“Line up on the blue tape,” shouted Gretchen, Dean’s Second in command of training. He always picked her when it was time to train new recruits. “All of you, now. Just because you have been given shelter here doesn’t mean you have to stay. Let’s go!”

She was as tough as nails. Dean had to give her that. He also would trust her with his life, and she was easy on the eyes. He considered mating her for several moons, but they never would have been the right fit.

Dean spotted his fit, his mate at the end of the line, her jaw hard as she tried to avoid his gaze. Three days had gone by and they still could barely go more than an hour without a touch, but the cravings were getting easier to handle. He licked his lips as he looked along her jaw, but he quickly diverted his attention and looked up and down the line of recruits.

Several looked scared, while others looked kind of feral. Those were the ones who Dean worried about. An uncontrollable soldier was a dead soldier, and he usually took a couple people with him. Dean had seen it. He had been in enough battles, with enough… otherworldly creatures, to know a liability when he saw it.

His job was to assess that liability, try and beat it out of them. If he couldn’t, he had to let them go. Before they got someone killed.

“This ain’t gonna be no party, kiddos. You got a lot of work to do if you are going to be a part of the pack. We won’t accept slackers, no matter who you are, or who your parents are. You can end up right back out on your ass if you don’t follow orders.” Gretchen wasn’t holding back as she looked each candidate up and down, stopping at Shana.

“The power shifter. I’ve heard about you. Already able to issue commands, huh? Well command me to do something,” Gretchen sneered. She obviously wasn’t going to take it easy on his mate. His blood boiled as he watched her talk to Shana, but he knew he couldn’t interfere.

“No.”

“No?” Gretchen’s eyes flashed. She wasn’t used to being told no.

“No, I will not give you a command. I am not your Alpha, I am not your superior. I will not force you to bend to my will.” She looked Gretchen in the eye, her stare hard.

That was his Alpha lover. She could handle herself.

“Then you will follow my orders while on the training field, is that clear?” Gretchen asked, trying to gain back her composure. She was expecting a dose of Shana’s power. Probably wanted to make a show of it. Well, Gretchen didn’t always get what she wanted.

“This here is Dean, he is the Alpha’s second, and he will be supervising your training. Anything he says, goes. We make the decisions together, and you don’t want to piss him off, got it?”

“Hey, when do we get to… you know… practice turning.” A thick headed, very tall, very feral looking man blurted out. He sounded like the typical high school jock. Eighteen, maybe nineteen years old.

Dean could see Gretchen seething, so he acted quickly. “That only happens when you prove you have the control to master it. I know many of you are wondering the very same thing, so let me assure you, we will get there. But you need to be in control of yourself, first. Especially as the wolf comes to consciousness in you.” All eyes were transfixed to his, their will bending to his as he bade them to be silent. All eyes, but Shana’s. He could feel the difference. Her stare was one of admiration.

A waif-like teen raised her hand, “Sir, um, what do you mean? Is our wolf like, inside of us? Even now?”

He smiled. She was sweet, but definitely a beta or even omega wolf. “Yes, uh… what is your name?”

“Isadora…” She said, her eyes lowered to the ground.

“Yes, Isadora. Your wolf has always been inside of you, since the moment you were conceived. You are all part of a lineage of wolves. Your parents might be human, but that piece of you has been passed down through generations, and has become alive in you. You turn at different points, your wolf awakens at different points. As you turn, they wake, so to speak. You will hear them, interact with them. They are you, and you are the wolf. Though, they will make their needs and wants perfectly well known.” He paused and took a breath.

“Which of you have started to feel a rebelling against your thoughts, maybe heard the wolf?” Gretchen asked, taking back control of the group.

A small handful, including Shana, raised their hands.

“It will happen to more of you, and eventually all of you will experience it. But for now, we are going to separate you into two groups. Those who have felt the wolf, and those who have merely undergone the first moon shift.” Gretchen got to work, creating two groups based on that particular ability, and then making those groups smaller, into groups of three.

“These will be your partners until we restructure. You will train with them, bunk with them, and get to know them. They will make you stronger. Do you understand?” It seemed like she never got tired of being in charge. That was part of what made her such a good squad leader. Why she was always at his side in the battles.

“As a shifter, we are always under threat of attack. Warring packs who want our territory, other magical entities who are hoping to end the shifter line, to stomp us out. Our job is to find out where each of us belongs so that doesn’t happen.” Dean was good at the explanation part, the general leading. Which is what made the two of them such a good pair when it came to training and command.

“Now that you are acquainted with your new roommates and training partners, I want you to take this list. You have two days. You will do this list every single day. When we meet back I expect that you have done these things, and that you will be ready for the second part of your training.”

“What’s that?” The brawny, thick-headed man asked.

Gretchen grinned, “Discipline.”