After the meeting with the pack, a couple things came into focus for the Alpha. First, in the pack there were a lot of worthy wolves. Second, he cared for Nyx. Third, Katyusha was an interestingness fae. In her short while with them, she had already healed and surpassed all expectations he had of her. Perhaps his words were harsh, that she would be of use. As he thought of it, it made him proud that he would be having a litter with her. If he did choose Nyx as his mate and also took Katyusha as a female to produce with, then he would be able to see which pups would be stronger. He would also be able to span more of his blood in the lines of his pack. Walking from the pack lands, he made his way through the pile of bones and picked a larger one from the crowd. Taking it in his maw, he moved to lie to the side of the pile, gnawing on it gently as he passed the time away. He breathed slowly, pondering the issues of life and matters of the pack.

Carefully a small fae made her way through the yard of bones, digging and rummaging carefully through the piles to find a certain size of bone. In her down time away from her training with Chiara, Katyusha had spent a large amount of time building a home in the pack land. She had begun by finding a small indent in the side of a pile of rocks, and with a lot of work, the fae moved rock and dirt to extend the opening slightly, leaving a large U cut out of the top where she pushed a small section of tree to make any entering crawl in through the slightly larger U dug into the floor. This left any intruders at her mercy, but also trapped heat in the den, and made it impossible to look in from the outside. Now the fae was looking for smaller, hollow bones to hang from the ceiling of her den, that way each time someone entered they would hit the bones, causing a rattle and alerting her.

As the fae pushed her way through the landscape, a large black mass would catch her eye and a smile to her lips, knowing it could only be one wolf, and relishing in the opportunity she had been given. Carefully Katyusha would move to her alpha, clearing the distance fairly quickly "Greetings Alpha. I'm not interupting you, am I?" she softly as she took a spot several feet in front of him, wanting to ensure she didn't startle or upset him.

"No, Katyusha, you are not." He spoke as he turned his head to look at her. Quickly he closed the gap between them. His eyes ran over her body, while his nose smelled for her scent. Winter was soon approaching and a wicked smile came to his features. But she would not see it. As he neared her face once more, he looked to her eyes. "I see you are looking well, how has your training been thus far?" As he looked over her, he could feel the heat emanating from her form. She was a smaller wolf, much smaller than him. But she had a rage and fury that he had yet to see, but for some reason, he knew she would do him well. Moving closer to her, he lapsed his tongue against her ear in a silent greeting. He was pleased to see her, alone, just he and her, but he would not tell her of such things. She had a lot to offer him. He knew it and she would surely prove it to him. "I would love to see all that you have learned from Chiara or whoever has so blessed you with the chance to train. Perhaps you would not mind showing me some of your moves. Are you willing to spar with your Alpha? I can assure you, I will not play nicely, and you will more than likely lose. But I think the best way for me to see what you have acquired, would be to see it for my own eyes."

The small female would give her alpha a sly smile as he moved closer, ears perking to hear his every word as she moved closer to him, another devious smile coming to her lips "You have my word my alpha I will come to you the minute I am ready." she said, her voice mixed with anticipation excitement and obviously her nerves since she had no idea what to expect from the experience, but if his words were any indication it would be rather painful. Even through this pain Katyusha believed she would find a way to enjoy it, even if it was just because she was with him.

As the large black wolf moved around her the small fae would feel her heart begin to race, eyes moving to meet his as he spoke, a quick nod snapping the fae back to him as his words registered in her mind "Thank you alpha, I am beginning to regain a lot of the strength I lost in my travels." she admitted, nodding again to his question "Yes alpha, better than I could have hoped. Thank you." she spoke. When the alpha moved close again the smaller wolf would feel the warmth of his large form, causing a flutter in her chest again, which was only excelled by the gentle lick to her ear. Almost instinctively the fae would push her head gently under his neck to nuzzle against him happily taking in his scent for the short moment; which only ended if he pulled away, or when he spoke again.

Quietly the light colored fae would step back to look him in the eyes as he spoke, showing him the respect and admiration she knew he deserved. With his proposition a small grin would creep over her muzzle "It was Chiara for some time my alpha, but I fear in light of recent events our training will be on hold for some time." she explained, nodding firmly at the next question "I would be honored to spar with you sir, and I would expect no less than brutality from you sir." she said, another little grin coming to her lips "We could always make it more interesting sir...a wager perhaps?" she asked with an almost wry smile, knowing the chances of her winning were nearly non-existent and it was her duty to serve him in any way he desired anyway, so really there wasn't much she could lose but giving him the idea. "And I do agree sir, the best way to demonstrate my improvement is with your own skill in comparison."

