End of an Era: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 4)

by Kristan Belle

  The ride back to the academy was silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts. They all had a lot to think about, but for Kelton it was personal. They’d all known about his fragile friendship with Patrick. For the rest of them, they focused only on what had happened during the attack and what had happened to Dixon. Kelton had more on his mind.

  As they pulled up to the mansion, Kelton got out. He needed to go out on the streets and release some of that pent up tension, but duty called first. He had to let the council know that the shifters had been released back to the pack, go over the security protocol and then find Caleb and Rees.

  That wasn’t going to be an easy conversation for him. If they’d thought about it clearly, they would have both known that this day was coming up fast, but now that the Sons had cut all ties with the shifters, that left the boys in a difficult situation. They were being torn in different directions and Kelton wanted to let them know that if they needed any assistance, he would be there for them.

  As the head of the trainees, he was always there if they needed anything. This was a different situation to deal with and he knew he’d have to tread lightly with them. Caleb was a complex character at the best of times and this would only screw him up further.

  Sometimes this job was too much. It took too much out of him. The time to make a decision with regards to his future was fast approaching. Kelton knew what he should do, but was it for the best? Only time would tell.

  Chapter Ten

  “I need to find him now. This can’t wait.” Kelton told Verynai. Caleb was nowhere to be found and he was starting to get concerned. The last time a student went MIA, they returned to the academy a bloody pulp.

  He had to get this mess sorted. All these loose ends were starting to unravel and Kelton wouldn’t allow the kind of unrest that the shifters were experiencing. Kelton could feel the call of the mark wanting him to go out on the streets and cause some havoc, but that would have to wait until after he had found the boys.

  “I’ll get some men on it.”

  “The sooner we find them, the better.” Kelton called after him as Verynai left the office. There was no way he could sit there and do nothing himself. Heading out of the office, he told the warrior in reception that he had his phone on him if he saw Caleb or if Verynai needed him. Mario was still scanning the cameras but hadn’t seen any sign of him yet.

  Kelton hated waiting around and doing nothing. Sitting there and waiting wasn’t good enough. He had to be out there looking for him.

  The first place he headed to was the medical suite. Kelton knew that Caleb felt guilty that his pack had beaten Trey so badly and had been spending a lot of time up there with him, talking and trying to ease his pain. It was a shame that something like that had happened, but it was good to see Caleb going out of his way to be friendly.

  Moving through the open door, the first person he saw in there was Marshall.

  “Sire! How good to see you!” Marshall beamed as soon as he saw him enter the suite. “What can I do for you? Is there anything you need?” He was always ready and willing to be of service, especially if the Master Warriors required any help.

  “Have Caleb or Rees been up here lately?”

  “No, no I don’t think so.” Marshall shook his head. “The last time either of the shifter boys’ were up here was yesterday, as far as I can recall.”

  Kelton nodded thoughtfully as he wondered where he should look next.

  “Can I get you anything while you’re here? A coffee?” Marshall offered.

  “I can’t stay. Thank you for the offer.”

  “Is something wrong?” Marion asked as she walked out of her office with a friendly smile on her face.

  “I’m just looking for Caleb and Rees. Have you seen them?”

  “I haven’t I’m afraid. I’ve been locked in my office for the last few hours, catching up on some paperwork.” She rolled her eyes. Paperwork was the thing she liked least about this job. “Are you sure you can’t stay for a coffee? I’m about to take a break.”

  Kelton was tempted. He hadn’t had a break today. Things had been non-stop hectic. But, he really didn’t have time for it. He needed to see Caleb and Rees before he rested. “Sorry. Maybe another time?”

  “Sure. Come on up any time.” She smiled as she accepted a cup of coffee from Marshall. “How’s Kayleigh and Elias doing? I need to pop in and see them in the next couple of days.”

  “They’re both doing fine. He’s already sleeping through the night.” Kelton smiled proudly.

  “You’re very lucky. He’s been such a good baby for you both.”

  “I’ll let Kayleigh know that you’ll be dropping by. She’ll be looking forward to seeing you.” Kelton started to move back towards the door. “How’s Trey doing?” He needed to come back and see the boy for himself, but he knew that he was in good hands here. Still, he wanted to check on him and see how he was doing. That would have to wait for another day when things weren’t so crazy.

  “Better. We’re still trying to lower his medication, but the poor boy’s in a lot of pain so it’s going to be a slow process.”

  “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “I’m going to bring in some help for Trey. He needs to talk through what happened and I know someone who’s better qualified than me.”

  “Sounds good. Whatever you think is best.” Kelton trusted her judgement. “Anything you need at all, give me a shout.”

  “Will do.”

  Kelton walked back out of the suite and headed down to the training rooms. All the trainees were being put through their paces right now but he wanted to see some of Caleb’s friends to see if they knew anything. He’d let the trainees have a couple of days off to mourn their loss and get used to the changes, but letting them sit around and wallow seemed to be doing more harm than good. They had to try to get things back to normal.

  Walking into the gym area, he nodded over to Master Warrior Lyon, who immediately walked over.

  “What can I do for you, Kelton?”

