His Spitfire Mate

The Academy

As we approach the training grounds, I can make out the smell of my brothers, which heightens my excitement. There is also the smell of dew on the grass, which I absolutely love. There isn't any visible dew at this point but I must be smelling fading hints from early in the morning. I make a note to wake up early in the morning to catch the smell of it. This is, of course, if I have a balcony or am at floor level.

I break from my thoughts when I hear my brothers yelling my name. I immediately run towards them and, like always, when I am a couple meters away from them, I jump and see who moves fastest to catch me. Today it's Aaron, my oldest brother. He twirls me around and then my other two brothers join us in a big group hug where I'm in the center.

"When did you get here?" Aaron asks.

"Just this morning."

"We had no idea you were coming. Are mom and dad here too?" Jared, one of the twins, asks.

"Of course. Do you think they would let me go anywhere by myself?"

"They let you go to ballet camp alone," the other twin, Darron reminds me.

"Correction. Do you think they would let me go anywhere other than an all-girls, human ballet school that's basically a convent alone?" I fire back, my tone filled with sarcasm and some underlying bitterness I hope no one can detect.

Daron, ignores the sarcasm and pulls me into another big bear hug and says, "I am so glad they finally brought you to the celebrations."

I push away from his never-ending hug so I can breath then realize all the other boys stretching and chatting in the yard, "Wait! Are you in the middle of class!?"

Jared puts a hand on my shoulder to calm me and says, "Not yet, but it will start soon, so Elliot better sneak you out before..."

"Too late," comes a deep and angry voice from behind me, "No girlfriends allowed on campus."

I'm frozen to the spot and feel like I would float away with embarrassment if Jared's hand wasn't still on my shoulder holding me down to earth. I'm so embarrassed for being caught breaking the rules, but I'm also super embarrassed to be called a girlfriend. While most werewolves waited to find their mate, some were impatient and would date before they turned 18 or met their mate. It was becoming more and more popular, but I was definitely not that girl and these were my brothers.

Daron whispered 'gross' under his breath and that little bit of humour eases the embarrassment so I can turn around and face the trainer. However, I can't bring myself to look at him. I was very intensely staring at his zipper on his training top that was zipped almost to the top.

Aaron finally steps in with an extremely respectful tone. This is obviously someone he really respects and I hope I didn't embarrass him too much. "This is our sister. We haven't seen her in over a year. She's here for the first time for the celebrations."

I can suddenly feel his eyes on me, so I take a deep breath and look up. Not wanting my brothers to be in trouble when they had nothing to do with me being here, I finally speak up, "I'm sorry sir, my brothers had no idea I was coming to Moonstone. I just wanted to surprise them with a quick visit. I'll leave right away."

Elliot finally jumps in to save us all, "Gamma Killian, I brought her to campus. All four of them were clueless. I take full responsibility with whatever punishment you see fit."

I almost give myself whiplash with how fast I turn my head to look at Elliot in horror. I did not think for a second about what a punishment at this school would be like, but people hear rumours. How I feel in moments like this is why it's easier to follow rules. My mother got one thing right when she raised me, which is that I am a complete softie. I never want anyone to hurt because of me.

"Elliot, you can start practice while I walk Miss Solace back to the gates. And as for you, Solace boys five laps at the end of practice. You'll have 3 weeks to spend with your sister."

I wave goodbye to my brothers and Elliot groans as he heads off to lead practice, which begs the question, "Sir, in what way is leading practice a punishment?"

Gamma Killian doesn't answer he just says tersely, "Keep up."

The pace is quick and I silently thank whatever maid who laid out my clothes that she chose flat shoes for today. She probably knew it was a travel day.

For some reason I can't leave the problem unsolved. "Presumably, you lead the class regularly and would then be getting paid to lead the class. So, if you think leading the class is a punishment, then you are being paid to be punished. But Elliot called you a Gamma, so surely you have other options and don't need to be working here, so you are choosing this punishment and accepting the payment like a masochist?"

I hadn't realized we'd slowed to a stop.

Gamma Killian stands with his hands in his pockets and a slight look of amusement, then says, "I enjoy training, but Elliot doesn't. It's only a punishment for him."

"Hmm.." I respond, already thinking a million new thoughts. Who hates training, it's not that hard. There was no stipulation that he had to do it well, he could sit in the grass and call out commands.

I haven't realized I completely zoned out until I see a hand waving in my face. I focus on Gamma Killian once more. "You there?" he asks.

"Sorry." I am never leaving my room again. I am a disaster.

"Are you going to be able to get back on your own?" he asked with a look that makes me think he is worried about my mental well-being.

"Yup, take the path to the garden, then through the garden and along the path to the east of the greenhouse and into the pack house." I answer, unable to maintain eye contact at this point. I just want to leave this kind man to his day so he can forget I exist.

He sighs, then says, "There are three different gardens leading to 3 different buildings. I had better find someone to take you."

"No, no, don't worry. It's the English garden."

"None of them are named English Garden. That doesn't instill confidence," he says, rubbing the bridge of his nose, clearly at the end of his patience.

"You have an English garden, a Japanese garden and an Arboretum botanical garden. I've never been drunk but I would imagine I would have to be highly inebriated to confuse the three," I respond, while backing away, "don't worry I'll be fine."

I quickly make my way back to the pack house and only once I am rounding the greenhouse do I remember that my mother will be waiting for me and she will be livid.