sense of worry wash over him.

“I heard that you want to start training?” He asks, and I can feel the hesitation pour out.

I sigh, knowing one of the others has already mentioned it to one of the ranked guys and they’re already on Lukas’ back about it. Wishful thinking but I’m hoping this doesn’t turn into an argument.

“Yes. I want to train….properly. I want the ranked female members, along with any other she-wolves who wish to, to train with me as well. We need to train Lukas, especially if we’re going to be in danger.”

He looks at me intensely for several moments, and I back at him, not wanting to back down from this decision I’ve made.

He breathes a long hard sigh. “Aliana, you are my equal. If you deem it right to train, along with the others, then I will not stop you. What I would ask though is that you only train with the other females. The male warriors…..they can be unforgiving, as that’s how they’ve been trained. I will not accept you training with us.”

I smile, already knowing that’s the answer he was going to give and I didn’t expect anything else. I give him a massive smile. “Ok, I agree to that. I’ve also set up a schedule, we’ll use the training grounds after yourself and the warriors. Starting at eleven am, making sure that we don’t clash.”

He smiles at me, and moves around the bed to come and lie next to me, encouraging me to move so he can place his arm behind my head.

We lie there and I tell him everything that happened today, including most of what Nuria told me. I decide to keep some of her story from him as it’s not my place to tell.

“I’m happy you’ll train with Nuria, and the other as well. I think it’s about time that the ranked females, at the very least, will learn some new moves which will help with the wars to come.” He says proudly, which makes me gush at him.

I turn my head towards him and see a twinkle in his eyes. I push myself up and kiss him. “I love you. I thought you may have been against us training, but I’m so glad you’re not.”

He looks slightly offended before softening his expression. “Ever since you went missing a while back, I’ve been more open to your ideas. I also would feel much happier if I knew you could defend yourself if I was not there to protect you…..plus I know that Nuria will be able to help you with your powers as she has years of experience whereas I…..I wouldn’t be able to help with that.” He looks sad momentarily, until I softly place my hand on his jaw and place a peck on his cheek.

“Never my sweet. If anything, I feel like you enhance my power.” I say honestly, not wanting to make him feel like he’s pushed away, making him smile. “I believe you once told me that when mates are together, they’re connection makes them stronger.” I say recalling the numerous conversations we had on the subject when I was learning more about the other half of myself.

He strokes my hair. “I hope you find what you need with Nuria. Just call on me if you need my help.”

I smile and snuggle into him, just wanting to enjoy his warmth. I find myself drifting off to sleep, enjoying his presence.

I wake up, noticing that the warmth is gone. I can tell he’s been away for a few hours, so I stretch myself out across the bed and turn to check the time and see it was nine in the morning. I slept for so long.

I get up to shower and decide to dress in grey joggers and a tight black top with matching trainers, getting right into the training spirit. I then start heading downstairs. I mind-link the girls to see who will be joining me, and it seems everyone but Mandy and Karina will be joining me. Mandy said she’ll catch up to me later and Karina had said Will disapproves so she doesn’t want to overstep. I make a mental note to talk to her about being more independent but I won’t go across any boundaries, as I think she has to push on that decision herself. I’m surprised Will doesn’t want her to train more considering he’s head pack trainer.

I go down to Nurias room and knock on the door. After a few moments, she appears at the door.

“Hi! How was your sleep?” I ask, excited to finally start training with her.

She cocks her head to the side. “Oh darling, I didn’t sleep at all. I don’t need to.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What, like never?”

She shakes her head with a small chuckle. “No, I’ve never really thought about it, but I just don’t need to sleep. Don’t get me wrong, I can if I wanted to, out of boredom, but I’ve just never needed to.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Oh Goddess, I can’t imagine how excited Lukas would get if I were to tell him I never needed to sleep!” I say which causes her to pull a mock sick face. We both laugh till we get stitches and start heading down stairs for breakfast.

We get to the dining room and Estelle and Nina are already at the table, along with Loretta. There’s no sign of Elijah so I bring it up.

“Hi ladies! Loretta I didn’t know you were joining us? You’ve been having plenty of fun from what I hear.” I say with a smirk, causing her to glare with her mouth open earning a laugh from the girls.

I introduce Nuria to Loretta quickly and Loretta picks herself up. “Yeah, Elijah has joined training with the pack today…” She says with a bit of worry in her voice.
“Don’t worry, I’ve seen Elijah train before. He’ll handle himself, I’m sure.”

She takes a short breath, a smile returning to her face. “I know, but I still worry.”

I can’t help but feel happiness for them. “Are you going to join us for training as well then?”

She nods her head. “Yes please. I think Mum wants to come as well.” She says and I catch her rolling her eyes which causes me to raise an eyebrow at her. She notices and goes on to explain. “She’s looking for gossip isn’t she!” and we laugh at her. I love Melinda but she does love a boast.

Martha brings us all some breakfast which consisted of sausages, bacon and eggs. We all greedily chow down to energise ourselves for training. When we were done, we all get up to start heading to the training grounds.

We start heading over and arrive, seeing a few of the packs warriors leave the area. We head into the large fenced area, and I’m surprised to see a large Astroturf based field. At the far end there’s gym equipment, on the right side of the field I see an obstacle course, and I see a swimming pool covered by what seems like a tent on the left side of the field. I stand in awe that this has been here and I’ve never come round to check it out.

I don’t even notice Lukas approach with Blaine, Albion and Elijah, along with a few others, until I smell caramelised apples among other scents coming closer. I turn and smile at them.

“How was training?” I ask, the question directed at them all. I look to Elijah and include an additional question. “How was your first day?”

I see him smile, even though he’s sweating all over, but checking the other guys they are as well. “Well, they know I’ve got skills.” The guys chuckled at that remark which makes me breathe a sigh of relief through my smile to see they have accepted him into their group. I see Loretta beam at him as well as they share an eye catching moment.

Lukas waves the guys off and stays with us to give us a tour of the area. Estelle and Nina already know most of it as they’ve been through basics.

“I’ll let you ladies sort yourselves out from here, Estelle and Nina have done basics so you can all start there if you want. Aliana has trained with Elijah and from what I see, it’s pretty decent if you want to share that knowledge.” He turns to Nuria. “I have no idea what you’ve done but I would more than encourage you to share with the team.”

She bows her head in respect and I smile knowing she listened to me yesterday when I went through formalities.

Just as he was about to leave he abruptly stops and I can see him staring at something. I turn to see Melinda come along wearing what seems like bright knee high leg warmers. I can’t help but chuckle at Lukas’ reaction and him turning to me, whilst raising an eyebrow looking very embarressed.

I shrug at him. “She wanted to join, I won’t say no.”

He smiles and starts heading towards the door. “Good luck to you all!”