Page 2 of Wolf Desired
They’re setting you up to fail.
That damn inner voice again, except it didn’t feel like her own thoughts. And no one besides Graves had spoken. No, she was quite sure she felt something inside of her, pushing, challenging her almost, making her doubt herself and her sanity. It had to be nothing more than her paranoia or fear of failing finding an outlet.
Or maybe that was an excuse crazy people used to convince themselves they weren’t crazy. She wouldn’t know without talking to someone, but anyone she’d tell would question her sanity and get her kicked out of the program before she got the answers she came for.
Graves stepped back, walked down between the two lines of DSA trainees. “My goal here is not to make agents out of you. Your previous agencies and alphas did that. And I’m not your babysitter. You do the drills. What I say, when I say. In between, you’re on your own. Conduct yourselves accordingly. If you pick a fight, make damn well sure you can win because if not, you might end up dead. I’m not here to police or coddle you in any way.
“You all have the skills needed to hunt, to take down an enemy. But what you don’t have is the knowledge and ability to work together. Shifter and human. I’m here to push you, so you learn your limits and those of the humans and shifters around you. The anti-shifter groups continue to grow and attack both shifter and human populations. If the anti-shifters were contained to the woods or the cities, then we’d use shifters or humans exclusively, but the World Shifter Suppressor Organization and its followers are growing stronger, smarter. It’s time we did the same and pool our talents.
“The Shifter Elimination Virus, aka SEV, that the WSSO spread last year is just the beginning. Anti-shifters have become more brazen and we cannot let them continue. And the WSSO is not the only group out there. More anti-shifter groups have popped up since a rogue shifter retaliated against the WSSO and spread a virus in Colorado. We’ve arrested the shifter behind that incident, a white wolf from the Novak pack.
“As you know, relations between the DSA and your packs are strained, which is why all of you here must focus on the true enemy out there, the anti-shifters. For the humans in this group, I don’t give a damn what your personal views on shifters are. Personally, I don’t care for them, but the more violence we allow against them will only result in more human deaths as well. As for you shifters, if you cause trouble, it will be reported back to your alpha as well as the DSA. What your alphas do to discipline you is their business.
“The DSA has given me full discretion over how I train everyone, as long as by the end of this program I have viable teams comprised of shifters and humans.” From down the line, Graves glared at Alyssa. “Full discretion. Do you know what that means, Artemis?”
“That I’m in deep shit, sir?” she said, wondering when she’d become so impulsive, but damn, the man hated her and there was no use pretending otherwise. He had made his feelings clear about her the moment she’d stepped into his office this morning. If her success or failure relied on Graves alone, he’d find a way to boot her from the program.
A shifter with close-cropped blond hair, blue-gray eyes, and a lean athletic build directly across from her chuckled at her seemingly callous reply to Graves. A guy who appreciated her wry sense of humor. That chuckle, and his handsome smile, were exactly what she needed to settle her nerves. She smiled back at him. For a split second, she forgot he was a shifter; it felt good not thinking in terms of shifter or human. That’s what she had to do here. Remind herself that aside from their heightened abilities, shifters really weren’t that different from humans. She should view them as allies, nothing more, nothing less.
“We’ll start with a basic drill,” Graves said, without reprimanding her further. “I want to assess how you handle yourselves in the field.”
Graves was being literal, of course. The DSA facility had acres and acres of nothing but woods around the compound, which consisted of only a few buildings. A dormitory, an indoor gym that included a gun range, a cafeteria, an administrative center with classrooms, and an equipment building that housed a forensic lab and general maintenance tools.
Despite the early fall chill, agents and shifters wore boots, camouflage pants, and black t-shirts. No jackets, packs, or gear. Alyssa and the other recruits turned to face the woods behind them. Graves was probably going to make them run again, as he had after their arrival this morning. Nebraska’s trees had already started changing color, making for a beautiful display of reds, oranges, and yellows throughout the forest. Fallen leaves and the late morning rain meant the ground would be slippery, but nothing they couldn’t handle. And here she thought Graves was going to give them a real workout.
“There’s only one rule,” Graves continued. “Don’t do anything to harm one another. While you shifters may be able to heal yourselves, the same isn’t true of your human counterparts. You’ll team up in six groups of three or four shifters. One human per group.”
“There are only seven humans to twenty-one shifters. Basic math dictates three shifters and one human per group,” Kevin said.
Graves ignored Kevin and approached Alyssa again.
“My lucky day,” she mumbled to herself.
Graves apparently hadn’t heard her since his expression didn’t change, but that shifter with the cropped blond hair grinned. He’d heard her from twenty feet away. Knowing about shifters’ abilities and being exposed to their strength, size, and superior abilities were entirely different animals.
Great. Now she was thinking like her dad, making remarks that could be mistaken as anti-shifter slurs.
Graves blocked her view of the hottie; and that blond shifter was definitely a hottie. Hell, who was she kidding? Most of those shifters were. But Green Eyes and that shifter on the end with dark eyes that matched his jet-black hair and had a scowl that never left his face stood out the most. Dark Eyes didn’t want to be here. She couldn’t imagine any of the shifters did, but that one shifter made it clear how much he despised this training program, and probably the humans here, too. Humans and shifters didn’t have a great track record of working well together.
“Remember our previous discussion, Artemis? The one in my office this morning?” Graves asked.
Yeah, she remembered. It was hard to forget such an unveiled threat.Leave now, Agent. Before your pretty face gets scarred up by a claw or your neck gets snapped.It hadn’t been the greeting she’d expected, but it told her all she needed to know about her instructor.
“Three strikes. That’s all you get, and it’s more than you deserve.”
She couldn’t afford to get thrown out. That would ruin everything.
“Yes, sir!” she said, realizing too late she’d come off flippant instead of obedient. But it was worth it because the blond shifter grinned again, making her insides melt. Ooh, she wanted to know him better.
A low, barely audible growl from down the shifter line drew her attention. Green Eyes. He wore a scowl that rivaled that of the dark-eyed shifter.
Alyssa opened her mouth, about to suggest the humans and shifters have a meet-and-greet to cut the rising tension before starting these drills, but Graves backed away from her and smiled. Shit. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Your first challenge, group, is to catch the infiltrator on the grounds. And thank you for the math lesson, Kevin, but I know what I’m doing. You will work in teams of three or four shifters and one human per group. Your team must stay together at all times. Learn to work with one another. That means you humans should learn to trust the shifters’ tracking skills and shifters learn to trust the way an agent thinks and plans. Ten points to the team who brings in the infiltrator.”
“Points?” Green Eyes asked. “Shifters don’t hunt for points,” he stated with an air of authority.
“We need a way of assessing progress, Rafe. At the end of the five weeks, the shifters and agents with the top scores will be able to choose their teams. Here’s your chance to be an alpha, shifter.”
