Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to picture the school in her mind. It didn’t help though. Everything looked the same here. Grey, cream, white. Grey, cream, white. A house of mirrors, showing the same reflection, over and over again.
She was lost.
This may have been a good time to ask the doctor for some help, but she didn’t want to have to talk through her feelings of being lost, blah, blah, blah. That would just be a ridiculous waste of her time when she could be out here getting herself even more lost.
Ugh! This place could be so infuriating!
Jackson closed his eyes as soon as the buzzing of the razor started. It wasn’t like he was bothered like some of the other guys. This was no big deal in the grand scheme of things. He knew that this had to be done and it was a huge stage in his progress of a warrior - for he would soon look like a warrior.
And it had been bloody hilarious, listening to Denver shouting and refusing to even lose a millimetre of his hair. Cutting it made sense for combat. But, then, when Denver had emerged from the room, Jackson understood what all his fuss had been about and had to hold back the laughter that threatened to burst forth.
Denver looked awful. Half of his good looks must have been held in his perfectly styled bleach blonde hair, for without it, he was regular. Without a word or a look at the rest of the guys, which was a first for Denver, he put his head down and hurried out of there - the laughter ringing in his ears.
“All done, buddy,” the man who had cut his hair said with a clap on his shoulder.
Jackson opened his eyes and took a sneaky peek in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.
He liked it.
The short buzz cut actually suited him. It brought out his features for the better, no more hiding behind the locks that had fallen into his face like before. Running a hand over the newly short bristles, he realised also that he looked older, harder, and more capable. His square jaw line and cheekbones were more sharply defined, making him appear older than his years. He looked confident. It was a good new look for him.
He was now ready to become the warrior that had always been lurking inside him.
Opening up the door, he thanked the man before leaving and stepped out amongst the rest of the trainee warriors that were waiting in line. Dylan clapped him on the back and Jase took the piss out of him, saying that he looked like a supermodel now. Jackson just laughed at them and pushed them both aside, strolling down the corridor with a big ass grin on his face.
The grin froze when he saw the girl, the one who had laughed at him in the cafeteria, standing there alone in the hall with her forehead pressed against the wall.
She must have heard his footsteps walking down the hallway as she quickly lifted her head and straightened herself to look at him, turning to catch his eye.
“Hey.” Jackson said.
“Hey.” the girl replied.
And then there was silence. Jackson didn’t know what to say or do. She was the last person he had expected to see out here. After seeing her in the cafeteria, he’d tried to put her out of his mind. Thinking about this unknown girl wouldn’t help his concentration. And yet, here she was.
The awkward silence continued as they also both continued to try to avoid looking at one another like a pair of awkward teenagers. Checking out the blank white walls, the blank white tiled floor, anything so that they didn’t have to look at each other.
Damn it. He’d never been tongue tied around a girl before. There was something about this girl that threw him all out of whack. She was beyond beautiful.
“Right…. Well…. Then….” Jackson cleared his throat nervously, “See ya.” and he quickly turned away, making to stride off away from her.
“Wait up!” she shouted and Jackson spun around on his heels to face her. “Can you please tell me which way I go to get back to the main reception?” She hated to look so clueless in front of someone that she suspected she would be training closely with, but she had no choice. If he didn’t show her the way, she was going to be stuck down here forever.
For a moment, he couldn’t speak again. Looking at her, he knew that she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Ever. She had the most stunning long, dark hair that framed her pale face, covering up the mark almost completely with its waves. Her skin so starkly white that her rich, red lips stood out like a beacon.
Damn, he realised that he’d been stood there staring at her, while she looked back at him dumbly, obviously wondering what his problem was. Only a few days of not seeing any girls his own age was obviously sending him a little crazy. Not that he was girl crazy or anything like that. He wasn’t a player, but he did well enough. This girl had something, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Shaking his head slightly to encourage his brain to function normally, he cleared his throat again, “Sure, I’ll show you the way.” and he turned again, listening attentively to make sure that her foot steps were following along behind him.
“I’m, uh, Jackson, by the way.” Jackson said over his shoulder as they walked and he hated how he stuttered his speech when he was nervous.
“Aisline.” she replied in a silky tone that caught him off guard. He was so used to being around a group of gruff guys that the difference was magnified further. Jackson coughed nervously.
This clearly wasn’t the time for conversation between them. Jackson wasn’t functioning coherently and they walked the rest of the way in an awkward, excruciatingly painful silence.
“It’s just around that corner.” Jackson pointed as they reached the front part of the building.
“Yeah, I recognise all this now. Thanks.” she walked off in the direction he’d indicated, glancing over her shoulder at him and smiling.
He couldn’t help but watch her as she rounded the corner. She really was something. The way she moved…. Jackson snapped his eyes closed and turned away.
He had no idea who she was or what she was doing in the school. The mark already set her apart from the rest of the females on the staff, and she was a bit young to be working here anyway. Hell that mark set her apart from the rest of the females in the race! He wanted to find out who she was, without sounding too eager or making a big deal out of it. She was a mystery he wanted to unravel. It was just a shame that he got so tongue tied like a little girl when he was around her.
