Ch. 271..280
Chapter 0271
My temper flares and I may have to pretend later that my wolf’s rage took over and I had no control over my words or my actions. “Excuse you, are you f*cking kidding me? I was there, unlike you, I fought several of them. You can attempt to dismiss me all you want, but your delusions do not change the fact that my experience in this situation outweighs yours.” I turn toward Alpha Beau. “You are right, they were working together. In a way that suggests they train together, no different than any of our warriors. Three attacked while two hung back to observe. The second two engaged when Oscar, Mina and I were all injured in some way and separated. They knew what they were doing. I know I am not a full warrior yet, so I probably won’t get to hear these answers, but they need to be asked anyway. How did they get within a ten minute drive of the castle? I’m sure that you have people working on that, but there is no way five of them got past that many border patrols undetected unless they had some way to mask their scent and hide their trails.” I looked to Alpha Reggie, hoping he could read my mind. It’s the same as the attack on my pack, no scent, no trail to follow, the only difference is we actually got to fight someone this time and I don’t think the rogues were expecting us. “Are there evacuation plans? Based on reactions and observations, this is not the first time any of you have seen something like this.” I look at each Alpha, they all seem to be trying to hide the shame at being called out. We are all being attacked, but why?
“You’re right,” Alpha Emanuel speaks directly to me for the first time. “You won’t be hearing any of these answers, child. Now that you have given your account you may leave and let us strategize.”
I roll my eyes and look at Alpha Reggie. I’m sure he can see the murder in my eyes, but if he wants me to go so these idiots will actually get something done, I will. It’s about the greater good and benefit of the pack members, not my ego. This jacka*s will get his and I hope I at least get a few good hits in before that happens.
Alpha Reggie nods his head, understanding surging from his eyes. At least he gets that I just want to help. “Skylar, just a few more questions. Did you scent anyone before the attack?”
“No Sir, and I was downwind. I was the first to be attacked so I should have had some level of warning.” He knows of my strong and kind of unique sense of smell. That is one thing that has been bothering me all day too. I didn’t scent them at all.
“Did any of them say anything to you? Was there a threat issued?”
“No, nothing.They just growled and attacked. I’m not sure if that was because they didn’t expect us and acted on impulse or if they were the frontline of the attack and the people with threats or something to say were in the shadows watching somewhere.”
“And this is why she is here.” Alpha Reggie looks at Emanuel. I can’t even put his title in front of his name in my head, he doesn’t deserve it. “She brought up a point none of the rest of you even considered.
“I wasn’t allowed to help with the patrols after,” I look pointedly at Warrior Osiston, “So I can’t tell you if there were any other scents in the surrounding area and if they were doing any kind of masking it’s probably gone by now, but I would be happy to do a sweep just in case.”
“When we are done here, I think that would be a good idea. You can take a team and see what you find. In hindsight we should just keep a healer with you at all times so you can work through your injuries, since you seem to be in the line of fire most of the time.” He smiles at me and I just roll my eyes before returning it.
Chapter 0272
“So are we any closer to finding answers? It doesn’t seem like anyone knows anything right now.” Elder Bastian speaks up. “As much as you praise this girl’s abilities, she has yet to give us anything.”
And I’m back to seething.
“She actually gave us plenty, but only if you were paying attention. Her pack was attacked in a similar way and with no scent trails leading in or out. The difference being the rogues did what they needed to do and got out, they didn’t engage. The question still remains, were they supposed to engage here or were they taken by surprise? The possibility of them trying to get closer to the castle is high, but we don’t know the intended target. She also gave us a prisoner, which I will remind you, no one else accomplished. The second rogue we captured bled out before we got him to the hospital. Doc Gannon and Doc Sylvia said we can interrogate in about an hour.”
I nod my head with the rest of the ‘friendly’ Alphas and Elders. The ones who are far too focused on me and my presence just sit there looking like stubborn, petulant children.
