Missing Ch. 01-10

Kali, a Filipino-developed martial art, was unique in that it taught the use of weapons before teaching hand-to-hand techniques. It was a versatile and deadly art, using swords, knives, sticks, hands, or whatever else was available to kill quickly, whether facing one or more opponents. The first weapons taught were fighting sticks, two-foot-long pieces of hardwood.

Flashback

When I was with Sean at Fort Bragg, running in the woods as a wolf wasn't happening, but I still needed to train. I asked some of the senior Green Berets on the post about the best martial art for a law enforcement officer. Two of them rose to the top; Brazilian Jujitsu for the grappling techniques and Kali for sticks and knives. "A lot of law enforcement programs are teaching Jujitsu because they are looking for non-lethal options for their officers," a Master Sergeant told me. "It's great for someone like you on drunks and unarmed people. Get the bad guy to the ground, and your size and weight disadvantage won't be as big a deal. You can control the guy until help arrives, even if they don't let you choke the guy out. I'd recommend Kali, though."

"Why?"

"Because sometimes the guy has a knife or a gun, or there is MORE than one guy. Jujitsu will get your ass kicked if he has either one. Cops have nightsticks and long flashlights; you can use those like two sticks. It will teach you how to use a knife, defend against a knife, and disarm someone with a knife."

"And if they have a gun?"

"Then you blow them the fuck away," he said with a shrug. "There's not a martial art out there that teaches you how to dodge a bullet, but Kali is the closest. It's all about movement." He gave me the name of a dojo in Fayetteville that he recommended. "We have guys that teach the basics, but if you want the best, this is the guy."

I did some research before calling Alpha Nathan about getting a training allowance. The Baxter Pack was big on training wolves in both forms, but I couldn't participate while I was a thousand miles away. The Alpha and Luna called in their Betas and Lead Warrior, talking about the options before he made his decision. "I like what I hear about Kali, and nobody here knows that discipline," he told me. "I'll pay for your lessons on one condition."

"What is that, Alpha?"

"You apply yourself and learn as much as you can before you return to the Pack," he said. "Three to four lessons a week. When you and Sean return to the Pack, you will give a demonstration of what you have learned. The Lead Warrior will decide who to send to you to train and for how long."

That was thirteen years ago. When I returned for my law enforcement training, I kept up my skills. The instructors didn't know what to do with me in nightstick training, especially when I picked up two and went to town on the practice targets. "You only get one nightstick, Woods," one instructor said.

"One nightstick, one flashlight," I replied as I beat up the padded posts and tires after hours. None of them could beat me on the mats, so they watched and learned instead. The footwork I learned in Kali helped me avoid attacks and strike back.

When Sean and I moved back permanently, I met with the Pack Leadership in the Alpha's office. The Lead Warrior challenged me to show him what I'd learned in the past three years. "Can I use anything in this office to take you down?"

He agreed, and I told him to get padded up because I didn't want him hurt too severely. He snorted as he walked out, but Luna Adrienne knew something was up by the look in my eyes. The Alpha called the Pack to the grass behind the house to watch the demonstration as I gathered my weapons.

Two Sharpie pens, an umbrella, and a broom formed my arsenal. The Lead Warrior laughed when I set them outside the ring marked in the grass. "Kali is all about using what is around you. Not everyone can carry a gun, but anyone can have or find things like these. If you carry a knife, so much the better."

If there was any doubt, I kicked his ass. I started with the two Sharpies, holding them ice-pick style like short knives. Kali is all about movement, everything beginning with footwork that moves you side-to-side or at forty-five-degree angles. Every time that he lunged forward to attack, I would flow around him and leave a black mark behind where a pen would have penetrated like a knife.

When he'd had enough, he picked up one of our rubber training knives. I countered by beating him up with the umbrella, using my movement to keep out of range. The umbrella repeatedly slashed and stabbed at him until a shot across his wrist knocked the knife away. I retired to the broom while he got a second knife. Unscrewing the broom head, I broke the handle over my knee, leaving me with two sticks two feet long. I held them by the broken ends, not wanting to hurt him too badly.

But I did hurt him. The reach advantage of the sticks combined with the speed of my blows as I beat him black and blue. Every time he tried to close to use his knives, I would flow away from his attack and punish him as I gained back separation. Kali stickfighting is brutal, targeting joints and bones with debilitating blows. Since he was wearing padding, the match took longer, but everyone saw how effective it was.

