One of Runts

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four: Squadron 01

        My saddle bag is heavy in my hands as I stand in the long line leading to the building that assigned us our gym numbers for the stamina and strength tests. The air is chilly and I can see my breath in the air. My fingertips are pink and I'm sure my nose is as well.

        Luckily the cold air is numbing the cut on my leg so it doesn't hurt as much as it did when I woke up. My hair is down to cover my ears, a drastic difference to how I usually wear my hair. It only takes about ten seconds per person to get assigned their hunting group, so within ten minutes, I'm at the desk.

        "Name and rank," the male wolf asks me, not even batting an eye at my lack of scent. When I had got my wounds checked out yesterday, the nice she-wolf at the front counter gave me a bottle of Seasonal Heat. They're heat pills for she-wolves that delude our scents and practically get rid of it.

        "Evergreen Raverik, tracker." The male looks through a small file cabinet in the 'R' section. It only takes about three seconds before he's pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to me. I take it out of his hand, and with a nod of thanks, I'm out of the line.

        I look down at the slip of paper after walking a few feet away from the building.

Name: Raverik, Evergreen Rank: Tracker

Pack: Whisper Howl Alpha: Quill Sentry

Assigned Squadron: 01 Squadron Leader: Azrael Sentry

        A small smile crawls on my lips as I realize I'm in Azrael's group. He and I have been getting closer recently ever since he told me that we were to share a room. And now he and I have the opportunity to talk about how we feel.

        There's something between us. Normally, I would have never played a game of tag with anyone, let alone one of the King's men. But, I just let go and I felt something with him. I know he feels it by the way he talks with me and how protective he is.

       Yes, I think to myself. We need to talk.

        A pressure in my skull is my only warning before the voice of the king fills mine and everyone else's head. "I thank you all again for deciding to come help keep this kingdom, your kingdom, safe," he says, thanking us all again.

        "You all are to go to the training field where your Squadron Leaders stand. They are in order of squadron numbers from left to right. You are to wait with them, with one bag of necessary equipment. You will leave when they say so.

        "To those of you assigned to the training squadrons, go to gym one and meet your Squadron Leader. You have done an amazing service to your kingdom." At that, he cuts off the mind-link.

        I had noticed when I awoke that my mind-link had been cut from the king's pack. He had most likely spent hours tying each person to their squadron members. No wonder why he didn't come outside to speak with us. He must be exhausted.

        Removing and adding ties is mentally and physically draining to an Alpha. I only know so from my studies and when my Alpha had to tie every single one of us to him and each other.

        When one wolf kills another Alpha, the pack no longer exists. Therefore, Alpha Quill had to manually tie each of us to him. He had to blood tie us with one another to actually form the pack again. He cut the palm of his hand over and over again because it kept healing. A lot of the pups freaked out because he had to actually cut their hand as well and hold it to his for at least a second to connect the bond.