Alpha Reggie turns to me. He doesn’t whisper, but the conversation is clearly between the two of us, just not private. “Skylar, I’m not ready to allow you to have the warrior brand yet. Don’t look at me like that, you are still too young. But, I do want you to be able to communicate with any of the warriors or us in an emergency. So I am going to make you an honorary pack member. This way you won’t lose your connection to your own pack, but can communicate with members of the Royal pack.”
I nod, it’s better than nothing. I feel like it's a good compromise in front of the guys here who just think I should go home and let the boys do the work.
Alpha Reggie stands and Warrior Osiston moves behind me and places his hands on my shoulders, like I’m going to try and run away.
“Give me your right hand.” Alpha Reggie instructs. “Do you pledge your loyalty to the Royal Pack?”
“Yes.”
“Do you pledge to fight for the safety and rights of Royal Pack members while you are here?”
“Yes.”
“Will you come to our aid whenever you are called?”
“Yes.”
“Skylar Makain, you are being granted a special privilege in becoming an honorary member of the Royal Pack. Due your duty for Blue Crescent, your home pack, keep your connections strong always and know that you now have a second duty to the Royal Pack. Develop and maintain your strong connections here as well. Do you agree to these terms?”
“Yes.”
He takes my hand and brings my wrist towards his mouth where his fangs have extended. He punctures the skin just below my thumb on my wrist and I can feel the connection immediately. It has been so long since I have heard extra voices other than my wolf in my head, it was almost overwhelming. I blink a few times to gain my bearings.
How do you feel, Little One? I imagine it has been quiet since you have been here.
Yes, it has. Thank you for this.
Alpha Reggie turns back to the group, but keeps talking to me through the mindlink.
You will stay at the castle again tonight. I am not convinced that you were not a target today.
“Now that formalities have been handled. We clearly have things to discuss. It has been a long day and I am sure everyone could do with some refreshments and rest. Let’s reconvene in the morning and brainstorm strategies for all of our packs. The rogues are getting more bold by the day and we will, hopefully, have answers from our guest in the dungeons too.” I don’t know how he was able to carry on the conversation with me over mindlink and with the group out loud. It was impressive.
Osiston will see you to your room, Xander and Oscar want to check in on you and Mina has also asked to see you. I will send Barty up with food for all of you so you can dine in peace.
Chapter 0273
Yes sir.
Osiston walks me to the elevators and we move silently to my room once we are on the family floor. I don’t know if his silence is comforting or imposing, but I do know that I am tired. I am tired of having to fight with these guys who think they are better than me because of my age, my gender, my size and who knows what else they are judging me for. It will never go away and I can keep my face at least passive in their presence, but it takes a lot of energy.
Before I can even think any further on the topic I am wrapped up in a hug and squeezed so tight, I think a rib may have cracked. Xander’s pine scent washes over me and it takes me a second to respond. I just realized he wasn’t down in the meeting with us.
“I’m glad you’re alright. It was hard to watch you be taken away after all of that.”
“I’m glad you were able to get to me in time. I think if they would have tried to double team me I would have been a goner. I really do need a ton of work, that was ridiculous. I have never been so out classes in my life.”
“What are you talking about? You handled the whole thing really well.” Oscar is trying to lift me up, but it feels like pity or a participation pep talk.
“I didn’t even smell them come up behind us. There is no excuse for that.”
“None of us scented them, that’s not on you.” He argues back.
“The problem is, I can scent everything even when others can’t. There has only been one other time I couldn’t catch a scent.” I look right at Xander hoping he understands. “I need to have Mina work me over. I should have never gotten bit like that.”
“Did I hear my name?” Speak of the devil.
“Hey! Are you okay? No one would tell me what was going on with you.”
“Yeah, it really wasn’t that bad, but that little b*tch had something on his claws so I wouldn’t stop bleeding and I had little slashes everywhere. It took both Doc Gannon and Doc Sylvia hours to figure it out. And of course they had to take a million samples to study.” We all laugh.
I’m learning I’m not the only Guinea pig when it comes to the Docs. They are fascinated by everything.
