Chapter 21: Never Is A Very Long Time

Ashleigh was left at the door of her room. The attending wolf had not been rude, but he had not been particularly kind either.

“Colder than Winter lands, these wolves.”

Ashleigh looked over to the man who was staying in the room next to hers, he was the pack member she had traveled with. His name was Saul.

She didn’t know him well, he was an older man, greying around the edges. They had trained in many of the same areas but had never worked directly

together.

“I don’t suspect our people will welcome them with any more warmth,” she replied with a smile.

He grunted a chuckle and nodded before entering his room.

Ashleigh opened her door and gasped in surprise as she looked around the room. The entire place had been decorated in the style of Winter, with furs and leathers. Even the decorations on the wall were primarily constructed of old wood and metal.

A familiar painting stuck out to her. It was an image of Odin and his wolves, more commonly known to the people of Winter as Alpha Geri and Beta Freki, the founders of Winter. She touched it with a smile.

After she unpacked her bag and got settled in, she found there were still a few hours until sundown. The feast and welcoming ceremony wouldn’t begin before that.

“I can’t just sit here,” she told herself. Ashleigh understood sitting still for too long led her mind back to the topic of Granger, or worse, Caleb.

He had looked so shocked to see her, and though she had expected to see him, she still had felt overwhelmed by him once their eyes had met.

Ashleigh shook her head. She needed to stop thinking of him.

Opening the door of the closet she had just put her clothes into, she pulled out her sparring gear and quickly changed. She knocked on Saul’s door but there was no answer; she suspected he had decided to take a shower.

While she would have preferred to spar with someone she knew, she did not doubt that she would be able to find someone willing to spar with her.

It didn’t take Ashleigh long to find the training grounds. Summer was known for their military and training. The center of their culture was the military, as such, they developed the rest of their society around it.

The training grounds were large and impressive. Ashleigh was able to identify fields for training ranged weapons, shifted attacks, and an obstacle course. There was more she didn’t recognize, but one thing that astonished her was the number of automated devices. She watched a turret spring up from the ground as a wolf jumped from platform to platform avoiding the shots.

“Amazing,” she whispered to herself.

“Is there something I can help you find?” a kind and familiar voice asked from behind her.

Ashleigh turned to find the man that she had seen Bell dancing with at her birthday party, Caleb’s Beta.

“You’re…?” Ashleigh replied quietly, trying to remember his name.

“Galen, my Luna,” he smiled, lightly touching his chest and bowing slightly.

The action sent a wave of panic through her. A salute from the chest or even a small nod could be seen as no big deal. One was a sign of respect, the

other a sign of trust. A salute that used both were reserved for saluting an Alpha, or his Luna.

“My apologies. I had no right,” Galen whispered quickly, noticing her reaction.

Ashleigh looked around, making sure no one else saw them before she looked back at him.

“So, you know?” she asked.

Galen nodded.

“Then you also know that there will never be a need for that greeting,” she growled at him.

Galen smiled before asking, “Was there something you were looking for?”

“I was thinking of trying to find a sparring session before the festivities,” she replied.

“I see,” he said looking past her at the training grounds, “building B, it's not far. You will find a good sparring partner there.”

“Thank you,” she replied before turning to walk away.

“If I may,” he called out, drawing her attention.

“Yes?”

He came close to her and lowered his voice.

“Since you refuse the title, I will assume that means I can speak freely as I would to any other wolf,” he smiled. “All I wish to say is that never is a very long time.”

Galen turned and walked away before Ashleigh had a chance to formulate a reply.

“Ass!” she thought to herself. “Didn’t Bell say this guy was nice? A total sweetheart? Bull!”

Ashleigh stomped off towards building B, she kept thinking about how irritated she was until she had already passed through the doors. She saw locker rooms to either side of her and a door that led to the sparring grounds.

She went straight for it, pulling the door roughly.

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‘Whoever is in here better be ready, I have some pent-up energy to let loose on someone.’

That was her thought at least until the door opened. That was when her mind was filled with his scent, his warmth.

Her head snapped up to see Caleb standing across the room staring back at her. Even from this distance, she could see that he was covered in sweat. She looked past him where a human form punching dummy had served as his sparring partner.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I was looking to get in some sparring,” she replied honestly. “Galen directed me here. I didn’t know you were using this room.”

“Galen did,” Caleb laughed.