Not that he thought of taking things any further. Hell, if she was staying here for any reason, she would have hundreds of guys in competition to ask her out and he probably wouldn’t stand a chance against some of the guys here. But, he couldn’t help but be curious about her. What was she doing here?
Aisline. At least he knew her name.
Turning back around, he made his way back over to the sparring quarters where all of the rest of the students from the first year were to convene after they’d had the dreaded chop. Back to combat. Now that was something he could focus and concentrate on. Not that girl. Nope. Combat. Only combat. Focus, Jackson, he thought to himself. Focus, goddamn it!
A few of the other guys were already there. Denver was nowhere in sight. The guy was probably off somewhere, in deep mourning for the loss of his precious hair. At least that meant things would be a bit quieter for a little while and for that, Jackson was truly thankful.
Taking a seat on one of the benches at the side of the room, Jackson cracked his knuckles and looked around at the rest of the guys. They all looked the same now. Uniformed. It was quite reassuring in a way. He didn’t care like some of the others that his identity had been stripped away from him. It was not his hair that defined him as a person.
Looking up as the door opened again, he saw Kelton walk into the room and straightened up a little on the bench where he was sat with the other guys. It was always a shock to see the huge hulk of a man. He was someone that Jackson truly aspired to be. All the pain and working out would be worth it if he became even half the warrior that Kelton was.
Professor Kelton glanced around, givi
ng them all an appraising look. Seeming to approve of their new look, he stalked over to his locker and grabbed a small bag, which Jackson assumed held his work out gear. Today, they were apparently going to be put through their paces. It was sure to be a tough time. Jackson wasn’t worried through. He was as fit as he could possibly be.
However, the grin on Professor Kelton’s face when he returned from getting changed promised them that they would be in for the physical nightmare of their lives, and he more than lived up to that promise.
Jackson ached from head to toe and it took all of his energy to crawl into his bed that night, wincing from the pain screaming through his muscles.
They’d sparred. They’d done circuits. They’d done line work. They’d done everything that the warrior could throw at them, and more besides. Jax had nearly collapsed from exhaustion and at one point, well at several points throughout the day to be honest, had thought that he would end up in the medical wing. He was that tired and his limbs ached like never before.
Sleep. That was the only thought that was left in his mind. Sleep….
Chapter Eighteen.
The next morning, all of the guys walked stiffly into the gym, still suffering from the aches and pain that lingered from yesterday but still ready to face another gruelling day. They were loving and dreading every minute of it. Every second that they spent getting pummelled in training was a step closer to their goal. Sure, they all knew from the very start that they would have to work hard to get to where they wanted to be in life, but did they really have to endure this much pain? No pain no gain and all that? Yeah, right. Whatever….
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Warrior Kelton shouted over his shoulder as he strode back out of the room.
The guys were all waiting patiently, as more of them piled in, one by one with their new buzz cuts. Jackson thought that they all looked like very efficient Warriors now, as opposed to the bunch of fashioned up clothes horses that had walked in the door on their first day of induction.
They looked ready.
Dylan and Jase took their seats on either side of him, with Trey sitting in the row behind, all dressed and ready in their sweats, swigging from cans of energy drinks. Jackson didn’t need any of that shit. Who needed wings? His energy levels were through the roof at the moment as it was without any artificial enhancers. He was more than ready to get this rolling.
They were still waiting on Warrior Kelton when in walked Denver, strutting about as cocky as he ever had. He’d managed to gel what was left of his hair into some insane spikes, obviously helping to restore his confidence. He was clearly back to being his annoying self.
Great.
As the door opened up again, they all expected to see Master Warrior Kelton come walking back in with an evil grin on his face as he anticipated the torture he was going to put them through today, but they were stunned into silence.
Walking in behind Kayleigh, they saw that she was being trailed by a girl.
The girl.
Walking into the sparring room was a right laugh. Honestly, she felt like she was squirming in her skin. However, at the same time, Aisline had a really hard time trying to keep the inane grin from her face. Every single pair of eyes turned to watch her with shock-horror surprise as she entered and you could have cut the tension in the air with a very blunt, old butter knife. The insane urge to giggle surged through her with a jolt. Nerves were a bitch.
Aisline kept her head held high and walked to the nearest empty space on the front bench and made herself comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as she could, seeing as there were about thirty pairs of eyes trying to stare her down. Plus, a wooden bench never made for a very comfy perch.
It took quite a bit of effort for her not to turn her head around as she felt their stares boring into the back of her head. She could feel them taking in every inch of her flawless skin, which unfortunately, because of the work out gear she’d been provided with, there was plenty of flesh on show. With low slung baggy sweat pants and a top that fitted like a second skin, she wished she’d brought her hoody to cover up a bit. Nervously, she ran her fingers through the length of her pony tail. Warrior Kelton had suggested that she start getting used to wearing her hair up as much as possible, with combat training in the schedule and what not. Plus, it made her mark all that much more noticeable. She was making a fierce statement here, right from the start.