We head into my room and I fill everyone in on what happened at the meeting, which wasn’t much on my end, but Xander looked more and more angry as I told him how some of the Alphas behaved and reacted.
“Something is going on. Several of them have been questioning my dad more and more lately. I’ve never heard of anyone questioning the king, ever. Why are they starting now?”
“It’s clear they think that their opinions are important and carry more weight than they probably do. Are they trying to shift towards a democracy? Or maybe a type of monarchy that is actually run by them with a King to throw to the wolves when something goes wrong?” I am just thinking out loud, not really paying attention to what I’m saying.
“I don’t think that you’re far off, actually. With the constant meetings and forced mate stuff they are definitely aiming for some kind of control. I just don’t know why the shift now.”
Chapter 0274
Before we get any further in the conversation, there’s a knock at the door. I just shout for them to come in and Xander, Oscar and Mina all look at me like I have lost my mind.
“What? No one gets on this floor, I know food is coming for us. We should take bets as to who is delivering. I think it’s Barty and he has probably been with our food for the whole preparation and delivery.” I roll my eyes as I get up and head to the door, because whoever is on the other side must think along the same lines as the rest of my friends since no one came in.
I don’t wait for a response as I slowly open the door. “Oh, Barty, what a surprise to see you delivering our food!” I say loud and mockingly, giving him a wink so he knows the sarcasm is not directed at him in any way, he just got caught in the crossfire.
“Hey, settle down. At this point we only know there is a threat, and it’s close. No one has a clue who or why right now so everyone is a suspect.” Mina chides me with a smile. I stick my tongue out at her in response.
“So what do we know?” I ask as Barty closes the door and wheels the tray over to the sitting area. “This attack doesn’t seem like a surprise to you or your dad Xander, but the rest of the Alphas had their panties in a wad. You dad also mentioned hypotheticals when you guys were at Blue Crescent. This isn’t the first attack is it?”
I don’t even hide my curiosity and Mina jumps on the question wagon with me. We talk into the night and don’t even notice how much time has passed until Osiston comes into my room unannounced telling the guys to head to Xnader’s room and Mina and I to stay in mine. It doesn’t escape my notice that we are being kept in pairs.
“It’s one in the morning, you all need your sleep after the events of today. Mina, you will be traveling with Skylar to the Warrior camp, rooming and sharing a schedule since you are both still attending school. We will leave right after breakfast, 8am sharp, do not be late, any of you. Mina, things are
being packed for you and your training gear will be provided. None of you are to travel alone, anywhere, including the bathroom, showers, everything. We don’t know the nature of the attack or the reason behind it. All of you are important people so any of you could have been the target.”
“So are we under guard then?” Mina asks.
“In a manner of speaking, yes. We aren’t advertising what is going on, but you all are to keep track of each other. For obvious reasons we are keeping Xander and Oscar together, which leaves the two of you, but that works in our favor in several ways.”
“Wait! What’s obvious about Xander and Oscar?” Mina cuts him off and I flinch a little at the look that crosses his face from the interruption.
“We’re mates, Mina.” Xander says confidently and her eyes go wide.
“How does that work exactly? Being the prince and heir and needing to continue your family line and all that.”
“We haven’t found our female mate yet. We know we have one, but that’s all we know.” Oscar steps closer to Xander and laces their fingers together. The show of support is sweet and I get the feeling they will get that question a lot if people find out about them before they understand Xander has two mates and they are not looking forward to it.
Mina doesn’t even question it past that though. She just takes in the info, nods and moves on with her questioning. “So how does this work in our favor then?” She points between the two of us.
“Before you interrupted, I was about to explain.” Osiston deadpans and then moves on like it never happened. “Skylar has had a lot of attention surrounding her arrival here. We don’t discuss it, really it’s no one’s business and I will not be questioned any more, but your presence will help since it will be, on the surface, identical to her arrival. You have a late start and need to finish school while you
are training. You will transfer to all of Skylar’s classes, she will get you caught up on everything.” He holds his hand up. “Before you interrupt, she is taking higher level classes than you are, so you will step up. Now all of you go to bed, set alarms, anything that happened today is not to be discussed outside of your group or outside this castle, literally. Go.”