As he had given the lick to her ear, she responded wonderfully to his advances. Though it was a small advance, he felt comfort in knowing that she enjoyed his company. She enjoyed him. He could not be more pleased in these and from what she had told him, she had been training hard. Chiara had been aiding her. What the perfect pair, which could only be bettered by the works of the Beta herself. "I can admit that you look better than when I first saw you, which is saying a lot, since I do not give compliments out easily. Then again, you looked horrendous when I first laid my eyes on you." But when she spoke of their training being on hold, Steele grew even more curious of what she was speaking about. "What changes have forced her to no longer train with you?" A slight twang of anger rang through his voice, not towards her, but the situation. He was worried that she will not become the skilled wolf he was looking for her to be. But soon her words pulled the conversation back to the way she wanted it. She wanted a wager. A wicked smirk traced the corner of his lip. His silver stare stuck to her eyes, challenging them as he spoke softly to her. His tail curled above his spine, and he spoke quietly, "what type of wager did you have in mind?"

A soft burn came to her cheeks as she felt his warm fur pressed against hers with the nuzzle, the only thing holding the fae back was that she feared such advances were not welcomed by her alpha and she couldn't risk pushing him away. As her alpha expressed his approval of her improvements Katyusha would let a rather proud smile come to her lips, although quickly pushing it down in an attempt to hide her joy "Thank you alpha, I simply desire to be the best I can possibly be for the pack and most importantly you. I would rather die than fail to satisfy you sir." she spoke, her expression changing to one of worry as his tone changed "She hasn't spoken of anything yet, and I am uncertain if it will even happen, but she has been very busy as of late with her duties and a brute she has taken an interest in. But I'm sure if she is unable to Irrationality or Nyx would be willing to help."

As the fae guided the conversation back to their spar a grin would come to her lips "Well sir if I win, you must take me as your apprentice and train me as you did Nyx....and what do you desire if you win my alpha?" she asked with her held smirk, knowing it would be interesting.

Taking yet another apprentice? Steele mulled over the idea in his head, looking to the hunter before him. The only wolf he had taken as an apprentice was Nyx. She had taken to his learning quick, but he was harsh on her. He would punish her for messing up, he would never give her praise, only making her work even harder to hear a simple "good". Steele was distant, but close with Nyx. Though he told no others of it, he cared for her, a great deal. Perhaps that was why she wished to be his apprentice? She wished to be closer to the Alpha than she was. What a strange concept. Steele had thought that she only wished to be with him for the sole fact of not loosing her life. She crossed his lands without permission, any other wolf would have been slaughtered. At first, Steele regretted his decision, but seeing how much she had actually grown and changed, was enough to keep the Alpha satisfied with his decision.

"To be my apprentice is not an easy task. Do you ever wonder why Nyx acts the way she does? It is because of me. In the time before I took her as an apprentice, she was soft and mushy like mud beneath your paws. She allowed any wolf to walk over her, to allow them things she never wished to do. When I accepted her as my apprentice, she was afraid, and I beat her senselessly. There were days she bled so much I was unsure if she would survive. If you are my apprentice, my kind nature towards you will vanish immediately. You will never hear a kind word from my lips. It will be hard, there will be days you will want to give up, begging me to take your life. But I will not kill you. I will make you suffer more. The more you whine, the more it will hurt. The more you whimper, you will suffer. If you waste my time, I shall waste yours. Are you sure these are things you wish to go through?" Steele stared at her, a serious look plastered to his face. His eyes stared over her, taking the smirk in sight. Did she think it would be easy? "If I win..." he said with a pause as he thought of the worst thing possible. "If and when I win, you shall be demoted to Omega. You alone will be tasked to hunt for the pack. You will be attacked by all wolves of any rank or gender. Your life will be miserable, but I will still require you to come to me during the mating season."

Katyusha waited for him to think over her offer, keeping a slight smirk as his words came to her ears, a few firm nods a silent answer as he continued to speak. While it was true the fae was dying to get closer to him, she was also sick of being walked all over by every member of the pack. She knew there was only one way to become the best she could be, and that was to learn from the best wolf in existance, to train under him would be the biggest honor she could ever hope for, even if she died trying.

"I understand that sir. And that is exactly what I desire...I'm tired of being looked down on because I am not built like the wolves of this land. I'm tired of everyone seeing me as only a piece of meat for you to dump your seed in and nothing more, and I'm tired of only being able to serve you by hunting...I have been training hard to better myself to serve you sir, and the best way to achieve my goal would be to allow you to form me. To craft me into what you want, which is exactly what I want. I don't care about the pain...If I am weak I want to hurt until I am stronger, and if I die, I wasn't strong enough to be graced with such training. So yes I know I will want to die some days...to stop. But I know this is one of the things I want most in life." she spoke, voice bold and words well thought out, showing him she had put a lot of thought into this.

