It was going to be a cold one, that’s for sure. The winter was heading in full force and Ash couldn’t wait to see what the landscape would look like covered in a sprinkling of snow. It would look Christmas card perfect out here away from the city dirt and lights.
Stretching her legs, she knew that she couldn’t just lay there any longer. Even if she wasn’t up and training, Aisline realised that she was starving hungry when her stomach let out a grumble of thunder. Food was always a good motivator to get up and moving.
Standing under the shower in the teeny tiny cubicle in the bathroom, she scrubbed her hair clean and jumped out right before the water started to cool. It was a damn useful thing having a bathroom in most of the bedrooms, but with a place this size, hot water was always a problem. The warriors were still working on that, but for the time being, it meant that you had to get in and out in under three minutes flat. It wasn’t the most perfect situation, but things could be so much worse.
Wrapping her sopping wet up in a towel turban-style, Aisline grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a tee. There was little hope that she would be allowed to train today, but she would always be ready, just in case.
Tying her still damp hair into a high ponytail as she walked into the dining room, the noise was almost deafening. Even in the refined walls of the mansion, the boys were still a rowdy bunch of teenagers. Smiling to herself, she joined the others in the line to grab a bite to eat.
“Morning.” Trey waved at her from a little way down the line.
He was looking as tired as she was feeling. “Are you okay?”
“Getting ready for another hard day. Kelton’s working us raw these days.”
“At least you’re getting worked.” Aisline grumbled.
“You’ll be back with us in no time.”
Aisline cocked an eyebrow at him, but didn’t say anything. As she got to the front of the queue, she grabbed a tray with some eggs, bacon and toast, topping it off with a bottle of strawberry milkshake. Heading over to her usual table with the rest of the boys, she sat down in the last empty seat between Dylan and Jase.
“Where’s Jackson?” she asked, trying to sound casual about it.
“He’s already been down.” Dylan said around a mouthful of porridge.
“Is he training today?”
“Looks like Kelton has already sent him outside with Denver. He didn’t look too impressed to be going. It’s bloody freezing out there.”
Aisline grinned. “I’ve no idea what Kelton’s got him doing out there, but spending all his time with Denver is punishment enough.”
The boys chuckled in a friendly manner and conversation quickly ceased as they all tucked into their food, powering up for the gruelling day ahead.
Finally, after days and days of back-breaking hard work, Jackson and Denver had got the area finally cleared of all rubbish, rubble and weeds. There was now a flat, even surface that Jackson was oddly proud of.
Jackson swiped at the sweat on his forehead. It was hot and sweaty work despite the chill in the air. Anyone else in their right mind would have been huddled up under several layers of warm clothing, but Jackson stood in only jeans and boots, his bare chest glistening with sweat in the moonlight.
Seeing Kelton approaching around the corner, he pulled out the earphones of his iPod, pausing Thirty Seconds to Mars so he could carry on listening when Kelton gave them their next task. And he would. This punishment had been bad enough, but he knew that there was more to come. That’s just how Kelton was.
Jackson didn’t know what he would have done without his iPod with him. That was the only way he was managing to get through this gruelling work. Music seemed to spur him on, moving to the beat and keeping his mind occupied while his hands worked. Plus, the cranking up the noise helped to drone out Denver and his inane chatter.
He and Denver stood quite proudly as Kelton surveyed their work. For a while there, they didn’t think they’d get it all done, but they had. Even Kelton seemed quietly surprised that they’d actually managed it.
“Not too bad.” Kelton commented, which in his world was a pretty big compliment.
“Not bad? We did bloody brilliant!” Denver grinned.
“As I said, not too bad.” Kelton glanced around at the flat ground and waved a hand. “It’s a good start, at least.”
Denver’s grin rapidly slipped from his face. “What do you mean? A good start?”
“Exactly what I said. This was only the preparation.” Kelton spread his arms wide, indicating the newly flat area that they’d slaved their guts over.
Jackson managed to hold in a groan. He really should have seen this coming. He had seen it coming but evidently, there had been a glimmer of hope lurking in his mind that the punishment was over. Sure, it had been ridiculously hard work, but he knew that it wasn’t enough. Kelton didn’t punish lightly.
The boys watched as several warriors started bringing around planks and planks and planks of wood and other assorted equipment and tools. As Denver continued to bitch and whine, Jackson turned to Kelton and asked, “What do we need those for?”
“You two are constructing the external agility course that will be used as part of the physical training for the students here.”
Jackson was gobsmacked. He had no experience in this kind of thing whatsoever. He at least hoped that there would be some kind of instruction manual, but even then, this really did look like an impossible task. He’d expected something more, but not this.
Noticing Jackson’s tense expression, Kelton said, “You won’t be alone on this part of the job. Master Warrior Dixon and a group of older trainees will be assisting you and overseeing your work.” Dixon walked around the corner as if by magic at the mention of his name.
“Are we ready for this, boys?” Dixon grinned menacingly. Kelton had told him to make this as difficult as possible for them and he was more than happy to oblige.