Chapter 0275
He isn’t angry, but the tone in his voice has even Xander moving more quickly. I get Mina a pair of the silky soft pajamas Luna Anne gave me and we both settle side by side in my bed. It makes me think of my time with Sierra and a pang of guilt washes through me. I haven’t even seen her since the last time I was in school. She’s my best friend and I have barely thought about her in the last couple days. I have so much to tell her and so much I have to keep quiet. I’ve never had a friend like that before and I feel terrible at just the thought of keeping something from her.
“What? Your whole face kind of went soft and pouty.” Mina asks, her voice softer than I’ve heard it at all today.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about my best friend. I tell her everything, like everything everything, and I have to keep so much from her. I feel bad since I only get to see her at school and we don’t have any classes together here, so lunch is the only time we can talk at all.”
“How do you already have a best friend here? Didn’t you just get here?”
“Yeah, I did, but Sierra came to my pack to stay with her aunt and uncle last year and we got close. She came back home and then I was brought to the Elite training, but it has been hard.”
For the first time I am sad about being here. I don’t regret it at all and I love that I get to do this, but now I have people to miss and maybe missing out on things normal teens do during the summer. I never thought about what I wouldn’t be doing when I was here, it’s a strange revelation.
“Are you talking about Doc Sylvia’s Sierra?” I nod.
“Oh girl! No worries there. She probably knows everything anyway, she’s got this weird way of getting people to spill their guts without even trying.” Mina starts to laugh and I join in, it’s true. “I know her, we’ve had a few classes together over the years. If she’s your best friend I wouldn’t worry about it, she won’t let your friendship go without a fight. You could be on your deathbed and she
would negotiate more time with the Moon Goddess if she thought you needed it.” I smile at the thought.
“I can’t wait for all of us to hang out a bit tomorrow. We get to start classes right away. Although I don’t know why we are going to start so late. If we are eating breakfast at eight, we will for sure miss the first two periods, that seems strange.”
“Who knows, Warrior Brogen has like ten plans running through his head at all times and I bet each of those has two back-up plans.” She laughs again. “But let’s get to sleep, cause he seems to have a soft spot for you, but he will publicly humiliate me and Oscar and probably Xander too, if we are late.”
Chapter 0276
[October/November - 5 months later]
“Again!” I shout picking my sorry ass up off the ground. Mina and Lillian both come at me with pure hatred in their eyes. We’ve been at this for hours, but I can’t seem to figure out how to get through the two of them.
We have progressed through training to the point where we are each given secret instructions by a leader and we have to follow through with our objective while also trying to figure out and stop our opponent, or in my case opponents, from completing their task. I moved onto multiple opponents a few weeks ago when I was able to subdue Warrior Nickolas and complete my task.
I’m not the only one, but I was the first. Ever since the attack at the beginning of the summer I have been more focused on training. I never want to be the weak link again. I could have died because I wasn’t paying attention just hanging out with my friends.
Lil and Mina won’t let me just hole up in my room or the study room when we aren’t training, much to my annoyance at first. It was so bad at one point that they got permission to bring Sierra to the compound to ‘talk’ me out of acting stupid. I say talk loosely, because she dragged me outside and proceeded to kick my ass until I pulled my head out and started fighting back. Then she brought the other girls in and it was three on one. We spared until we were all on the ground laughing and Sierra reminded me that I needed this too. I need friends and to relax so when I do fight my head is fresh and clear.
“Seriously?! I don’t think I have a body part that doesn’t hurt right now.” Lil whines at me. “You do realize that training ended an hour ago right?”
“And we have been doing this exercise for four hours.” Mina chimes in. They are trying to distract me so they can either get past me to just get a break. I’m thinking it’s the latter.
