“What?” Denver smirked. “You’ve gone all quiet. You come here squaring up to me and then you’ve got nothing to say? Not such a hard man after all are you, eh?”
You could have heard a pin drop in the silence of the room. Caleb clenched his shaking hands into hard fists. The rage that was flowing through him was barely contained. He had been feeling the pressure ever since last night.
The warriors had told him to stay in his room, bringing Rees to him. It wasn’t easy knowing that his pack was outside and it wasn’t until after he had found out the full extent of what had gone down. Caleb appreciated the fact that Kelton hadn’t tried to hide anything from him. He knew how these things went and wasn’t at all upset to hear that Carlos had bitten the dust. The guy was a dick and the pack was better off without him.
It cut him deep to know the troubles that his pack were having with coming to understand what the warrior mark and its call was all about. It was hard enough for him to understand it, so their confusion was understandable.
Caleb had almost physically felt the closest of his kin and it killed him not to be near them, but he understood that it was for the best for him to stay away from them. Patrick and Kelton could deal with it on their own, and they had.
It was hard for Rees. At first, he had gotten really excited to know that his pack and family were near. It was hard for him to comprehend that they weren’t there for the right reasons. Even Caleb now knew that if they had their way and had taken him and his brother from the academy that the results could have been disastrous. As much as he hated it there, the academy was the one place that they could deal with this mess. The warriors knew what they were doing and Caleb appreciated it, even if he didn’t show it.
Now he had to deal with Denver on top of all of that. He didn’t dare move or utter a single word in case he erupted. He wouldn’t be held responsible for his actions. Sure, he wanted to teach the dumbass a lesson for talking shit about his people, but he knew that if he didn’t try to control himself that he would tear this kid limb from limb with his bare hands. After the display that the shifters had put on last night, it was the last thing he should be doing.
Denver burst out laughing in a mocking manner. “Look!! The fur-ball tries to play a tough game, but he isn’t man enough to follow it through. Let’s hope that you don’t choke out there in the real world. If you freeze up in front of the enemy, they’ll eat your furry ass for breakfast!” Denver continued chuckling as he turned to look at Lewis. “A warrior? What a joke.”
Caleb couldn’t contain it a single second longer. He couldn’t hold it all in. Watching his arm shoot out and grab Denver by the throat, swinging him around, it was like he had no control over his actions whatsoever. It was like his fist moved all on its own, landing with a sickening crunch, connecting viciously with Denver’s nose which exploded in a fountain of blood. It took all his strength and determination to stop himself from jumping on the little rat as he fell to the floor and pummelling him until his facial features were unrecognisable.
Denver was howling on the top of his lungs as Kelton walked into the sparring room. He glanced around and noticed that the trainees were standing in a close knit group with blank expressions on their faces. Kelton knew that look well enough. Either a fight was about to happen or it already had kicked off and by the sounds of Denver’s outraged wails, it had already started and finished. The rest of the group were standing deadly still as he dramatically writhed on the floor.
“What the hell is going on in here? Can’t I leave you alone for two minutes?” Kelton demanded. No one said anything. Kelton looked down at the floor. Denver was cradling his face, blood running through his fingers. “Do I even want need or want to know happened here?”
“Yes! He did…” Denver started to say.
Jackson stepped forward. “I think that it’s all sorted now.”
Kelton looked at Jackson questioningly as the boy moved to stand next to Caleb. Even though he knew that Jackson and Denver had their issues, he didn’t think that it was the two of them who had been fighting. It wasn’t until the crowd started to disperse that he saw a knowing nod pass between Caleb and Jackson that he understood a little more what was happening. It was good to see Jackson taking the shifter under his wing. Not that he condoned any sort of violence within the ranks, but Denver pushed a lot of buttons and it could only happen for so long before one of them bit back. It was inevitable that sooner or later it was going to backfire on Denver.
Shaking his head slightly, Kelton shouted, “Get into groups of four. Grab your gloves and mitts. We’re going to pound out some combinations.” As he moved to get his own boxing gloves, Kelton stopped to talk to Caleb. “Is everything okay with you?”
“Everything’s fine.” Caleb snapped, his temper still spiking. Pounding his aggression out on the pads would be welcome today, and probably preferable to pounding the hell out of Denver.
“You do know that you can come to me if you have any concerns. If you want to talk about last night, or if anyone is giving you any hassle, I’m here.”
“I’m fine. Thanks.” Caleb said through gritted teeth.
Kelton looked at the boy for a moment. He only wanted the boy to know that he had the option of going to him if he needed or wanted to. It was clear that the boy would never be inclined to take him up on that offer. “Just remember that I’m here if you need anything at all.”
“Whatever.” Caleb replied in his typical sulky manner.
