Hell Hound

Chapter Three

Chapter 3

Kiara was in a good mood. She had run, swam, hunted and lounged in the sun for three whole days. All in her fur. It was the longest she had ever been allowed to stay in her other form. Not even the other shifters in the pack spent so much time as a wolf. Probably because they could access it whenever they liked. She smiled to herself. She had howled. Actually howled. Silver had been furious about that. Her call had alerted several patrolling soldiers in the surrounding area. Silver had to call each one and tell them everything was okay. When they’d asked what was going on, he’d snapped at them not to ask questions. Kiara knew they had known she was out there. But like everyone else in the pack, they had never seen her animal side. The soldiers had reluctantly dropped it. But Kiara didn’t care about that. She was too busy enjoying the remaining effects of the shift as Silver drove them back to the den.

They pulled into the pack garage that was carved into the side of a rock face. “Go wash up.” Silver told her, sliding out of the vehicle. “The bus is leaving in three hours.” