The Alpha's Companion

Chapter 29 - A New Friend

The next day, Lacey hurried down to breakfast. Although she wasn’t usually hungry in the morning, she was starving this morning. In the grand dining room, a breakfast buffet was all set up, which included bacon and eggs, Danish, sausage, biscuits, and everything else under the sun. Lacey grabbed a plate and a cheese Danish, along with a cup of coffee, and sat at the nearest table. It was small and decorated with a fall centerpiece. Lacey took a sip of her coffee and sighed, loving the fresh, rich taste…. As well as a moment alone.

"Well, hello!"

Lacey's head snapped up and a guy with long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail was standing next to the chair across from her. "Hello,” she said, turning her attention back to her Danish.

A wholesome smile spread across his face. "Mind if I sit down?" He shrugged, holding a plate filled with meat and then swayed his head from side to side, waiting.

"Okay. Come on." Lacey laughed as she motioned toward the chair, and then went back to eating.

He took a big bite of bacon and swallowed. "Oh! Oh, this is good!" He sat more and then said, “Um… this is good!”

Lacey looked at him as if he had lost his mind, and then laughed. "Can you like... enjoy your meat a bit quieter?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Enjoy my meat?"

Then they both burst out laughing.

"Okay...." She raised an eyebrow. "I guess that didn't come out right."

He laughed. "No problem." Then he held out his hand. "The name's Raye."

"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand. "Lacey."

"Lacey, it's nice to meet you." He turned his attention back to his plate of food, which was dwindling quickly.

"Well, I have to go." Lacey stood and pushed in her chair. "See you around."

"See you."

Lacey headed out to the practice ring and members of the pack were already there. She headed for the tree line, undressed, and hid her clothes, and then morphed into her wolf. Then everyone else took her lead and did the same. "Okay, everyone! Settle down. Today, we're going to run some drills! And I suggest you give it your all!"

"For real?" Koi, his wolf gray, asked in the Pack Mind.

Lacey mentally nodded, glad that she was officially in the Harvest Pack Mind. "Well, the next time the Wildclaws attack, it's definitely going to be 'for real', so yes!"

They spent most of the afternoon running drills, over and again., practicing different strategies.

"Run it again!" Lacey yelled in the Pack Mind. "This time, do it right! Anticipate each other’s moves as well as the moves of your opponents! You must work together as a team!"

After a while, a beautiful black wolf trotted over. "I think the pack needs to rest."

"And do you think that the Wildclaws are resting?" Lacey asked, and then it was almost like deja vu as she thought of her last practice session with The Silver Pack... and Wyatt.

The black wolf nodded mentally and then took his place in the formation. A cold wind blew through the trees and then rain started to fall from the heavens, softly at first, but became a torrential downpour within the matter of minutes.

"Okay, everyone!" Lacey announced, just as a flash of lightning streaked from the sky to the ground as a loud crash of thunder resonated throughout the practice field. “Time to pack it up!"

Everyone scattered... everyone except the black wolf, who seemed to be waiting for her. Lacey ran into the forest nearby, morphed into her wolf and quickly dressed, and when she was finished, Raye, the guy from breakfast that morning, had dressed, just slipping into his shirt.

"Raye! I didn't know that was you," Lacey said, heading for the castle. "You'll have to forgive me, but I'm still learning everyone's wolf."

Raye shrugged. "It's okay, Princess. It's going to take a while to learn everyone's mental print."

A crease formed between her eyes, stopping at the foot of the stairs. "You knew?"

He shrugged as a smile curled his lips. "It's kind of hard not to know."

Lacey laughed. "Well...."

Raye motioned with his head toward the castle. "Let's go." He feigned a shiver. "In case you haven't noticed, it's cold and wet out here!"

Lacey laughed, following him up the stairs. She knew that that the little bit of cold and rain wouldn’t make him shiver like that. A shiver like that would take a blizzard.. But it felt pretty good to have made a friend.