“Pay attention!” His father barked before the blow caught Derek in the gut, bending him double.

Derek gasped for air, his lungs struggling for breath. His thoughts had been anywhere but on the training session, and it had cost him. Pain radiated from the spot where the blow had landed, but his only thought right then was the lack of oxygen in his lungs. When his muscles finally figured out how to work, he gasped, sucking in an almighty breath.

Bent nearly double, he peered up, staring into his father’s disapproving face. “I’m sorry.”

One of his father’s dark eyebrows rose slightly. “I’m not the one bent over, easy pickings for his opponent to deliver the final blow. How are you ever going to lead a pack if you cannot manage the simple feat of defending yourself in a practice duel?”

He knew it wouldn’t do a bit of good to argue that there was a difference between an actual fight and sparring with his father in a controlled environment. Derek had seen his fair share of battles and knew he wouldn’t get lost in thought during a real fight. However, pointing that out to his father would only earn him a stern lecture on treating their practice sessions as if life and death hung in the balance. To his father, even a mock battle was real, which was why Derek was going to end the day with a bruise blossoming on his stomach.

“You’re lucky I chose to merely get your attention, rather than use the full extent of my strength,” his father reminded him.

Not that he needed the reminder. A werewolf of his father’s experience and strength could cause considerable damage, even when in human form. The strength a werewolf possessed in what was generally considered its “true” form, the half-man, half-wolf humans popularized in the media, was exceptional. Even their full wolf form was stronger and faster than the average wolf. Werewolves had been granted exceptional traits, and Derek knew from personal experience just how strong his father really was.

Not that Derek was weak or small. It was simply the fact that his father had been alive and training for twice as long as Derek. Derek’s twenty-fifth name day was approaching. He felt proud that he was finally going to reach the age of full adulthood and he eagerly awaited it. He was as tall as his father at last, and nearly as big. Even for werewolves, Derek and his father towered above the others. Someday, he knew he would be as strong as his father, maybe stronger.

In the meantime, he was left trying to catch his breath as he winced. “I’m sorry, Father. You’re right. I just got lost in thought for a second there.”

“And what exactly were you thinking about that is more important than keeping your full attention on your opponent?” his father demanded.

He wasn’t sure exactly where his thoughts had been, but he could guess the general theme. Despite having been an adult since his eighteenth name day, he hadn’t been allowed the freedom to do much without supervision. Even if he wasn’t considered a full warrior until after his twenty-fifth name day, most werewolves were given some degree of freedom that made up for their lack of full status. Derek hadn’t been permitted that, as he’d been constantly under the watchful eye of someone assigned by his father for as long as he could remember. He craved the freedom that came with full warrior status, and the closer his name day got, the more he found himself fantasizing about what he would do with it.

“I just have a lot on my mind is all,” Derek offered weakly, not wanting to admit his thoughts.

His father snorted derisively. “Your thoughts might be your own, but you need to focus and be ready to fight when you come into this ring. Your name day is approaching and while our people might have stopped the tradition of the Rites of the Warrior, you must still be prepared for the world you will be entering. The world of a full warrior is not for dreamers, or those who get lost in their own thoughts. The sept will be watching everything you do from your name day forward, and I will not have it said that our pack did not raise you properly.”

Derek stood up straight, shaking his head. “Our pack has raised me and taught me everything I know. They’ve sheltered, fed, loved, and supported me. I won’t do a disservice to all of you by allowing any of my actions to bring shame on us before the rest of the packs within the sept.”

“I should hope not. Our pack is one with a great history, and an even greater lineage. The rest of the packs in the sept look up to us as an example of what a werewolf should be, and you are the next in a long line to continue that tradition. Our pack has led this sept for generations, and it’s expected that as I did, you will one day take my place and lead them. If you lack the strength or wisdom to do that, then you will lose out to another alpha, and break the tradition of this pack,” his father lectured, nostrils flaring.

It wasn’t the first time Derek had heard this lecture; he was typically given it whenever he’d done something his father disapproved of. The alphas, who were heads of the other packs making up the sept, were always ready to find a way to unseat Derek’s pack from their position of leadership. His father had been leader of the sept for as long as Derek could remember. His grandfather had been the Alpha chosen to lead the sept before him, and his great-grandfather before that. It was expected that Derek would one day be the one to gain the position within his pack, and inevitably become the Alpha who led the sept as well. All the other packs would watch him even more carefully than his father, in the hopes that he would slip up and they could place their own alpha in the role of sept leader.