“I want to figure this out.” I say a bit whiny to my own ears. “I don’t like leaving things unfinished. And besides, if we are in a fight like this, our attacker isn’t going to give us a break, no matter how long we’ve been fighting.”
“We don’t have to leave this unfinished, just on pause. We both have homework and we all need to eat. There is no point in getting injured in training because you don’t know when to stop. We also have to meet with Warrior Brogen and Warrior Nickolas in twenty minutes. You know they will both be pissed if we are late. Even if it was to complete this crazy ass battle assignment.” Mina says looking at her phone. I hadn’t even noticed she walked away from us.
“Fine.” I grumble as I walk over to where our stuff is. “Let’s go shower and change, then we can grab something to eat on the way to their offices.”
We were ready in record time and arrived at the building that housed all of our trainers. I discovered it a few weeks after getting here. It’s set on the opposite side of the obstacle training grounds, so you would never see it unless you are like me and need to understand your surroundings completely. Which means being nosey and wandering around getting a lay of the land. On the outside it looks the same as our building, modern white and black and very grand. The inside is all dark wood and cabin feeling. It is so much more homey than the utilitarian style we have. But that does make sense since most of these trainers live here full time, unless they are on assignment.
We walk into the entryway and ring the bell, signaling our arrival. No trainee is allowed past this room without an escort. It’s the one way they keep a solid line between their personal and professional lives.
Chapter 0277
Warrior Nickolas walks out a few minutes later, just nods his head to follow, turns and walks back down the hall he came from. We enter a meeting room with a large oval table in the center and at least a dozen chairs surrounding it. There isn’t much for decoration, but there is a screen on one far wall and a projector that hangs from the ceiling. Other walls are covered in large bulletin boards and white boards. This must be a strategy room for bigger missions.
“Sit, please.” I look up and Alpha Reggie is sitting at the end of the table furthest from the door. “We have several things to discuss and I am on a time limit.”
We both nod and sit opposite Warriors Nickolas and Osiston. Alpha Reggie usually isn’t this curt with me so something must be really wrong.
“You both have excelled far better than we could have expected out of such young wolves, but as it is you are now being considered for a future mission.”
My ears perk up and I sit a little straighter at this revelation. I didn’t expect to go on any kind of mission until I was at least eighteen.
Alpha Reggie takes a deep breath before he continues. It feels like he is being forced to say whatever is about to come out of his mouth.
“This mission is recon only,” Another deep breath, “But you both fit a demographic that will allow you to get closer and possibly gain information that my warriors have yet to obtain.” He looks at the warriors across from me with irritation oozing off of him. Neither of them shift or acknowledge the barb. “With the more frequent and bold attacks, we can now assume that the royal family is the target. Trying to weaken our defenses by having our warriors continually injured or over tired from fighting. Setting the rest of our pack and surrounding packs against us by making it appear like we can not do something as simple as protect our borders. I think the hope is to wear us down for a less defended final attack.”
He takes another deep breath and rubs his eyes like he is already tired.
Warrior Osiston speaks up, finishing the thought. “We know it is the Rogue King trying to take the King’s place. We know that he has pockets of rogues stationed throughout the kingdom. Our biggest issue is we can’t seem to find them. None of them have a scent to follow and there doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to the attacks. They are using chaos to hide what they are really up to and so far it’s working.”
“What does that have to do with us?” I ask.
“What demographic do we fill that can get you information?” Mina follows right up.
“They have started taking girls around your age.” Alpha Reggie looks right at me and I can feel my face go pale and cold. No way. He just nods his head. “We have been avoiding this for a while and I have tried to keep you out of it, but it's time. We need to know what he is doing and figure out how to stop him.”
“Wait, what just happened? I don’t understand. Mina is looking between me and Alpha Reggie.
“Having the both of you on the team allows us more access. We all look like warriors on a mission while we walk around in our everyday lives. The two of you blend into crowds better. Fitting the demographic allows you both to ask questions about what is going on without raising suspicion, you can both play concerned girls trying to stay safe and trying to understand what’s happening.” Nicolas continues. “Any recon we do has to be done in the shadows, in the background. While the two of you could stroll down the street talking to whoever walks by. We are at a standstill and we need to figure out where these guys are hiding.”
