Rise to Reign: Growing Up Young

Hello Human

*Sterling POV*

I don't know why my skin began to crawl when I saw Grace sitting with that guy. Maybe it's because I don't want guys to try and get close to her because of who she is, or if it's something about him in general.

Am I overprotective of my family? Absolutely. Especially Grace. I was raised to always look out for my family. It didn't matter who it was, and my dad is the same way. He has spent most of his life protecting his siblings, nieces, nephews, parents and packs.

I admire him for it, and want to take that with me when I ascend to the throne.

"OK, let's get started. Grace, I want you paired up with Olive and Freya. Sterling, you will be sparring with me and Phoenix," my uncle Gunner stated.

I knew we were in for a workout when I found out who was running our training session today. Gunner is known to be the strictest of all the trainers, even more so than Damian and Buck combined. The last time I trained with Buck, I thought I was going to die halfway through it.

"Alright, girls, no shifting. Grace hasn't gotten her wolf, so it wouldn't be fair. Grace, no wings. Neither Olive nor Freya have them. Let's keep it fair and civil. If you feel like you are losing control and your Fae or wolf are about to surface, take a break. We are family, and this is just training workouts. Understood?" he asked them. All three nodded their heads, and Gunner instructed them to begin.

Without catching a breath, he turned to me and Phoenix and said, "Sterling, with you, training will be a little different because you have been doing combat training the longest. According to Buck and Damian, what you lack is stamina and cardio. It's probably because of your size, but we can't use that as an excuse when your pack is attacked, or you are helping defend some other pack. As an Alpha King, it's up to you to uphold the standard. So, that being said, it's full on cardio today."

As soon as the word cardio came out of his mouth, I knew exactly where he was going. Defensive sprints. Everyone knew this was Gunner's favorite cardio exercise. For good reason. Defensive sprints are when I race from one line to another, and my training partners shift, and it's up to me to avoid their attacks. I've done them before, but after about five minutes, it can get brutal.

I may look like I'm in shape on the outside, but internally, I'm a mess. Time to knuckle down, as my dad always says.

"On my whistle," Gunner said. He started to count down, and as soon as he got to one, he blew the whistle. I started to run as fast as I could, and I was approaching the first line when I heard a loud growl behind me. It was my uncle, Phoenix. His wolf, Phineas, was hot on my heels when I reached the first line.

As fast as Phineas was, he was also very predictable. I glanced behind me, and knew as soon as we made eye contact, Phineas would try to jump on top of me from behind. So I started to count. Once I got to 5, I heard a low growl, so I ducked. Sure enough, he went sailing over top of me.

I stood up immediately, and rushed as fast as I could to the second line. My lungs were on fire, but I kept pushing. I had one more line to go, but I knew that between here and there, Gunner would be joining in on the fun.

Although the lines indicate a safe zone, and I could have stopped to rest, I chose to keep going. Just as I had anticipated, as soon as I crossed that third line, here came Gunner. Out of everyone in our family, Axl, Gunner's wolf is by far the fastest. He was on me in no time, and quickly tackled me to the ground.

I started getting frustrated, and I sat up and punched the ground. "No need to get angry human, just get up and try again," a voice in my head said.

I looked around to see if someone was standing around me, but there was no one. "Who said that?" I whispered. Again, the voice boomed through my head.

"The name is Franz, and I am your wolf. It's not time for us to officially meet yet, but if you continue with your anger, we will have no choice. It's too dangerous for me to come forward until the time is right. So keep yourself in check," he stated.

My wolf. My wolf is actually speaking to me. Axl nudged my arm, instructing me that I still needed to go back to the start, but all I could do was stare. "One minute, please Axl. Something strange is happening right now," I whispered.

Before I knew it, all 6'6" of my uncle's naked body was standing in front of me. "Jesus, can you at least cover yourself," I laughed.

He looked at me with frustration and then questioned what I meant. "What do you mean something is happening? Are you hurt?" he asked with concern.

I shook my head and said, "My wolf just spoke to me. His name was Franz, and told me to watch my anger, or we would meet sooner than we should. He said that it's too dangerous for us to meet early. What does he mean by that? I've known young Alphas get their wolves at least 6 months early before, and nothing happened to them."

He started to answer me when we heard a blood-curdling scream from one of the girls. I quickly stood to my feet, and the three of us ran to where the girls were. I was shocked at the sight that we stumbled upon.

"Help me, please!!! It hurts so bad!!" Grace cried. She was in the middle of her first shift. "NO!!!!" Phoenix exclaimed. He turned to Gunner, and told him to have my grandma fetch Alette, and then told me to go and get Damian from the Elite training fields. It was too late to stop Grace's shift.

He dismissed Olive and Freya, but the girls didn't leave. They were just as worried about our cousin as I was. Apparently, I hadn't moved an inch after being instructed to get Grace's dad, and Nix screamed at me again to go.

I reluctantly left the scene, and I ran as fast as my legs would take to get Damian. By the time I got there, I was completely out of breath. I stammered over my words, but he was able to understand what I was getting at. "Damian! Grace! Shifting now! Hurry!" I stammered.

Once the light went on about what I was saying, Damian rushed to where we had been training. I tried my best to keep up, but in the end he beat me back by a long shot.

As I approached where Grace was, I heard Nix tell Damian that she was stuck mid-shift. My heart sunk at that knowledge, and tried to think of something to help her.

Her snout had elongated, and her fur had started to sprout. It was her arms and legs that were struggling. She kept screaming in pain, and thankfully my aunt Alette showed up when she did. She and my grandma laid down beside Grace, and started to whisper things into her ear.

Even with my heightened hearing, I couldn't make out the incantation. Luke showed up not long after grandma and Alette, and handed my grandma a vial. She slowly helped Grace drink the elixir, and shortly after, Grace was able to complete her transformation. She was uniquely gorgeous.