Chapter 28: Not The Easiest Life

Galen had taken the other representatives on a tour of the borders. Ashleigh had asked to join them, but Saul reminded her that her focus was on learning from Alpha Caleb during their time in Summer.

She returned to the training grounds unsure of how Caleb would react to her presence today. His coldness at the treehouse, while understandable, had affected her in a way that she couldn’t shake.

Sleep had been a struggle the night before. Between memories of the full moon leaking into her thoughts, or the expression on his face as he closed the hatch. She wanted nothing more than to avoid him.

But her duty came before her personal misgivings.

Arriving at the training grounds, she watched in pleasant fascination as the Summer wolves practiced their skills. She took note that unlike her pack, they seemed focused on the team exercises rather than individual skills.

She leaned forward, watching as a group of four wolves worked together to get through an obstacle course. One wolf jumped to another platform while two linked arms and helped the fourth get an extra boost. They had almost all crossed when a sound drew her attention.

The course they were running was a forest, further along, the path they were taking looked as though one of the trees was moving.

Ashleigh stared at the tree carefully, sure enough, it did move. She gasped in surprise.

“It’s a treant.” Caleb’s voice came from behind her.

She turned to see him approaching, his eyes on the field ahead, watching the same training session she was.

“What is a treant?” she asked, turning her attention back to the scene.

The wolves had all made their jumps, they were back together now and making their way towards the creature.

“According to most human stories and myths, it is a guardian of the forest, meant to protect and maintain,” Caleb sighed, “Really, it was a fae creature.

Almost entirely instinctual. They are aggressive and persistent. When it finds a target, it will not stop attacking until it, or the target is destroyed.”

Ashleigh was blown away, she had heard of different types of fae, but not many. Winter focused on training for the threats that existed, not the ones of the past.

“How is it here?” she asked, mesmerized, as the treant pulled its roots from the ground, turning in the direction of the wolves.

“It’s not,” Caleb answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Not really anyway. This is a simulation, just like the obstacle course you tried yesterday.”

The treant swung its roots at the group, they moved out of the way narrowly avoiding being hit. The wolves spread out to draw the focus in different directions. The treant swung at one and then another, both missing. One of the wolves called out orders, the other three did exactly as they were told.

The treant was taking damage, it made a loud gurgle sound as several of its roots had been cut by the wolves. The one in charge shouted orders once more, and again the other three listened closely and executed their actions in a sequence that overwhelmed the treant.

Ashleigh cheered.

“They’re amazing!” she shouted excitedly.

“They’re about to lose,” Caleb replied nonchalantly.

She turned to look at him, he was still watching the course. Ashleigh looked back, to her it looked like they were about to take the monster down. How could they lose? What was he seeing that she wasn’t?

Then it happened. Ashleigh stood up straight, eyes wide as she watched the scene unfold.

The wolf in charge stood once more to deliver orders, but before he could, a root that had been slowly and loosely wrapping around his ankle snapped tight. Yanking him hard to the ground. Then dragging him towards the creature as he clawed desperately at anything he could grab. The root lifted him in

the air once more and then threw him at one of the other wolves. The impact sent both flying against the rock wall, neither moving.

Another root shot out at one of the two remaining wolves while they were distracted watching their fallen. The root plunged into the wolf’s leg, causing him to cry out in pain.

The last remaining wolf ran to try to help, but it was too late, the treant dragged the injured wolf into the jagged pieces of bark that resembled a mouth.

The wolf screamed as it disappeared into the hole.

Ashleigh gasped in horror.

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The remaining wolf fell to his knees in defeat. A loud buzzer rang out and the scene quickly changed, the trees, the forest ground, the rocky slopes all faded or were retracted into the walls. The two wolves that had been thrown against the rock wall lay still on the ground, while the one who had been swallowed now sat where treant had stood. He held his leg tightly with a look of extreme pain.

Three men wearing medical shirts ran out to check on each of the injured wolves.

“What did they do wrong?” Caleb asked, still watching as his wolves were treated for their injuries.

“I don’t know.” Ashleigh sighed, still processing the fact that these wolves seemed to be seriously injured.

“They didn’t pay attention to the area around them, they let their defenses down when they switched to a position of attack. Their entire plan was based on what one person was seeing, and that person was not involved in the fight, making it clear to the enemy who was in charge,” Caleb stated as the medical team helped the two wolves to their feet.

“Are they ok?” Ashleigh asked, watching the third wolf, the one with the injured leg. There was a significant pool of blood below him.

“No,” Caleb replied simply.

Ashleigh turned to him, horrified by his lack of empathy.

“But they are alive,” he answered, turning to meet her eyes. “Which they wouldn’t be if this had been real.”

“How can you train your soldiers in such a cruel way? You’ll get them killed before ever teaching them properly!” she shouted angrily.

“We do indeed get a lot of injuries,” he said, “but we also have developed the best strategies and defenses. This is how. We treat every simulation, every strategy, every training as though this is the one that decides if we live or die.”

“What about your wolves? It’s easy to say that this harsh training is the right way to do it, but you're not the one doing it!”

“I have run that simulation many times, my wolves do not do any training or simulations that Galen and myself have not already done,” Caleb growled in response. “I would not ask something of my people that I don’t first expect of myself.”

Ashleigh looked back down at the field; the two wolves that had been knocked out were gone along with one of the medical staff. The wolf with the injured leg was now laying on a stretcher with his leg wrapped. The two remaining medics carried him away.

Only the uninjured wolf stayed on the field. He was still on his knees.

“Why is he still there?” Ashleigh asked softly.

“He is mourning,” Caleb replied.

Ashleigh looked up at him expressing her confusion in her eyes. He met her eyes and turned to face her.

“The physical aspect of battle is not the only thing we train for,” he replied.

Caleb reached into his pocket and pulled out a small disk, after turning it a few times he brought it up to her temple. He asked for permission with a look, she nodded, and he placed it on her skin.

Ashleigh gasped as the world around her changed, she saw the battlefield she had seen below once more, only now it was more realistic. She felt as though she could taste the forest in the air, she could feel the dew on the leaves of the trees that surrounded her.

She turned back where she knew she had seen the wolf on his knees. He was exactly where she thought he would be, but the scene around him was not what she had expected.

“Oh, Goddess…” she whispered.

Before him were the bloody remains of the wolf that she had watched placed on a stretcher only moments ago. She turned her head in the direction the other wolves had been thrown in the fight, there they were. Their bodies were in a mangled heap of blood and bone.

“Many mistakes were made during this fight, each of them has a lesson to learn,” Caleb’s voice whispered behind her. “But this one, he has the greatest lessons to learn.”

Ashleigh turned back to the remaining wolf. He was on his knees, tears streaming down his face, fear and sorrow in his eyes.

“On the battlefield there is no time for regret, no time for mourning. There is not a second chance.”

She listened to Caleb’s words carefully. His tone was distant, but it was also sincere. He wasn’t cold.

Ashleigh watched the man cry, and she couldn’t help but think that as painful as this experience was for him, he would be thankful in the end. Because it wasn’t real. He would see his friends once more, and he would work even harder to make sure he never had to watch them die again.

Caleb was making the decisions for his people that would give them their best chances, not the easiest life.. He was a true leader, and she was in awe of him.

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