The Dark Alpha's Light

Training

Lenore

“Lenore, my love,” He says to me as we lay naked together in bed. His dark eyes sparkle with light as he strokes my cheek. As we begin to kiss, some semblance of love is written across his face. The kiss starts sensual and slow before melting into a fiery passion. He is on top of me, making me feel like the most important person in the world while everything else disappears.

“I love you, Torben,” I whisper with my hands gripping his hair.

He looks up at me and runs the back of his hand down my cheek, “I-“

“Lenore!” His sharp voice pulls me from the pleasurable dream. I open my eyes to him hovering over me.

“What?” I grumble.

“It’s time to get up for training,” He states and turns away from me. “You have ten minutes to get up and dressed, or there will be punishment,” He growls.

“Or there will be punishment,” I mock quietly as I slowly sit up and yawn. Torben is sitting on his chair with his book in hand. He is wearing a pair of black shorts and a white tank top. I look away as I slink into the bathroom. After that, I walk into the closet and look at my meager selection of clothes. I hadn’t brought workout clothes with me for the conference, so I put on my only pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. I put my long hair in a bun and slipped on my sneakers before walking out of the closet.

“Is this acceptable, Alpha Ambrose?” I ask with my hands on my hips.

Torben looks up with his usual scowl. “You have nothing else?”

“Well, you dragged me from the damn conference with only the clothes I brought for that, so no. I have nothing else,” I snarl at him.

He makes a low grunt and sets his book down. He rises to his feet and walks past me towards the door. “Let’s go,” He grumbles.

I follow him out of the room and remain a few paces behind him with my head down. He walks so rigidly I wonder if his back hurts.

“My mate can walk beside me,” He says without looking at me.

I press my lips together, say nothing, and enter the elevator beside him. We stand side by side, not daring to look at the other. I stare at our reflections on the doors. I wonder if he even knows how to smile. My father is a strict and fearsome alpha but also knows how to smile.

The elevator doors open, and I walk beside him for a few paces as omegas and other pack members watch us. I smile at a few, and they look like they want to smile back, but their alpha’s stare keeps them from doing so. I sigh at the thought and wonder why he is so opposed to happiness.

“What are you sighing about?” He grumbles.

“What do you care?” I shoot back.

“We are mates, Ms. Moonglade,” He responds. “We are to raise a child together.”

I sigh again, and he shoots those dark eyes at me. Only they aren’t angry. It looks like genuine concern. I wish I could fall for it, but I know better. “I honestly don’t see myself raising a child with you,” I confess.

He stops and looks at me. Those dark eyes narrowed into a glare. “Why not? You are my mate,” He growls.

“In name only, Alpha,” I look away from his hard stare. “I don’t want to raise a child in a loveless environment. I don’t want them to develop a permanent scowl that keeps everyone else at bay,” I explain, and his scowl falters ever so slightly.

He raises his hand, and I stare into his eyes, waiting for whatever he is about to do. The hand hovers in the air between us for a moment before he balls it up and lowers it. He then turns and keeps walking. I struggle to keep up with him as we march out of the packhouse.

We arrive at a state-of-the-art training facility. It has everything a pack needs to keep everyone in top shape. We walk towards the field, and a black-haired man is standing next to a table with water bottles and Gatorade.

He bows to Torben, “Good morning, Alpha Torben.”

“Good morning, Warrior,” Torben responds.

The man looks past him and at me, “Is this our Luna?” He smiles at me. “Lovely thing isn’t she.”

Torben growls. “She is here for training. I need you to evaluate her abilities.” He turns to me. “This is my head trainer Glenn Barker. He will be evaluating your skills so we can see what needs to be worked on.”

“Hi, Glenn,” I greet him.

“Good morning, Luna,” He starts to hold out a hand but looks at Torben and pulls it back. “Did you train at your previous pack?”

I nod, “Yes, I am the daughter of an alpha. My father expected me to train, and of course, I had higher expectations than other pack members.”

“Who is your father?” Glenn asks me.

“Wyatt Moonglade,” I respond.

“I know him,” Glenn chuckles, and Torben growls. Glenn takes a deep breath. “Let’s get started. I presume you did warmups before sparring?” He asks, and I nod. “Do what you normally do then.”

