Alari's pov
The last two days have been pure hell. I dread waking up in the morning! My body has hurt in ways I never thought possible.
My mother wasn't joking when she said she wasn't going to go easy on me, the woman made me realise the little I thought I knew about magic was actually nothing compared to what I really had to know.
And don't get me started on learning how to fight with the twins. I have no idea how my mother got them to listen to her instead of me, but she did and I suffer everyday!
“Come on Luna, you can move faster than that” Kyle, the twin with black hair and so much sass I couldn't wait to beat it out of him the day I learnt how to dodge his hits said with a laugh.
“Ow” I breathed, stars dancing in my vision as I laid on the floor, trying to blink them away.
He'd swiped his leg under my feet and instead of jumping to avoid him, my body froze and I was now trying to clear my vision.
Yes, I fell that hard!
Sapphira laughed, enjoying the pain my body was enduring. Unlike me, her training with Brent, the blond and quiet twin was going smoothly.
I mean, of course it would. She was fast, agile and a natural. She trusted herself a lot more than I did and it was easier for her to learn.
“I'm glad you're enjoying yourself” I groaned as I got up, her laughter echoing in my head, annoying the shit out of me.
“Oh come on, it's not like you can't fight Alari, you can” she said, something she'd been saying since we started our training.
I had no idea what she meant because I'd never had any sort of training before this and the more she said, the more she was pissing me off.
“Or you could just shut up!” I snapped, tired of her criptic messages and getting my ass beat.
“He is laying waste to my body and all you can say is ‘its not like you can't fight’, I can't fight! And if you're not going to help me, stop making fun of me!” I said, feeling frustrated, pain radiating all over my body.
‘its not like you can't fight’... Yeah right.
“Okay, I'm sorry for making fun of you. I know you're in pain, I feel it too you know” she said but I was so over it.
“Then help me! I'm tired of getting my ass tossed” I said, getting ready to receive more hits from my trainer.
“Look, you have access to all of mom's knowledge on fighting” she said, making me frown.
“What?” I asked, confused and unable to understand what she was trying to say.
“The nightmares you've been having all these years are mom's memories. And if you can access that, then…” she said but didn't finish because I cut her off.
“Then I also have access to everything else” I finished, understanding what Sapphira had been saying for the past few days.
“Exactly!” She exclaimed.
“Is that how you're so good?” I asked, needing to know if she'd been cheating this whole time.
“Yes, and it's not cheating, it's using our mother’s knowledge to my advantage” she said, all smug and proud of herself.
“And you let me get my ass whooped without saying anything, it's cheating!” I exclaimed.
“Earth to the Luna” Kyle's voice brought me back to my current predicament and I ducked just in time to avoid a punch from him.
“Okay, that's improvement” he said, the surprise in his voice clear a day.
Woah, how did I do that?!
“That was me, he was aiming for our face and I don't do bruises on my face, you still have a long way to go kid” Sapphira said, making me blink a couple of times.
“Wait a minute, you're telling me you could have prevented all that pain but just… didn't?!” I almost screamed at her.
“You need to learn how to fight on your own, I can't and won't be your crutch” she said nonchalantly and I swear if I could, I would bite her.
“I hate you” I said, putting my hands up like Kyle had shown me.
“Lies but whatever. Just remember, mom's memories are your own, you just have to dig deep, bring those memories forward” she said it like it was as easy as snapping my fingers but we both knew it was a lot harder than that.
Kyle finally called it after kicking my ass for a few more hours and I was on the verge of tears.
“Need help Luna?” Brent asked, sounding sincere but all I wanted was my mate, a bath and for my Lycan to start healing me.
I shook my head, unable to open my mouth and he just nodded, moving away from me.
I knew they were still in the gym with me, they never left until Damien arrived.
“Damien, come get me” I said into the link.
“On my way baby” he said about a second later.
My rapid healing kicked in and the pain in my body faded, the bruises healing, leaving my muscles a little tense from the intense workout.
I got into a sitting position from where I lay on the mat and saw the twins discussing something in hushed tones.
I couldn't bring myself to care, I just couldn't wait for Damien to arrive.
The door opened and I knew without even looking that my salvation was finally here.
“I hope you didn't overdo it” Damien said and before I answered, Kyle laughed.
“Nothing the Luna can't handle” he said and I glared at him. I swear if I had the energy, and skill, I'd smash his face in.
“That look says different” Damien said once he stood in front of me.
“I'm not allowed to go easy of the Luna, mama bear's orders” he replied, sending a goofy smile my way and I squinted my eyes at him.
Damien scooped me up once realising I had zero intentions of getting up myself.
“See you tomorrow Luna!” Kyle called after us as we left and it felt like he was gloating.