Denver groaned. He knew that they were going to be in for a world of shit now. Dixon was one of the warriors that had been leading his group when they went out on the field exercise on that fateful night when Aisline was abducted. Dixon would personally see that this punishment was executed to its fullest, causing Denver as much pain and humiliation as he possibly could. Great.
“Well, I’ve got things to do. I’ll leave you in charge, Dixon.” Kelton clapped him on the shoulder and they shared a grin as he walked away from the boys.
“Right!” Dixon barked. “Let’s get this show on the road.” And he grinned menacingly once again. This was going to be fun…
Sitting in the sparring room on the benches, the trainees chattered animatedly while they waited for Kelton to come in and start the session. It wasn’t often that he was late, but when he was, it was usually with good reason. It seemed that it was only Aisline who was concerned by his absence. The rest of the boys were making the most of the extra time to relax for a moment longer.
In a way, Ash found it a little easier with Jackson being away from training. At least the awkward atmosphere wasn’t following her everywhere, giving her frazzled brain a break. But, saying that, she missed seeing him. Jackson had been her rock since she had come to the Sons academy and she missed his reassuring presence. It was a tough situation and they were going to have to sort things out soon, one way or another. Either they’d get back to where they’d been or they’d stop talking altogether. Ash didn’t want that, but she couldn’t stay in this limbo.
She jumped when Kelton came crashing into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. He looked like he meant business and she sat up, ready to hear what everyone else would be getting stuck into today. It was getting more than a little annoying to be left on the side-lines, but hey, at least she was still learning the theory even if she wasn’t allowed to join in.
“Sit down and shut up!” Kelton barked.
The guys all sat down quickly without argument. They knew better than to mess about when that tone of voice demanded something of you.
“I
need to speak to you all. This is something very important. I need your full and undivided attention.” Kelton glared around to make sure that every single pair of eyes were on him and that every pair of ears were ready to listen. “When our beloved leader, Bartholomew, died, we were expecting an influx of male warriors. As you are aware, that did not happen.” He flicked his eyes over to Aisline. “We did, however, receive the first female warrior of our race.”
“Yeah we did.” One of the guys at the back called out and a few let out a loud cheer, making Ash blush and grin with embarrassment.
Kelton glared around the room. He was pleased that the other trainees had taken so well to having a girl training with them, but this was a serious moment and they all need to focus on what he was saying. “We haven’t heard of anyone else receiving the mark since that time. After Aisline, we were half expecting more females of our race to receive the mark of the warrior, but that hasn’t been the case. Not as of yet, anyway.” They still weren’t ruling anything out, especially after this latest unexpected turn of events.
“I did, however, receive word that two new males have received the mark of the warrior.” A quiet murmur went through the room, but the noise was quickly extinguished with a harsh look from Kelton. “The two young men entered our academy last night. They are both strong, capable and willing to learn.” That was probably a bit of an exaggeration with regards to Caleb, but it was the right thing to say.
“So, they’re coming into our year? They’re going to be training with us?” Dylan asked, looking forward to seeing some new faces around the place.
“Of course they’ll be training with us, dumbass. Or he wouldn’t bother telling us about it.” Lewis sneered. He was getting more and more confident and cocky the more time he spent hanging around with Denver, which wasn’t a good thing. The boy had an unusually small frame for a warrior, and a bad attitude. When they had all first started their training, he had been a quiet little sheep, following Denver around like a lap dog. Since then, he’d been finding his feet and the rest of the guys in his training class weren’t so sure that was a good thing. The kid had a stinking attitude and nothing to back it up with.
“Quiet! All of you!” Kelton roared, annoyed at being interrupted yet again. “Shut the hell up and listen to me.”
The room fell silent once more. “Yes. We have two new recruits that will be joining you. They will be training alongside you and you will help them out in any way that you can.” Kelton didn’t think that this would be so hard to explain. There was no point in beating around the bush. The best way to tackle this was to bite the bullet. “The new recruits are not Lamia Matris. They are shifters.”
Animated chatter broke out in the room. He really couldn’t blame them for that. This new was huge. Plus, he would rather they get all their chatter out now, before the boys arrived.
“Settle down.”
“But, sir? Shifters? How did this happen?” Trey asked.
“We don’t know. We can’t explain how the magic works any better than you can. But it has happened and we’re going to have to work with it. The shifters are a good fighting race and they’d be able to bring something new to the table. Maybe they’ll be able to teach you lot a thing or two.” Kelton smirked.
“They’ll be in here in a moment. I want to remind you all that they are also warriors in training, just like the rest of you. They are to be treated with the same respect that you treat one another.” Kelton was kind of relieved that this was all happening while Denver was out of the class. He was the one that would be sure to cause a fuss. The rest of them in here would, on the whole, keep it together and include the new trainees.
Kelton nodded slightly and stepped back. He knew that they would all need a moment or two to process what he had just told them and he wanted to go and check on Kayleigh and the boys. She had taken Caleb and Rees to get kitted out in some work out gear. The rest of the stuff that they’d need would have to be ordered in. The weapons and such-like were made to measure and until they arrived, they would have to borrow and make do.