As the boys grouped up, Kelton couldn’t help but think how different the shifter boys were to the rest of them. He was pleased now that Master Warrior Verynai had convinced him to split the brothers up. Rees was much more pliable and easy going to work with and needed a lower level of supervision than Caleb. However, he was pleased that he had kept the boys together during their study times. He knew that they spent a lot of time together outside of training, but they needed that more than most. They needed the pack connection.
As he watched all the trainees getting their gear together and getting into groups, Kelton called out, “Remember, groups of four. Aisline, Jackson and Denver, you’re with me.” He watched as the three of them glanced briefly at one another before quickly rushing over to where he was standing and waiting.
“Does this mean that I get to train today?” Ash asked eagerly.
“Well, the doctor says that you’re fighting fit. Let’s see if she’s right, shall we?” Kelton couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. She had been waiting for this moment for weeks.
“Oh believe me, she’s right!”
Flashing them all an evil grin, Kelton got stuck straight in, demonstrating several punch combinations for the class to work on before pounding Aisline, Jackson and Denver into the ground.
She felt like her arms were going to drop off. It felt so good to be back even if her body did feel like one big dead weight. It was physical proof that she was back in the game.
Ash had the feeling that Kelton had stepped the training up a notch or two. He usually worked them all into an exhausted sweat, but this went above and beyond. At first, she thought it was simply because she was out of practice and more out of shape than she had first thought, but noticing the looks on the other guys faces, she wasn’t so sure. They looked ready to drop.
It was great to be back in it. It was strange how much she missed pushing herself to the physical limits like that. Sitting on the side-lines and watching as the others trained had bored her senseless and she had hated every single minute of it. The pain and aches in her muscles were totally worth it to be back doing what she did best.
It was quite an experience. Usually, Ash concentrated solely on what she was doing. The physical side of things came quite naturally to her and she absorbed everything Kelton taught her like a sponge. She was used to working in a group with Trey and Jackson and they had unlimited patience with her as she strived to perfect her moves. Ordinarily, she did everything she could to avoid being near Denver and she was
n’t sure why Kelton had lumped them all together.
It all became clear soon enough. Kelton was going for subtle humiliation. Or if that hadn’t been his intent all along, it was certainly the outcome. Even out of practice, Aisline was outshining Denver by a mile. He was messing up his combinations, striking out with the wrong punches and continually missing his target. Kelton was gradually getting more and more annoyed by the minute, and the angrier he got, the more Denver messed up.
When Kelton was going through the combinations with Denver over and over again, it gave Ash time to look around and check out how the others were doing.
It was Caleb that caught her eye. She had only worked with him a few times and never in a real physical capacity, purely more in a mentoring role, but he was awesome to watch. Those rippling muscles held her in fascination. It was obvious that he was pounding the living crap out of the pads that one of the other guys was struggling to hold for him, probably imagining that it was Denver’s face while he did it.
He’d caught her looking at him once or twice and Ash turned away, blushing furiously. Then, when she turned away, it was Jackson’s gaze that she caught. She didn’t know where to look for the best.
Things were getting more and more confusing and complicated as time went on. There was man-candy walking around everywhere with copious amounts of finely toned flesh on show, but up until now, she had only noticed Jackson. Why were things changing now? Why were her eyes suddenly opening?
It was difficult. Sure, Caleb was a beautiful creature to look at, but she wasn’t interested in him like that. It was confusing. Perhaps it was because things were so up in the air with Jackson, but whatever it was, it was hurting her brain.
Aisline didn’t know what to do for the best. She knew what the safest and most sensible option would be, but that wasn’t always the easiest. She knew that the grown up thing to do would be to concentrate purely on her training now that Kelton had let her back in. She knew that it would be for the best to forget about the pair of them. It wasn’t all that easy, though. Jackson had crept in under her skin since the moment she’d met him and saving her from a fate worse than death had only brought them closer.
But, Jackson was the one that pulled away from her. All those promises he’d made to her when he thought that she was unconscious were gone, dead and buried. It didn’t seem to stop him from watching her with longing, but they still weren’t getting any closer. Their friendship was slowly rebuilding, but was that going to be enough? It was going to have to be.
Then there was Caleb. Since he had come to the academy, he had seemed to be checking her out. Not that she thought he would ever try to act on it. After all, she was one of the bloodsuckers and they might be friends, but neither of them would take it any further. He might like the look of her, but he would never act on it. He was hot as sin and had it all going for him, rough and ready, mean and moody, and he was a pretty decent guy to boot. But, no matter how good looking he was, Ash wasn’t feeling that for him. There was no way she was going to make a fool of herself again. She’d done that with Jackson and refused to go through that again.
He was flirt. Caleb was clearly a killer with the ladies, but Ash wasn’t going to take any of it seriously. She needed a friend. He needed a friend. That was it. That was all it was going to be.
Plus, Aisline knew that going after Caleb would be wrong. It wasn’t that he was a shifter, after all, she wasn’t looking for a husband or anything. But, it would only be a re-bound thing for what she was feeling for Jackson. There was no way that she would be able to do that to him. She wasn’t heartless enough to deliberately use someone like that.
