“Between the vamps and the shifters.”
Kelton nodded to Caleb to shut the door. “I need to speak to Patrick before we do anything. There have been faults made on both sides here.”
“I don’t care what Trey did. He didn’t deserve that.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with you. That is something we’re going to have to deal with. But, we can’t and won’t do anything until I’ve spoken to Patrick. There is a protocol that we have to follow here.”
Caleb scuffed the toe of his boots on the floor. “Where does that leave me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m a shifter. It hasn’t exactly been easy for me to fit in here. They’re going to hate me now.”
Kelton stood up. “Don’t be ridiculous. No one’s going to hold you responsible for this.”
“But, it was my pack that did it.”
“Do you think they’ll hold Rees responsible, too?”
“That’s different.” Caleb scowled.
“Not at all. He’s a shifter, too.” Kelton waited for the boy to react. “No one, and I mean no one, is going to point their fingers at you. This is not your fault.”
Caleb didn’t respond before walking out of the office. Kelton knew that he was going to have to follow that up and quickly, but he also knew the kid well enough to know that he needed some time alone to get his thoughts together. Hopefully, with a little time and thought, he would be able to get some perspective and see that he was not involved in this situation.
He had so much to do that he didn’t think he would have time to sleep for the next month. His priorities were his trainees and warriors and keeping them safe. The deal with the shifters would have to come second. It wasn’t a confrontation he was looking forward to.
Chapter Two
“What’s going on in this place?” Aisline asked as soon as she sat down for breakfast.
She couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was, but the academy was feeling ‘off’ this morning. It had started before she’d gone to sleep, that restless, uneasy feeling had settled in her stomach and it was refusing to budge. Whatever it was that was going on, it wasn’t a nice feeling and she wished it would go away.
“I’ve no idea. Why? What’s up?” Jackson asked when he’d swallowed a mouthful of French toast.
“It’s just a feeling I’ve got. I can’t explain it.” Ash replied distractedly.
She didn’t like feeling like this and trusted her instincts. They’d never led her wrong before. Something was going on. Glancing around the table, she noticed that there were a couple of empty spots. She wondered if that was anything to do with her strange feeling. “Where’s Trey and Caleb this morning?”
Jackson shrugged. “I haven’t seen them.” He carried on tucking into his breakfast, oblivious to the atmosphere around him. It wasn’t often that Jackson was so out of tune, but he was starving this morning and knew he’d have to stock up on food if he was going to get through training today.
It was odd that he hadn’t seen the boys’ this morning, but they’d turn up. They always did. He bet by the time he got down to the training rooms, they’d be there. Ash was worrying over nothing.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not hungry.” Ash replied.
Pushing her plate away, Ash got up from the table. There was no way she was going to be able to eat around that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that it wasn’t a sensible idea to go to training on an empty stomach, but that sinking feeling was making her feel nauseous. Most likely she’d end up fainting or something else equally as embarrassing later, but she just couldn’t force the food down.
Walking over to where Rees was sitting with some of his training buddies, she hoped to get some answers from him.
“Hey, Ash!” He grinned as soon as he spotted her, lighting up his young face.
“Have you seen Caleb this morning?”
Rees shook his head. “I think he was pulling one of his all-nighters in the gym. Or he got up before I did.”
Ash nodded. She was one of the few people who knew that Caleb sometimes needed to release his pent up energy by burning himself out in the gym all night so he could collapse into oblivion. He pushed himself to the limit, until he couldn’t lift his limbs. Luckily, it didn’t happen too often because Ash had seen how badly he suffered the next day, but it was the only release he could find there at the academy. Caleb didn’t feel comfortable shifting form away from his pack members, but the need in him was strong and he had to find something to satisfy that need. That was all he could do.
“If you see him, can you tell him that I was looking for him?”
“Sure will, Ash. Anything I can help with?”
She smiled at him. Rees was a really sweet kid and had settled in very well to life at the mansion. He’d settled in a lot easier going than his older brother had, that’s for sure. “No, it’s all good. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
As she turned to walk away, Ash hit a brick wall. Or that was what it felt like at least. She’d slammed face first into Master Warrior Verynai’s very solid chest.
“Whoa there!” He reached out to catch her and save her from falling on her butt.
Ash blushed like a beetroot as she looked up at him, self-consciously pulling her hands away from his rock hard pecs. Verynai had a mean ass reputation, but he was a hell of a good looking son of a bitch and Ash had seen a softer, and often comical, side of him in her time at the academy. To look at him, he was one of the best looking men she’d ever seen and was one of the main pin-ups of the warriors. All those piercings and ink really worked wonders for him. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
“I guessed that.” He smirked. Setting her back on her feet and making sure that she was steady before he let her go, Verynai turned to Rees. “I need to speak to you.”
“Now?”
“Now”
“Yes, sir.” Rees replied immediately and shot up from his chair.
Verynai waited while Rees cleared his plate before leading the young shifter out of the dining hall. They’d left it as long as they could before dragging him into this situation, but the time had come. He had to know what was going on.