“Oh…” Ashleigh replied awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I’ll go.”

She started to back away through the door.

“Why?” he said.

The tone of his voice was easygoing, but with the look in his eye, she recognized the fight to push down their bond immediately.

“This is awkward,” Caleb started with a laugh. “But we have to work closely over the next month, so why not start now?”

“I guess you’re right,” she replied, still wondering if it was truly alright.

“Wonderful, then why not start this partnership by beating the living hell out of each other?” Caleb asked with a mischievous smile and a raised brow.

Ashleigh couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement. As a berserker, she knew she was a capable warrior, but Caleb’s reputation said he was as well.

‘This could be fun,’ she thought to herself, returning his mischievous grin before launching herself at him.

***

Granger was looking out the window of the SUV as he passed into the borders of Spring. He was amazed by the world he was entering. It wasn’t his first time outside of Winter, but it still shocked him not to see snow everywhere. Instead, there were flowers of every color, and trees full of fruits he had never seen before.

It was beautiful. He wondered what Ashleigh would think of this place. His heart clouded over at the thought. He hadn’t seen her the past few days.

After she had decided to postpone their wedding, again, he couldn’t contain his anger. He had gone with a hunting party into the southern woods for several days. When they returned, his father had his assignment for the exchange already prepared.

He would go to Spring, where he would learn about their scouting techniques. After two weeks he would return to Winter and give lessons on ranged defenses.

Ashleigh had sought him out, she asked if he had received his assignment. His response had been to ignore her.

He regretted it.

When he left that morning, he expected her to be waiting for him at the car. Wishing him well and telling him how much she would miss him. Or to apologize for her behavior and for pushing their wedding aside once more.

But she wasn’t there. He waited until the last possible moment to leave, but still, she never came. She had changed.

Granger’s hands gripped the steering wheel hard, remembering Alpha Caleb. That bastard was the reason for her change.

He did his best to calm himself down during the five minutes it took to reach the entrance to Spring. Here he found an entire party waiting for him. He pulled up and exited his vehicle and two women approached him, one grabbing his bag while the other led him to the Alpha.

They exchanged greetings. Granger was welcomed and told there would be a grand feast for the full moon celebrations, as well as a welcoming party. He was escorted to his room, where he was surprised to see a familiar ever-smiling face.

“Welcome, Granger. I was pleased to see your name as the representative of Winter,” Holden said in a tone that bordered between gleeful and bored.

“Thank you, Holden,” Granger replied with every ounce of obligatory gratitude he was able to muster. “I look forward to learning what we can share.”

Granger held the door open, waiting for Holden to get the hint and leave the room. But instead, Holden simply smiled and nodded before continuing the conversation.

“I do believe there is a lot we can learn from each other,” he began, “and I look forward to returning with you to Winter, where I hope Ashleigh can share with us what she has learned from Alpha Caleb.”

“What are you talking about?” Granger growled, slamming the door shut.

“Oh,” Holden replied, bringing his hand to his chest as though he were surprised. “I just meant that since Alpha Caleb specifically requested to train with her during this exchange; that I would love to know how they spend their time together. Wouldn’t you?”

“What do you mean, he requested to train with her? Are you telling me she went to Summer?” Granger growled, stepping closer to Holden.

“Oh my, how do I always end up sticking my foot in my mouth.” Holden chided himself. “I wasn’t trying to imply anything. I assumed you knew, since you are both representatives of Winter, and of course, she is your mate.”

Holden pulled out his phone, he moved through a few menus before holding it up for Granger to see. On the screen was a picture of Ashleigh, she was dressed for a sparring match. Beside her was Alpha Caleb — also dressed for sparring — who offered her a water bottle. They seemed to be laughing together.

“I don’t know what the request was, exactly. Only that it was a demand Alpha Caleb made for him and the Summer wolves to agree to join the exchange,” Holden said.

Holden moved past Granger and reached for the door, he opened it slightly before pausing and looking back at his ’friend’.

“I imagine that Alpha Wyatt had no choice, the Summer wolves hold that feud over his head every chance they get,” he stated with an exaggerated sigh.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t some twisted game Alpha Caleb is playing just to hurt Alpha Wyatt. It’s quite tragic really.”

Granger growled once more as Holden left the room, shutting the door behind him.. He leaned on a chair gripping it tightly until he heard the wood begin to splinter.

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