It was a catch twenty-two situation.
Wherever she looked, she had the wrong answer.
Life truly was much simpler when you were single and Aisline was determined to keep it that way.
Stepping into the shower, Aisline quickly switched the water on to cold and yelped at the sudden temperature change. She was feeling gross, all hot and sweaty after the intensive training. The muscles in her body ached like a bitch, complaining after weeks of not being used to their full extent.
It was good to be part of the group again. An active part of the group. Sitting out and watching the others wasn’t her bag.
Stretching out on her bed for a minute, Ash was sorely tempted to crawl her way into bed and get an early night. She was beyond exhausted. But, she’d promised Lana that she would ring her tonight, even though she didn’t have the strength to walk downstairs. Honestly, she felt like she’d end up crawling on her hands and knees, but she had promised.
Lana would immediately ask about any boy problem she was having. Normally, Ash would refrain from comment as she usually did in their messages and emails, but maybe Lana could actually help her out on this one. Anything was worth a shot to try and get her head straight. The sooner she did that, the sooner she would be able to concentrate on everyday life again without boys messing her head up.
Chapter Twenty.
The next morning, the trainees pushed and jostled in the breakfast line. The boys in Kelton’s class were determined to stock up with plenty of food, knowing that they’d need all the energy they could get. If the last training session was anything to go by, they would be in for a hell of a ride today.
“Hey.”
Ash turned around to see who it was that had tapped her on the shoulder. It was Caleb. “Hey, you.” She replied with a smile.
“Look,” he glanced around to make sure that no one else was listening to them. “What were they talking about yesterday?”
“Yesterday? Who?”
“Denver and Trey. What were they talking about?”
Oh crap, she thought to herself. Blinking her eyes, she couldn’t think of anything else to say. There was no point in lying to him as he had walked in on the end of the conversation, which was what had started the whole fight anyway. He would only go and find the truth out from someone else, so she might as well be the one to tell him. “They were talking about one of the shifter females that came here with your pack the other night.”
“They were what? What?” Caleb frowned deeply. “What were they saying?”
“Trey wasn’t saying anything bad, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Then if it wasn’t anything bad, you can just tell me exactly what was said.”
“Trey was telling me that he thought that she was really cute and it was Denver that butted in the conversation with his usual dumbass comments.”
“Trey said what?”
Ash rolled her eyes. “Look, Caleb. He wasn’t saying anything bad. He liked her. He thought she was cute. It was as simple as that. It was Denver who was being a jerk about it.”
“Denver is a complete dick.” Caleb’s lip curled into a feral snarl.
“You’re learning fast. That’s lesson number one around here.” Aisline moved as the line shuffled slowly along. “Honestly, Trey hasn’t got a bad bone in his body. He’s a genuine guy. He wouldn’t have meant anything bad by it.”
“Yeah, I know that. He’s a great guy.” Caleb nodded reluctantly before raising an eyebrow at her. “So, he liked her, huh? Does he even know her name?”
“He does, as a matter of fact. She’s called Starr, or at least that’s what she told him.” Ash grinned back at him, but the smile faltered when she saw the look on his face. He didn’t look aggressive like he had a minute ago, but he definitely didn’t look a very happy bunny. “What’s wrong? Do you know her well?”
“Starr? Yeah, you could say that?”
“Well, who is she?”
“She’s my cousin.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. Exactly.”
That wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. That wouldn’t make for an easy situation, especially after what Denver had said.
She wished that she had skipped breakfast this morning. Sure, it wasn’t a big deal, but it wasn’t going to make for an easy situation. Caleb was just really start
ing to talk to some of the guys there and Trey was one of them. The last thing Aisline wanted was for there to be some atmosphere between them because of Trey’s feeling for Caleb’s cousin.
It was silly to make some big deal out of it. There was a damn good chance that Trey and Starr would never cross paths again. It was a rare thing to know of a friendship or relationship between a shifter and a vampire, at least it was before the shifter boys got their warrior marks and were thrown into the academy mix. A romance between the two races was definitely unheard of, so Caleb had nothing to worry about. She was pretty sure that Trey wouldn’t pursue this. It was probably only going to be one of those silly daydream fantasies that helped you get through a hard day.
But, who was she to judge? Who was she to decide what happened to Trey? Maybe he should go for it and search her down? Who knew? Aisline saw how happy he had been when he’d been telling her about Starr, so who was she to hold him back?
“You know, you should give him her number?”
“What? Why would I do that?” Caleb looked taken aback for a moment.
“Why not? You said yourself that he’s a good guy.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t look too convinced.
Ash dropped the subject and turned back to the line in front of her. She was starving this morning and he didn’t look like he wanted to discuss it any further anyway, which was fine by her. His cousin dating a vampire? It would have been a weird concept for him to accept.
Could this place get any more confusing? Her head was already hurting and the day hadn’t even started yet.
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