Chapter 0278
Mina and I look at each other. I know I am trying to contain my excitement, by the look on her face she is too.
“So what does that mean for us? What are we doing exactly?” Mina asks.
“You will start training with our recon team. We have a very specific way that we gain and relay information. We need to make sure that you are able to work within our formations and understand all of our calls and codes.” Nickolas looks serious, letting us know that he’s on board with this but wary at the same time.
“We also need to get you branded.” Alpha Reggie begins. “It’s for your safety and our peace of mind. The elders voted ‘no’ last night when we proposed it, but we will approach them again. Now that we have solid proof that female wolves are being stalked and taken, it’s less of a choice as it is a duty now. These untrained, unwilling girls are being taken and we don’t know for what purpose. But, you both need the brand so we can track you if something goes wrong.”
“And when it comes to the Rogue King, we expect it to go sideways.” Nickolas mutters loud enough to be heard by all of us.
A flutter rushes through my stomach at the thought, but I don’t think it’s fear. Is it crazy that the thought of being captured excites me a little? What does that say about me? Oh Goddess, I am nuts, but I don’t feel bad about it at all.
“Can we start training with the team even if we aren’t branded, while you are trying to convince the Elders to allow our brands?” Mina asks. I was too far ahead of the game in my mind. We need to start first.
“I think that would be wise. The Elders will be brought to reason, but we can’t delay. They could move at any time and we need to get into one of their locations.” Osiston says. “You will no longer
be doing your regular daily training. You will both join our team for overnight training beginning today. Your school schedule will remain the same and we expect you to keep up your work, but you will not be required to do evening training so you can rest before joining the team again. The team’s mission and your roles in it are classified.”
We both nod when he doesn’t continue.
“Report to the front of the dorms tonight at 8pm, we will take you to the team from there. Make sure you eat before you go, there will be no other time for that once training begins.” Nickolas says in that serious voice again.
I’ve never heard him like that in our other training sessions. But maybe it’s because this is real, not training or a demo.
“Once we know more about the branding we will let you know.” We both nod again. “You may go.” Alpha Reggie dismisses us.
We both stand quickly and move towards the door. As soon as we’re across the threshold they all begin speaking and not really all that quiet.
“We are setting them up, why would we do that?” Nickolas's voice carries.
“I agree they don’t belong on this mission, but we have no other choice. We know what he’s after now.” Osiston’s voice answers, clearly bored with this line of thinking.
“So we’re just going to give them what they are looking for on a silver platter?” Nickolas barks back.
The door closes before I get the chance to hear anymore of the conversation. Nickolas clearly doesn’t want us on this mission. I thought we got along, were even becoming… friendly isn’t the right word, but maybe we have a mutual respect, but I guess we aren’t ready enough for him yet. Which makes me angry and has me worried all at the same time.
I bust my ass in training, I know how to fight and defend myself against all of the best warriors here. I am getting better at the submission game we have been playing. But if he’s worried we aren’t ready then maybe we are missing something. He spends the most time with us during training sessions and knows our skills well. He doesn’t seem like the type to hold anyone back, but we are different being younger than everyone, in my case a lot younger.
We head back to the dorms and our shared room. I was so excited when I was told we were going to be roommates. Audrina, of course, was pissed. I think mostly because we were moved to the guys side of the hallway into the floor leaders suite. Wyatt gave up the suite and moved next door to an empty room happily.
Chapter 0279
We have our own bathroom, which is helpful with our schedule and the space is big enough for our twin beds and two desks. We aren’t here enough to need to lounge or anything, just the basics. We share the closet too, but since everything is uniform there isn’t a lot to it.
No one knows why we have this set up, it’s never been done before, but we are working the ‘too young to actually be here’ angle and that it’s more efficient for school.
