It had been several months since Alura had come to live in this place the other children called Haven. It was a large mansion on several hundred acres; the grounds held a vast forest, in which were cabins for the families there; a large lake where inhabitants could fish; and it was all encircled in a patrolled electric fence so that no one could come on to the property with out permission.

She had made some new friends with the help of Kiranti. She now shared a room with a Lioness named Kira, who was only 14. Alura had started to enjoy her time here, she went to her lessons, who were taught by a very nice otter named, Max; she ran around and played ball with the other kids; climbed trees with her friends and all but forgot about her life in the labs.

One day however she happened upon a group of teens that were doing the same training she used to do, fighting and weapons training. She asked one of the teachers, "Why are they learning this still?"

"They are learning this so that they can help guard our haven from people who would fight to put us all back in those labs," the large male lion said, as he walked around the desks, watching them clean and put their guns back together.

"I wish to learn this more then. Please," she said, holding her head high to show how she was determined to fight for her freedom. The lion looked at her and said, "You will be here soon enough, little one. For now enjoy the time you have with your friends. Do not worry about growing up too fast, as many of us never even had a chance ourselves."

She nodded and walked of, keeping the thoughts of fighting to the back of her mind. She reached the steps where she had first seen the other kids playing and looked out over the field where even more children were playing.

"Everyday more labs are destroyed and more of us are liberated. Ill take the time I have to live my life, and when it comes time for me to train I shall be the best so that I can help liberate even more of us." Alura vowed to herself, and made a mental note of this day, before running off into the group of kids calling her name.

Over the years threw herself into her studies as well as her friends, knowing she would make this life even better for the future she intended on having.

"Alura quick, were going to be late for graduation!" said a small white furred feline girl. "Okay, Lyra, I'm coming, I just had to fix my hair," Alura said as she pulled the cap over her long wavy hair that fell to the base of her tail. The two girls laughed as they ran to the large amphitheater where the ceremony was being held. As they reached the crowd of other graduates, the leader of Haven, Ashur who was a large black wolf, had just finished giving a speech.

"You made it," exclaimed Kiranti as he pushed the two girls in front of him so they could see well. " I can't believe I had to listen to that old wolf by my self, you two owe me big time to covering your butts."

"Oh hush, you weren't alone in this big crowd so I doubt our absence was noticed either." Lyra smirked back at him in a quipped tongue. The 3 of them had become best friends over the years and Alura thought of Lyra as a sister since she took Kiva's side of the room, about 6 years ago. Kiva had moved out after she had mated with a nice Russian wolf after he was rescued from another lab.

Alura looked around the crowd at her peers, seeing faces she knew and a few she didn't. She spotted a familiar face sneaking up behind Lyra, as she was distracted talking to Kiranti. Suddenly Fenris picked Lyra up making the female tiger/serval squeal and wriggle, before realizing whom it was.

"Damn it, you over grown mutt, put me down now!" Lyra yelled as he laughed, hugging her close. Fenris was a black wolf/coyote hybrid that had grown close to the small feline over the past 2 years.

"Aww did big bad wolf scare the little kitty?" Fenris said taunting Lyra as he threw her over his shoulder. Alura and Kiranti both laughed at the spectacle along with others who knew the pair.

One of the teachers came up to the stand and told the students to group up according to birthdays, which put Lyra with Fenris and Kiranti but Alura was left in the back with some others as her birthday was at the end of the year.

"Alura Revengale," a mentor spoke into the microphone, holding a black leather box. She ascended the stairs, many people cheering her on as she crossed the stage.

Once she reached her mentor, the Lion she spoke to when she was young he held her hand a few moments and spoke into the microphone, "I want to personally congratulate you on this day. You were one of my finest students and for this I wish to bestow on you, a rank of Alpha as you have proven many times over that you are a natural born leader."

Alura was stunned to silence, Alpha rank was only ever awarded to soldiers who had proven them selves in battle, or to an extremely select few who had done so well over the course of their training and field missions. This is the first case where it was given by training alone.
"Thank you, sir." Was all she could say to this great honor. The lion smiled, showing his teeth and said, "You have earned this and 1 week from now will have your very own team to lead." He handed her the box, which she opened it to reveal her patches that would go onto her new uniform: her name, her branch, her specialty, and now her rank.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as she held up the box, the teachers behind her clapping and she thanked each in kind as she walked off the stage. She stood back in the crowd as they finished up the ceremony, getting pats on the back and more congratulations from all her friends.

Once all was done everyone dispersed, pulling off their caps and gowns, many hugging their friends and few standing with their parents. As she passed on her way back to her room she was pulled into many photos, and conversations with different leaders of other specialty branches. All wished her lucky in the upcoming week.

