Chapter Twenty One
Now that she was finally back to training with the rest of the guys on a regular basis, time seemed to fly by for Aisline. Winter was drawing in with rapid speed, the nights getting colder and longer and the threat of Christmas sparkle was fast creeping up on them.
The mansion was proving to be the perfect place for them. Her first impressions of the place were spot on and she loved everything about it. This was the perfect place to experience the changes in the season. Cold air hung heavy with mist on the rolling hills, just like something out of an old romance novel. Ash could easily imagine some elegant young lady in an old fashioned dress standing in the candlelit windows of the mansion, waiting for her one true love to return home from battle, his silhouette rising over the hills as he rode home to her on a jet black steed.
Yeah, Ash had clearly been spending way too much time alone in the library recently. She was currently making her way through the old classics, losing herself in another time and place. Plus, it was just too damn cold to spend too much time outside.
It wasn’t so bad when Kelton had them out there on the new agility course, as the blood pumping through their veins went a long way to warming them up, but it was getting too cold just to go for a stroll and clear her head. So, the lure of the warm fire and a good book were too much for her to resist.
Aisline was like a little old lady sitting there in front of the roasting fire with a blanket wrapped around her legs and a cup of hot chocolate steaming in her hands. Drinks weren’t usually permitted in the library, but Professor Fieldman, who had taken over the responsibility of re-stocking the place, knew of her freakish love of books and knew that there would be no danger of any spillage.
Ash was anal about books. Seriously. Sure, she had a Kindle in her room, but who could resist a good old paperback? That new book smell was like perfume to her. In fact, it was way better than any designer perfume in her opinion. This library was her own personal slice of heaven. Aisline was a total book geek and proud of it. There was no way on this earth that you would ever catch her dog-earing a book. Hell, that was what bookmarks had been invented for! Ash was even so careful when she was reading that there were never those tell-tale creases in the spine that most normal people get. So, no, there was never any danger from her and her hot chocolate in her place of worship.
“Seriously, you need someone to help you get a life.”
Ash glanced up, grinning as she saw Caleb standing in front of her.
In the last couple of weeks, he had really come out of his shell and was finally starting to have a laugh with some of the other guys in their training group. The whole thing with the shifter pack coming to the mansion, the leadership battle and Trey liking his cousin had never been mentioned again, which helped to ease the situation. There were time when you could see him withdrawing into himself, like he was suddenly aware that he was in the middle of a bunch of vampires and it was like he was suddenly unnerved again. But on the whole, he was making a hell of a lot of progress and Ash was really pleased for him. He was a nice guy going through a really tough transition and he deserved a bit of happiness.
“I’m educating myself, I’ll have you know.”
“Bullshit.” Caleb laughed and made a grab for the book. “You need to get some fresh air before the cobwebs start in. Want to take a walk with me?”
“A walk?”
“Yah, you know. Putting on foot in front of the other, getting out of these four walls. Talking to real people instead of fictional ones.”
“Ha ha. Funny.” But she put the bookmark in to mark her page and placed it on the table next to her. A walk actually sounded like a good idea. She could spare a few minutes and then she could come back in here and pick up where she’d left off. The story was just getting critical and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if she didn’t find out how the book panned out. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Go and grab your coat and I’ll meet you down in the reception.”
“Will do.”
“And wrap up warm. It’s getting cold out there.” He called after her as she started to walk out of the library.
“Remind me, why is fresh air so good for us if we’re going to freeze like snowmen out there?”
Caleb glared at her and she laughed as she scurried down the corridor.
Changing into a warm pair of boots, Ash grabbed her big winter coat out of the wardrobe and shrugged it on as she walked out of the room. She felt herself blush a little as she almost collided with Jackson.
“Going somewhere?” Jackson smiled.
“I’m just going out for a walk. You know, to clear my head. I’ve been cooped up in the library all day.”
“Fancy some company?”
Damn. They were just getting back to a comfortable place lately and this was the first time he had asked her anything like this. “Caleb’s meeting me out front.”
“Oh.”
“Why don’t you come with us? I can’t see us going very far. It’s too cold to be out there for too long.” Ash said lamely.
“No. You go. I’ve got some studying to catch up on, anyway.” And Jackson turned to walk away before she could say another word.
Great. Just great. That was just what she didn’t need.
There was nothing going on between her and Caleb and there never would be. Jackson was clearly getting the wrong idea. Just because she was spending more time with the shifter, Jackson was getting the wrong impression. There was nothing like that between them except light flirting and banter. There was nothing serious. He was as hot as hell, but Caleb held a more brotherly role in her life, kind of like Trey.
As she breathed out a sigh, Ash realised there was probably nothing she could do about it. There was nothing going on with anyone, Caleb or Jackson, and yet the whole situation felt awkward. She was only going out for a short walk with a friend, for Christ’s sake. It wasn’t like she was going out on a date with the guy, and even if she was, Jackson couldn’t say a single thing about it.