  “I was hoping to have a word with a couple of the trainees.”

  “Go ahead.” Lyon agreed and moved back over to the group he’d been working with.

  Kelton moved around the room, pleased to see that Aisline, Jackson and Dylan were all in one group together. At least he wouldn’t have to disrupt everyone else’s training.

  “Can I have a quick word?” he said as soon as he drew level with them.

  They had been pounding out different punch combinations on the large bag hanging from the ceiling. Jab, jab, cross, hook, cross. He couldn’t help but notice how good their form looked. They had style, speed and power.

  “Of course.” Aisline said immediately as she removed her gloves and pushed some hair that had come loose from the bun back of her face.

  “Have any of you seen Caleb?” He didn’t really like having to ask this. It showed that he wasn’t in control and that was one thing he didn’t like, being out of control. But he’d do what he had to. Rees wasn’t in training either and he needed to find both boys.

  “He didn’t come to breakfast.” Ash shook her head.

  Kelton looked at the others. Jackson looked as confused as the rest of them, but Dylan looked shifty. “Dylan?”

  “I haven’t seen him.” He said, almost too quickly.

  “Where is he?” Kelton demanded.

  “I don’t know.”

  Ash stepped forward. “If you know, Dylan, you’ve got to tell him. Caleb’s messed up and needs help. We’re all worried about him.”

  Dylan looked to the ground sheepishly. “He’s in my room.”

  “What? Speak up.” Kelton barked.

  “He’s in my room. He wanted some space.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kelton turned to walk out of the room, hearing Aisline and Jackson giving Dylan a mouthful on his way out. He would deal with Dylan later. It wasn’t much of a problem, and he knew that he was just looking out for his friend, but so much time h
ad been wasted looking for him.

  Making his way up the stairs two at a time, Kelton reached Dylan’s room in no time. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. He tried the door. It was locked. “Caleb?” Again, there was no answer. “Caleb! Open the door or I will kick it in.”

  He waited a moment longer. “You’ve got to the count of three.”

  “One.”

  No answer.

  “Two.”

  No answer.

  “Three.”

  No answer.

  Just as Kelton was about to raise his foot to smash through the door, it opened. He was thankful that Caleb had seen sense. For one, he didn’t want to frighten the boy by kicking the door through, which he would have done if Caleb hadn’t opened up. And for two, because it was another headache he didn’t need. At least this way, he wouldn’t have to worry about any repairs to property on top of everything else.

  “Why aren’t you training?” Kelton asked.

  “I needed some time.” Caleb had walked away and now had his back to Kelton, looking out of the window.

  “Caleb, I need to talk to you and Rees about something.” Kelton stepped into the room and sat in the chair at the desk. This conversation was going to be awkward enough and he wanted to try and set it off in a more casual manner.

  “Is it about the pack?” Caleb still wouldn’t look at him.

  “Would you at least sit down and talk to me?”

  Caleb reluctantly turned around and sat on the end of the bed. “What?”

  Kelton frowned. He didn’t appreciate Caleb’s tone, but for now he was going to let it slide. They had bigger things to deal with and he had a feeling that his mood was only going to get worse.

  “Yes, it’s about the pack.”

  “What about them?” Caleb tried to look disinterested, but Kelton could see the inner turmoil.

  “We met with Patrick earlier. We returned the shifters we held captive to them.”

  “So what do you want me to say?” Caleb snapped.

  “We cut all ties with the pack. We no longer have an alliance.”

  “So they’re the enemy now?”

  “Hopefully it’s not as cut and dried as that, but essentially, yes.”

  “I can’t think about this right now.” Caleb ran a hand over his face. He’d not been sleeping well and the stress was really getting to him. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. He’d tried his best to apologise to Trey for what his pack had done to him, and then they’d come to the academy. Caleb didn’t know how he was going to come back from this.

  They’d come to the academy and killed Master Warrior Dixon. It was all his fault. He was to blame. If only he’d been strong enough to fight the warrior mark, none of this would have happened.

  Kelton shook his head. “You need to face this. I know it’s not easy.”

  Caleb snorted.

  “This is real, Caleb. You need to decide what you’re going to do with your future.” Kelton got up to start pacing around the room. “You know that you are free to leave us at any time you choose. We won’t keep you here against your will.”

  “What if I want to stay?”

  “Then you’ll always have a home here with the warriors.”

  Caleb glanced back at the ground.

  “The call of the warrior mark is strong within you. I wouldn’t fight you if you wanted to leave, as yours is a unique situation. You’re torn between the warrior ship and the pack. That’s easy for anyone to see. However, I would have concerns if you decided to leave. It wouldn’t be easy. Far from it.”

  “I want to stay here.” Caleb said quietly.

  “Then you’ll stay. With the warrior mark, this is where you belong. But you need to think about the pack.” Kelton was relieved that the boy didn’t want to leave. He belonged with them, but that didn’t mean things were going to get any easier.

  “They’re never going to stop, are they?”

  “What do you mean?” Kelton asked.

  “They came here looking for me twice now. It’s going to happen again. More people are going to die because of me.”

  Kelton stopped pacing. “That wasn’t your fault.”