“Shut up!” I frowned, throwing him the dirtiest look I could muster.
“I'm guessing it didn't go too well?” He asked and I sighed, putting my head on his shoulder.
“It wasn't bad bad, very painful but I learnt something today” I said, not feeling too sad about another failed day of learning how to defend myself.
“Yeah?” He inquired and I nodded.
“Sapphira says I have access to all of my mother's memories, not just the parts that give me nightmares” I said and he seemed to need a minute to absorb the information.
“So all her combat skills? Damn! Did you know your mother was one of the strongest elven warriors in her father's army?” He asked and I raised my head to look at him, surprised at what he'd just said.
“Excuse me?!” I exclaimed, shocked to know my mother was a warrior. So Sapphira really had been cheating this whole time!
“Yeah, your Mom was a skilled fighter” he said as we entered our room and took me to the bathroom.
“Cheater!” I said to Sapphira once Damien had left the bathroom.
“I am not!” She said smugly, annoying me even more than she already had.
“You had an unfair advantage this whole time and you didn't tell me! That's cheating!” I yelled, now really upset with my Lycan.
“Okay okay, maybe I cheated, but it doesn't matter anymore, you know now” she shrugged like it was nothing but what I'd endured the past two days fuelled my anger.
“Show me how to do it, remember, show me how to remember!” I demanded in a no nonsense tone and she sighed, probably because I was done playing with her.
“It's as easy as thinking of mother on the battlefield or training. Focus and the memory will come to you” she said and I was a little thrown off.
“That's it?” I asked, it couldn't possibly be that simple.
“Yeah, just bare in mind that having that information doesn't automatically make you a great fighter. You still need to learn how to use it, train your mind to trust your body to move on instinct to defend and attack” she said and I rolled my eyes.
I knew I wasn't going to be great over night but I did hope it would make things easier for me.
Trusting myself was hard when I was always so afraid of hurting someone by overdoing it. I didn't know my strength.
Deciding to soak instead of shower, I lowered myself into the tub filled with scented soapy water.
I felt my muscles melt the moment I laid my head back and my eyes fluttered shut, loving the sensation.
Sapphira's words echoed in my head and I wanted to try, I needed to try.
Keeping my mind focused, I tried to search for the memory of my mother in battle. I tried to see it, tried assuming what she'd look like, what did elven warriors even wear in battle? Why wasn't it coming to me?
Urg! This is frustrating!
“Relax, treat it like your own memory, remember your fifth birthday?” She asked and my mind pulled up the memory of how mom found me stuffing my face with chocolate cake.
I laughed, “yeah I remember” I said, shaking my head.
“That's how easy it is” she said, “just relax and let it come to you” she continued and I sighed, closing my eyes once again.
I tried a different approach this time, my mind had worked fast when asked a question instead of searching for the memory.
Relaxing, I thought of a proper question to ask myself, and like a flick of a light, it came to me.
“How would she defend against a kick to the face?” I asked out loud and almost instantaneously, a picture of my mother ducking to dodge a round house from a man that looked twice as big played in my mind.
Woah! I shot up into a sitting position, first, a little surprised that it actually worked and second, damn my mother was fast!
“Now you're getting it” Sapphira said with a small laugh.
“Who was that man?” I found myself asking without thinking too much about it and the memory played like a movie in my head.
“Aaaah dad!” The voice of a child echoed in my head, followed by laughter. The man was there, smiling into a mirror standing behind what I knew was a younger version of my mother.
“No tickling!” Mom exclaimed while trying to run away.
Dad? But that means… he's my grandfather.
“Yeah, grandpa trained our mother” Sapphira said confirming my thoughts.
Wow, I hadn't even imagined my grandfather. Was he still alive?
“Don't know, he could be for all we know” Sapphira answers with a sigh and I wondered where he could be, if he was still alive that is.
My stomach growled, reminding me that I'd skipped breakfast and I sighed, washing myself before climbing out of the tub.
Damien was working on his laptop when I reentered our bedroom and his eyes found mine the second I stepped out.
He smiled, his eyes going down my body before he shook his head and looked back at his laptop.
I chuckled, making my way to the walk in closet to get something to wear, seeing how distracting the towel was.
I joined him on the couch after putting on some jeans, a tank top and push ins.
“What are you working on?” I asked as my eyes ran over all the papers on the table.
“Just going over the paper work for our newest contract” he said, making me frown.
“Contract?” I asked, needing to know more.
“Yeah, your dad built a multimillion dollar construction company that's been keeping the pack afloat, and we just got a contract to build a hotel” he said, smiling as my eyes almost fell out of their sockets.
My dad was a successful businessman outside being a King? And my mother was a great warrior outside being a Queen.
Yeah, I had really big shoes to fill.