Waiting until they were out of earshot, Rees glanced around nervously. “Am I in trouble?”
“Have you done something you shouldn’t have?” Verynai smirked.
“No, Sir.”
“Then, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” He paused for a moment. “This isn’t about you.”
“It’s about Caleb?” Rees asked anxiously. “Is he alright?”
“Caleb’s fine. Let’s wait until we get to the office to talk.” Verynai moved on in silence.
This was a shit storm that was sure only to get worse. Things were bad enough as it was, but Verynai had the feeling that something bigger was around the corner. They needed to clue Rees in as to what happened as soon as possible.
Knocking on the door to Kelton’s office, he let the young shifter walk in ahead of him. Caleb and Kelton were there waiting for them.
“Take a seat.”
“What’s going on?” Rees asked, worriedly.
Kelton sat him down and explained what happened to Trey and how they’d found him the previous night. It wasn’t an easy conversation to have and he thought the boy took the news as well as could be expected. He kept throwing worried glances over towards Caleb, not that Kelton could blame him. The older shifter was motionless, sitting like a statue. He knew that they were going to have to get him to open up or his thoughts were going to eat him up.
“So, what happens now? Do we have to leave?” Rees asked quietly.
“You’re not going anywhere, unless you want to. We’re not going to keep you here against your will.” Kelton understood that they were going to have to take sides at some point in the future if this situation wasn’t resolved quickly. However, he wasn’t entirely sure that they would be able to resolve this situation. The shifters were making
waves about the Lamia and Patrick clearly was losing control over them. Kelton was prepared to stand by the boys, no matter their choice.
“We want to stay, don’t we? Caleb?” Rees glanced over at his brother.
“We do.” Caleb’s voice was low but sure.
“What has Patrick said about this?”
“We will be arranging a meeting with him shortly. It will probably be scheduled for tomorrow, when everyone has a clearer mind. We won’t want to delay any longer than that. You are both welcome to attend the meeting if you so wish.” Kelton didn’t want them there, but it was only fair if they wanted to be. This involved them deeply.
“Do the others know anything about this yet?” Caleb asked. He hadn’t been at breakfast so he didn’t know that it was business as usual.
“Not yet. We didn’t want to worry anyone. We need to arrange a meeting to explain to the trainees. The warriors and certain members of staff have been informed, but we are trying to keep this as low key as we possibly can for the time being.”
“Come on, boys. I’ll walk you up to your room. You’re both excused from training today.” Verynai said as he stood up, nodding over at Kelton.
“You’ll let us know if anything else happens?” Caleb said quietly. He didn’t want to go to training and have to face the others’ knowing what his people had done to Trey, but he was going to have to find a way to burn off some of this nervous tension that was eating at him. With a look over at Rees, he saw his brother understand his needs and he knew he’d help him.
“Of course.” Kelton promised and sighed heavily as the door closed behind them. The next big task was telling the rest of the trainees, but that could wait for the moment. He needed to speak with Patrick first, another thing that wasn’t going to be easy.
Aisline paused for a moment before curiosity got the better of her. Glancing around to make sure that no one was taking any notice of her, she followed after Rees and Master Warrior Verynai.
After a brief burst of inappropriate giggles, Ash managed to get herself back under control and jogged to catch up with the duo. She didn’t want to lose sight of them as she had the feeling they may hold some clues to her uneasy feeling.
She felt pretty stupid skulking after them like some kind of unprofessional spy, but she had to find out what was going on one way or another.
Pausing to peek around the corner, she heard Rees ask, “Am I in trouble?”
“Have you done something you shouldn’t have?” She heard Verynai reply.
“No, Sir.”
“Then, you’ve got nothing to worry about. This isn’t about you.”
“It’s about Caleb?” Rees asked anxiously and Aisline sped up her steps to listen in closer. “Is he alright?”
“Caleb’s fine. Let’s wait until we get to the office to talk.” Verynai moved on in silence, which infuriated her. How was she supposed to find out anything if they weren’t talking?
Watching covertly as they stepped into Master Warrior Kelton’s office, she was annoyed to hear the door click shut. There was no chance of her over-hearing their conversation now.
Knowing that there was no point in hanging around, Ash thought that it would be prudent to grab a snack before training. She felt as sick as a dog, but the last thing she wanted to do was faint. How embarrassing would that be? She needed to get something in her system or she’d pass out like a wuss.
Running through the mansion and back to the dining hall, all that was left were a couple of doughnuts. That would do her just fine. Eating on the run, Ash hauled ass back up to her room to grab her gym bag and made it down to the training room just in time.
The sugary treat did its job and Aisline had a burst of energy. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that this boost would last her, but if she spoke honestly to the warrior training them, he may allow her to skip out to get something else to munch on.
The rest of the guys were already there, milling about and warming up for the session ahead. They had Master Warriors Lenox and Stetson along with a couple of others watching over them while Kelton was indisposed.