Ash felt her shoulders slump as she walked down the stairs. Boys were way too complicated to deal with. Even Lana hadn’t been able to give her any ideas on the situation. Of course, Lana thought that it was hilarious that she was caught up in some kind of crazy love triangle with Caleb and Jackson, but being in the middle of it wasn’t quite so funny. Especially when it was all a case of crossed wires and nothing was going on with either of them.
Walking through the front entryway, Ash saw Caleb waiting for her by the huge double doors. He was wrapped up in a big coat and had a baseball cap covering his shaggy hair. For some reason, Kelton hadn’t demanded that he cut off his locks like the rest of the boys yet. Maybe it was something to do with shifting? Would he be a bald wolf without his hair? Who knew? She hadn’t asked and didn’t feel comfortable talking about it. Anyway, it was a good thing because he had gorgeous hair and shaving it off would only make him look thuggish.
“So, where are we going?”
“Not too far.” Caleb smiled at her. “I just want to show you a place I found.”
Aisline followed him out the front doors and into the pitch black of night. Everything seemed so much darker out here, away from the city. You never know the true darkness of night when you are stuck in the middle of a city. There are too many artificial lights polluting the air to truly know the blackness. Out here the stars shone.
Ash took a moment to just stand and look up at the blanket of night sky. For some reason, it always helped her to get some perspective on life. The stars up there made her feel small, but not in a bad way. It was in a way that made her feel at one with the universe, that she wasn’t alone no matter what. Just being there to witness them made her feel like she was making a difference.
They didn’t speak as they walked around the perimeter of the mansion. Ash and Caleb hadn’t really known each other for all that long, but they shared a companionable silence. Their friendship was based on being thrown into this life and their
strength to battle through it. It was a good basis for them to build on.
It was perfect. Just what she needed. A little time to be left alone with her thoughts. Everything was moving at such a fast pace in her life and the constant noise within the academy battered her brain and sometimes she needed a little piece and quiet to process it all and appreciate how far she had come.
They continued walking through the grassy field at the back of the house, behind the new course. The grass crunched under their feet. They were still within shouting distance of the house as neither of them were stupid enough to take risks like that. They were warriors and they had enemies out there and you never knew how close they were.
The students had the freedom of the land surrounding the mansion and that was more than good enough for her. Anyway, she was too exhausted by the training schedule to even think of venturing any further.
The area around the mansion was picturesque. Wildlife was rife and it felt a much more wholesome place to be, as opposed to being in the city. Of course, it was a slightly longer ride back into the city for the warriors, but Aisline wouldn’t have to worry about that for a few years to come.
Caleb came to a halt. “Here.” He said as he rounded a tree, moving out of sight. “Check it out.”
Ash stepped forward and laughed when she saw Caleb crouching down low in his very own hidey-hole that was nestled between two enormous trees and shielded from the view of the house by wildly growing bushes.
“When did you find this?” she asked with a grin. It was like being a little kid again and making your own den away from the grown-ups.
“I actually found it the first full day I was here. I needed to get away and kind of stumbled upon it.”
“You were running away?”
“No.” he replied stubbornly.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you were. This was a lot to dump on you.”
“Yeah, well, whatever.” He muttered before shaking himself off and smiling at her, spreading his arms wide. “Come on in and sit down. Make yourself at home. That is, if you’re not scared of spiders. I can’t really guarantee that this place is creepy-crawly free.”
Ash didn’t think twice about it. She shoved her way in through the over-hanging branches and plonked herself down next to Caleb on the cold grass. It was crunchy, already freezing in the night air. She knew that there would be no way that they would be able to spend too long out there. Breathing out, her breath came out in a cold fog and shivers were starting to run through her body.
Admittedly, she wasn’t overly keen on spiders and the such-like, but she wasn’t going to let some eight legged mini-monster scare her off. This was just what she needed right now. It was an innocent little adventure that was taking her mind off of the stress of training and academy life.
“I thought you might like it out here.”
“I love how quiet it is.” Ash said as she looked around, seeing the twinkling lights of the mansion through the branches.
“You know, we’re kind of in the same boat. We’re not like the rest of them.”
“I think that’s why we get on so well.”
“True.” Caleb nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need some time to myself to remind me who I really am.” Caleb kept his eyes firmly on the ground as he said this, as if he didn’t really want to say the words but was compelled to speak.
Ash nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean by that. It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? All the changes? It’s good to remind yourself that not everything has to change.”
“I don’t do so well with change. It freaks me out.”
“A creature of habit, huh?” Ash getting knocked his shoulder.
“You could say that.”
“How’s Rees getting on with things here? He seems happy enough.”
