Alpha Nocturne's Contracted Mate

390 Happy Now?

By the time Ann arrived back at the palace grounds, the change was already noticeable.

Where runners once carried petitions and crates of supplies, the grounds were now filled with weapons and voices rough from command drills. The clang of weapons hitting shields mixed with wolves howling in cadence with chants that beat time for sparring pairs. Even the flagstones echoed the vibrations of the rhythm of marching boots.

Adam had thrown the switch on the war machine, and nothing was stopping it now it had started.

Ann walked the length of the outer yard with Coral at her side, passing three lines of recruits locked in formation. Commanders barked orders, drilling them to close gaps, shift ranks, and hold. Spears clattered in unison. Shields locked. The sound was relentless.

"Feels like even the air is joining in with the drills," Coral muttered.

"That's the point." Ann grinned, "I want anyone watching, from within the palace or from outside, to see that we are prepared, and we are united, despite our differences, against the Lycan King and Ely."

On the high platform, Adam stood with his captains and his voice carried effortlessly over the noise.

"Again. Faster. When they break, you close. When they falter, you drive. No stepping back unless I order it and if you find yourself pressed hard, shift and let your wolf do what it needs to do."

He had blood still on his sleeve from the last border fight. He hadn't even had time to change before heading back to take command of the drills here. The warriors watched him with steady focus and a respect that made Ann proud..

Ann stopped walking and looked over the sea of bodies pushing themselves past exhaustion. It should have reassured her, but the longer she stood there the heavier the sound grew. She was Alpha Queen, yet among the clash and roar she felt outside the circle. Her work didn't leave marks on the stone or sweat on the training spears.

"Poor Queenie. Everyone else gets swords and you get paper and pissy nobles," Maeve snickered, "They aren't chanting your name when they swing."

"Listen little miss sarcasm, it's my work that keeps them all from swinging at each other instead of Ely," Ann answered.

"You can keep telling yourself that," Maeve said. "Soon you won't have a choice, you'll be in the middle of it whether Adam likes it or not."

Ann didn't answer. She kept her eyes on Adam. His hand cut through the air, sending captains moving with fresh instructions. The formation shifted neatly and the satisfied smile on his face told her that his war machine was working exactly the way he wanted.

She took the inner steps down to the yard level. The closer lines were a mix of Dark Moon wolves, allied packs, and Lycan refugees in assigned squads. The Ethereum women drilled shield pivots with tight discipline . The Black Crag sent a unit through spear thrusts without a single wasted movement. Gold Oaks runners worked the flanks in timed bursts. The Lycan squads trained under a Dark Moon sergeant with a Lycan officer as second. They moved efficiently, with no posturing and no stray growls. The restraint had cost them, but it held.

A shove broke the rhythm two ranks over. A wolf from Ironwood clipped a Lycan's shoulder on the pass and let a smirk slip. The Lycan went still instead of lunging. The sergeant's whistle cut through the row. He had both of them step out and run the drill in front of the line until they moved flawlessly. There was no yelling, no speech that drew attention, just the efficient enforcement of the rules they had all agreed to abide by.

Ann let it play out without stepping in. She wanted to see if the commanders would hold to the code they'd sworn to uphold. They did.

One of the Dark Moon Captain's spotted her first. He was built like a battering ram, and had a voice that carried without strain. He jogged over with sweat on his brow and a grin that said he'd been breaking recruits since dawn.

"Your Majesty," He greeted her, "You'll like the creek-bed unit. They've taken well to the angles you gave us."

"Show me," Ann said.

He led her past two mess tables turned into map stands and stopped at a chalked outline of the ridge and quarry. A line of markers showed Vanguard teams stacked at intervals.

"Archers here and here," He said, tapping positions that matched her plan. "Shields ready to swing over the narrow cut. The Highwind carriers ran the route twice and still had breath left to bicker with each other. They'll carry the portable plates that Eva's crew finished."

"Good," Ann said. "What about your runners? Any grumbling about pairing with Lycan officers."

He scratched his jaw.

"Grumbling isn't really a problem. Stupidity is. I heard one joke about tails and I put the joker on latrine duty and gave his knife to the Lycan he insulted. We haven't had another joke."

"Excellent, let's keep it that way," Ann said.

He tipped his head toward the platform.

"If you want the truth. They watch him and forget everything else. They'll run through a wall for Adam, he just needs to ask it of them."

"I know," Ann said.

Another captain cut across the yard toward her, one who led the shield wall units. He was leaner than the Dark Moon Commander, with a voice that stayed low and he carried a stack of folders under one arm.

"Reports," He said with a grimace, handing them over to Coral, "The shield edges still chip with the new ward pattern. We'll need a second run at the smithy or we'll end up losing a row mid-fight."

"Logged it already," Coral said, tapping the tablet and readjusting the folders to fit under her arm. "I'll push it to the blacksmith with a note that says please and a second note that says now. It would be a whole lot easier if we had the use of the factories in the cities you know," she grumbled.

The Shield Commander nodded, then flicked a quick glance toward the Lycan squads.

"They hold formation well. Some of ours still twitch when the line closes and they have to stand closer to them, but the worst of it burns off once they've sweated a bit beside them. Once they're fighting at their side in real combat, they won't give a shit about anything other than who's trying to kill them and who isn't."

Ann stepped close enough to him that he couldn't pretend to misunderstand her tone. "If you see officers letting the twitch turn into sabotage, you tell me. Not Adam. Me. I'll fix it."

He didn't blink.

"Understood."

The Dark Moon Captains grin widened, then eased when Adam came down off the platform. He crossed to Ann without breaking stride.

"Status," he asked her.

"Still Queen," she smirked as he laughed, and some off the tension seemed to ease from his shoulders, "Supplies are steady," Ann said, matching his smile. "The Nobles have been squeezed until they squeaked, Ward teams are working on the plates, Scouts are in the process of rotating and the quarry plan is moving. We evacuate the two farms at dusk."

"I want extra guards on the hamlet tracks. I don't want any open fights on a road full of children." Adam grunted, "Last I read those farms had taken some of the older orphans in on vocation training. It's shitty luck that Ely chose to build his first proper assault squad right next door to them."

"You'll have your guards," Ann said.

He eyed her for a moment and then his eyes narrowed.

"You haven't eaten."

Coral lifted a wrapped roll from nowhere and shoved it into Ann's hand like she'd been waiting for the line. Ann rolled her eyes, took a bite and glowered furiously at him.

"Happy now?" Ann said, with her mouth full.