The Lead Warrior retired when he couldn't continue, and Sean entered the ring with me. He handed me my sticks and took a stance with his own. Sean had done some training, but he wasn't at my level. It was still a good demonstration of what Kali could do.

The Alpha was so impressed that he made Kali training mandatory from ages ten to sixteen. After that, Pack members could branch out into other disciplines.

End Flashback

I remained the Lead Instructor, though Sean and two Betas were good enough now to teach all but the advanced classes. I traveled every other month to Boston to train for a few days with a teacher there. Teaching was a big part of my Pack Warrior duties.

I looked at the group, shaking my head after seeing the flaws in Annabelle's movements. "This is lesson TWELVE, yet some of you are still looking down at your feet. YOUR FEET AREN'T GOING TO HIT YOU. Your enemy is. You have to ingrain those movements in your mind and body through practice. They should flow without conscious thought like BREATHING. Six-point drill, alternating sides, starting on the right, on my count. ONE!" The students moved the right foot forward at the stick angle, then brought the left foot up. "TWO!" They stepped back and left with the left foot, then brought the right foot back to the starting point. In Kali, the legs never cross over each other. Three to the right, five left, seven back right at a 45-degree angle, nine back to the left, ten back to the original spot. The triangle-based movement didn't teach straight forward or back, always looking for an advantage by getting outside their attacking arms and legs.

I slowly upped the pace of the movements, watching for anyone looking down. I kept them going at this for five minutes, then changed to a triangle drill. After going front right, you stepped left across the open top of the triangle, then back left to the starting point. You then went around the triangle the other way. They were breathing hard by the time we finished, but no one was looking down.

The Alpha came in, watching from the back of the room as we added a single stick to the footwork drill. He was behind them, but they all picked up his scent, and the level of effort went up even higher. After each lunge, I had them do overhand cross-strokes (high right to low left), then reverse it (high left to low right) as they stepped back. "How are they doing," the Alpha asked over the link.

"They are working hard," I replied.

"I want to spar with you in front of the class," he told me.

The class would LOVE watching me get beat down by the Alpha, and he knew it. I finished the drill and told them to get their water and sit along the edge. The Alpha and I put on our practice gear; hockey helmets with faceguards, shoulder pads, elbow and knee pads, and pads to cover the groin and kidneys. The rattan sticks would bruise muscles, but taking a shot on an unprotected bone was not fun.

The Alpha had incredible coordination, plus he was taller and twice my weight. He'd taken to Kali quickly, and I'd have to work hard to win. We crossed sticks and bowed, then the fight began. I hit him twice as often as he hit me, but his hits did more damage. It was a good spar, and we were both breathing hard. I dodged his left stick and moved to strike back when he suddenly froze and dropped his sticks. I could feel pain over the Alpha bond. I held back my strike and backed away. "Alpha?"

"Fuck!" He dropped to a knee, holding his left arm with his right. "Feels like a truck is on my chest! Get help!"

Fuck was right. Classic signs of a heart attack. "MEDICAL EMERGENCY, TRAINING FACILITY. MEDICAL EMERGENCY, TRAINING FACILITY, CALL 911," I sent to the entire Pack. I had the Alpha lie down on the mat and directed one of the students to get pads to put under his legs. I was busy grabbing the portable defibrillator from the wall near the door.

Mom linked me that she was on the phone with Emergency Services. "Stay with me, Alpha," I said. It didn't work; his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness. "No pulse, start CPR," I said out loud. Timothy, one of the older students, started CPR. I tore the Alpha's shirt open and started applying the pads to the top right and left side of his chest. I plugged the leads in and powered up the device as more help arrived. The first round of CPR was finishing. "CLEAR," I yelled.

"ANALYZING HEART RHYTHM," the machine said. The room was filling with people as we waited. "SHOCK REQUIRED." I made sure no one was touching him, then hit the button. The machine analyzed for a few seconds and then told us to resume CPR.

Shortly after Doc arrived with a gurney and crash cart, a frantic Luna Adrienne was by his side. Neither one could get Nathan's heart going again.

The entire Pack felt something rip from their soul as their Alpha died. The Luna's scream would haunt me forever.

