65

I had the boys handed over to Tom and Shelley, moving them forward along with the Alphas. “I wish my parents were here to see this today, but I know they are in Luna’s embrace looking down on us with pride and happiness,” I said. “There are four people here who are so close, so important to me, and by choice they are standing in to be the grandparents of our sons. Alpha Doug and Luna Remi, and Tom and Shelley Harris. I love you so much.” The hall gave them a rousing ovation as we hugged; finally, we filed around the tables and sat down. A bassinet had been placed behind me for when the babies slept, but right now they were being passed up and down the table as we all ate.
Tears of joy went down my face as I looked around. Truly, I had not been this happy since this all started. Craig kissed me tenderly and we shared a dessert. My mate, my babies, my family and two Packs.
Nothing could ruin this feeling.
My back and head slammed into the floor, causing stars to float across my eyes. He kept his hands gripped tightly around my neck, cutting off my air supply as my fingers tried in vain to pull them off. I focused on my legs, feeling my left one free I swung it up in the air and wrapped it around his head. I arched my back up into him, bringing my left leg up under his throat and catching it with my left foot. Squeezing my legs together while driving my legs out and away from me, I pulled his head down to the ground.
I kept the leg scissor going after it pulled his hands clear, but my hands grabbed his wrist and pulled it into an arm bar. Pushing it up, I created a lever using me left knee on top of his shoulder. I pushed up harder, making him scream as his shoulder started to move out of the socket. He tapped my shoulder and I let him go; he jumped to his feet and offered me a hand up. “Good job, Ella. Your ground game is improving, but next time move your feet back and drop your hips down so you can stay on your feet.”
I rolled my shoulders, catching the towel Olivia tossed me as the rest of the class applauded my effort. I hated going against Jacob, he could put me down any time he wanted. He didn’t even use his werewolf speed or strength against me. Hell, he didn’t even break a sweat.
“Take a ten minute break, Olivia is up next.”
“Good, let her ass get beat.” I smiled at Melanie as Jacob gave her a lusty look. She ran forward and jumped into his arms, kissing him deeply.
“Oh god, my eyes, someone save me from this!” I looked over at Natalie, she was covering her eyes, her bright pink Hello Kitty shirt covering her grey shorts. Natalie was too young to spar, but there was nothing wrong with a five-year-old werewolf learning basic self-defense skills. She was having fun so she came to all the classes. Nadine grabbed her from behind and started tickling her as she carried her upstairs to the kitchen for a snack.
I tossed the towel aside and followed the group upstairs, laughing at how much some of us had changed over this summer. When we returned home from the Johnson pack after my babies were born, I knew I had to get back into shape. Craig was concerned because there were still threats from werewolves and I was at a disadvantage in any fight. The Alpha in me hated being seen as being weak, so I decided I would combine self-defense classes with daily workouts to lose the baby weight. It worked great, my stomach was flat again and I felt great.
Craig fully supported the idea, but we were at a loss as to what to do. None of them had experience in teaching humans, and as wolves most training tended to focus on that form. Craig also recognized that with the Greens returning home soon, except Michael, Linda, Luke and Katie, we wouldn’t have an experienced werewolf to lead training. We were a small, young pack.
I reached out to my allied Packs, asking for a recommendation for a Pack Warrior with experience training humans and wolves who could come out and train us for three months. Alpha Charles Jennings of the Vermillion Pack responded with the perfect candidate for the job, Jacob Weinberg.
Jacob was in his mid-thirties and was born as a human in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He made Aliyah to Israel after high school, where he learned Hebrew and enlisted in the Israeli Army. He qualified for their Airborne units, and later worked in Special Forces. His career was cut short by a back injury when a gust of wind blew him into a cliff wall. He had not found a wife yet, so he decided to return home to Minnesota.
He was on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters wilderness with a buddy from high school when a rogue wolf attacked them in their tent. Jacob managed to fight off and kill the wolf, but his friend’s injuries were too severe and they were too far from help. A tracker from the Vermillion Pack came upon him, bloodied and severely injured, and called for help from his Pack.
