I chuckled as I meet his mischievous hazel eyes. He let out a throaty bark which I passed off as his own laugh as he turned slightly and lowered himself down to his stomach. "On you get." His voice echoed through my mind. "I thought I was training." Turning I noted that Reynolds was stood close behind me, still in his human form with the bow and arrows in his hand. "You are." Ryder says, my attention moving back to him. "I know you've been practicing shooting moving targets but to actually fight you need to be able to shoot moving targets while you're moving yourself." My chest tightened as I realised what his words meant. Letting out a deep sigh I take Reynolds hand as I throw my leg over Ryder's back. Locking my hands into the scruff of his neck, he stands and stretches himself out. The electric shocks that passed through us whenever we touched were always stronger when he was shifted into his wolf. They felt intense now as I slid myself forward to let my legs fall over the front of his shoulders and get a better a grip for when he started to move. Suddenly it became very apparent in my head that we hadn't mated in over three days. I knew that Ryder was feeling the sexual tension as much as I was at the moment. My hands tightened around his fur when he growled at Reynolds for standing to close. I couldn't tell if my grip was to calm him or because I had felt possessive over my mate as well. Reynolds backed away, with his hands raised in surrender. I noticed that he was removing his clothes to shift as well but I didn't have time to see anything before Ryder turned so I was facing a different direction. With a shake of his big head he finally seemed to calm as he trotted closer to the targets and my other guards who were already play fighting. "If you were to actually fight in a battle you would be secured to Reynolds back. All you would have to do is aim and shoot while he kept you at a safe distance." Ryder spoke into my mind again. He was still pacing around, the thumping sound of his heavy paws falling against the earth leaving my body to relax. He had spent the last three days in the room with me, refusing to leave my side. His wolf was happy to be out and get the stretch it needed. "Not that you'll be anywhere near a fight if it comes to it." He added as an afterthought. Ryder's words shattered the calm demeanour that had come over my body. Letting out a deep sigh, I tighten my hands into his fur and lock my legs further around the thick muscles, even though I was already steady enough to be able to shoot. "They're my wolves as well Ryder. I want to protect them. It's my job." My voice was soft as I leant forward to press my cheek to the soft fur near his ear. This time Ryder reacted to my words with shock. He stopped walking and turned his head further into my touch. He knew I was right and he couldn't argue with it. If he did, he was contradicting why he ever marked me in the first place. I was created to do this job, him marking me, awoke the instinct inside me to always protect other wolves. When I heard Ryder's voice again it was so soft I barely heard it. "It's my job to protect you and our pups whether you're carrying them or not. The same as all wolves." It was an argument that never ended. Both of us had an instinct to protect others and we could lose our lives doing it. We also had another instinct that we didn't want either to get hurt at all. None of that would ever change. We just had to live with the conflict. Pressing a quick kiss to the bare patch above his ear I pull back, ending the discussion. I wanted to train. Ryder had made a full circle back to the end of the field and now stood facing all five wolf forms of my guards. His shoulders rolled, the muscles flexing all thought his large body as he prepared himself. He wasn't going to get me in close to the fighting wolves but he was still going to get me close enough that it would be easy enough to still be able to get my aim accurate. I watched my guards start to do their own form of training as they went at each other, trying very hard to land a bite in on each other. They never hurt the other more than a cut and some missing chunks of fur that would quickly heal back over. Their moves were precise, feet steady as they calculated their own next move as well as their opponents. Claws and teeth gleamed as the sun beat down open us, highlighting the sharpness of them and showing how much damage they could do if they made contact to your skin. I hadn't seen many other wolves fight other than the senior warriors of Ryder's army but I still knew that my guards and their strength were not to be messed with. Ryder had been lingering at the end of the field waiting to run into the practiced chaos. I couldn't see it, but I felt his emotions as his eyes flicked from side to side to see that I was still safely secured to him if he were to suddenly dart into the carnage. A quick nod of Ryder's head was the only acknowledgement I received before his claws dug into the dirt and propelled us forward. "I'm going around the back of Cyrus and Reynolds. I'll slow down slightly and you take your aim." My hand releasing his scruff was the answer he needed to say that I had heard him. I already had my bow in hand and while I tightened my legs further around his neck, I reached back into my satchel to take an arrow. My movements were fast as I bought it forward stringing it up and pulling it back. Ryder slowed when my eyes looked down the arrow looking for my target. Quickly I took note of the direction of the wind and the speed and direction Ryder was taking me, calculating what direction it would be pulled in before I readjusted my aim and released the string.