Filed to story: Shifter Academy: Taming Her Wild Mates (Ivy) Book PDF Free
“Hey!” I protest, stepping forward with a frown because I mean – I’m shit at a lot of stuff, but I have definitely held my own in marksmanship and the intelligence exam –
“Don’t be so jealous Alan,” Luca says, stepping forward with some venom in his voice. “It’s not Clark’s fault that your own pets are so damn ugly.”
I smother the tiny absurd laugh that tries to burst when I hear him say that, and Alan stares at us in shocked surprise, having no idea how to respond.
“Yeah,” Luca says with complete confidence, glaring down into Alan’s face and then flicking his eyes to Perry and Graham – Alan’s pets – who look equally surprised. “Nothing to say? That’s what I fucking thought.”
Alan is still speechless with a confusion when Luca grabs my arm and pulls me into the van with him. “What the hell was that!?” I hiss, following Luca to the back of the van, where we take the back bench. “It doesn’t matter what you say,” Luca murmurs to me as we watch the other three climb into the van after us. “As long as you do it with the authority and get the last word. That guy has no idea what just happened – it will keep him thinking all night, which is what we want.”
I shake my head at Luca and laugh a little, kind of impressed with the way he lets his sheer confidence carry him through the word. Honestly, he didn’t do much, but he definitely got the upper hand in that conversation. Why can’t I do things like that?
“That’s good,” Luca says, smiling and laughing along with me, his words whispered. “Let them see you laughing – don’t let them see that they rattled you.”
“I mean, they didn’t -“
“Well maybe they should have a little bit, Shrimp,” Luca says, raising his brows and looking forward at Alan, who glares back at us over his shoulder for a moment. “Because that guy could definitely kick your ass, and he definitely wants to.”
I purse my lips a little considering it. “Well then I guess I’m lucky that I’ve got my pretty boy body guard to keep me safe,” I say, turning to look up at Luca with complete innocence. His face bursts into a grin as he looks down at me. “Pretty boy, am I?”
“Oh, come on,” I say, my eyelids dropping a little in disbelief, “it can’t be the first time you’ve been called a pretty boy, has it, Grant?”
“I’ve endured that particular slur all my life,” he sighs, tilting his head back and staring at the roof of the van like it’s a great burden he’s had to bear. “It’s just been so hard being this good looking…”
“Poor baby,” I laugh, shaking my head. I open my mouth to tease him more, but I don’t get the chance, because our Lieutenant climbs into the front seat of the van and starts to drive us away from the barracks and out into the wilderness.
The five of us stand in a small clearing of forest in a semicircle around our Lieutenant who repeats the instructions we were given his morning. I look around as he talks, only half-listening because I already know what our job is. I’ve got a good memory, after all.
I look up at the sky above the trees, thinking that it took longer than I thought to get everything ready and get us here. It’s already well past noon, which doesn’t give us a ton of time before night falls.Our task is pretty simple, though. All we have to do as a group is light a fire, boil water so that it’s potable, produce some kind of sustenance for ourselves – fish or edible plants – and demonstrate that we can do basic first aid if anyone gets hurt in the process. Once that’s done, we’ll be given a compass and a map with our location marked and we’ll be required to traverse the ten miles back to the barracks. Anyone who doesn’t complete the group tasks, or fails to make it back tomorrow by dinner, receives a failing mark.
I shrug, thinking it will be pretty simple, as the Lieutenant hands Alan our small packet of supplies, which contains the first-aid kit, flint, The Hidden Princess At All-boys Alpha Academya machete, and a small spool of wire with some fish hooks. We’re strictly forbidden from using anything in our packs to aid us – they’re only supposed to carry extra clothing and blankets in case we need to sleep out here before the jobs get done.
“I think,” Alan says, turning towards the group of us, “that our best plan is to get this done and hike through the night. I, for one,” he says, looking at Luca and I with particular venom, “have no true interest in spending more time as a group than we have to.”
“No argument for me,” Luca says, nodding in agreement. I don’t say anything at all as Alan begins to parcel out the supplies to his friends.
“How the fuck,” Perry murmurs, “are we supposed to boil water when they didn’t even give us a pot?”
Alan looks askance at Graham, who just shrugs, making my eyebrows go up. Am I seriously the only one who knows the answer to this?
I wait a second for Alan to volunteer the answer but he just stares at the flint in apparent confusion while Graham grabs the machete and strides over to a tree, starting to hack at the branches. Luca’s eyebrows go up as he smirks, and I can tell that he’s a little entertained, watching the smaller guy smack at the branches.
“What – what the hell are you doing?” I ask, my voice ringing through the clearing.
All eyes turn to me, including Graham, who glares. “I’m getting firewood,” he says, as if it’s obvious.
“Oh my god,” I huff, stalking over to him and grabbing the machete out of his hands. “You can’t use live wood for a fire – it’s wet. Wood has to be dry.” Graham shouts and grabs back for the machete but I quickly move out of his way. I sigh and look around. “Do any of you know how to do any of this?”
“I can fish,” Perry says, reaching out for the coiled wire and set of hooks. He looks over at the deep stream that runs by our clearing. “I mean, I usually use bait, but…I can dig up worms and tie these lines to some poles.”
“Great,” I say, my voice dry. “Why don’t you take Graham and do that. Us other three will get started on the rest.”
“You’re not in charge here, Clark,” Alan says, his voice bitter.
“I think he is,” Luca says, crossing his arms and grimacing at Alan. “I mean, if you want to pretend you know what you’re doing out of pride, I guess that’s fine – but I’m completely lost here, and willing to take direction if it means not losing my place in the standings. What about you?”
Alan takes a deep breath, so clearly battling his pride and not wanting to admit that I might have skills he doesn’t – even if I am a shrimp. But eventually he exhales and tosses the flint at me. I barely catch it after it bounces off my chest. “All right,” Luca says, turning to me with raised eyebrows. “What’s next?”
“Fire first,” I say, nodding. I give terse instructions, falling into a very pale imitation of my father, who taught us all of this stuff when we were very young. I mean, Jesse and Rafe have been going on big camping trips with dad and Uncle Roger for years, doing much more complicated stuff than this. But dad? He always made sure I could do the basics.
“Luca,” I say as I begin to gather dry brush, wood, and stones – both flat and round. “I want you to go see if you can find some berries.” I snap my head up and hold his gaze, “do not eat any of the ones you find – a lot look good but will make you sick. Just…bring them all back here, in case the fishermen don’t have any success with their worms. Alan, I want you to go into the woods and find the fattest birch tree you can find. White, with smooth bark – do you know the one I mean?”
“What the fuck is this,” Alan growls, crossing his arms over his chest. “Are you trying to embarrass me, sending me on a mission to find a fat tree?”
I roll my eyes at him, exasperated. “I don’t know what your problem is with me, Wright, but it would be great if you could get over it until we’re through this. I’m not fucking with you – the bark can be used to make a container for the water. So – will you just go find it?”
