Watching Chase take his anger out on the punching bag, I sigh and wonder if the teen will be able to handle this up coming year. His birthday was yesterday and we celebrated it as a family in the backyard of Asteria and Gale’s house. Quincy and Quest had been invited at Chase’s insistence as well as Odette and Ash.
“So what pissed you off today?” I asked as Chase takes a break. His chest heaves as he catches his breath, sweat dripping down his face.
“Grey took my phone without asking then kicked me when I tried to get it back. Mom stepped in but she told me to find you and come workout in your basement.” He answers, catching the water bottle I throw his way.
“Good call. I am guessing you were ready to throttle your brother?”
“Yeah. I hate how angry I got. It felt like some monster was taking over.” Chase sighs out, guilt written all over his face.
“Technically is a monster.” Standing from the bench I perch on, I walk towards Chase and ruffle his hair. I then explain that our wolf side is the side that controls our emotions. We love harder, grieve harder and hate harder due to the animalistic instinct in us. That when we are angry, our instincts amplify it to an extreme that we may be blinded by it. How the stronger we are in rank, the more heightened and attuned we are to our animal instincts.
“Is that why you came storming into our house the other day?” He asks, his grey eyes looking at me with curiosity.
“It is. Quincy told me something that involves Pine Paw and Rune. I was mad, but not at your mom. Add on to me being weakened from allowing the pain of rejection and banishment to run it’s course and my emotions were amplified more by a fight or flight response.” I answer, motioning for Chase to follow me up the stairs.
“Sometimes our emotions are going to get the better of us. When your cousin rejected me, I was so mad that I attacked him.” I continue as we head upstairs. Walking to the kitchen, I pull out a box of cookies, two glasses and some milk from the fridge. Chase laughs as I set our treat out on the counter before joining me.
“Caspian told me I left scars on him. That is an example of our emotions getting the better of us.” Dunking a chocolate chip cookie into the milk, Chase is quiet as he mulls over my words.
“So me wanting to beat Grey up is normal?”
“Yes and no.” I shrug, biting into the cookie.
“As brothers, you two are going to fight. That being said, you will need to recognize when your emotions are getting the better of you and step away.” Chase sighs, staring at his glass of milk and the cottage grows quiet.
“What happens if I accidentally hurt him, or even Lunette?”
“Your parents and I won’t let that happen. If it gets to a point where you can’t be near your siblings, then come here. My cottage is always open for you and I have a spare room you can sleep in.” Chase finally smiles at this, his gloomy expression finally disappearing.
“So what do I do for now? I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“We do what we talked about at that Diner.” Playfully shoving Chase’s shoulder, I start packing the cookies away before returning to his side.
“We train and I get to beat the shit out of you until your emotions have run their course. Now get up, we are going for a run.” Chase grumbles but doesn’t protest as he slinks his way towards my front door. After making sure all the lights and appliances are off, I join him outside and explain the rout we are going to take. Chase has had the basic training all pups were given at Pine Moon, but now it is time to train him into a proper wolf.
The two of us take off with Chase keeping pace beside me. As it has only been three days since I woke from dealing with the pain of rejection, I don’t push myself as fast as I usually do. This seems to be in Chase’s favour as he is having a hard time with keeping pace. The run will lead us through some of the forest surrounding the pack and ending at the pack house. On the way, we will pass by the construction sight where the new dormitories are being built just a few kilometers away from the pack house.
The longer we run, the more I notice Chase’s blood humming with power. It reaches out to me, testing me and so I release the power in my own blood. The two mix and mingle while we keep running. We have seen many of our pack mates, each wolf choosing to keep some distance from Chase and I as our powers radiate. He never pushes to dominate me with it and this makes me happy. Instead, our power seems to merge as one, as if knowing that we are family. It helps us to keep pace with each other and I find myself running faster to see if Chase can keep up.
It is only when we reach the site where the three new dormitory buildings are being built that we stop to catch out breath, the two of us heaving as we lean against a nearby tree. Chase is focused on the machinery, his face a stoic mask.
“Is it true that we are accepting Pine Moon members?” His voice is low as he asks this question and for a moment I hesitate to ask.
“We are. The old dorms will house the first batch of wolves coming in about two weeks while we focus our energy, time and resources on build these three buildings.” Chase scoffs at this. I understand how he feels as Pine Moon was not very kind to him or his siblings being Asteria’s kids. It did not help that Valor treated his niece and nephews like obstacles and threats for his power.
“I don’t see why we need to help them.” He grounds out, anger flaring around him. Sighing, I move closer to Chase and pull him into my arms, hoping to comfort the now fifteen-year-old.
“It’s because it’s the right thing to do. They are scared for their lives because of Valor and Tanya. If we can help them and grow our pack in the process, then that is a win for Crescent Phoenix.”
“Will you tell me everything that you, mom and Quincy discussed?” Chase pulls away, turning his gaze to me. I can see the determination and resolve in his eyes as he asks me this, his anger receding slightly.
“Are you sure you want to know everything?” I ask, wanting him to just be a regular pup for no with no worries.
“I am sure. I will be the next Alpha one day and need to learn how to handle pack matters eventually.” He confirms with a nod. Sighing, I ruffle his hair once more and line Asteria about this situation. If Chase wants to know more about the decisions we made, then his mother should be the one to talk to him about this. She too hesitates on wanting to tell Chase everything, but in the end agrees that maybe giving Chase some responsibilities will help him learn to control his emotions.
“Lets head to the pack house. Your mom also wants to talk to you about our current predicament.” After a moment of silence with Chase patiently waiting, I finally tell him of our decision to include him this time. He smiles, taking my hand in his and practically drags me away from the construction site and towards the pack house.
“Do you think I will be able to start my Alpha training now?” He asks with a childish tone.
“I am not sure. You should ask your mom when we see her.” I chuckle. Gone is the pissed off, broody teen that came into my house to use my workout equipment. Instead Chase is back to being his happy go lucky self and I am glad. It seems he is starting to grow into his Alpha blood and I can only imagine what great things he will do when he steps up and becomes Alpha of Crescent Phoenix in the future.