I start my warmup with stretches. I try to ignore my mate’s stern stare as I do as instructed. I hear him growl fiercely and notice pack members walking by with their heads down. I sigh heavily. ‘I want to go home, Astrid.’ I tell my wolf.

‘We are home, Lenore,’ She replies.

‘This isn’t home,’ I argue. ‘This is a prison.’

“Quit talking to your wolf and warm up,” Torben snarls.

‘I hate him,’ I grumble, and Astrid whimpers. I start running laps around the field and see Gamma Frederick and another male joins Torben and Glenn. I run about ten laps before stopping by his majesty. “Aren’t you going to warm up?” I ask my mate.

“Are those all the laps you are going to run?” He counters.

I nod. “Yeah,” I respond.

“Hmph,” is his response. He turns to the new male, “This is my Delta, Ivan Asher. He shall be your sparring partner this morning.”

“You’re actually letting me spar with a male?” I snort. Torben’s face remains contorted in his usual angry grimace.

“This isn’t a joke, Ms. Moonglade,” He snarls. “Now, get on the field and show us what you know.”

I roll my eyes, saunter to the center of the field, and turn to face a wall of bare-chested male. Ivan is a large and very muscular male. I would say his nice to look at, but I have to spar with him, so I try to remain serious.

“Put up your stance,” Ivan says.

I do as I am told, and I am flat on my back, staring up at him within seconds. He stands over me with a grin.

“Typical female,” He taunts.

I let out a growl, launch to my feet, and lunge at him. We exchange blows, and Ivan does not go easy on me. ‘Let’s show him who we are,’ Astrid snarls in my head, and I feel her giving me her strength. I punch Ivan hard enough to send him flying backward. He looks up at me with wide eyes and smirks.

“Damn, Luna,” He says as I help him to his feet.

We spar some more before I flip him on his back. He is covered in bruises and a few wounds. He lets out a chuckle. “We got ourselves a strong Luna.” I help him to his feet again and slap his back.

“Thank you. You aren’t so bad yourself,” I smile at Ivan, and he chuckles again. A ground-shaking growl makes us freeze as Torben ambles threateningly toward us.

“You are dismissed, Delta,” My mate snarls.

Ivan sighs and gives me a sympathetic look before walking away. I fold my arms and glare at Torben.

“You will spar with me now,” Torben snarls.

I say nothing and get into a fighting stance. Torben launches at me, and I must use everything I have to keep him from hurting me. He does not go easy on me, and I yelp from the pain. He pauses for a moment with a sliver of empathy on his stern face. I use that to punch him hard in the jaw. His eyes flash gold before returning to black. “Oh dear, did your wolfie, not like that?” I taunt.

“Quit playing,” He snarls and punches me hard in the shoulder.

We exchange blows for a few more minutes before he kicks my feet out from under me, and I fall t the ground with a thud. The air is knocked out of me, and I lay there for a moment. A hand is held to me, and I let him pull me to my feet. I stare into his dark eyes for a moment, and they soften.

“Are you hurt?” He asks in an almost gentle tone.

“Nothing I can’t recover from,” I respond and look away from him. “Are we done?”

“Yes,” He responds. “You may return to the packhouse to shower and get breakfast.”

I nod and walk away from him without looking back. My whole body aches from the bruises and wounds I acquired from Torben and Delta Ivan.

“What pack do you hail from Luna?” Delta Ivan suddenly says from beside me.

“I am from Moonglade Pack,” I respond. “My father is Alpha Wyatt Moonglade.”

Ivan nods, “That’s an impressive pack.”

“This one would be impressive too if not for his grouchy majesty,” I snort.

Ivan frowns, “Alpha Torben may come off as a hard-ass, but he has been good to us. Sure he is strict, but we want for nothing here.”

“But you can’t laugh or have any sort of fun,” I state.

“We find our ways, Luna,” Ivan sighs. “It’s not so bad.”

We walk in silence to the door of the packhouse. “Well, I have to shower and what not and see what his Majesty wants from me now.”

Ivan nods, “See you around, Luna.”

I hurry up the stairs and into the room. I look around at the grandness of it. The simplicity and lack of any personality depresses me. I can’t see myself living here for the rest of my life. My heart hurts that the Goddess chose such a cold curmudgeon to be my mate. ‘Why couldn’t she find me someone who knows how to smile?’ I say in my head.