Since she has been here and attached to my hip Audrina and her friends haven’t even tried to mess with me. I don’t know if it’s the commanding aura she gives off, the fact that we are never apart long enough to be cornered, or that together we have beaten every single person or team we have come up against, but I’m not complaining.
Overall training has gotten better without the constant undermining. I feel like I have finally started to settle here and this is where I am truly meant to be. The only thing I miss is my brother and the guys. I haven’t had a chance to write back to them. I feel like everything has picked up pace since the attack. Trainings are more greuling, school has gotten into full swing and Mina needs help since joining all of my classes. She decided that my class schedule should be used as cruel and unusual punishment. And we haven’t seen Xander or Oscar since the attack.
Barty stopped by and told me there is a family dinner happening soon and Mina and I are to attend. Which will be a nice treat.
“So what do you think all of that was back there after we left?” Mina turns to me after shutting and locking our door. Another thing we both do out of self preservation.
Our door is locked no matter if we are here or not. We have to assume the attacks are being assisted by someone. Nothing has happened here on the compound grounds, yet, but we can’t get complacent. It’s what got us both injured in the first place.
I sit cross legged on my bed after kicking off my shoes. “I don’t know, but it sounds like Warrior Nickolas really doesn’t want us on this mission. I wish he would say why though. Maybe if there is some training we haven’t completed yet, we could get on that. It’s not like they have us on a normal track anyway.”
‘I think he is worried about something. I didn’t get the feeling it was us though. More like he’s worried for us not about us being there. They are taking girls, maybe he’s worried about sending you into the lion’s den with your royal blood and all that.” She gives me a shove and a smile.
“If they were worried about that at all, I wouldn’t even be here. There’s no point in training me to be an elite warrior and then lock me in a tower for the rest of my life.” I shrug her off. “Who knows, maybe he’s tired of all the double standards when it comes to us. I mean, I was told that I would be training with the warriors, like the warriors, and to expect the extra school and work stuff to be a secondary priority, but still a big deal. But, when I think about it. I have been given every pass that is possible to have. I miss trainings to do things at the castle, I guess it counts as training when I’m learning and training with Alpha Reggie. I also had that whole Elders weekend thing with all of the outfits and dresses and changes to my schedule then. My classroom teachers don’t even blink now if a warrior comes in to deliver a message to me.” I roll my eyes.
“That’s how it is for any of the Royals though, and I hate to break it to you, but you are a Royal whether you like it or not.” She pats me on the head like a toddler. I shove her off and over to her own bed.
“Well, look at it this way, at least now we can see how they do research and recon. I have always been curious about the planning rooms, it’s so mysterious. She’s tapping her steepled fingers to her chin like a cartoon villain. “I want to know what they do to plan everything.”
Chapter 0280
I have to admit, I’m excited too. This is what I have been dreaming about ever since I found out about the Elite Warriors. Working in the shadows, no one really knows who you are. It’s not about the glory for them, well most of them, I think as Audrina’s face pops into my head. They are the ones who take care of the really hard stuff and never get any public recognition. They make pack life better and most don’t even realize it.
“We better get the homework done then, and maybe a nap if we’re going to be up all night.” I move towards my books.
“Wwwwhhhhyyyy?!” Mina whines. “We are like two weeks ahead on everything. I hate your classes, have I ever told you that?”
I laugh. “Maybe once or twice. But we don’t know what this new training is going to do to us. If we can’t stay ahead, it’s going to be a bigger pain in the ass, trust me. Let’s get this out of the way and then we can actually focus for the next week on training.”
“Ugh, I hate it when you make sense!’ She moves for her backpack. “At least most of the classes are starting to make sense. Math might kill me though. I may just have you take the test for me so the professor doesn’t have to wait a week for me to finish it.” We both start to giggle.
For the next two hours we work through everything that we can. Mina asks for help every now and then, but mostly we just work in comfortable silence.
