Page 24 of Villainous Fate

Fuck. They didn’t bring my luggage with them.

Not daring to step anywhere outside of the footprints the men left behind, I search the trail as far as I risk. Returning to the drop spot, I lay down and await their return. The men’s voices reach me long before they do.

“Why are we even leaving him a map if Rod doesn’t want him to make it? Wouldn’t it be easier just to leave him out here?”

“Because he can’t fuck with the validity of the retreat, Otis. Not giving him the map gives him reason to dispute the ejection. If he doesn’t make it there, it's valid. Besides, Rod made sure his partner was the last-minute addition, so he will probably end up at the bottom of the pit, which means not only do they have the farthest to travel, but Marlo will have to go five and a half miles in the opposite direction to go save the new kid before having to double back toward the training camp while avoiding all the obstacles along the way.”

“What if he does make it?”

Yeah, assholes. What’s the plan when I make it?

My patience is waning, and I struggle to stay human so I don’t tear their throats out. My wolf is no longer hard to reach; he simmers beneath my skin, ready.

“He won’t. Rod double-dosed him, so he’ll be out longer than the rest. That, coupled with the lame partner and extended distance, should be just enough to seal his fate. Dump his bag over there. Empty it. That will waste a few more minutes.” He laughs, and I hear the contents of my meticulously packed bag tumble to the ground.

“Is Irene making lasagna for tonight? I haven’t had a good home-cooked meal since we started set up for this shit three weeks ago?” One man asks, changing the subject from me to trivial matters.

Just leave. I have shit to do.

The voices begin to lower as their footsteps take them back in the opposite direction toward the vehicle I assume they came in.

“Yeah, she’s made extra for everyone. You and Rick should join us.”

After what feels like forever, they move far enough from my range that I can move without detection. I waste no time, popping up and quickly repacking my gear, making sure to double- and triple-check that Grace’s photo is not only there but also safe.

Once everything is back in place, I examine the half-page map left for me, identifying the star on the map that indicates where my teammate is.

My ‘last-minute addition’ teammate that they believe to be a considerable hindrance. Well, I’m just going to have to hope that my early wake-up is enough to make up the time I’ll lose.

I guess they didn’t hear the story of my Awakening.

It wasn’t until years after that day that one of the elder council let slip the information that my ceremony was the first recorded Awakening with a newly gifted wolf to regain consciousness in under ten minutes. Most wolves are out for the better part of an hour. Fast transitions ranged around thirty minutes, so the seven and half minutes I was unconscious was not only rare, it was unheard of.

It certainly made my father's reaction that much more understandable.

They predicted that the strength of my wolf was the reason, and the fact that I could defy his Alpha command, even as a newly turned, only backed that theory.

Guess his pride is my benefit today.

After some analysis, I determine the general direction to head to find my partner and take off at a jog, my eyes scanning furiously for anything that seems out of place while tapping into my wolf’s heightened sense of smell to identify any area with shifters nearby. They said we couldn’t shift, not that we couldn’t use our wolves. Let’s call it a gray area.

They want me to fail. Well then, I’m going to bust my ass to not only get there but to be first. Now, I just need to hope The Fates are on my side, and this guy isn’t a complete waste of space. Based on the time on the watch in my bag, it’s only 9:40 am. I have about fourteen hours.

Game on, Rod.

Chapter 15

Marcus

I’vebeenmovingforabout twenty minutes when I stop to reevaluate my position. The star on the map has me traveling toward the bottom corner of the page, but I can see the vague outline of an icon right at the tear line on the other side that I assume is our final location.

It’s a fair distance away, but not at all impossible.

Footsteps and underbrush breaking in the distance to my right give me pause, and I move myself to a defensible position. There are at least thirteen other cadets out here looking for their partners, but I also know that this is our first test, and while they didn’t explicitly say so, this won’t be as straightforward as they explained.

My Alpha didn’t give me much time to prepare for this training retreat, but he was very forthcoming with any information he could provide to help me get through this and make our pack look good in the process. He told me that every challenge had several purposes. One was usually obvious, while the others were more subtle.

Win a hand-to-hand combat session: it determines rankings while also showing them your fighting style, your thoughts under pressure, and what if any, mercy you’re willing to give.

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