The next morning, while everyone was packing up to make the return trip Lyca spent the time giving the younger kids some lessons, this included Alise, Ardee, Neze, and Shurry. Her goal was to tire them out a little bit.
The wolf pack was also enjoying the experience, running through the obstacle course, albeit a hastily built one that used the natural layout of the forest to make most of it. The stronger wolves kept monsters away from the course, while the weaker monsters would play a different, more active role in the course.
"Alright! Thanks in part to Shurry's pack, the obstacle course is all set up. Neze, you're going through it first to show the layout and path you have to take. The others will follow the path."
Shurry eagerly raised his hand. "What about me? When do I get to run? I wanna run too."
"You have to wait until the others make it through the course first. I want to up the difficulty for you. And it isn't right to put those three cuties through the same level as you, and the same is true in the opposite direction. You're just much stronger than everyone else."
"So, I get to run still, right, right?" He asked, then without waiting for an answer, turned to his friends. "Have fun! I wanna run too!"
"Don't worry Shurry, I'll run fast!" Neze declared. And she entered the forest obstacle path, waving as she left.
Running along the ground, bouncing off of tree trunks, dodging and weaving through the random swinging vines, scaling the boulders, Neze ran through clearing half of the course.
"Remember, there's something different about the second half, Neze!" Lyca called out, more than loud enough for even a human to hear that far away.
Soon one of the weaker wolves appeared out of seemingly nowhere, with a lick attack… Wagging its tail, excited it managed to catch Neze by surprise.
"Ahahaha, hehehe, that tickles." Neze laughed, giggling as the wolf kept licking her face. She started petting the wolf, even giving it a hug. "I'm sorry little wolfy, I can't play more now, I have to clear the course. I'll come play with you again, friend!" Neze wriggled free and then ran off through the rest of the course, now also having to get out of the way of the most fearsome attacks, happy puppy licks!
Soon, she managed to come out the other side of the course, completing the whole thing in a matter of 10 minutes. Lyca and the wolves went to rest the course.
"Shurry! Shurry! I did it! I completed the course! That was fun!"
"Yeah! I love running!" Shurry jumped, with an anticipatory dance. "Oh I wanna run the course too!"
Lyca returned, with a light giggle in her voice. "Alright, who's next?"
Alise and Ardee giggled, each going into a rock paper scissors match to decide who goes next. This time, Ardee won.
"Yay! I'm next! Shurry, I'm going next!" Ardee cheered, running into the forest all happy to go next.
Ardee struggled a bit more than she expected. "Hmm? Neze made it look easy? Maybe there's really a big difference between werewolves and humans? No! I won't let her have him. He's my best friend!"
Ardee, also fell victim to the same puppy lick attack from the first wolf. Laughing, and giggling a bit before realizing she still had a course to complete, and wriggled her way out, running the rest of the course. She completed it in 15 minutes, then ran straight for Shurry, hugging him tight.
"Wee! That was fun! You'll have a lot of fun running too!"
"Oh! I can't wait, I wanna do it now!" Shurry cheered, complainingly. "But, it's Alise's turn now, so I guess I can wait."
"Pfft, you're funny. Thanks for waiting, best friend. I'll do my best to clear it as fast as possible." Alise smiled, like the sun.
Shurry, just like the moon, reflected this smile. "You can do it!"
Lyca once again returned from resetting the course. And this time Alise ran in laughing and smiling all the way. She was a little bit stronger, and faster than Ardee was, but not by too much, and certainly not enough for her to match a werewolf's natural advantages.
Even so, Alise still did her best… But, just like the others before her, she fell victim to the puppy lick attack… And like the others before, it was super effective. Except it was a bit more effective since Alise was already a really happy person, this just made her laugh and giggle more. She did, eventually break away, and clear the course coming in with a finishing time of 13 minutes.
"Ardee you were right! That was fun!" Alise said, running back to the group. "I didn't expect the wolf to come out with that sudden attack, it caught me totally by surprise!"
"I know right! It even caught me by surprise."
"It tickled a lot."
Lyca giggled, watching the girls laugh, and talk about the experience. "Alright now, Shurry. The course will be set up for you now. Have fun." She smirked.
Shurry with a big smile ran off into the woods, and immediately the course was different. The number of obstacles tripled, the wolves that kept the monsters away now pushed the monsters towards the course, and they even joined in trying their best to catch Shurry in impossible angles.
However, even their best efforts… Monsters were slain with ease… Wolves were pushed away, and avoided. Showing just how fast Shurry's battle sense really was, able to distinguish friend from foe, real from fake… It was an astonishing display that even took Lyca by surprise. Shurry finished the course in 3 minutes.
Lyca had been waiting for him at the exit, what she saw was a little boy, running with a big smile, laughing, preparing for a jumping hug. The scene behind him was straight out of an optical illusion, there was a moon inside or maybe behind him? And then there was Luna floating alongside him, giggling as Shurry ran.
It really is like he brings the moon with him wherever he goes… If there were any doubts left, they're all gone now. This boy carries the symbol of the wolf, he is undeniably the alpha…
Shurry jumped into Lyca's arms, getting wrapped in her hold, as he laughed. Having had his fun, he was amped up, excited, and puppying out.
"Pfft, alright. That does it for the course, let's get some real training in. Then we'll get all washed up."
"Yay!"
…