Ch. 9

Bonnie Wood's POV

I sat in the middle of the training area for hours, alone and crying.

Around me lay discarded protective gear; some was mine, tossed aside as I fought to save the Alpha's life. Some of it had Alpha Nathan's strong scent on it, removed or cut off as our medical people fought to save his life. The AED I'd used was sitting to the side next to my fighting sticks. Pieces of trash from the medical supplies Doc used lay scattered on the mats.

Doc called the death just before the ambulance arrived. Alpha Nathan never got a heartbeat, and our Alpha never regained consciousness. "I'm sorry, everyone. It was a massive heart attack. He never had a chance."

Everyone else followed the Alpha's body out. Luna Adrienne was escorted to her room by the senior Pack females. She was inconsolable, and I heard over the Pack link that Doc had to sedate her.

Sean felt the loss just like every other Pack member. He wanted to be with me, but he was on duty for a twelve-hour shift with four hours left. He linked with me when he could, trying to convince me it wasn't my fault.

I didn't believe him. He died on my sparring mat, and I didn't save him. I couldn't imagine what Luna Adrienne was feeling. Humans have no idea how much mates affect a werewolf. When I found Sean, it was like a missing piece of my soul was suddenly in place. Having that ripped away from you was a soul-crushing loss, and most wolves couldn't handle it. The few that survived were usually pregnant females or had young babies. The child gave their wolf a reason to live.

Adrienne didn't even have that. None of her later heats caught, so her son Anthony was their only child and heir. He was sixteen now, not old enough to take over, and without a mate. If she followed him to the grave, our Pack would be vulnerable to takeover.

Anthony might not have a Pack by the time he was old enough to be the Alpha.

I heard someone at the door; I growled and yelled at them to leave me alone. It didn't work. Doc came into the room, grabbing a folding chair by the door before coming to sit by me. "How are you doing, Bonnie?"

"It's my fault," I said as the tears flowed. "I killed our Alpha."

"And how exactly do you think that happened?"

"We were sparring, and he just STOPPED and grabbed his arm."

"I know. I talked to a few of the people in your class before I came in here." I couldn't even look him in the eyes as he talked to me. "Did you hit him at the back of his head or throat?"

"No. Alpha was too good on defense to land a hit there."

"Did you land a blunt force strike to the sternum?"

"No. I got the left side of the ribs once. Most of my strikes to the chest got blocked by sticks or arms."

He nodded. "That matches what I heard. Even if you had done something like that to stun the heart into atrial fibrillation, the AED would have brought him back. We'll have to wait for the autopsy results, but this wasn't your fault. Blood flow to his heart was interrupted while he was exerting himself. It could have happened anytime."

I shook my head. "It happened on MY mat."

"That was the best case. You had people here to do CPR right away, you had an AED available, and I was here within minutes. Would it have been better if it happened on a Pack run? Or while he was driving his car or traveling?"

I thought about it for a minute. "No."

"If all of us couldn't save him with the equipment and reaction time we had, there was no way to save him. He could have collapsed in front of the hospital, and he'd be just as dead. So if you didn't cause it, and you couldn't save him, exactly HOW is this your fault?"

I couldn't answer that, but it didn't stop the tears.

"Come on, Bonnie. The Beta wants to talk to you."

I looked up at him through my red, watery eyes. "And he sent you to fetch me?"

"He figured we needed to talk first. Come on." He stood up and offered his hand. I heard my knees and hips pop as he pulled me up, and I let out a groan as my legs stretched out again. Life as a Deputy Sheriff and Combat Instructor was tough on the body. We may shift, but we didn't have the magical healing powers that fictional stories attributed to our kind. I was only thirty-six, but my body had a lot of hard miles on it already.

Beta Daniel Rabb and his mate Melody were in his office with the junior Betas and their mates when I arrived. "Ah, Bonnie, come in," Daniel said as he motioned to the couch. Daniel was a barrel-chested man with a long beard, looking every part like a lumberjack with his red-and-black checkered shirt. Melody was a big-boned brunette with a glare that could freeze water at twenty feet. The pair had been Lead Betas for the past twenty years.

Catherine shifted over to Head Warrior Jeff Hawkenson's lap, making room on the couch for me to sit down. I could scent the grief and the worry everyone had. "Talk to me after this? Please?"

