Olivia’s POV
I woke up from sleep to a knock at my door. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and looked around. Andre had gone to his meeting, but he still wasn’t back.
The knocking came again, and I was roused to get up from bed and answer the door.
I opened it, and a maid stood there. She smiled sweetly at me as I rubbed my eyes.
“Miss Olivia, I am sorry to wake you up, but your presence is needed downstairs.”
My eyes went agog. Why? What was going on?
I tried to ask more questions, but the maid hurried away to do something else. I said nothing and got dressed. Whatever I was being called for had better be something good. I was famished.
I went downstairs and saw two tall, athletic people seemingly waiting for me. I looked closer and saw that they were a middle-aged man and a woman with a pixie haircut.
They were clad in tough leather armour and stood at attention as they had been in the military. My heart leapt into my throat as I approached them, but they gave me a courteous bow that made me quite uncomfortable.
“Good morning. You must be Miss Olivia.”
I gave a nervous nod.
“I am. Did I do something wrong?”
The man chuckled lightly, but the lady’s face was stern, and it almost looked like she was looking at me with an upturned nose.
“No, my dear. You did nothing wrong. We were contacted by the Alpha to train you on how to control your wolf and become a fierce warrior so that you might fill in the position of Luna.”
I was stunned. Andre hadn’t mentioned any of this to me. What else had he planned behind my back?
“I wasn’t aware of this,” I responded gently.
The lady simply huffed, and the man shook his head slowly. I already didn’t like the lady, and it seemed like the man had caught on.
“Please forgive my associate, Sephora. She is a tough lady, but I assure you that she means no disrespect. She just takes her job very seriously. We were actually contacted on very short notice. But if you train with us, you will be up to strength in no time. I am Grayson, by the way.”
Despite Sephora’s sour personality, I seemed excited to begin training. Grayson seemed like a good teacher. I adored his manners.
“It is nice to meet both of you. When can we begin?”
Instantly, Sephora’s voice stole the conversation. It was stern yet very angelic.
“I think we have gotten the pleasantries out of the way. You begin your training now. We will move to the training room immediately.”
My eyes grew wider as Sephora walked away.
“We have a training room?!”
Sephora whipped her head around and glared at me.
“Did I stutter? And change out of that ridiculous garb you are wearing.”
I looked down and was horrified. I was still in my night clothes!
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“Again! Higher!”
I jumped up again and tried to reach the target, but I couldn’t.
I was practising how to access my wolf strength while in my human form, and it was a nightmare.
Sephora had placed a target ten feet above my head, and after a few warm-ups, she asked me to jump up and grab it. She demonstrated how it was done, and I felt intimidated seeing her jump so high, passing the target and nearly reaching the ceiling of the large room.
I tried, but I was only able to cover half the distance. I was still feet away from ever reaching it. My legs ached so much from jumping, but Sephora’s glare kept me on my toes.
I jumped again, but I couldn’t even make it halfway this time.
“That was pathetic! Again!”
I crumpled to the ground and groaned in pain. I was sure my feet had blisters on them.
“I’m tired! Don’t you think that this is too advanced for me? It’s not this hard in school.”
Sephora scoffed.
“The school goads wolves weakly. This is real training. And besides, if you are going to be the Luna, you need to be above your regular curriculum. You need to have as much knowledge as a fifty-year-old wolf. Now, again!”
Sephora’s barking destroyed my spirit. I was never going to be good enough at this rate.
“What is the meaning of this slothfulness?! I said again!”
She barked once more, but I remained seated on the ground, hugging my sore legs to my chest. In my depression, I had a sober moment of reflection. When I became Luna, I would have to rule over women who were much older than me. People like Sephora would never listen to me. I didn’t think I could do this.
“How about you take a break, Sephora, and let me handle this.”
Grayson intervened, and Sephora huffed and stepped aside. He walked up to me and squatted so that we were almost at eye level.
“Olivia, I know that you are under a lot of pressure, and Sephora isn’t making things any easier, but I believe that you can do it. Age has never been a barrier to any wolf before. You just need to believe and trust in yourself and your instincts. Our Alpha is not as young as you, but he is one of the strongest wolves I know. You just need to keep him in mind.”
He gave me a sweet smile, and I brightened up. He was right. I wanted to make Andre proud.
I stood up and was ready to try again.
Grayson stood back and talked me through it.
“Don’t allow your human ability and doubt to cloud your lupine energy. Allow your wolf to take control of you. Don’t fight her. The both of you need to be in perfect sync.”
I closed my eyes and focused. I felt my legs tingle with energy, and I shot up from the ground without warning. I jumped so high that I was much closer to the target that I could graze it with my fingers.
I came back down to the ground and was leaping in excitement.
“I almost got it! I jumped so high that I almost got it!”
Grayson smiled at me, but Sephora’s scoff dampened the mood.
“Almost doesn’t cut it. Do it again.”
I frowned. There was no way to impress this lady.