Jackson trained harder, pushed himself to the limits and then pushed himself a bit further. It had been one of his main fears when he and Aisline had gotten into a relationship, his fear of her going out there on the streets and searching out the enemy. When she’d got caught up with the Mortourum ambush, his fears had been realised. Now, he trained to the max to make sure he was fully prepared when they graduated, to make sure that she was never in that situation again. He knew that Aisline would go nuts if she thought it was his main focus to protect her, but he couldn’t help it. Ash filled his mind and it was his goal to keep her safe. Sure, he knew that his role as a warrior was to protect all from the Mortuorum, but Aisline came before all of them.
That was why he was going along with all this Christmas crap. It made her happy and he would do all in his power to make her happy. After all she’d been through, she deserved that.
Shoving all the presents that she’d wrapped into a box in her wardrobe, Ash tidied up the room as best she could. She hated mess and there were little bits of wrapping paper littered everywhere and glitter was stomped into the carpet. The glitter wasn’t such a bad thing, as glitter and Christmas went hand in hand. The rest of it would grate on her nerves until she’d put it right again.
Putting everything back in its place, Ash decided to finish off later. The mess wasn’t going to go anywhere and it would still be there after she’d had dinner. It could wait. She ran a hand through the length of her ponytail, hating to leave it like that but she was starving and didn’t want to miss eating with the guys.
Opening the door with a sigh, Ash ran straight into Rhian as she stepped into the hallway.
“Watch where you’re going.” Rhian snapped at her. Rhian’s sister, Cala, trailed behind her, smiling apologetically at Ash.
As per usual, Rhian was looking immaculate, with her long blonde hair straight and glossy without a single strand out of place. Her clothes looked right at home with the mansion, but entirely out place among the warriors. Everyone here seemed to live in casual work-out clothes, something they could easily move and train in, but Rhian looked like she was ready to go to a society dinner.
Rhian couldn’t stand this place. It was like a hovel. Sure, they made the pretence of living the high life in a mansion, but she’d known real luxury and this was not it.
At first, she’d thought her mother was joking when she told them that they were going to go and live at the academy. Surely, she hadn’t been serious? She knew that this was not the kind of place that Rhian would like. But she had. They were here. And Rhian was hating every single moment of it.
There was nothing to do. You would have thought that being surrounded by muscle-bound males all day that she could have been able to find something to do, but all they were interested in was working out and training. Rhian thought that she would have had all the boys in the palm of her hands, but that wasn’t the case.
She wasn’t used to being snubbed like this. On any given day in any place in the entire world, she could have the man of her choice worshipping at her feet. Rhian took after her mother for her confidence and charisma, but it wasn’t working here. The boys barely noticed she was there. It was infuriating.
What was even more infuriating was that her sister, Cala, seemed so desperate to be ‘one of the gang’. That girl was always weasling her way in and sucking up to everyone, just to get noticed. She may be her sister, but Rhian couldn’t stand her. Cala was weak. She wouldn’t make it in this world, no matter how hard she tried.
Rhian wasn’t even willing to try. Why would she want to go out there and break a nail, all for what? They were learning to fight against some enemy that she didn’t even care about.
However, life was starting to get a little boring. You would have thought that their father, Master Warrior Kelton, would have made more of an effort to get to know them, but he was busy avoiding them like they had the plague.
Not that Rhian cared in the slightest. She didn’t need or want a father in her life. She had her mother and that was fine by her. At first, it had been a glorious idea that her father was the head of the academy and the warriors, but seeing as he was hiding what he was to them and not doing her any favours around here, she no longer cared. They say that it’s not what you know, but who you know, but here? Rhian was as happy to deny Kelton as he apparently was to deny them.
Cala cried herself to sleep. Rhian thought it was amusing. Her sister probably thought she was going to come here and find the family that she always craved. Well, the girl was sadly mistaken. She was as wanted here as she was by Rhian and Cassandra. She wasn’t.
And how funny was it that the girl, Aisline, thought that they would be friends, just because they were the same gender? Get real! Rhian had standards and she wouldn’t lower them for anyone. The only good thing about Aisline was that she was going to be an easy target for Rhian to have a bit of fun with. She strutted around the academy like she owned the place, thinking she was just as good as the boys and extremely proud of herself that she’d bagged the best looking guy in the place. Well, when Rhian was finished with her, she wouldn’t have anything. If Rhian was good at anything, it was ruining people’s lives and she was going to have some fun taking Aisline down. And when she did, she’d have Jackson worshipping at her feet, which was just going to be a bonus.
Aisline didn’t say anything but glared at Rhian’s back as she sashayed off down the corridor. The girl was a complete bitch. Her first impression of her had been spot on. Rhian was a spoilt little princess who thought that the world owed her. She wasn’t the kind of person that Ash wanted to spend time with.
