The next morning, Alijah rose me from my sleep, gently tracing his fingers on my cheek. One would think it was for more romance, but it wasn't. It was time to eat before meeting my brothers in the stadium for training.
My wolf was so sweet to me the previous night because he would be unforgiving. I didn't think I would ever see both my brothers bitch and moan so much when they failed to land a single hit on him. Even when he told them to both come at him, they still flopped to land anything. My wolf could've killed them every time their knees hit the ground.
Though, of course, he would never actually hurt them too badly, even if their feelings of pride were destroyed. It seemed the only ones who could give my beloved a fight were Shade and Ruzgard if he played fair. Dad could go on evenly before being overwhelmed, too.
It wasn't fair since Alijah had a god's power within, while I seemed to have Midnight's partial powers and Fenrir's love for Valdios. Other than being able to see ghosts better, I didn't receive any other benefits from dying.
At least that I can tell. Vera is still missing from the previous night as well.
Mom came in to let us know Sophie had called her, saying they would return tomorrow. It seemed she was blowing some steam in Celnaer, the vampire continent. She was probably visiting Night City, the capital for vampires, known for its eternal night.
How did they do that again? Oh, right, by using a unique artifact from the old days!
It covered the city in a veil that made it appear as if it were an eternal night and blocked the sun's effect on the vampires there.
That made them exponentially stronger there. The vampires' manipulation of blood made them dangerous enough to be respected even by Lycans, though the royal ones were the actual monsters. For some reason, Vera always liked it there.
She always said the eternal night made it feel like time stopped.
An illusion…
However, she went there often because she also had a good friend there.
Ah… What was their name?
Even though my brothers were getting their asses handed to them by Alijah, all I cared about were the treats Vera would bring from Celnaer. I didn't notice when my tail wagged, either. My mouth was too watery thinking of all the delicious sweets I would soon eat.
Until my wolf suddenly touched my head, visibly ticked off by my lack of inspiration. I was supposed to practice my magic, but I never could control it.
"Eek!" I yelped, startled away from my train of thought.
There, I noticed Caden and Aiden dead tired on the floor as their souls appeared to leave their living bodies.
"Oi, you're slacking. How about this… It's your turn now." He huffed, crossing his arms.
I wasn't expecting to spar with him out of everyone. After all, even though I was supposedly a god's reincarnation, I was nowhere near a Lycan's strength. Even if I could somehow shift, I only had speed, since I was significantly smaller than a regular wolf, allowing me to be nimble.
Not to say that my brothers, who were purer than I, did nothing against him. Then again, they had already been battling before I woke from my dream world and were still stuck in place. Though what was before was more playful than training, that didn't stop me from feeling hopeless.
"Eh? But I don't have a chance if they had their asses handed to them!" I pointed toward my defeated brothers who lay on the floor.
Grumbles left both their mouths, leaving me to frown.
I'm going to die!
"So?" Alijah countered.
I was at a loss for words to refute him.
"How will you ever fight a god, if you can't beat me?" he asked, tilting his head.
By the gods, you're adorable, but...
I knew the perfect answer, too.
"I'll have you with me!" I smiled as my words appeared to have struck him the wrong way.
"And if we get separated?" he sighed, covering his face with his hand.
Ah… You… well… I am the queen of dumb crap!
"I-I..." I fumbled to find any words, fiddling with my shirt.
Uh… I'm screwed!.
Alijah shook his head. "You have the power within you to fight a god. I saw it when you saved me back in that raider cave. It left me terrified of you."
Eh? You afraid of me? In what world…
The only reason must have been that the bond held him back.
"What?" Caden gasped from the floor, glancing at us.
To my brother, Alijah, fearing anything was surprising, but for it to be me. I...
"You were powerless then," I mumbled.
Alijah chuckled, "Was I? I think you would be terrifying either way. Even thinking about facing you in that form makes me shudder at the thought of it. After all, we're a matching pair, love."
No way! I can never beat you!
I was nowhere as powerful in my humanoid form. However, I was tougher than the average human.
"Okay, fine, then come get your ass handed to you. Well, slightly different than last night." Alijah teased with a smirk on his face.
I instinctively stood up to face him, releasing a loud growl from my lips.
Sometimes you can be irritating!
"Don't say that with them around!" I yelped, throwing a blind punch that met with his hand.
He pulled it towards his lips, brushing them on my palm lightly. Even the grip of his hand on mine was gentle. He had no intention of hurting me, which didn't make me feel any better.
"Oh? That was such a good punch. Now, actually try to hit me. I won't go easy on you." He cackled.
I clenched my hands into fists as he was getting me all hot and bothered differently than what he wanted.
"That's rather unfair," I complained, pouting
He tilted his head again, with the same playful expression.
Oi! Can you make it any obvious how you're enjoying this?!
"Are you sure?" Alijah asked.
I shifted, pointing towards Caden and Aiden, who were sitting slightly upright. They seemed like zombies, though.
"Yes! I mean, you let Aiden and Caden come at you and look at them!" I tried to argue my case.
All it did was make my wolf roll his eyes, smirking at me. "Oh, then you don't care if I talk about everything I do to you, especially how you..."
I moved to stop him, only for him to step away from my reach. I knew exactly what he was going to say.
"Don't you dare!" I snapped at him.
