Clare’s POV
I was surprised to see John waiting for me in the hall outside of my father’s office. I smiled at him as best I could not wanting to worry him, but his large brown eyes were already hooded with concern. He gnawed on the inside of his lip as he approached me.
“What did your father say?” he asked. “Has he decided whether he is going to send you or your brother to Avondale?”
“I don’t think that my father would ever be able to choose between us,” I told him. “So, I decided that I will be the one to go.”
“What?”
John’s entire body seemed to deflate as he exhaled the word.
“Eventually my father will need someone to take over the pack, Aiden is older and has been training for that his entire life. Plus, he already went to their hellish training camp three years ago, and now…”
I trailed off as I thought of my brother’s wedding, his fated mate, and his unborn child.
“He has a family,” John said, having read my thoughts.
I could see the sadness and resignation that fell over his features and it touched my heart.
John was one of the best men I knew. He was always large and strong but also possessed a tender strength that was endearing. I liked him a lot and I always wondered why I never felt the fated mate bond with him. I’d never sensed it with anyone. I was already 18 and felt that perhaps I wasn't meant to have a fated mate.
I could tell that John was still having a hard time understanding why I would choose to go to the Avondale training camp.
“Clare, I can’t stay here while you go away to that awful place,” he said.
“I will be alright,” I tried to assure him, even though I wasn’t really sure.
“If you insist on going, then I will go with you,” he said, surprising me.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn't want him to go to that training camp any more than he wanted me to go there. I knew the only reason he would go was because of me, and I put my arms around him in a fierce hug.
He put his arms around me as well and held me in a tight embrace.
“We should get back to our training,” I said as we pulled apart from each other. He gave me a look that showed his realization that I had not responded to his statement about coming with me. How could I let him do that? He would be throwing away a year of his life in that place.
If we were fated mates, it would be one thing. But, we weren’t. He shrugged, silently letting the issue go as we traveled back to our training grounds.
Members of the pack were already in the middle of warm ups and exercises. I found my place in front of a group of younger trainees and began a more advanced demonstration. I tried to stay positive and upbeat, but I noted the gloomy looks on their faces and realized that they must have heard.
“You’re just gonna become one of them,” one young girl said when I asked them about it. “It’s not a training camp; it's a brainwashing camp.”
“We might as well just call ourselves the Avondale pack and get it over with,” another said.
The young trainees moaned their agreement and began sitting on the ground. I felt a flash of anger shoot through me.
“On your feet, trainees!” I shouted, getting the attention of the entire training field.
Most of them obeyed immediately, but a group of three remained on the ground. I pointed to the biggest one.
“Do you even know the history of this pack?” I challenged him. “I am compelled to answer the demand and show up at the Avondale training camp, but I do so in service to this pack. I live, breathe, and bleed to keep this pack safe, the same way those that came before us did.”
I could see the spine of the other trainees get straighter.
“And when I come back, it will be to continue building our strength so that one day, no one from this pack has to go there ever again.”
“Talk is cheap,” the big one said. “Plenty of Betas go up there and never come back. Or they return home broken and useless.”
“My brother, your next Alpha, didn't,” I pointed out to him.
“No offense, but he’s…”
The big guy let his words trail off as he looked me up and down. I could just imagine the words that he and everyone else had going through their minds that compared me to my older brother, their next Alpha.
“You think I am weaker than him?” I asked, and the big guy had the decency to look a little embarrassed to admit it. “Do you think I’m weaker than you?”
The big guy shrugged and I smiled.
“Prove it,” I challenged him and immediately shifted into my wolf.
I knew that the people watching us saw my wolf was small and sleek with smooth fur. But she was also very fast and very flexible. I lunged at the big guy before he even had time to shift; I pounced and took him down in the matter of a few moves. My jaw clamped on his throat in a flash.
I could feel the raging fear of his pulse against my teeth and he cried out for mercy.
I released him and shifted back to my human form.
“Any other takers?” I shouted looking around the grounds coldly.
No one answered.
“If there are no more takers, then get back to training. All of you!”
I insisted on training the group that grumbled in the first place taking them through the paces until they were worn out and exhausted. When I gave them a break, at least two collapsed and a third ended up vomiting.
I was sweating profusely and extremely thirsty. I went to find something to drink and John appeared by my side with a bottle of sparkling water.
“Thank you, John,” I said gratefully before chugging at least half of the refreshingly cool bubbly liquid.
I exhaled and closed my eyes as a breeze blew over us, cooling the heat from my skin. But it did little to ease the anger and sadness I felt at having been challenged.
"I haven’t even left… I mean I just found out that I would be leaving and they are already acting out and challenging me like I don't even belong in my own pack any more. Do they even realize..? I know they are itching to see which one of them can take my place in case...”
I shook my head as I pushed back tears that would only show weakness to the trainees I’d just put in their place.
“What if it is as awful as the rumors say?” I asked John. “Aiden never even talks about it, but I know he must have gone through something because he came back so… changed. What if I don't even come back?”
John took me by the elbow and led me into the forest line and out of sight.
“Don’t say that. Don’t even think it! You are coming back,” John said passionately. His eyes were set ablaze by a rare show of emotions. “I swear on my life that I will not let anything happen to you while we are at that camp.”
I leaned into him, resting my head on his chest and inhaling his scent, hoping to gain strength from him. He hugged me close and I looked up into his eyes.
“Spend time with me,” I said in a whisper, licking my lips.
He looked down at me with a curious expression but did not respond. He lowered his mouth to mine and my flesh washed over with the warmth and comfort John was eager to provide.
I could feel the build-up of our feelings for each other rise up and begin to consume us. His lips devoured mine hungrily and relaxed into him over to his commanding touch.
Another breeze blew over us and suddenly, I was bowled over by a powerful scent that forced me out of John’s embrace. I shook my head, confused, wondering if the scent belonged to John. I reached for him again but couldn’t bring myself to kiss him anymore. The scent was preventing it but I didn’t understand why.
A mocking laugh filled the air and we looked around as a cold voice spoke, “So, this is how the Blue Moon Betas spend their time training.”