Brook moved her staff at half her usual speed, but was still able to block the staff of her opponent.  Her return strike as at her controlled speed, and they barely blocked… this time.  The pup she was training was covered in bruises that would be gone before morning.  The pup was missing basic moves by the time she let him stop.
Grounding her staff, “You need to get your high blocks up faster, Jake, if you want to be good enough to do patrols.”
Jake couldn’t speak, he was so out of breath.  He nodded that he heard, as he went to get a drink of water.
Brook nodded at the next pup, and repeated to train, while the rest watched.  Her group of five pups were the ones that they thought had potential, even though they were just beginning their second decade of life.
“Showers!” Brook eventually called out, dismissing the pups for the morning.  In the afternoon, the Elders worked with them on their class learning skills.  They had to meet the human provincial learning skills, but with even only having half the time of the humans, they were able to generally meet them.  Some didn’t bother with anything past high school, but for those that had the marks to make them in, the pack paid for them to go to their choice, provided they continued to pass.
She headed up to her room on the second floor, so she could wash up without anyone bothering her.  She did share the bathroom with her friends Evan and Kuri, who had the bedroom on the opposite side of the bathroom, but they were out on patrol, and wouldn’t be back till late afternoon.  
Dropping in her seat with her plate of food, Aurora and Nikki smiled a greeting, “Tiring morning?”
Brook nodded and started to eat, *It takes a lot out of me to not use my strength.  The pups are advancing.  Can we not talk about work?* she told them silently over their shared pack bonds.
*Well, you are an excellent trainer.  Most of those that don’t drop out of your class go on to good positions.* was the response.  *Did you hear about…*
The others nodded, and they started to talk about the latest tech that they knew was out, and some thoughts on getting the Alphas to give permission to bring it here.  *Mostly, Alpha Gareth’s resistance is he can’t really see a need for it, that counteracts the risks of our discovery.* that and they knew for such a change, they would need the Elder’s consent as well.
After finishing her second helping, “Well, I need a good run.  I should be back for supper.” Brook told the others, as she picked up her used dishes and took them to the tubs for them.
*****
Brook was a half hour into her run, enjoying the wind going through her fur as they used the long run track that was designed to take a few hours to run.  Usually it took her two to three hours, and she wasn’t pushing it today.  She was thinking if she wanted a hot soak or to run another trail when she got back.
A delicious smell crossed her nose that nearly made her trip.  **Mate!** her wolf said, pulling control from the human half, and heading into the wind trying to track it down.  It seemed to fade, then come back even stronger.  There was a scent of human mixed in it, but her wolf still had control and ignored that part of the scent.
They bounded across a valley, heedless of the fact there could be humans around to see her; Wolf-Brook was firmly in control and wasn’t going to let their mate get away!  He was their other half, and they had waited all their life to meet.  
The elders told of a story where a wolf was lazy and when they smelled their mate, just waited for them to be found, instead of going to them.  They smelled them for a week every summer, then nothing till the next year.  This went on for several decades, but then they stopped smelling them.  They lived on waiting for their mate for the rest of their lazy life, never having their mate find them… They were not going to be that wolf; they were going to find their mate!
Reaching a scree-filled slope, she started bounding on the rocks, heedless of her safety; their mate was close!  Stepping on a log about half way up, it dislodged, levering a boulder up and starting a rockslide.  Scampering, she tried to evade the tumbling rocks.
She nearly made it out, dodging the boulders bouncing around her, turning trees into kindling, but then a rock bounced of her head and knocked her out…