The War Luna

She wiped the blood from her cheek with the back of her bruised hand, smiling dangerously as she looked at her opponent.

"That was a good shot", she admitted. "And the last one you'll get tonight".

She circled him again, planting each step carefully, never removing her eyes from his enormous, 6'3 frame. His t-shirt was torn in several places, revealing deep cuts along his toned chest, enormous arms and broad back. Once white, it was now covered in blood as it seeped from each of his wounds. His jaw was swelling up more by the second and he was panting heavily. This was a man in great physical distress. Although he tried to laugh off her remark, she could see that his strength was waning. She was confident that her victory was imminent. The crowd around them was heckling and shouting general abuse at the two but it was easy to tune them all out. She had one focus; to put this beast on his back.

He moved forward suddenly, attempting a roundhouse kick to her face. She dodged easily, bending her 5'11 frame under his high swerve, clocking him hard in the balls followed by a swift smash to his face as she rose. He crumpled before her.

The hand that wasn't covering his excruciating scrotum tapped the ground in defeat, effectively throwing in the towel as he simultaneously threw up the contents of his stomach. She raised her arms in victory as the crowd clapped and chanted.

"Gamma! Gamma! Gamma!" They repeated over and over. She felt arms clap her bruised back in congratulations. Fist bumps and high fives passed between her and those warriors that had joined her on the fight floor.

She reached a hand down to her opponent and assisted him as he made to stand. She pulled him into her in a brief one-armed hug, patting his back in commiseration on his defeat.

"You put up a good fight", she shouted into his ear over the noise. He tried to smile but could only wince.

"Get yourself to the hospital and get cleaned up. Training at 6am tomorrow". She turned to head to the showers. The pats on her back continued as she left the training hall.

"It took you a bit longer than usual to take him down", a familiar voice shouted. "Must be getting slow in your old age".

Alex laughed as her brother, Alpha Ronan, fell into step with her. Despite her height, Ronan hulked over her. He was the biggest Alpha she had ever seen and she had met many werewolves in her extensive travel as his Gamma and training consultant. His skin was light brown like hers, with dark hair he kept long enough to flick into his dark brown, almost black, eyes. Alex generally kept her shoulder length, dark brown wavy hair tied up and out of the way, due to the constant fighting and training she undertook each day in her role as Gamma to the Black Mountain Pack.

It was a job that kept her busy while also satisfying her great love of fighting. Not necessarily the punches and the blood. More so the strategy behind it. Having to adapt to surroundings. Scrapping detailed and well thought out plans at a seconds' notice when suddenly an unplanned variant startles the play. Fighting was her life and it came as easy to her as swimming to a fish.

But there were always those that doubted her ability because she was a female; because her brother was the Alpha; because her father, the previous Alpha, had appointed her as Gamma. Not that nepotism had given her the title. Alex had fought 5 adult male pack members for the job, including one of her cousins and had won outright at the age of 15. Her father had no choice but to appoint her.

That's why she always enjoyed a showcase of her talent, like today. Roy had decided to challenge her rule and had become too loud with his remarks and supposed jokes on her leadership abilities. She accepted his challenge and today she had beaten him fairly and in front of both her supporters and naysayers.

"After you've cleaned up, can you drop up to my office", Ronan asked. "The bank in Boston are looking to book an additional week of training for their staff and the Alpha of the Lunar Ridge Pack is looking to come here next week instead of your team going there".

"Why?", Alex asked. She surveyed her brother quizzically.

They didn't bring other packs to come to their site frequently to view their training practices or sessions. It was standard to bring a team with her to train other packs or, in the human world, provide security training for businesses or their staff. Not that it wasn't encouraged - she was just surprised. Lunar Ridge had been a difficult group to train from the outset - their thinking was more appropriate to the last millennium and they had fought her team on their practices each time they had received training. But if it meant she didn't have to travel that week, all the better.

Alex had been privileged to travel all over the globe with their company, 'Secure International'. Typically, she would assist Alpha's in planning for the safety of their packs and how to run training programmes, strategies on fighting rogue attacks and so forth. Or update the older Alpha's on ways to improve their warrior training.

"We have to show that we trust our allies Rex", Ronan dropped the nickname she had acquired as a child into his answer as he continued. "Their pack is becoming a lot stronger since Alpha Aidan took over from his father. I think they're keen to see how we operate at our own site and I'm happy to showcase our talent".

Ronan smiled. Alex knew he was proud of his leadership, and he had every right to be. He had a great respect for the part played by every member in his pack and took the time to know every family that made up their community. He empowered his warriors and provided opportunities for anyone in the pack through education or employment at Secure International or it's subsidiaries. Not to mention his capability on a battlefield. Ronan's wolf was a huge dark grey monster of an animal, bloodthirsty and swift to produce a pile of dead enemies.

Alex's wolf was purest white in colour with a single stripe of black across her eyes. Her wolf was much larger than the average female, having also inherited the Alpha gene, and she had the somewhat unique ability to mask her scent at will. She could change her pheromone output to that closer to an omega or a young wolf, meaning those who caught her scent, often disregarded her as a non-threat. How wrong they were.

Their other brother, Cain, was happy not to inherit the Alpha gene and had trained for years to become the pack doctor. Cain loved fixing his siblings up after a fight and was always interested in learning new methods for healing his pack and training in new staff.

Alex bid goodbye to Ronan as she reached the shower room down the hall from the gym, where she could still hear some of the warriors reliving the fight. She smiled at their commentary. She had earned their respect through consistency of talent and in maintaining a zero loss of life in the last 3 major battles their pack had fought over the 9 years of her reign as Gamma. Her warriors may return wounded but her strategy had kept them all alive and more than willing to follow her into the next fight.

Alex turned on the shower and undressed as the water heated up. Her sports bra and shorts were covered in a mixture of sweat and blood and she was glad to peel them from her skin. She took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Some of the smaller bruises and cuts were already starting to heal. Roy had given her some good punches to the ribs and she was tender as she touched the spot gingerly. She stood back to take in her full frame. She was almost identical to her mother, with large green eyes, light brown skin and full pouty lips. She had strong arms, large rounded breasts and long muscular legs. She loved how she looked and how strong she was. Not a bad *ss either, she thought, as she turned to look at her back before entering the shower. The warm water caressed her soft skin, and she took her time lathering herself up and cleaning the remnants of the fight from her body and hair.

When Alex was dry and dressed in her standard ware of black tank top and shorts, she knocked on the Alpha's door and entered. The office was large and comfortable with a beautiful view of the pack's surrounding landscape, looking directly at 'Black Mountain', the namesake of the pack. Alex sat in one of the brown leather chairs in front of the desk and waited for Ronan to finish his call. He was smiling so she hoped it was good news he was receiving. He hung up the phone and typed something into his computer before pulling out a notebook.

"How's Roy?" He smiled.

"Better than he deserves to be", she answered. "I probably should have hit him a bit harder. Kept him in the hospital for a few days".

"Why didn't you then?"

"He's a great fighter and a good trainer. He just needed a reminder who's the boss. I didn't want to completely humiliate him".

Alex and Ronan la