‘The Goddess rarely pairs us with the ones we want. She finds the one we need,’ Astrid tells me.

‘Why do I need someone like him?’ I grumble as I step into the shower. The hot water relieves the bruises on my body. My mind wanders to the dreams I had the night before. I try to shake them out of my head. ‘No, I will never love him.’

Astrid whimpers, ‘You will. You will love him.’

‘He doesn’t love himself, Astrid,’ I argue with her.

‘Show him, love,’ She pleads with me.

I scoff at that and finish my shower. I dry off and wrap myself with the towel. I walk into the bedroom just as his majesty is entering. We stare at each other for a moment before I walk into the closet. I look at my few clothes and choose a pair of dark blue jeans and my favorite flannel plaid shirt. I brush my hair and braid it. I put on my sneakers and walk out of the room. I hear the shower running in the bathroom as I grab my phone and sit on the couch. I see messages from Judi, so I decide to call her.

“Lenore!” My best friend’s cheerful voice warms my heart. “How is it going? Ryker has been wonderful to me. He is coming home with us to help me pack my stuff and then go with him to his pack.”

I sigh heavily. I hate to feel jealous of her happiness, but I am jealous. “It’s going,” I say with too much sadness.

“What’s wrong?” Judi asks.

“I am stuck here with a cold-hearted asshole who only sees me as a broodmare. But I’m glad that you got a good mate. I’m not sure what I did to piss off the Moon Goddess so much that she stuck me with him,” I say as tears well up in my eyes.

“Oh man, I am so sorry, Lenore. You don’t deserve that. He’s a fuckwad if he can’t see how awesome you are. Have you told your Dad?” Judi asks.

“Gods, no.” I laugh. “Daddy would send all his warriors in here to rescue me. And I don’t want people I care about to die for me,” I sigh.

“But you are worth it,” Judi says, and I sob.

“I miss you, Judi.”

“Don’t cry, Lenore,” Judi tries to soothe me. “You are going to make me cry,” She laughs.

I sensed someone behind me and hadn’t noticed the shower turned off. I turn to see him standing by the bathroom door wearing nothing but a towel slung low on his hip. I wonder how much of our conversation he heard. I shrug and turn away from him, and he shuffles into the closet and slams the door.

“What the hell was that?” Judi asks.

“Just his majesty throwing a tantrum,” I mumble. “I better go, Judi. Tell everyone that I miss them,” I tell her.

“Bye, Lenore. Stay strong,” Judi says before hanging up the phone.

I set my phone down and buried my face in my hands. I let the tears fall as I try not to break down. He clears his throat, and I look to see him dressed in one of his fine suits. His dark hair is slicked back, and he reeks of Scotch and cologne.

“My mother shall be arriving soon,” He mentions. “You can learn with her today.”

I just nod and stand up. “I’ll be in the library until then,” I start towards the door, and Torben grabs my arm and turns me to face him. My breath catches in my throat as his lips hover over mine.

“I see you as more than a broodmare,” He nearly whispers. “I know how intelligent you are and fully intend to use it to my advantage.”

I slowly nod as our eyes lock, and we stand there for a moment. His eyes flicker from black to gold and back to black. He leans in, and I am shocked when he kisses me. He wraps his arms around me, and I lean into him as we hold the hot kiss. Then as soon as it began, it was over as he pulled away from me. I pant as he walks towards the door.

“I have to get to work,” He says. “Have a nice time in the library, Lenore,” He opens the door and rushes out.

“Thank you, Torben,” I say quietly as my heart races. I stand for a moment to catch my breath before leaving the room. I walk down the hallway and see Torben’s mother, Teresa walk toward me with a younger female behind her.

“Lenore,” Teresa smiles at me.

I smile back.

“I suppose you are with me today,” She claps her hands and gesture to the younger woman behind her. “Have you met Mina?”

I shake my head as Mina smiles brightly. I hold out my hand to her, but Mina pulls me into a hug.

“Hi, Lenore, I am Mina, Torben’s sister,” She pulls back from me. She has lighter brown hair and hazel eyes. “I can’t wait to get to know my new sister. We are going to have so much fun.”

“I didn’t know fun was allowed here,” I say, trying not to ruin the mood.