His father’s lecture wasn’t finished, however. “Our pack has been regarded as the pinnacle of everything a werewolf was created to be. Gaia, the All-Mother, creator of everything from the life blood, and soul of existence, created the werewolf to be a noble and strong beast, who would protect her and her creations from harm. Our kind has failed too many times in the past, and our pack has always striven to rise above those failures, and to atone for them through deed and word.”

The message was, if Derek did not live up to this expectation, he would be brought down. His brother, Aron, would be justified in challenging Derek for next in line to be alpha. It was exactly what Derek’s father had done, challenging their uncle and winning the right to challenge their grandfather for leadership of the pack. Sibling challenging sibling, all for the right to challenge their parent, so they could then challenge others. It was an endless cycle of violence and pride, and whoever was the best was able to claim leadership of not only their own pack, but of all packs that owed their loyalty to the sept and of all the territory the sept claimed as its own.

“Father, I fully understand what’s at stake here. I always have. I don’t want to end up like your late brother, and I don’t want to harm our family name in the process. I was just distracted for a moment, and I’ve got the bruise to remind me not to do it again,” Derek told him, hoping it would placate his father.

His father’s eyes narrowed at the mention of his brother. “Good, I can’t have another failure in this pack that has to be rectified. If that should happen, then so be it, but I would prefer to not have my own son bring shame to this pack as my brother did only a generation ago.”

“Daddy, I think he gets the point,” his sister, Erin, sighed from the sidelines of the sparring circle.

Derek had forgotten his sister was there watching the whole thing. She was sitting on the ground, her back against a log beyond the ring of rocks that established the boundary of the sparring circle. She held a book in her hands, and didn’t look up at them once as she swept a lock of thick, golden hair off her face. By herself, it was difficult to see any likeness to her twin, Aron. When you put the two of them next to one another, however, you could see their sharp hazel eyes were the same shape, they had the same curve to their nose, and sharp edge to their jaws. They couldn’t be any more different in personality though, with Erin being far quieter, patient, and humble, by werewolf standards anyway.

Their father glanced at her, frowning. “It’s important your brother understands the full extent of the responsibilities he bears.”

Without glancing up, she flicked a page over. “I think he understands that. He’s been hearing it his whole life, and I don’t think he’s going to suddenly forget just because his big name day is coming up.”

Erin was the only one in whole sept, let alone their pack, who could get away with chiding their father. Derek had never been able to figure out exactly why she was allowed to get away with more than he and Aron combined. He’d long suspected it had something to do with the fact that she was their father’s only daughter. It wasn’t that werewolves were patriarchal, since women could and often did take positions of power within werewolf society. Their pack however, tended to lean towards males as the ones in power. That the sept possessed a female alpha as well as a male never seemed to diminish his pack’s focus on males.

Women within the pack, such as his mother and sister, were considered to be leaders of a different sort. His mother was probably off at the nearby cairn, performing her daily rites to Gaia, as she was the head priestess for the sept. Erin was one of the most educated werewolves in their sept, and Derek suspected she was better educated than most werewolves in any neighboring sept as well. She was often called upon to settle debates over law or faith, and any number of other matters she could input to, using her diverse knowledge.

“It’s easy to forget the forest for a single tree,” his father replied, still watching her.

“And some would say that to save a single tree is to save the forest, if that tree is all that stands between prosperity and destruction,” she retorted.

Their father snorted. “Your brother is that tree, for the forest is our pack, yes?”

She flipped to the next page. “Then perhaps we should stop trying to prune the tree at every chance we get. Isn’t it better, more natural, to allow the tree to grow as it sees fit, keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t just become a hazard?”

For the first time that day, their father smiled. “Perhaps, but a well pruned tree is a healthy tree.”

“It’s also a naked one,” she quipped, marking her place before closing the book.

Derek looked down at himself, clad in shorts and a comfortable tank top. “I’m not naked.”

She looked at him, unsmiling. “It’s a metaphor, my dear brother.”

Derek looked askance at their father. “I guess that part of my education was left out.”

The man waved at him in dismissal. “If you aren’t keeping up your studies beyond what I have attempted to teach you, then it is on you to fill in the gaps. Now, I need to return to address the Council.”

“More talk from the city?” Derek asked.

“There is always talk from the city, it’s all they seem good for most of the time. Sept-less fools, we would be better off if we dealt with them and the eyesores humans have built from their unnatural ways. However, I don’t think that day will come anytime soon. In the meantime, I must deal with whatever news has the Council irritable,” his father said with a shake of his head.