Aisline was as nervous as hell. She was here to prove herself to all these guys that she could be a warrior, just the same as them. But, all those naked male torso’s? They were mighty distracting! What a sight it had been when she had walked in - pecs, pecs, everywhere! But, even the thought of thirty odd half naked men being in the same room as her didn’t quell her nerves. If anything it made it so much worse. They were all buff and she was dwarfed in comparison.
Kayleigh stood at the front of the class, who had now assembled in a confounded stillness, and she waited until she had their attention. Which took quite a few minutes as most of them couldn’t keep their eyes off of Aisline. It was understandable, what with the mark and her exquisite good looks, as were the loudly whispered questions from their lips.
When the door opened once more, Kayleigh was relieved to see Kelton come striding back into the room. She knew that she would have a lot of work and input with Aisline‘s future, but this was something that he would have to inform the rest of the warriors of. It wasn’t her place. These were his warriors and he knew what to say for the best to get them to accept her into the pack. They had to understand that just because she was a girl, she wasn’t to be treated any differently. She was their equal, and what she lacked in strength, she would make up with something else.
Here she was. Getting thrown in at the deep end, so to speak. Everything had been up in the air, what with training with the grad students and throwing her in with Kelton’s rigorous training would show her what she was really letting herself in for. They hadn’t sparred under his supervision as of yet to his usual full throttle speed, so things should get interesting.
It was going to be tough, but Aisline had to show these boys that she was just as strong, just as fit, and just as capable as they all were. That was the only way that she was going to gain their respect and acceptance.
She had very little time to physically prepare herself, only practising moves in her room that she saw illustrated in a book. It didn’t give her much confidence, but Ash was going to do the best she could.
Kelton moved around to the front of the room and stood next to Kayleigh, resting his back against the wall casually, showing the rest of the of them that he was at ease with the whole situation. He knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, though, and that some of them wouldn’t appreciate working alongside a girl. They had all been brought up with the idea that the races’ warriors were male and here he was, about to turn their world on its head.
Kelton had plenty of faith in Aisline. He’d seen enough of her to know that she had plenty of guts to stick it out. She’d find a way to make this work, of that he was sure. He wished that he had the time to go through some of the training and sparring moves with her beforehand, but he hadn’t had a moment to spare. Kelton hoped that she’d be able to hold her own.
“Guys? Can I have your attention for a minute, please?” As soon as he had addressed the group, he realised that he was going to have to make some changes too. The way he got the attention of the class wasn’t always suitable for female ears. And ‘guys’ wouldn’t really cut it either. “Guys!” Oh hell, never mind. He’d have to work on it, and he was addressing the boys in the class and not Ash anyway.
One by one, the young men turned their attention to Kelton, ripping their eyes away from Aisline, though still giving her the occasionally fleeting glance while they listened attentively.
“Do I have your undivided attention now? I should hope so. This is important.” Kelton paused for a beat. “I want to introduce you all to our newest Warrior to join our ranks, Aisline Kellerman.”
The silence was tangible. Every male in the room stared dumbfounded, firstly at Kelton and then over to Aisline.
Aisline hated being the centre of attention. It was like the cafeteria all over again, but worse this time. You would have thought that they had all gotten a good look at her by now, but nooooooooooooo. They were still gawping at her like King Kong in a cage.
All she wanted was for them to get over it. She wanted done with this fascination already. She wanted to get on with her training and blend in with the rest of them as well as she could. Which was a bit of a fantasy, seeing as she was the only warrior with breasts in this place. She was always going to be the odd one out.
For now, all she could do was sit there and ride it out, posture as straight as her mother had taught her and hope for the best.
Out of the silence, a lone voice bellowed incredulously, “You have got to be shitting me? A girl? No way!” and the person laughed loudly and sarcastically.
Watching as Kelton’s eyes narrowed, Aisline actually felt a little bit sorry for the dude who had spoken up. She wouldn’t want to be on the sharp end of Kelton’s tongue. Sure, it was a really dumb thing to say out loud, but he was only saying what the rest of them were thinking.
“Denver, why is it always you who has the urge to speak out of turn? Why are you always the one who has to attempt to defy me? You have been in this academy for only a short space of time and already you are putting yourself firmly in my bad books. Not the smartest move to make.” Kelton wagged a finger at him.
Aisline glanced over her shoulder. The rest of the boys stayed still and quiet and the one who had spoken put his head down quickly, more to hide a grin than out of shame. Obviously, he was the type of person who spoke before putting their brain into gear. Denver. She’d have to remember to watch out for him. He was sure to be trouble on a stick.
“Now, do the rest of you have a problem with this? And no, Denver, I am not talking to you so you can keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself.” Kelton said as he started to pace around the room with fury radiating from his very pores.
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