Page 30 of Savage

I eyed the area. People were stretching and warming their bodies up.

As I stood in the huddle of people and soaked up their banter, I spied the area, wondering where Jaxon was.

I listened to Christian and his suggestions on the body parts I should warm up. This was mainly my legs and arms.

As I was stretching my body out, another soldier walked up to us. He and Christian bumped fists.

“Kes, meet Wynter, or should I say Miss Hart.”

Kes as he was called took my hand and kissed the back of it. It made me smile. I hadn’t experienced that type of chivalry ever. Not even from Dominic.

“Pleasure. We’re in the same team,” Kes explained. He had bright ginger hair like Dominic’s and his face was covered in freckles. His smile was probably the cheekiest I had ever seen on a guy. He too was well built, both men easily towering over me; like a kitten between two large dogs.

“This here is Evans,” Kes barked releasing my hand and motioning toward someone behind me. I turned to see the butch girl from earlier. Her smile was warm as we shook hands.

“Hi, I’m Wynter,” I introduced with a smile, feeling a trickle of sweat run between my shoulder blades.

“Yeah, I know. Savage has told us all about you,” she said, motioning around the arena with a flick of her hand. “We’re all in Team A. Think you can take it?” I wondered fleeting what Jaxon had said about me.

I pursed my lips, glancing back and forth between Christian and Kes and then the area she’d highlighted. The climbing wall loomed and I felt something I hadn’t experienced for ages. Strength and determination.

Sniffing, I wiped my hand across my nose and then locked eyes on Evans.

“There’s only one way to find out,” I said with a confidence I didn’t really feel.

The other three members of Team A exchanged an impressed look. I just hoped I could do them proud.

“OK, everyone fall in,” a loud voice which belonged to ‘you know who’ boomed across the yard. Everyone immediately lined up and I mirrored their movement. We stood in front of Jaxon and a big beefy guy. I’d seen him before but couldn’t place him either.

I shuffled into the space between Evans (or G I Jane) and Christian. I wondered fleetingly what her first name would be. Not something wussy I imagined.

Jaxon was barking instructions. There were three teams of four and the winner would be the team that completed the course in the shortest time. Any obstacle missed by any team member would result in one point being removed from their score.

I flexed my shoulders as Jaxon’s gaze fell upon me. He didn’t linger, he was in work mode, I could tell. His face wore that I’m in charge expression.

The moment of truth approached as all teams lined up. I inhaled a few deep breaths, my eyes searching the course to establish I knew where I was going.

“Follow me. And don’t stop, no matter what. If you need help, shout. Got it?” I nodded and Christian smiled warmly. “Let’s show the prick whose boss,” he whispered.

The whistle sounded and I lurched forward, my feet slipping in the mud slightly but I rightened myself quickly; racing behind Christian with Evans beside me, urging me on. The first obstacle was a net on the ground, I watched Christian throw himself to the floor and pull the net over his head; his body sinking forward into the mud as he shuffled through on his elbows. God, he was fast.

Dropping to my knees I did the same, struggling to get the net over my ponytail. I felt a brief yank as Evans helped me to pull myself under and I pushed onto my elbows taking in the foul-smelling surface. I could hear yells and shouts all around me and someone to the side, overtaking me.

I got to the end and then fight from my fight or flight truly kicked in. I pulled my body from beneath the netting, pushing to my knees and grabbing Christian’s hand as he yanked me to my feet. “Come on guys,” he shouted over my shoulder as he dragged me to the long beam of wood. We had to walk over it without falling into a huge trough of water beneath it. It wasn’t that high but I knew if you fell, you’d lose a point.

I used to go to gymnastics when I was little and my training kicked in as I pretty much ran across the wood next to Christian who was on the one beside it. Members of another team went past us. The wood vibrated as someone else joined the beam behind me where a bulky man with blonde hair and a mean-looking face was gaining.

Relief jetted through my system as I jumped off, having cleared the beam.

“Next it’s the wall, keep running Wynter,” Kes shouted from behind me. My feet covered the space between the two obstacles quickly, but all I could see was that huge wooden barrier before me. Christian had stopped and held out a piece of rope for me to pull myself up. My heart sank, there was no way I had the strength to climb the surface.

Evans suddenly ran past me and leapt onto one of the other ropes, pulling her body up, those toned arms of her flexing with her weight.

As I got to Christian, I took the rope and started trying to pull myself up. I got halfway and my muscles gave out. As I was just about to let go, I looked up and saw Evans was sitting straddled on top of the wall, her hand lowered. She was shouting at me to grab it and I did, lunging upwards and jerking slightly as I felt Christian’s hand on my backside pushing me upwards.

One more stretch and BOOM, our hands met. I clutched her and held on for dear life as she pulled me up. Swinging my legs over the wood, I dropped to the bottom, bending my knees but still jarring my hip. I’d done it. I was so pleased I almost fist-pumped the air.

I didn’t let anything stop me as I sprinted forward, this time following Evans with Kes and Christian close behind us, shouting encouragement.

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