Chapter 230: Training Commences
The next morning, the sound of an alarm blaring throughout the camp woke Kylo.
He groaned, rubbing his eyes as memories of last night flashed through his mind.
He and Cullen had gotten... ’freaky’ in the woods. And he actually enjoyed it.
It was the first time he’d ever had such an experience with a man, but he didn’t know how to feel about it.
As the alarm kept on blaring, Osmond’s annoyed groan filled the tent.
"Ugh! I could barely catch any sleep." He mumbled as he sat up on his bed before stretching lazily.
Just then, his father’s voice sounded from the megaphone.
"Alright, trainees! Get your lazy asses up and head for the camp’s center in five minutes. Anyone who comes before that will be punished accordingly." His tone was flat as usual.
When Kylo tried searching for Cullen, he was spooked to spot him waving creepily at him from his bed. It seemed he’d already been awake long before the alarms went off.
"Good morning, sleepy head." Cullen grinned from ear to ear, as he got up from his bed.
Kylo coughed awkwardly, a forced smile stretched across his face. By the moon, what had he gotten himself into? "What’s up? You couldn’t sleep?" He feigned concern.
Before Cullen could respond, however, Osmond got up and spoke out. "Alright, you heard the man, boys! Up, up, up!" He clapped, as he walked up to Celest’s bed.
The fairy woke up rather peacefully, narrowing his eyes as he greeted. "Good morning, guys."
After they’d talked among themselves for a few seconds, the group of four stepped out of the tent, with Osmond leading in front of Kylo and Cullen.
"So, about last night." The latter whispered as he wrapped an arm around his neck.
Kylo cringed as he spoke bluntly. "It never happened, Cullen. Don’t even bother." His tone left no room for arguments, but trust Cullen to persist.
"Oh, admit it Kylo. You enjoyed it. You finally got a taste of what you’ve been missing all along when you were with Isleen." He winked, and Kylo felt like he was about to snap.
"Don’t bring Isleen into this." He replied icily, shoving Cullen’s arm off his body.
The latter chuckled amusingly, eyeing Kylo like he was losing his mind. "You mean the one who cheated on you with your dad? Aww, if you love her so much why don’t you go propose so we’ll see what happens?" His voice was laced with sarcasm before he snapped, startling Kylo. "Wake up, Kylo! She was only using you."
They both remained silent after that as they joined others from the camp to gather at the center.
And standing there unbothered were his father and Aceco. The fairy healer seemed tired but had a bright smile on her face as her gaze lingered on the approaching enlisted soldiers.
Rhett cleared his throat when everyone had arrived and a head count was made. "I hope you all slept well. Cause while you did, Aceco was busy crafting a veil around our camp. We’ll no longer have to worry about vampire attacks... For now, at least."
A simultaneously relieved sigh escaped the crowd of wolves and fey as they murmured among themselves. M
However, the Gamma silenced them sternly. "Anyway, training starts today. You’ll all be doing something relatively easy." He paused, his gaze sweeping through each of them. 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
Kylo scoffed bitterly. He couldn’t believe people looked up to this man. He’d done the same at a point, but now?
"First things first, you’ll perform five minutes of stretches to prepare your body for the upcoming exercise. When the time’s up..." He trailed off as pack soldiers started going around and dropping backpacks at the foot of each of them.
Kylo couldn’t help noticing that not everyone had been given a bag. Osmond in front of him had been given one, but he, Celest, and Cullen were left out.
Rhett continued. "You’ll all be working together with your tent mates. The exercise is simple. One person from each group will pick a bag and stand at the starting line over there." He pointed at a line drawn away from them.
Oh, shit, it was some kind of race. Really? Couldn’t they be more creative than that?
"Then, on my mark, each representative of their team will run straight ahead, following the flags we’ve placed around the woods for directions until they reach the finish line. Then they’ll have to run back, with the backpacks on their backs, and come give it to the next person in their team." He spoke calmly, a slight smile stretching on his face. "Rinse and repeat until everyone in each team has participated."
The man had literally just explained a relay race. Argh, he wished he could punch that smile right off his face!
He clenched his fists when his eyes met with his dad’s. He barely glanced at him before looking away, ignoring his existence like he’d always done until it was convenient.
Hmph!
"You’re doing it again." Cullen suddenly whispered to him with an amused tone.
He swerved his head to him, asking bluntly. "Doing what?"
"Making that face that makes you seem like you’re holding in hot shit." The annoying Cullen replied casually.
He’d keep saying it... the dude was unbelievable! Could he not add to his annoyance?
On the Gamma’s commands, the enlisted soldiers performed stretches to prepare themselves for the exercises.
The few pack soldiers who were present walked around, guiding each of them on the best stretches they could do to better prepare themselves.
After all that, it was time for each group of tent mates to choose their first representative.
"I’ll go because I’m older," Osmond spoke smugly, giving Kylo a playful grin.
Could the man give it a rest? He was a full-ass adult, who was probably older than his father! Why was he acting like a spoiled teenage boy?
He couldn’t care less about the old wolf’s remark, but then Cullen suddenly blurted. "I mean, sure. We could sign you up first if the category was specifically made for old sacks of bones."
Ouch. If Kylo wasn’t in a mood, he would’ve chuckled at that comment.
A vein throbbed on Osmond’s forehead as he glared at Cullen. "What did you say, snowflake?" He walked menacingly toward the unbothered Cullen, but Kylo got between them.
"It’s pointless arguing about this. You can go first, Osmond." He said simply, glancing at Cullen and giving him a look telling him to stop.
Before the older wolf could rub it on
their faces, however, Gamma Rhett announced. "All representatives to the starting line."