  “Master Warrior Dixon died because they came for me and Rees.”

  “That still isn’t on you. As a pack, they are supposed to follow the directive of their pack leader. They didn’t. They did the exact opposite. The shifters that came here were looking for a fight and they would have used any excuse.”

  “If we weren’t here, that wouldn’t have happened.”

  “You don’t know that. The warrior mark chose you for a reason. It was something out of your control. There are so many factors at work here, no one person is to blame for what happened.” Kelton knew that Caleb couldn’t shoulder this blame. The shifters used him as an excuse, just as they did the situation with Trey. He had a feeling that something like this would have happened eventually, even without the mark appearing on the boys. There was something about the pack that had been changing over the last few years.

  “But we all contributed.”

  “You can’t think like that.”

  “But I do!” Caleb shouted. “It’s my fault! All of it! If I had the strength to stay away, Trey wouldn’t have met Starr and none of us would be in this mess. Dixon would still be alive.”

  “There’s no point in thinking about ‘what ifs’. This is how things are. The question is, how do we move on from here?” Kelton would have normally gone to Patrick to discuss protocol, but seeing as that was no longer an option, he’d have to hash it out with Caleb as best he could.

  “I choose the Sons.”

  Kelton nodded. Caleb sounded sure with his decision. “What happens now with regards to the pack?”

  “I denounce all ties with them.”

  “And how do you do that exactly?” Kelton needed to know all the details. He’d have the boys’ back all the way, but he had to know what he was facing.

  “I speak with the Alpha. I officially cut myself off from the pack.”

  “And where would that leave you?”

  “Packless. Without a family.”

  “You have the Sons. We’re a family.”

  “It’s not the same, but I can’t stand by and see them doing this. They were wrong to come here like that. I can’t condone those kind of actions.” Caleb looked truly pained by what his people had done.

  “Is that the only option? To cut all ties with them?” Kelton wanted to try and find an easier option for him, but didn’t know where to start.

  “It’s either cut ties with them, or cut them with you. I can’t do that. I know where I belong now.” The warrior mark made him belong with the warriors. At first, when he came to the academy, he would have done anything to leave this life and go back to the pack. Everything was different now. When he went back to see his mother, it didn’t feel like home anymore. The academy was home.

  “And what about Rees?”

  “He was the one that suggested we cut ties with the pack. I didn’t want to do it.”

  “You wanted to keep your options open?” Kelton wasn’t saying that to be sarcastic, he truly understood why the kid wouldn’t want to give up his blood and pack family.

  “Yes.”

  Kelton sighed. “So where do we go from here?”

  “I need to set up a meeting with the pack leader. The sooner the better. I want to get this over and done with and move on.”

  “I can understand that.” Kelton nodded. “Unfortunately, with the way things have been left between the Sons and the pack, I’m not able to contact Patrick on your behalf.” That was something that was annoying as Patrick was the point of contact for the boys. Their mother wasn’t strong enough to deal with any problems that this life presented and had handed over guardianship to Patrick to deal with anything with regards to the sons.

  “I’ll call him myself.”

  “Can you do this over the phone or do you need to meet face to face?”

&n
bsp; “I’ll have to meet him.” Caleb wasn’t looking forward to that. It was going to be hard enough without seeing all he was losing.

  “Does Rees have to go with you? Or can you speak on his behalf?”

  “He’ll have to go with me.”

  “I’ll make sure you have protection.” Kelton was already running through the thoughts in his mind, working out which warriors would be best to take them to the meeting.

  “It wouldn’t be a good idea to turn up with a bunch of warriors.”

  “I’d make sure they stayed out of sight. You have to understand that you are one of us and your safety is paramount. You’re not walking out there alone.”

  Caleb nodded. “I’ll set it up and let you know when and where the meeting will be.”

  Kelton stood up and walked over to the door. “Make sure you do. I don’t want you or Rees going into a dangerous situation without the appropriate back up.”

  Caleb agreed and Kelton left. It was such a difficult situation for a boy so young to be going through. He didn’t envy him one bit and would be glad when they could move on from this.

  The car was driving at a steady pace. Rees was looking nervous and Caleb didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel any better. They had arranged to meet Patrick at a point away from pack-land, a neutral spot.

  It was happening a lot quicker than Kelton thought it would, but it was probably for the best. The boys were hanging in limbo with this over their heads.

  He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Patrick again so quickly. Kelton wasn’t planning on getting close. This was the boys’ show and as long as there was no trouble, he was going to leave them to it. He’d brought back up with him, just in case. You never could predict how the shifters would react to the boys leaving.

  “How much longer?” Rees asked.

  “Not long now, little dude.” Verynai nodded over at him without smiling. Kelton had asked him to attend this meeting, partly because he knew Patrick but mainly because the boys were so comfortable around him. It wasn’t going to be a walk in the park and he hoped they could get in and out as quickly as possible.

  After another ten minutes, Verynai pulled into the parking lot of the forest trail. He didn’t like the chosen meeting point as it was all too open. There were too many options to be ambushed. But he didn’t think Patrick would do that. It was the rest of the pack that he didn’t trust.