Brushing a hand over her hair to make sure she didn’t look like something the cat had dragged him, Ash turned to shut the door to the room behind her. One thing that she loved about being at the academy and surrounded by the boys was that she didn’t have to care how she looked. She didn’t have to constantly make an effort to look good and make an impression. They were all here to work towards the same goal and no one gave a shit what she looked like.
It hadn’t been like that in the beginning. Being the only female warrior mean that all eyes had been on her. It was like living in a fish bowl when she first came here, eyes on her everywhere she went. Luckily, the combat and training side of things had come quick naturally to her and the progress she had made with her fighting skills had shown them that she was more than just a piece of ass playing at being warrior. She’d worked hard and they’d accepted her as one of their own.
Then, in walked the supermodel twins. It had been quite a knock for Aisline’s self-esteem. She had gotten used to scraping her hair back, throwing on some old clothes and working her fingers to the bone. With Rhian and Cala walking in and looking like they’d just stepped out of a salon, it made Aisline think about the lack of care she’d been showing herself.
Not that she had time for any of that crap and not that she had been interested in appearances before setting foot in the academy, but seeing those two gorgeous creatures walking in and stealing all the limelight, it made Ash think a little more about those things.
It was actually quite a surprise to Aisline how different Cala was to her sister. They may be identical in appearance, but Cala was nothing like Rhian. She was quiet and seemed quite nice on the occasions that they’d had time to speak. It wasn’t easy to get Cala by herself. Rhian rarely let her out of her shadow, keeping her under wraps. It felt kind of cruel because Cala seemed to want to make friends at the academy.
Ash couldn’t help but think about how different things could have been if Kayleigh had been there to mentor the two new girls. They clearly needed a little guidance on how to get on in this environment. Rhian was strutting around the place like she was the goddamn queen, Cala was like a scared mouse and Kayleigh wouldn’t have put up with that kind of behaviour from any of them.
Plus, Kayleigh had the soothing motherly quality that could have helped to bring Cala out of her shell. As it was, her sister ruled the roost and Cala
was consistently getting overlooked. It was completely intentional on Rhian’s part. It was obvious that she was an attention whore and there was no way she was letting go of any of the limelight, not even for her twin sister.
Aisline made her way down the grand staircase and to the dining hall. The noise hit her way before she even got near the double wooden doors. The delicious smell of cooked food hit her soon after, the aroma had her mouth watering and got her feet moving faster. Even though she hadn’t spent the morning working up a sweat, she was still starving.
Luckily, Jackson waved over to her and pointed to the empty seat next to him. There was a plate of steaming hot roast beef in the place he’d saved for her. Ash grinned at his thoughtfulness and rushed over, stomach rumbling.
“You are a life saver.”
Jackson chuckled. “The queues are horrendous today. I knew you wouldn’t want to wait for it.”
Ash smiled over at him gratefully as she tucked into the beautifully roasted potatoes, beef and vegetables that were piled high on her plate.
Lana, her best friend, always said that she was so jealous of the fact that Aisline could eat as much as any man and still not put any weight on. It sure had its benefits when it came to her obsession with strawberry milkshakes and lemon cheesecakes! She’d always been lucky in that way, but now that she was putting her body through the punishing training program, it felt like she never stopped eating and was always hungry. Her metabolic rate was through the roof. Poor Lana only had to look at food and she put weight on.
After the first few satisfying mouthfuls, Ash turned to glance at Caleb who was sitting on the other side of her. She had got used to him being friendly with the other guys in their group, laughing along with them through their mealtimes. Now, looking at him, he looked like he had when he’d first arrived at the academy several months previously. He looked sullen and had his earphones in, obviously refusing to communicate and converse with the others, hiding in his own world. Ash could hear Bring Me the Horizon coming from his earphones at full blast.
“He’s been like that ever since Kelton had a go at him this morning.” Dylan whispered from the other side of Jackson with a concerned glance at Caleb.
Ash didn’t know what to do. Obviously, the shifter didn’t want to speak to anyone and unfortunately, there wasn’t much that any of them could do when Caleb turned in on himself like that. All they could do was wait for him to pull himself out of his funk. They’d learnt that much about him over the last few months. If he Caleb didn’t want to do something, no amount of forcing would work. He was stubborn to the core.
“Get off me.”
Ash flicked her eyes when she heard Caleb’s low growl. Rhian was standing behind him with a smirk on her face.
“What’s the matter with you? Teacher’s pet fallen out of favour?” she sneered. Rhian loved messing with Caleb. He was such an easy target.
When she’d first set eyes on him, it was obvious that he wasn’t like the rest of them. There had been a subtle difference about him that she couldn’t figure out at first. Once she found out that he was a shifter, it made it all the more easier. They were well known for their short fuses and whenever Rhian wanted to relieve the monotony of life at the academy, she pulled Caleb’s strings. It was funny to watch him unravel so easily.
Caleb turned back to the table and cranked up the volume on his iPod even further, using his fork to move the food around on his plate without actually eating anything.
Rhian stood for a moment, smirking as she moved to stand behind Jackson. Caleb was fun, but Jackson was her main target. Running her fingers over his shoulder, she smiled sweetly. “You wouldn’t speak to me like that, would you?”
