MEN SHOULD KEEP THEIR WORD . . .

The setting sun reflected off of his scaled facial features, and the male closed his eyes as he let himself get lost in thought. There was so much that had gone on as of late, that he was still processing it. Things with Kershov might be…different. But the male would always be Grey Wind’s alpha, no matter what. He wouldn’t let what happened at the last meeting destroy their friendship…but he still felt like things might be different. But he hoped not. Grey Wind didn’t want things to be different. He wanted things to be the way they were before things had changed. It was not just him or this pack that had changed, it was everything in these lands. Magic was something that still felt unnatural and weird to him. Something that didn’t belong and he didn’t think ever would belong. He hated the way that it had affected him and his mate. Macaria was now a vampire and it changed their relationship. They could never go out in the sun again, and they could never have another litter. The darkness had stolen that from him. But it also made him more thankful for the kin that he did have. And then it changed himself. Made him look different…unnatural. He hated the scales that lined his limbs and now his face. It wasn’t enough for him to have them in less conspicuous areas that now he had them on his damn face. Every wolf that he would ever encounter would see them, there was no changing that.

The grey male heard the sounds of another approaching, and he opened his yellow orbs to focus in to see who it was. But it was not someone that he recognized. It was a uniquely marked female that approached, and he looked at her with interest as she padded forward. She did not yet appear to be full grown, but she was by no means a pup. “I am Lyudmila, daughter of Kershov and Nimueh. I don’t think I’ve met you before. Are you one of the Kings? I like your scales!” Grey Wind’s lip curled at her last comment, but he knew that there was no way for her to know how much he detested the scales upon his form. Instead of faking thanks, he just grunted initially at her comment, otherwise ignoring it. ”Hello Lyudmila. My name is Grey Wind and yes I am one of the Kings, the Akkunak.” The male waited for a little while longer, waiting to see if anyone else would join them for the training session he had offered. For now though it appeared to be just them. He decided there was no reason not to go ahead and get started with her, see where she was at with her skills and see how he could enhance what she already knew before teaching her new ways to fight and defend. ”So Lyudmila, looks like it is just you and I. Tell me, what skills do you already possess, have you ever been in a real fight before?” His auds were alert as he waited to see what she would say, taking a moment to process it so he could determine the best way to work with her.

After hearing what she had to say, taking in what she did or didn’t know how to do, he decided it was time to get busy with physical training. They could discuss out loud all day what she did and didn’t know, what she needed to work on and how to improve. But it wouldn’t matter at all if she couldn’t physically do it. For now he would see what she just spoke of being able to do, wanting to see it in action. He wouldn’t take advantage of what she didn’t know, at least not yet. For now he just wanted to see how skilled she was. And compare it to how skilled she thought she was. The brute padded around her, circling her for a moment to take her in. Coming back to face her, he braced himself on all fours, bright yellow orbs coming to meet hers. ”Okay, so show me these skills you have then.”