When she finally reached her room she put the box on her desk and hung up her dress clothes, before she locked the door and headed back down to be with her friends for this week of nothing but relaxation before her new job was to start.

"Alpha Alura," Fenris yelled from somewhere on her left, she suddenly looked and saw him standing at attention his hand to his head. She laughed and ran over as soon as Lyra poked her head out from behind Fenris, pushing him slightly.

"I'm not an Alpha for another week, so relax soldier," she said jokingly. The small group of friends laughed and headed off to the forest to where they knew a party had already started.

The week passed by slowly, for which Alura was grateful for. Today was Saturday and she was eager yet scared to start work on Monday. As she sat up in her bed she noticed that today was her last day in the dorms. She had been packing all week, at least when she had time between swimming in the large pool or just having fun with her friends.

"One last box, and I move into my own apartment," she said to herself. Lyra had already moved into her own place close to the science quarters on the property.
As she stood she noticed that her covers were on the ground, instead of on her bed as usual, she thought she must have kicked them off in the night as it had be unusually warm.

"Well, better get dressed and load up the boxes," she said as she grabbed a pair of denim shorts that ended mid thigh, and a nice dark green tank top that cupped her ample sized breasts and showed of her unique fur pattern. She brushed out her long hair and put it up into a loose ponytail, then brushed out her long fluffy tail.

Alura packed the last of her things into a box and sealed it up. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, she opened I to find Lyra standing there wearing a simple t-shirt and shorts, her white fluffy tail swaying behind her.

"Ready to move," Lyra asked as she stepped into her former room. "Yep, all set and ready to go. I had all the big stuff already moved to the apartment so all that's left are these few boxes." Alura motioned to the last 6 boxes that were all sealed. Lyra picked up a box that seemed heavy for her size and said, "what are you waiting for, grab a box and lets go."

Alura laughed and picked up a box following Lyra down to one of the golf karts they were permitted to use, this one had a small trailer behind it so it would be easier for moving things, or people. When all of the boxes were packed onto the kart the two girls got in and headed off to the military ward at the far end of the estate.

As they arrived, a guard came out to inspect the boxes using a holographic viewer to make sure nothing harmful was contained. Alura blushed hard, remembering that this was the same guard who scanned her other boxes earlier this week, and had seen her collection of toys in a few. He had said nothing, at the time, but had a wolfish grin on his face as he let her in, which was odd since he was a tiger. She tried to act like it didn't happen but the guard approached them and said, "Your all clear for entry, this time." She blushed so much she could have sworn her fur had a red tint to it.

She drove in as Lyra laughed and parked in her designated parking spot. "God can I die please," Alura asked quietly as she stepped out of the vehicle.

"No, cause then who else would I be able to hang out with and compare males to," Lyra replied as she grabbed 2 smallish boxes and headed thru the doors into the hallway that held the apartments.

"You're a cruel person Lyra, and you know it," Alura laughed as she grabbed a larger box and walked to her door, unlocking it and letting Lyra enter first.

"No deary, I'm not cruel, I'm just misunderstood," Lyra placed the box down in the living room that now had a large leather couch, and large flat panel TV with Blu-ray Player, and a nice sound system.

"This place seems nice now that the guys gave you the antique entertainment system," Lyra said admiring the view of the forest from the windows. Alura nodded and said, "Yea, it was a nice surprise that they had found an old classic system so that I could play my CDs and Blurays."

The system had been a welcome gift from Kiranti and Fenris, it had taken them months to rewire the entire thing to work with the new power system of Solar/Lunar charges, and so that not only would they be able to play the classics that Alura collected but also the new songs and movies that were now on Data streams.

After the girls had brought in the last of the boxes, Alura got out a small bottle of wine and two glasses, " A toast, to new beginnings" Lyra smiled and took a glass sipping the sweet liquid. "Oh what year is this? It tastes divine." Alura looked at the bottle. "It says 2042, almost 27 years ago."

Alura placed her glass down and put on one of her favorite classic songs, "Backstreet back" by the Backstreet Boys. As the music started the girls unloaded the boxes neatly around the place.

Alura was flushed and turned on the cooling unit. "Man this heat wave is awful." Lyra looked strangely at the feline and touched the girl's nose, "hmm its dry and warm, but a few sips of wine wouldn't do this. If this continues tomorrow come over and ill see you checked out. We wouldn't want our newest Alpha to have an infection now." Lyra smiled and flopped on the couch.

"No, that would be bad. But, I've never been sick before, are you sure its not this place?" Alura asked as she also sat on the couch. "You can never be too careful, I guess we will just have to wait and see. For now take your doctor's advice and sit back, eat some dinner and lets watch a movie!" Laughing both girls got their dinner ready and began to watch one of the new movies in the Data Stream.