Jackson cleared his throat. “Caleb’s not himself at the moment.”
Rhian laughed before moving away to sit at a table with Cala. Ash glanced over at Caleb, but she didn’t bother to ask him if he was okay. She didn’t need to. It was obvious that his dark mood had deepened, thanks to Rhian. What a bitch! She turned back to Jackson, “What was that all about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Putting her hands all over you.” Ash frowned.
Jackson laughed awkwardly. “She didn’t have her hands all over me.”
Ash shook her head at him. It had been pretty obvious from the moment that Rhian had walked into the academy that she’d had a thing for Jackson. At first, Ash thought that she was imagining things, but Rhian went out of her way to talk to him and touch him. Just like she did with Caleb, but in a totally different way. With Caleb, she did all she could to rile him up and get him in a mood. Maybe she had a thing against shifters? Who knew? Rhian wasn’t exactly a likeable person. She didn’t seem to get on any better with the vampires, either. Well except for Jackson.
She wasn’t a total bitch and had hoped that she’d have a couple of new friends when the girls had landed on their door, but no such luck. So, she had to content herself with relishing the training and seeing the girls struggle with the routine. Despite the warrior mark, it was clear that they didn’t have any aptitude for physical activity and combat training. Neither of the girls had any fighting grace, style or aggression. At least Cala made some effort to try and get things right and Ash respected her for that, even if she did fail miserably most of the time. At least she tried, though. Cala was someone that Ash could get on with, if they were given the chance. Rhian wouldn’t even try to do the training after the first couple of attempts, opting to sit out and paint her nails while the rest of the guys worked up a sweat.
In the beginning, Kelton had tried to make Rhian join in with the cardiovascular work outs, as whether a trainee or not, he demanded fitness from all at the academy. But, Rhian wouldn’t even give it a go. After a while, he let it go. What else could he do? He spent all of his time trying to talk her into training while the rest of them stood around doing nothing. At least Cala was willing to give it all a go, even if she found it brutally difficult.
Aisline wished that things were different. Kelton had come to the decision to split the twins up, putting one in each of the training groups. They’d been stuck with Rhian. Ash wished that it had been Cala. She was a sweet girl and Ash would have liked to have had the chance to get to know her without her bitch of a sister getting in the way.
One of the things that Aisline could never understand was how easily Rhian managed to avoid the combat training so completely. She knew from personal experience how strong the call of the warrior mark was and Rhian didn’t seem to find it a problem in the least. Even Caleb and his little brother Rees couldn’t fight the lure and had to move away from their shifter pack and family and come to live at the academy. Rhian simply acted like being at the Sons was an inconvenience. Everyone else was there out of necessity and need. They needed to fulfil the urge to fight and protect. Rhian seemed to find it easy to ignore and just sat around looking bored most of the time.
She glanced over to see Denver sidling up to Rhian. They made the perfect pair in Aisline’s opinion. She couldn’t stand either of them and they were both as annoying as hell. Good luck to the pair of them.
“I can see what you’re doing.” Denver whispered, smiling slyly.
Rhian glanced over at him. Funnily enough, she hadn’t taken much notice of him before, but he was actually extraordinarily good looking. “And you are?”
“Denver. I’m in your training class?”
He looked insulted that she didn’t even know his name, but Rhian didn’t care. She tried her best to ignore every single person in this place, well except for the people she wanted to mess with. Hey, a girl had to have a hobby.
“What do you want, Denver?” Rhian was already bored with this conversation.
“I see what you’re doing. With Jackson and Aisline.” He whispered again, a glint in his eyes.
Rhian frowned at him slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I know. You’re messing with them.”
Rhian let a laughter tinkle out. She was a little unn
erved that someone had already figured out what she was up to. Taking his arm, she carefully led him out of the dining room where no one would overhear them. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
It was Denver’s turn to laugh. “Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone else is clued in on it, but I am. I know what you’re doing. And I want in.”
“Excuse me?”
“Whatever it is you’ve got planned, count on my support.”
Rhian narrowed her eyes at him. There was no way she was going to trust this guy, but there was something about him that she liked. “And why would you do that?”
“That little bitch has made my life hell here. I can’t stand her. She’s done everything he could to make me look bad and I think that it’s about time for payback. I want in.”
They stood in silence for a moment, weighing one another up. For some reason, she believed in. Rhian could see a kindred spirit in Denver, but she still wasn’t willing to trust him on this. This was his show. If he wanted to get his own back, he’d have to do it on his own time. This was her entertainment, to get her through the boredom of her time here.
“Well, why don’t you do something about it yourself?”
“I thought we could come up with something a little bigger and better if we worked together.” Denver puffed his chest out a bit, as if showing her his strength would sway her opinion of him.
Rhian slowly smiled. She may not want him in on the action, but maybe Denver could be some entertainment all on his own. “I’ll let you know if I come up with any ideas.”
Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) Page 3