Jacob’s next memory was waking up in a remote cabin in the wilderness. Alpha Jennings helped him through the change, and he grew to love the Pack and the area and settled down there. He was one of their top Warriors and their best trainer now. His military experience made him deadly in human form, and he quickly adapted the tactics to wolf form. His body had healed with the first shift; he was not a muscle-bound guy, but he was very strong. He had that aura about him, the one that said “if you fuck with me you’ll lose.”
Alpha Jennings told me he was afraid to lose him because he was getting restless without a mate, and was considering going on a solo trip to find her. He asked if I would agree to take him along as security when I traveled, knowing how many contacts I had in other Packs. I readily agreed, but it wasn’t needed. As soon as he walked into my house, his wolf came forward as he smelled her. “MATE!,” he yelled, then he took off. Racing past Craig and I, he ran down the hallway to her room and burst through the door, intent on claiming and mating her immediately.
I giggled as I thought back to what actually happened. Melanie was paranoid after what she had gone through, that was one of the reasons she wanted to live with people she knew. She carried pepper spray on her pocket at all times, and kept a Taser in her purse along with a baby Glock. When the door burst open and a strange man was there, gazing at her like his next meal, she didn’t stop to recognize it was her mate.
She grabbed it from her bedside table and tazed his ass.
We ran up on the scene, him twitching in the hall, and her hiding behind her bed with the Glock 9mm pointed at the door. “Melanie, it’s Ella. You’re safe, he wasn’t a threat to you.” I motioned to Craig, he crawled forward and grabbed Jacob’s wrist, pulling him back down the hallway and out of sight. I slowly moved into sight, watching her as she lowered the pistol and broke down crying.
I moved to her side and took her in my arms as she broke down. When the adrenaline dump was over, she had questions. I didn’t want to say too much, just that our new instructor had arrived and recognized her as his mate. “He won’t hurt you, Melanie. He’s a good man, well respected in his Pack.”
She shook her head at me as we sat on her bed. “I can smell his lust in the air.”
“That’s not a bad thing with your mate,” I said. She giggled, the whole house had been smelling a lot of that as Craig and I were young and active. “Come on, let’s go out to the living room. I’ll stay with you as long as you want, and Craig will make sure he doesn’t do anything to make you uncomfortable.”
She clung to my arm as we walked into the room and sat down on the couch. Craig had taken Jacob outside. Once he was recovered from the shock, he sat him down and explained some of her background to him. When he came back in, his wolf was restrained. He looked at her like she was his life, and it didn’t take long for her to start feeling the bond either. By the next morning, she was marked and two weeks later they were mated. They were a very happy couple now, and he was helping her come out of her shell.
Olivia went to the fridge and tossed me a bottle of water as she grabbed some for the others. “Ella, I’d like to talk to you and Craig for a few minutes after practice if you have time.”
“I think we will have time before dinner, what is it about?”
“I’d rather not say now.” I nodded and we moved back downstairs. Jacob was demonstrating techniques for breaking holds while on the ground, and I was glad Olivia was now his punching dummy instead of me. I loved learning Krav Maga; the martial art form was not pretty or spiritual, and it didn’t do tournaments or belts. It was all about finding the best ways to fight your way out of real world situations. All but the on-duty security wolves were taking the training now, so the basement room with the padded floors and walls was full. Jacob had Olivia on the floor, stomach down, and had her in a headlock. She was trying everything she could to get out, with no success.
Jacob swapped places with her and demonstrated three techniques, then we split into pairs to practice. I was paired with Olivia since we were similar size, but I was at a big disadvantage in speed and strength. By the time Marge called me to say the twins were awake and hungry, I was a sweaty mess. I left the room ten minutes early, took a quick shower then sat in only shorts in the recliner in our bedroom as the boys were brought to me.
Both boys had grown a lot in the first eight weeks of their lives, and every ounce felt like it had been sucked through my breasts. I’d had some issues with cracked nipples earlier, but at least things were better now. The milk was flowing, and with how much they ate, if I waited too long between feedings my boobs got huge and painful. It was funny at first with Craig; he loved the “boobie fairie” coming, then got mad because they were so painful and sensitive I wouldn’t let him play with them. Luckily, all fields were now open for play.