As soon as he stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind him, the conversation in the room rose considerably. This was really big news. Sure, Aisline had received the mark and that had been a really big deal, but shifters? This was huge.
“I can’t believe it.” Jase said, staring wide eyed at Aisline.
“I can. It happened to me. It’s not much of a stretch of the imagination to believe it could happen to a shifter. Clearly it can happen to anyone.”
“What? You think that this could happen to someone else? To more shifters?”
“Who knows?”
This really was a lot for them to digest and they knew that they wouldn’t have much time before Kelton came back in with the new recruits.
And, that time was up quicker than they thought when the door swung open and Kelton walked back into the room, followed by Kayleigh and the two new guys. Aisline sucked in a breath when she saw them.
The first boy looked so young. He was tall and well built, but his innocent eyes screamed out how young he really was. He was really cute, with a few freckles scattered across his cheekbones and rich reddish brown hair. His blue eyes were alert as he looked around the room and there was a ready smile on his lips. It was clear to see that this was an adventure he was loving.
The other one was something else. It was him that caught Aisline’s breath. He looked a little older, and tougher. He seemed like the kind of guy that wouldn’t take any crap off anyone. His hair was a few shades darker than the other kid, such a dark red that it was almost black in this light. His dark hair was a stark contrast to the sparkling green of his eyes that glared balefully around the room.
Aisline could tell that the older one was going to be trouble a mile off. He had that bad boy thing oozing out of him. The shifters were well known for being hard-asses with attitudes to match. Not that she had ever met one herself before today. Looking around at the expressions on the other guys faces, it was pretty clear that they hadn’t either.
The supernatural races tended to keep more to themselves. There wasn’t any big old feud between any of them, they just didn’t chose to go out of their way to socialise with one another. But, looking at the two guys in front of her, she knew that her best friend, Lana, would throw a fit if she saw them and would demand to be introduced to every single shifter on the planet if they were half as good looking as this pair.
Kelton glanced around the room, half surprised that the trainees had been shocked into silence. Again, this was probably due to the fact that mouth almighty Denver wasn’t in residence. They were all staring at the young boys he had brought back in with him, with expressions that he couldn’t entirely read. The boys didn’t appear to be hostile, merely curious.
The same couldn’t be said about Caleb and Rees. Rees still looked like an eager little puppy who couldn’t wait to get stuck in and didn’t look the least phased by being faced with a room full of vampires. Caleb looked ready to rip some heads off. It was easy to see who they were going to have problems with out of these two brothers. Caleb was the kind of kind that was going to feel out of his depths and was more than ready to fight his way through this situation, fists and feet flying, just to prove that he could. It wasn’t going to be easy, but what could Kelton do? He had promised Patrick that he would do his best by the boys, and he would. Whether Caleb would let him was a whole other matter.
“This is Caleb.” He nodded over toward the scowling boy, “And this is Rees. You will treat them as you would one another, with respect.”
“They’re going to be working with us?” Lewis said with a sarcastic sneer to his tone.
“Caleb will be working in this class, yes. Rees will be working with Master Warrior Verynai’s training class.” He turned and nodded to Kayleigh who started to lead the younger boy out of the room. The boy left with a cheeky grin and a wave.
“This should be fun.” Lewis sniggered.
Kelton
didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. Lewis would be the last person to start anything with the shifter, if he had any sense. Caleb would be able to crush him with his little finger. Not that Kelton would condone or advise that kind of behaviour, but Lewis would be plain stupid to try and start something.
“Would you like to go and take a seat with the rest of the class and we’ll get started.” Kelton motioned for Caleb to cross the room. He moved slowly, scowling deeply at anyone that dared to look his way.
“I want you all to get into groups of three, working in a triangle formation. Caleb, would you go with Trey and Dylan.” Kelton though that they would be the ones who would be the most helpful to the new kid, helping them settle in and get used to their way of fighting and training. Trey was a giant of a boy and was still growing. He would be able to handle anything that Caleb threw his way. Plus, Kelton was hoping that Trey’s gentle nature would rub off on the shifter. “You’ll need your gloves and focus mitts. We’re going to be going through some defensive combinations today.”
The rest of the boys rushed to get their bags that held their kit and Kelton moved to grab some equipment for Caleb to use. They’d managed to throw together a decent amount of gear for the new boys, and there was always plenty of spare sparring kit to be had. It was the especially made weapons that would take more time. Luckily, they wouldn’t need any of that yet anyway. Kelton had already adjusted some of the future training lessons so that Caleb wouldn’t be left on the side lines.
“What about me?” Aisline said as she walked over to him. She had her bag slung over her shoulder, hoping that he would finally relent and let her start training again.
“I want you to observe.”
“Observe?” she replied, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Observation was seriously starting to suck.
“Yes, observe. I want you to shadow the new recruit this morning, and then this afternoon, I want you to go and see Doctor Phillippe.”
Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel Page 14