“He’s doing better than me, I think.” Caleb looked up, as if studying the stars. Ash could guess what he was thinking. Rees had been buzzing about this whole thing from the get-go. He seemed to adjust really well within the first few days of being at the academy. He was the kind of kid who found it easy to make new friends, join in and throw himself into something new. The training schedule didn’t seem to faze him. Nothing did. Caleb wasn’t like that.
“These things just take some time. You’ll be fine. Look how much easier things are for you now. Things will work themselves out, you’ll see.”
Caleb barked out a bitter laugh. “You may be a girl, but at least you’re the same as the rest of them. I’ve got way more working against me.”
“That hasn’t stopped you from making friends. They don’t have a problem with you being a shifter.”
They fell silent for a moment. Just looking at him, you could tell that Caleb was different from the rest of the guys. The warriors of the Matris were generally tall and well built, and Caleb had that and so much more. He had a few extra inches on most of the guys and he was built like a brick shit house. His muscle mass was the envy of most of the boys he worked with. It would take them forever to work up to that kind of physique, but for Caleb, it came naturally to him. The others could work out day and night and still not achieve what Caleb had in spades.
Rees was the same. Possibly not as tall or as ripped as Caleb was yet, but he still had a size that matched the others he was working with. Plus, he still had plenty of time to grow. After seeing the others in their pack that night they came to the mansion, Ash knew that it was something to do with the shifter physiology. At least that was a good thing. It would have been even harder for them to come into this situation and feel physically inadequate as well as out of your comfort zone.
Like Lewis. He was Matris born and a skinny little runt. What he lacked in muscle, he was rapidly trying to make up with attitude that he was stealing from Denver. That wasn’t a good move for him to make. That kind of attitude would only make you enemies. In Aisline’s mind, Caleb and Rees already had it easier than Lewis, but she knew that it would be hard for him to see that.
She snuck a quick glance at him when he wasn’t looking. Damn, he really was exceptionally good looking. There was a certain ruggedness to him, a roughness. The shifters were generally a lot less regimented than the warriors of the Lamia. The socialites of the Matris rubbed shoulders with the human elite, but the shifter’s were the ones that were more than likely to be found in some down and dirty biker bar. There were just so many differences between them. That’s what Aisline liked, but it was what Caleb was finding hard about this whole situation. He was getting used to those differences and learning to live with them, but it would take him a while.
“Do you think that you’ll adjust? Or just live with what you’ve got?”
Caleb ran a hand through his shaggy hair before putting the baseball cap back on. “I don’t think that I have much of a choice about it. I fought like hell to stay away from this place and these people, but as Kelton told me, once the mark chooses you, there is no fighting it. It looks like I’m stuck with this life, whether I like it or not.” He turned to look her in the eye, “You should know. I bet you wouldn’t be here if you really had the choice.”
It was Aisline’s turn to laugh bitterly. “If you think that, you really don’t know me.”
“Come on. This can’t be your first choice in life.”
“I know that you won’t believe me, but I would choose this over my old life any day of the week. Once I started training, it all seemed to fall into place. It felt right, like what I was meant to be doing.”
“That’s just the call of the warrior mark, not you.”
“No, it’s more than that.” She said with utter certainty. “Before, back in my old life, I was always looking for something more. My parents used to hate that I wasn’t satisfied with my life. They didn’t understand why I couldn’t be more like my sister.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s happy playing the good little girl, obeying every rule that they and society set down for her. He
r path in life is to wait for my parents to find her a suitable husband from a good family and pop out a few kids. That’s just not me. It’s not enough. I’ve always wanted more. I just didn’t know what it was until I received the warrior mark and ended up at the academy.”
Ash felt an enormous amount of relief when Caleb nodded in understanding. She’d been afraid that he would think that she was lying to him to make him feel better, or that she was trying to sugar coat this way of life for him. But every word that she’d said was true in her heart. This was truly the best thing that had ever happened to her. It was right. It felt right. The mark, the training, even the abduction; it all made her stronger and into the person that she was supposed to be. She was destined for this life, just as surely as those males who had been born with the warrior mark.
“Are you going to give it a chance?”
“Do I have any choice?” Caleb glared balefully at the ground.
“Come on. The last few weeks haven’t been so bad for you, have they? You’re getting to know some of the other guys. They aren’t half as bad as you thought, are they?”
“I guess not.”
“Well, you have got another choice.” Ash said, cryptically.
“What’s that?”
“You can try and fight it and make your life totally miserable.”
Caleb rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah. That sounds like a bundle of fun.”
Ash laughed. “Well, then, it looks like you’re going to have to work with it and make the best out of a really sucky situation.”
Caleb grinned at her. “You’re one hell of a motivational speaker, you know. The options are either roll over or suck it up? Sounds like it’s going to be a bit of a fight either way, right?”
“Yeah, and you’re a big bad shifter, so you’re not going to wuss out on me now.” Ash playfully smacked him on the shoulder.
They shuffled out of their new hiding place when it was starting to feel like their butts were getting frozen solid to the ground.
Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel Page 23