As her alpha began to speak again the faes smile would leave her, heart sinking into her chest as his words sank in. This demotion would crush everything she had been working for. She would lose any respect others had, her training would stop immediately, and she would worst of all lose any chance she had begun to make for herself to be with the alpha. She would actually become nothing more than a sex toy for him. A fate worse than death. This made her choices very simple, she either had to win this spar, or die trying . Unable to give up so long as she could breath, it was the only option now. "If that is what you wish alpha, I suppose I must accept the conditions..." she said noticeably pained by it, but a deal was a deal, and she refused to show weakness by backing out now.

He listened to her reply to his conditions, the truth of how brutal his training would be, and still she wanted it. She wanted him, even. Steele grew increasingly interested in her, it was so strange for a fae to be this willing to witness the intense training only one other had gone through before. With Nyx, Steele did not tell her how tough it would be, he just acted the only way he knew how. He cared for Nyx in the same manner he did for Esmeralda. Only, he felt a special closeness to Nyx. She was special, young and naive when he discovered her. Easy to be molded and crafted in the image he wished for. The perfect mate. And it was in this action that Nyx became more of an option for the Alpha, but he had already given his heart to another, Esmeralda. Steele stared to the fae before him, wondering just how far she would go, how hard she would fight him. she cared for him a great deal, for whatever reason, but he was unsure of her answer. Her reason why. But he knew she wanted to please him. She wanted to make him proud, happy, and possibly even stronger feelings were wished to form out of the clouds. "Then let us dally no longer. I am going to step back, giving you the first strike." Moving himself from her, he headed away from her. When he was a far enough distance, he turned around to stare at her. Standing at his full height, he looked to her body, watching her stance change before him. "When you are ready.. Remember, I will not go easy on you."

Katyusha watched him as he thought, hoping by some miracle she would be honored to feel his wrath, endure his brutality, and taste the blood she would shed in his training only to crawl from the ashes a stronger wolf. She wanted nothing more than to be molded by her beloved alpha into what he desired and what he could use to better the pack. But above all else she hoped to be crafted into something he would want. She had the drive, the ambition to be better than she ever dreamed possible, and she would stop at nothing but her own death to achieve such a goal. However it all came down to this fight. If she somehow won, she would endure months of brutality at his will, and possibly lose her life. But losing was a fate far worse than death.

When her alpha spoke again Katyusha would nod, getting an almost devious smirk as she planned her attack, moving to the edge of clearing they occupied "Ladies first? What a gentleman." she said with a smile, doing her best to act confident in the face of almost certain death. Her father had always told her if one goes into a fight expecting to die, they shall live. And if they enter a fight wanting to live, they shall die.

Carefully the fae kept her stance narrow, not broadening out like most would to start a fight, eyes scanning over their surroundings carefully "I would hope not sir." she responded, slightly delayed. And with that the fae would begin her assault. With no warning she would dart at him, playing her speed and agility to close the gap between them much fast than seemed possible, head low as it appeared she would attack from head on. Once she was in striking range however she would lunge off to the right side, intentionally allowing any attack he made to narrowly miss her as paws shifted to catch on the ground, using only her left to catch her and swing her body to face him again. Quickly the fae would catch herself lifting her front paw as her rear dug into the dirt and launched her forward again, fangs aimed for his flank with an escape route already in mind, knowing the only way she could win this fight was with small intense attacks that would exhaust her much larger foe.

He watched her, coming head on, but at the last moment, she dashed away from him. A wicked smile appeared on his lips, as he shifted his weight to watch her head on once more. She came at him once more. This time he would make an attack towards her. He snarled and bared his massive fangs, rolling his lips back to reveal the jagged edges which had brought enough pain and suffer in his time, even death. Lifting his tail to assert himself over her, he moved to attack her, heading for her back. If he made contact, he would surely pin her to the floor, but if he missed, he would move his body to a way that caused him another vantage against her. But he knew he could only move so quickly, while she held all kinds of speed beneath her tiny paws. He waited like the vigilant hunter, wanting nothing more than to force himself over her. He moved slowly for now, not showing the female the small amount of speed he was capable of. If anything Steele could sprint for a short while, though his body would be his greatest adversary in such a light. The male did not think of his size as a handicap, more of a gift. He would continue to feel this way for the rest of his days. He had trained himself long enough to know his greatest potential still awaited him.