Catherine was a good friend, and I nodded as Beta Daniel started to talk. "I know everyone feels like crap right now, but our Pack needs us to hold things together. Luna Adrienne is resting, and Anthony is staying with her. I'm taking over the day-to-day operation of the Pack until we have an Alpha again." Left unsaid was that we didn't know who that would be. "I've notified our allies and the Northeast Regional Chairman of Alpha Nathaniel's death. We have a lot to do." He made assignments to organize the funeral, including lodging for out-of-town guests and a Pack run. "The Full Moon is in six days, so that will be the day we send him home."

"Meanwhile, we need to make sure there is only one coffin going into the ground," Melody said. "Bonnie and Catherine, you two will guard the Luna until further notice. One of you is to be with her around the clock, no exceptions."

"Is she in danger, Madam Beta?"

Daniel nodded. "We are placing a guard on Anthony as well. If someone wanted to take over our Pack, the fastest way would be to kill the Luna and her heir. I don't expect it, but it has happened before."

"We are more worried about her killing herself," Melody said. "She will accept a guard because that protects her son. We will do everything we can to help her through this, but we have to protect her from herself, too."

"And my work?"

"Tomorrow, you'll call in sick. Your cover story is that you sprained the MCL on your left knee in a sparring accident and will be unable to work for three weeks," Daniel said. "Doc will give you the details and a note for when you return to work. Luckily for you, no surgery, but you will be on crutches for two weeks. You're staying with Sean's parents up here, so there is someone around to help you."

That meant I'd have to stay on Pack lands the whole time, but I had an excuse. "How close a guard are we talking?"

"If the Luna goes to the bathroom, you're handing her the toilet paper," Daniel said. "She's never more than ten feet away from you and NEVER alone. Make sure her bedroom gets swept for weapons, knives, anything she could use to kill herself." I nodded. "Jeff, I want other warriors detailed to protect the Luna and Heir, but they can be outside the private rooms. At least two at all times, more when we have guests on our territory."

"Understood, Beta," Jeff replied. He'd be using every trained warrior and tracker in the Pack to keep us safe while the guests were here.

"Bonnie and Catherine, you two are dismissed. You can work out a schedule on your own."

"Yes, Betas," I replied as I stood up and walked out with my friend. We headed to her room as we talked logistics. It was already seven-thirty at night. "You may as well take the evening. I'll get some food at Mom's house and catch a nap."

"Come relieve me at midnight," Catherine said as she pulled on a shoulder harness for her Ed Brown Custom 1911 pistol and three extra magazines. A backup revolver went on her ankle, and she strapped a throwing knife to her left forearm and another to her left calf. She was every bit the warrior her mate was, a dead shot with the pistol her husband got her for their tenth mating anniversary.

I walked back to the Luna quarters with her, and she made sure I wasn't blaming myself for what happened. It was easier after my talk with Doc, but the guilt wouldn't just disappear. I looked into her room; Adrienne had shifted into her red wolf, with Anthony's large black wolf curled around her. Doc was sitting in a chair by the bed. "The nap won't change her grief. It's best to let her get it out. If she's hurting herself, give her this and then call me; it will knock her out for a few hours," he said as he handed over an autoinjector.

Catherine set it on the dresser. "See you at midnight," she linked as she found a chair in the corner to sit.

I didn't get much sleep before Sean got home. I made a thermos full of coffee and headed to the Lunas quarters for the night shift. Luna Adrienne was sleeping when I arrived, but it didn't last long. Just after one, she started to wake up. I could sense when the events of the previous day hit her; she was looking for her mate, and then she froze before starting to shake. In wolf form, you cannot cry, but the entire Pack felt her pain and loss at that moment. She moved away from Anthony and started pawing at the balcony door. "LET ME OUT!"

"Warriors, take guarding positions; the Luna is going for a run," I sent to the escorts as I stripped off my shoulder rig and my clothes. I got confirmation and opened the door before she could crash through it. She ran down the stairs with Anthony on her tail, turning into the woods at full speed with the warriors taking positions around her. I finished stuffing clothes, weapons, and the syringe into my "Wolfypac," a larger version of a fanny pack used to carry things in wolf form. Closing the door behind me, I put the strap behind my neck and shifted into my red wolf.