Derek waited until their father was gone before turning to Erin. “Do you think the Council is actually upset about something, or are they purposefully making noises about every little thing?”

Erin snorted. “The Council that’s made up of every alpha who wants our Father’s position as leader of the Sept, but aren’t bold enough to directly confront him? You really think they would try to exaggerate every problem in the hope of wearing him down and making him vulnerable?”

Derek rolled his eyes. “I might not get metaphors little sister, but I do understand sarcasm pretty well.”

“You understand a lot more than you think you do, and far more than Father gives you credit for. But to answer your question, yes, I do believe they inflate every problem, and I’m sure Father is aware of it. I have never asked, however,” she answered with a shrug.

“I wonder what the werewolves in the city are reporting now,” Derek mused.

“Who knows? They deal with the Leeches far more than we do, it’s most likely just another nervous report about what the bloodsuckers are up to,” Erin said.

“You’d think with all of the reports of growing vampire activity, we’d actually send them some help,” Derek mused.

Erin looked thoughtful. “Normally, I’d say Father would never offer any help to the City Wolves. Even now, he refers to them as packless despite the fact that they do technically have packs.”

Derek snorted. “If that’s what you want to call a bunch of werewolves living in the cities, coming together to form social groups. They don’t even revere Gaia, Erin, c’mon.”

She gave another shrug. “Just because they don’t live in the forest and mountains like the rest of us, or have festivals in Gaia’s name, doesn’t mean they don’t fulfill some of the duties assigned to our kind. Vampires are more unnatural than cities of concrete and man-made steel could ever be. At least humans are working with natural materials and shaping them as they see fit. Vampires are abominations, and ones that gravitate to the cities. Our city dwelling brethren might not be pure in the sense that we use to describe it, but they certainly do a service to Gaia by keeping the worst of the Leeches depredations in check.”

“They’re not doing too well if they’re bothering us so much,” Derek commented.

She nodded. “Which was my original point. Father may not approve of or even like the City Wolves, but that doesn’t mean he fails to see the value of what they do. If they truly are struggling, even Father will feel obligated to send some form of assistance. It might be begrudging, and only fulfill the bare minimum definition of aid, but he will send it all the same.”

Derek felt another stir of anticipation at the thought. He would never admit it out loud, but the thought of him being the one sent to the city to help excited him. It wasn’t that he wanted to see the city, or even deal with the werewolves who chose to live there, it was just something different from what he was used to. Anything that took him away from the monotony and repetition that his entire life had been so far appealed to him. Some days he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to prove himself to the sept, as was expected of him, or if he simply wanted to be free of his pack’s supervision and constant rule enforcement.

The look Erin gave him seemed knowing. “I’m sure Father will buckle soon, and send some form of aid to the city. It would have to be someone who can take care of themselves, without hurting the sept’s current affairs too much. More than likely the Council will push for him to send someone who is capable but unproven.”

He tried to keep his face neutral. “Just one of us?”

“I did say it would be the minimum,” she said.

Rubbing the sore spot on his stomach absently, he watched her open her book and return to her reading. Watching her, he felt a familiar mix of envy and confusion. He didn’t understand how she could stand to read all the time, and he was also jealous that she was allowed to do whatever she chose to do. His life had been dictated and laid out for him from the moment he was born. Aron might have been trained in almost the exact same way, but his younger brother seemed to enjoy it. Derek took pride in his abilities and he enjoyed a good fight, but he found that he chafed under the yoke that had been placed on his shoulders. There were days when he wondered if maybe passing the torch onto Aron might just make everyone happier. At the very least, his father would have a son to train who wouldn’t cause him to worry more than he already did.

Without looking up, Erin sighed. “You’re getting that dark look on your face. The one you get whenever you’re thinking too hard about the future. Go to the cairn, throw a prayer Gaia’s way, and see Mother. It always makes you feel better.”

“I’m not going running to Mom just because I’m thinking hard,” he protested.

“Then stay here and brood, just do it out of my light please,” she said without any change to her inflection.

He could tell she was already disengaging from the conversation by her tone. Derek loved his sister to death, and enjoyed her presence far more than he enjoyed the company of his father or brother. She was good for keeping an eye on him, and occasionally lending him help when it came to their father. Erin was absolutely terrible at making him feel better however, which was why she was trying to send him to their mother.

“Fine, I’ll go see her. Don’t forget to eat okay?” he told her, bending down to kiss the top of her head.

He left her sitting in a shaft of light from the afternoon sun, a soft smile on her face.