Quickly the fae made her move, eyes going wide as she watched him turn with anticipation of the attack, jagged fangs snapping forth to end her little game. Quickly the fae reacted, slamming her left paw down to veer off as much as she could before lunging forth, too committed to the attack and the built speed to disengage now. The lesson was quickly learned though, as her alpha's fangs sank into her flesh, her dodge being enough to avoid a pin at the cost of several long gashes down her back. However the sacrifice had not been in vain, her own fangs finding their mark for just a moment before his brutal rebuttal knocked her free, leaving several small cuts across his flank. To him it would probably be no more than a minor inconvenience, but it was enough to draw blood and to Kat that was a victory.

However this victory would be short lived. With the power of his counter attack the small fae would be slammed to the ground roughly; her last second dodge giving enough room that she would hit the dirt hard several feet from him, form bouncing with a light yelp as she struggled to get her paws under her. Quickly she would roll onto her stomach and dart up, eyes fixed on him to dodge any attack he launched, knowing that now it would surely end the fight in her compromised position.

Pain, tingling at first, soon subsided to the rear of his mind. The Alpha could smell the fresh blood, and he knew it was coming from him. She had been quick to take what she wanted, to strike him. The pain was something, he could not quite think on it. He liked it, in a sick and twisted way. Perhaps he had been living for such a long time, he had not felt what it was to be alive, to bleed. Steele moved his head to catch her just in time and throw her to the ground. Though she slid farther than he had expected, he took a few seconds to examine his wound. The streaks cut through his side, allowing blood to trickle down his coat. His eyes jerked back to her, snarling as he made his way closer to her. In that time she had a chance to get up, but he suspected the shock from his might forced her to stay where she laid. Applying the weight to his hind quarters, he pounced forward, latching his jaws around her neck. He pressed hard, asserting himself over her, but instead of ending it right then and there, pinning her tight to the floor, he tossed her from her position yet again. This time as she fell, the bones hit with a crash and lifted themselves off the ground. He watched them fly and land around her body. he stood there, breathing heavily as he watched her. It was not over yet. He knew she had more in her, and he would not quit until she would surrender due to body failure. "Get up, do not be pathetic.."

Katyusha watched him carefully once back on her paws, flinching just slightly from the sharp pain down her back as she felt the warm blood trickling down her back quickly although from her expression you would think she had just fallen in the snow. As the alpha charged her again Kat would be given very little chance to dodge, jumping off to the side with no avail as the force of the alpha's jaw clamped down on her. He would easily notice how light the fae was, as he tossed her into the bone pile, a loud yelp leaving her muzzle as she felt the bones and ground slamming against her roughly "Ahh...damn." she panted as she struggled to pull herself up, legs shaking lightly but not hesitating to get back up feeling the new wound on her back burning and bleeding out. Once on her paws the fae would watch him carefully, shifting her paws to prepare another attack on him.

The fae was light,hunter had been the perfect choice for her. She was not a fighter. It was obvious in the ways she carried herself, but even more with how she was easily tossed by her Alpha. Steele watched her, his eyes focusing on her body. She was recollecting herself, possibly trying to block out his attacks. He stood still, allowing her the time she would need. She was not ready for full on attacks by the Alpha. She was possibly not even ready to be his apprentice. But he would follow his promise. Even though, he knew he would win. Standing still, he licked his maw, running his tongue over his lips and fur, he collected the droplets of blood he had collected from her wound. His nose told him she was still bleeding, which forced his eyes to search for it. Perhaps he had bitten her harder than he thought. He smirked at the idea, a twisted thought traced over the corners of his mind. He rocked his weight on all four of his paws. Finally his front paws took most of the weight, curious to what she would do. "Attack!" he barked at her, baring his fangs for her to see.

Katyusha blocked out the pain, eyes narrowed on him and posture solid acting as if there were nothing wrong with her, no pain no blood and no chance of defeat. Slowly the fae would begin to circle him, eyes darting between him and the area around her, she knew no one else would get in the middle of the fight but her instincts didn't allow her to disregard the possibility. At the alpha's command the fae would growl low, her next attack already planned in her mind and this time she wouldn't be quite as bold, but every bit as brash.

Slamming her paws down the fae would propel herself forward, aimed at her alpha's broad shoulders on his left side, although it wasn't her target. Using her speed the fae would push forward, keeping her much shorter frame low to the ground in hopes of making him have to stretch to attack her, and expecting him to counter her offensive. As the fae neared her target she would dive unexpectedly, hoping to avoid his jaws or at least the brunt of the attack and slip in under his defenses using his much larger size to her advantage, knowing he would have to quickly re-position his stance to land a hit. Once low the fae would aim for her true target, forcing herself up with her front paws to aim at his underbelly just behind the rib cage, obviously not trying to do any serious damage, but enough to end the fight quickly.

[Sorry, intended to and hit reply instinctively =^.^=]