Grezig had taken to patrolling basically anytime she wasn’t eating or sleeping or conversing with members of the pack. The constant movement helped keep her in shape and also helped to define the borders. The plateau was theirs and no one would take it from them. Besides, she was a beta, and weren’t betas supposed to take on extra responsibilities?

On her way farther inland, she found Kavik drinking from the stream that wound its way through the center of the territory. “Hail,” she called out, coming closer to her alpha. She did not plan on saying anymore, but feeling awkward about her sudden silence, she decided to ask, “How have you been?”

“I have been fine,” Grezig told Kavik. “I have spent most of my time patrolling.” She glanced around at the forest, and then she remembered something from back when they’d been on the mountain. “We sparred a few weeks ago,” she reminded her alpha. “I stupidly injured myself, but I asked you for a rematch. I think, now that we have settled down, we should do that. Do you agree?” She had a sparkle in her hazel brown eyes and she could not help the once-over that she gave him, challenging him to come at her. She would not hurt herself this time. She had learned.

Kavik agreed that he and Grezig should do the rematch and Grezig studied him as he seemed to ready himself. However, he almost immediately lunged for her, going for her left side. She shifted stances and just as she did, he switched on her and grabbed her right shoulder in his jaws. She chided herself in her mind. A feint! She should have seen that coming! Well, there was nothing she could do about it now, since he already a hold on her. With little other options, she pushed hard against him, shoving the shoulder that was in his mouth up into his jaws even harder and kept pushing until she was moving him backwards. Her hope was that he would either let go of her or even stumble and lose his footing.

Grezig quickly stepped back once Kavik let go of her shoulder and watched him stumble as he attempted to advance on her again. She felt his fangs barely graze her shoulder. Then he found his footing and faced her properly again. She barely gave him time to get his paws solidly on the ground again before suddenly lunging for one of his legs, attempting to grip it in her jaws and pull—the move he had pulled on her the last time that had caused her to somehow hurt herself. Unfortunately, her grip was not very strong and it didn’t do as much as she hoped it would.

Kavik managed to pull away from her, and she felt a light grazing on her neck, but then he was backing up. She allowed him the chance to get away and face her properly again. She took a breath, glanced at him, into his face, and then lunged! This time, she went for the side of his neck, chomping down (though not breaking the skin) and attempting to shake hard, like a dog attacking its chew toy.

Kavik tore free from her grip after a few seconds, and before Grezig could react and reposition herself, he had jumped onto her back! She grimaced and waited for him to come crashing down on top of her, pinning her to the ground like Corvus had, but instead he was… Um. Well.

She had never been mounted before but her instincts told her that this is what it would probably feel like. He had a grip on the back of her neck and his body lay across her back. His balance seemed precarious and due to that, her own balance wasn’t great either. What the fuck are you doing? she yelled in her mind, though the rational part of her brain (so, most of it) was telling her that he had not meant this fight to end in a fuck session. This had probably happened by accident. A flash of Liri’s face appeared in her mind and she quickly shook whatever thoughts she might be having out of her mind. Besides, she only ever planned on fucking for babies, so this position really didn’t do much for her.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough strength to push the one-hundred-and-seventy-pound wolf off of her--though she tried--and found her legs crumpling beneath her. She landed heavily with an “Oof!” and Kavik came down with her, his stomach crushing her back.

Kavik’s weight did not lessen, and he didn’t seem to have any intention of moving. Grezig growled. This was not over yet. She strained her muscles, trying to push him off of her, but that didn’t work. She couldn’t even really get her legs under her properly, so trying to stand up and push him off would be literally impossible. She grunted in frustration, just about ready to give up if only so he would get off and give her air. But then she vaguely remembered a move she had performed when Corvus had been on top of her. Hadn’t she rolled over at some point? She did remember crushing his face under her shoulder or something like that. With a sly grin—one Kavik could not see from his position—she quickly and awkwardly flop-rolled onto her side. He was fucking heavy and wasn’t moving very easily, but he was moving. 

When she had finished rolling, her body was now slightly on top of his, though she was upside down, so her back pressed into his side/stomach. She was panting heavily and was hoping he would give in because in this weird position she wasn’t sure what either of them could really do at this point.

Kavik pulled his muzzle out from under her body and Grezig quickly rolled onto her paws in anticipation of a new attack. But Kavik had other plans. ’Okay, you win,’ he said, panting. ’Good job.’

She relaxed her stance, allowing herself to feel tired for the first time since they had begun the spar. “Thank you,” she said, bowing her head for a moment. “You did well, also.” Her eyes gleamed with pride but also joy. She had forgotten since her spar with Corvus how much fun this could be. She hoped she never had to use these skills for anything serious, but sparring was good practice no matter what, and it helped to release pent-up energy. 

“I thought I would lose there for a moment,” she admitted. “When you had me pinned like that.”

“Thank you,” Grezig said, offering Kavik a tiny smile before it vanished from her face as though it had never been there. She took deep breaths to steady her breathing, allowing the adrenaline to flow out of her body slowly. A thought came to her mind, then. “Forgive me,” she began awkwardly, not wanting this to come off as some kind of insult. “Can Liri fight? Does she know how? Rather, did she know how before... her accident?” Grezig forced air from her lungs, a harsh sigh. She hated feeling uncomfortable like this. “What I am trying to ask is if it would be prudent to spar with her, as well, or if she already knows how to compensate for her injury.” She glanced at Kavik, held his gaze to show she was not afraid to ask this question, and then looked away again.

Grezig listened in silence as Kavik spoke of his mate. She was glad he had not taken her questions the wrong way. When he was done, she nodded, saying, “Thank you. Perhaps I will ask her to spar with me, one day. Eventually I would like to have everyone in the pack spar with me at least once, to assess their skills.” It was an ambitious goal, but it gave her something to do when she wasn’t patrolling or hunting. She stood up, then, bowing slightly to the Alpha. “I am tired now. I will go rest for a while.” She turned and left.

[Exit.]