By 6pm we are starving and as far as we can go with all of our subjects so we head downstairs to see if we can grab food before one of the warriors picks us up for training. Stella and Jack must have been told what was going on in some form, because when we walked into the kitchen two heaping plates were set aside with our names on them. I just smiled, something about the way they take care of us feels like what Luna Ava and Alpha Lucas would do. Parents secretly caring for the kids that want to grow up, but doing it without hovering.
We take our plates out to the dining room. While we are eating Audrina, Bridget and Chelsea walk by laughing about something. They all stop at the same time. It’s almost like they share a brain. Now that I think about it, maybe they do since they have all been branded, maybe they were talking over the shared link and somehow knew to stop together. I don’t know.
“What the hell?” Chelsea asks.
“Since when do we get to eat in the middle of training? And where’s the spread?” Bridget says looking around, like maybe she could get in on the action.
“We have orders and need to eat earlier than usual.” Mina keeps her tone level and reasonable. She really is so much more calm when dealing with people. THey way she acts out in public, you would never know her real age. The way she whines about homework is another matter altogether.
“That’s just code for the spoiled princess gets whatever she wants.” Audrina snarks, but the cold stare of her eyes says she’s not amused.
“We did extra training earlier, still met you this morning before the rest of the warriors are due to come out and like I said, we have orders. We’ve done the time and then some. If you don’t like our arrangement you will need to take it to the warrior who will be here to pick us up around eight.” Mina stares them all down. For a Delta her presence is strong. The difference is, she doesn’t use it to make people bow down to her, more as a pressure to help them understand she’s serious and rethink certain actions or thoughts.
“Whatever. You two are so lazy just hanging out here in the compound while the rest of us actually work. You’ll never get called up if you can even manage to graduate.” Audrina shrugs and starts to walk away.
Neither of us respond. It’s not worth mentioning, again, that we train more than she does with all the extra thatI force my friends to put in and whatever hairbrained thing she has us do every morning
trying to wear us down so we make a mistake in front of the lead warriors. It has actually become a part of our routine that we plan for each day.
“She’s so jealous of you it’s kind of disturbing.” Mina says around a mouthful of food.
“What are you talking about? I don’t think it’s me she’s jealous of. You walked in here like you owned the place and then owned the sparring mat your first night. I think I might still have a couple bruises left over.” I laugh at her.
“Shut up, we both know you healed in like five minutes. I’m a warrior, my presence is supposed to be known. You came in unknown. No one knew you, or had heard of you. You’re this tiny little snack sized person…” I cut her off with a laugh. “What?”
“One of my friends nicknamed me ’Bite Size.’ That eventually got shortened to ‘Bitty.’ Actually, all my friends had some stupid small nickname for me. I laughed thinking about the way that all started, then sighed. I miss them.
“Was he special?” She asked with a funny look on her face.
“They were all special and stubborn and overbearing and wonderful and I miss them.”
“They? How many hearts did you break when you left?”
“Wait, what? Breaking hearts? What are you talking about?”
“That look in your eyes tells me Mr. Bitty was more than just a friend to you, he was special. But you just said ‘they.’ How many boyfriends did you have back home? And how did you handle all of them? I had one boyfriend once and he was enough guy to handle. I can’t imagine having more than one.” She fans herself.
“WHAT? No! No, no, no! I didn’t have a boyfriend, I’ve never had one.” My voice is getting high and kind of raspy and I can’t control it.
“So, you’re telling me that you had guy friends and did nothing with any of them? No dating, kissing, hand holding, anything?”
“Sometimes they would hold my hand, especially when the trials were going on, it helped to calm my nerves and they all used to kiss me on the cheek or forehead, things like that. But, no, I didn’t date any of them.”
“So they were all touchy feely with you, but you did nothing back. Girl, you missed all the signs.” She’s laughing now.
“Huh? You make no sense. There were no signs. These are my brother’s friends, they are all like extensions of that. They are just over-protective.” I roll my eyes.
“You keep telling yourself that.” She laughs again. “You may have missed your chance to have all your firsts with a future Gamma, Delta and Alphas. I bet they have plenty of experience for you.” She winks.