It worked, though.
"Then come shut me up, my love. Come at me with everything you got." Alijah taunted me as I felt my eyes twitch.
I couldn't keep up with how many times my bum hit the floor as he only used defensive moves while he caught each hit, sending me back onto the floor soon after. It was almost as if his stance was impenetrable.
The moment he went for me, I felt the killer's intent behind his move. That was when my brothers each failed. The fear of death reached them when Alijah allowed some of that intent to flow through his movement, and that froze them.
My wolf was terrifying, yet this wasn't my first rodeo with death. There was an opening in his defense for that split moment, and I took it. When moving in a split second, I was always more flexible than my brothers.
In nimbleness, I was superb. However, raw power was where my brothers excelled. I barely dodged Alijah's hand coming for me, fixing myself to throw a high kick at his face. He barely caught it before it hit him.
I couldn't see his expression, but I could see a light hue come from his body. The moment he released my leg, I fell onto the floor again, unable to find my footing to recover. Even though my body was nowhere near as tired as Caden's and Aiden's, I knew when I couldn't win.
This is one of those occasions where I am right!
"You know what? I give up! I can't hit you!" I whined, mopping where I was.
The room had gone silent when I noticed my brothers gazing at me with open eyes.
Do I have something sticking to me? Or are they trying to figure out how I screwed up so badly?
"You're amazing, just as I thought." Alijah breathed, chuckling soon after.
The tone of his voice triggered me to gaze at him right away. He had the biggest grin on his face.
"Huh?" I mumbled as he kneeled to my level, patting me like I had done a good job.
"You're relentless for a luma. It's amazing how you aren't afraid of death, too. Though at the same time, it's worrisome for me. Back off next time, you dummy." He shook his head as I was left in awe of him.
This wasn't what he was aiming for. However, I could barely keep my hands off him.
"Oi... You need to stop being so handsome all the time. This is unfair. How am I supposed to stay angry at you?!" I huffed, pouting.
He chuckled in response, fixing his hair as his crimson gaze was tender toward me.
"Really? I don't know how I can turn off my charms." Alijah smirked playfully.
To him, this was all a game. Though it had to be, we wouldn't stand a chance if he were serious.
I grumbled, "I wanted to say it blinded me, but that would be a lie. Well, you're always handsome as fuck."
Are my cheeks red? I feel them burning!
"But I can't land a single hit on you, even if I aim for that pretty face. No matter what I do." I ranted, gazing away from him.
"You almost did, though," Alijah assured me, chuckling.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Almost is as good as nothing! Plus, you were going easy on me! It's stupid how good you are in combat, yet somehow I'm supposed to be the reincarnation of the god of war. Yeah right. Please... I suck."
I saw no reason to fall on my ass twenty times trying to catch my wolf, who was close to god levels of power.
Wait... crap... that's why you want to train us. So, we can face a god when the time comes. Even so... it's unfair! This whole thing is unreasonable!
"Hm... And who said Fenrir was good at combat?" He questioned, probing me.
"Why wouldn't he?" I whined from where I sat.
"What if I was the one doing most of the fighting for him, too? What if all Fenrir was good for was picking fights?" He pointed out, causing my eyes to twitch.
You're going in circles around me!
"Oi... That was what I fucking said earlier! Give me a fucking break!" I huffed.
How can any of this go? How will I ever fight a god? You should just do it all for me then! But... that isn't fair either.
My wolf continued to snicker. "No, because I know you can do it."
Huh… Why do I feel like I've heard that before?
"You got closer than your brothers, who cower in fear every time I show them a little killing intent. Though they should know I won't hurt them. Well, maybe." He sighed, shrugging.
Aiden didn't take it lightly. It seemed bitching and moaning were what we Silver Fang youngling were good at.
"So, beating our asses makes it so we have to get better at it?!?" He growled at Alijah, who turned to them as if he had spotted something unpleasant.
"Eh? The only reason I'm doing this is so you realize how, in a proper battle, they won't stop. It doesn't matter if you're tired or mess up in your teamwork or if one of your loved ones dies. Your opponent won't care." My wolf sighed, standing up from where I was, facing my brothers.
"We know that," Caden assured him, wincing.
Huh? Did I miss something?
"Oh, really? Then why did Aiden get distracted, ending up with a broken leg when your mother started bleeding last time?" Alijah questioned harshly.
The two pups felt defeated when silence came from them. I didn't know what he scolded them for, but the wound was still fresh.
A soft sigh left him, shaking his head. "That's a mistake that can't happen again. Even if someone you love gets caught, you must keep moving. That's what war is, and what's coming is much uglier than what you saw while fighting Midna. There is no time for grieving on a battlefield, no matter who dies." My wolf gazed at me, saying the last part.
It was bittersweet for him. There was no way he would allow me to get hurt again.
I'll end up with you if things continue this way. I know that, but… what can I…
"Okay... again then." Caden declared, getting up from the floor, all wobbly.
Alijah smirked, "Come get me, pup."
"Give me a minute." Aiden slowly stood up, too.
However, they both seemed ready to crash at any moment. His words motivated them again, even though they were past their limit.
"Okay, that's what I like to see. Perhaps there is hope for you, pups." He appeared pleased with the results before turning to me.
Uh… oh…