Hello everyone! It's good to have another chapter out. Hope it will be worth the wait.
For anyone interested, I am still looking for a second editor. I would be grateful for any type of help, whether it be with grammar, plot, character development, or just poking me every so often to make sure I'm either dead or still writing the chapters.
Shout out to Markrane for being an awesome editor. Let me know what you think in the comments and voting!
*
Life was dark. It wasn't just the fact that it was 7 o'clock in the morning, the cloud cover was thick, and the winter days were starting later and later. The color from the world seemed to dull further every day. Smiles brought pain rather than happiness. Every day was harder and harder to face. Any longer like this, and Augustine wasn't sure how she was going to survive.
"AUGUSTINE! PAY ATTENTION!" A body slammed into her right side, rendering her stunned and sprawled on the ground.
'Then again, Clay's training might just kill me before then.'
Augustine's wolf snorted in response as she rose up off the ground, shaking her fur and growling at her sparring partner. The bitch yipped before play bowing in challenge, clearly not intimidated. No one had been for a while now.
Rage caught like a flash fire in Augustine's wolf and she lashed out before her rational mind could stop her. She lunged, sailing through the air straight for the black female, only to be taken out from the other side by another wolf, this time in their hybrid form. She was body slammed back down to the ground, the air whooshing out of her lungs.
The pain tamed the anger and the wolf, both receding into the back of Augustine's mind. She rolled to her knees, coughing up blood as she crawled to the side of the training field away from their three-on-three training session. She sat at the base of a tree, watching as Clay frustratedly motioned for another to take her place. The six persisted with their exercises while the rest stood watching, pointedly ignoring what had just happened.
Clay continued to shout instructions and pointers until all six were seamlessly working together to attack and counter attack each other. There was a certain beauty to it, watching them lung and fall and roll and jump, moving in and out of practiced maneuvers and patterns. Augustine had always thought of these practices as playing games of chess against themselves; knowing exactly what your moves were and trying to outdo yourself. She loved it; she used to be the best at it. But now she could barely focus on the maneuvers because she was in a constant struggle with her wolf. She needed to get control...
Footsteps alerted her to someone approaching. Her wolf responded aggressively, whipping around and baring her teeth up at Clay. He rocked back on his heels, his eyes glowing in challenge. Augustine immediately backed down. She could feel her cheeks blushing red with embarrassment.
Once she dropped her eyes submissively, Clay proceeded forward. His arms were crossed, his thumb thumping as he thought over what it was he had come to say. "This is the third time you have been unable to finish the exercises this week, Augustine. You told me you were getting this under control, but so far you have yet to regain dominance over your wolf. You have not been able to take on your hybrid form for two months."
"Clay..."
"Maybe you should take some time for yourself, and when you get back we can... reevaluate your training regimen. Maybe it would be more productive to put you in a Patrol more your speed until you are able to keep up with us again."
A cold sweat broke out all over Augustine's body. "Oh."
Clay gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I know you have been under a great amount of strain recently. Just give it a little time. Until then you can keep up with your basic training with one of the other Patrols." He was trying to say it nicely, but his message was loud and clear. He and the others did not want her to be a part of their Patrol. She turned her eyes to either side, seeing that the other members were still doing their best to ignore her. They had all talked about it, decided that she no longer had what it took to be one of them. She had known their decision to let someone so young into their ranks had been a controversial one, but...
"I understand. Thank you for indulging me for so long. I'm sure there are others who would be better suited to take this place." Augustine's shame pushed past the breaking point. Rising up, she wandered over to her clothes, tugging on her pants and hoodie before leaving to go back to the Den with a brisk pace.
"Augustine." She didn't respond, only kept walking away. "Augustine, that isn't...!" Clay continued to shout for her to come back but she refused. She wanted to go home, curl up in bed, and not move.
The path around the Den was quiet, save one or two grounds keepers and another Patrol on their own training run. They all pretty much avoided her, finding their tasks engrossing enough that they never looked in her direction. She felt her wolf rise aggressively to their lack of notice, but she pushed the beast back, hurrying along the path until she came across the correct entrance door.
She was about to enter when the wind shifted, the cold air bringing with it a scent she could not pull away from. Before she could stop herself, Augustine was darting through the trees, tracking down her greatest desire and root of all her pain.
A few dozen yards from the Den, Ben was standing along the path, using a clearing to teach what looked to be the bird they had rescued months ago. It was a lovely raptor, with slate blue wings and a rusty orange belly, and sharp talons that were hooked tightly into the leather of Ben's glove. Augustine hid quietly behind a nearby tree, watching the two of them interact.
"Look, man, if you don't go get it you just won't eat." Ben was attempting to reason with the fowl. He kept motioning towards the ground where a dead something was lying. The wind shifted again and she could tell it was either a mouse or vole, a perfect breakfast for one such as him.
"I'm telling you, I'm not going to cave this time. You don't go get it, you starve to death." The bird simply tilted his head and screeched at him, shifting from one foot to another. Ben attempted to dislodge him by bouncing his arm up and down rapidly. It didn't work. Instead of flying to the food, the bird just lost its balance and fluttered awkwardly to the ground. After getting back upright with an indignant ruffling of his feathers, he stood staring expectantly up at Ben with bright black eyes.
"No." Ben crossed his arms, glaring back down at his little friend. "You go get it."
They continued to stare at one another. Ben attempted to motion the bird in the direction of the food, shouting "Go. Goooo! Go, go, go," while shooing the falcon. He just continued to screech up at Ben, hopping around and fluttering about until he became tired of the game. With the intention of landing back on the leather glove on Ben's right arm, the bird launched off the forest floor and flew at him. Unprepared for the sudden assault, Ben's immediate reaction was to panic. He backed away, arms swinging and protecting his face. "Hey! You little fucker, NO! No! Bad bird!"