Honestly, they had all breathed a sigh of relief when the training regime had eased up notch. Kelton’s training had reflected his general mood – angry and aggressive. It was a welcome relief to go back to something somewhat ‘normal’. They were breezing through everything that was thrown at them.
“Where did you get to? One minute you were there, and the next you were gone!” Dylan asked as soon as she put her bag down.
“I wasn’t hungry.” She replied distractedly, looking around the room. Trey and Caleb were still missing from their group.
A commotion at the door had them all turning to see Master Warrior Stetson walk in looking grim. “Well? What are you all waiting for? You’re not a bunch of little kids. You know what needs to be done.” He glared around the room. “Get warmed up properly, or you’re going to feel it later with what I’ve got planned for you.”
That got them all moving. Master Warrior Stetson was currently training the students that were nearly ready to graduate, so they all knew that they’d be in for a beast of a session with him in charge. Lenox was a big more of a push over, but Stetson worked them thoroughly. So thoroughly she knew she’d be aching after this session.
And they weren’t wrong. The warrior took great pleasure in putting them all through their paces and pushing them to their limits. The combinations on the pads required skill and their full attention. Jab, cross, hook, round kick, knee, spear elbow, jab, front kick, jab… He threw everything he could at the group, shouting mercilessly when they messed up. It was a gruelling session, but one that Aisline came away grinning from ear to ear. The Master Warrior may have been harsh with them, but Kelton had taught them all well and at the end of the session, he heaped praise on them, which was well deserved.
The other plus was that the session kept them all so busy and distracted that Ash didn’t even have time to think about what was going on with Caleb and Trey. She was still concerned about their unexplained absence from training, but her mind had been completely focused. It wasn’t even until afterwards that she realised quite how hungry and light headed she felt. She’d pushed through the burn and was now gagging for something to eat.
Also, Rhian didn’t enter into her thoughts once during the training session. At least not until it was all over. Rhian and Denver were standing outside the training room, huddled together and whispering intimately. If Ash didn’t know better, she would have said that there was something going on between the two of them. They looked very cosy. Their faces were almost within kissing distance, they were that close. Gross. That thought made Ash want to barf.
“That was intense.” Jackson said with a broad smile on his face as they walked down the corridor. It was obvious to anyone how much they’d all enjoyed the session. They were all exhausted, but happy. It was good when they felt ready to face their future and a tough session certainly did that for them. They felt invincible.
“I thought Stetson was going to rip Denver’s head off at one point.” Dylan laughed.
“Shame he didn’t.”
They all suddenly fell silent as they made their way down the stairs. Groups of warriors and some staff were congregated in the reception area as more people filed in through the main doors, including several groups of warriors that had graduated only a short while ago. They were all in their full warrior uniforms and despite the tension in the air, Ash couldn’t help the buzz that ran through her veins at the thought of being one of them in a few short years. The warrior mark that was tattooed in red stood out proudly on their temples.
“I wonder what’s going on now.” Dylan asked no one in particular.
Ash shook her head silently. She still was no closer to finding out what was causing that uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and the appearance of the massively increased number of warriors at the academy did nothing to ease her worries. If anything, the feeling intensified.
Something was go
ing on.
Something big was happening.
She had the feeling it wasn’t something good.
Chapter Three
“Have you heard anything?”
Ash was standing in the window of her bedroom, looking out at the driveway below, trying to cool down from the brutal training session. It wasn’t so much that her body was still wired; it was her mind that wouldn’t stop buzzing.
Jackson laughed. “I’ve been with you the whole time.”
“I just wondered.” It was true. After training and seeing all those warriors coming into the academy, the trainees had been sent to their rooms before dinner. It was unusual, but understandable with all the warriors in the mansion. The trainees milling around would just get in the way. It was frustrating not knowing what was going on though.
“Did you see that?” Ash peered out of the window.
“See what?” Jackson stretch his arms up, cracking his back.
“That car.”
“It’ll probably be more warriors.”
“Duh! I know that. I mean, there’s more of them coming in. Something big is happening.”
“We’ll find out soon enough if it’s important enough. It might just be warrior business.”
“Hmmm.” Ash wasn’t so sure about that. However, she was exhausted and planned on a quick shower before grabbing some dinner and heading straight to bed as soon as she’d eaten. Today had really taken it out of her and she couldn’t wait to close her eyes. She had a feeling that sleep wouldn’t come easily to her tonight, but it was what she craved.
“I’m going back to my room to get a shower.” Jackson rolled his shoulders, feeling the muscle ache setting in.
“Are you coming back?”
“I’ll meet you downstairs in the dining hall in twenty minutes. I’m starving and need something to eat.”
“Okay.” Ash smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he left. They weren’t really supposed to be in each other’s rooms, but the warriors turned a blind eye, knowing they were way too exhausted to get up to anything anyway. They were taking things slowly, which was the only way with their hectic schedule.
End of an Era: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 4) Page 2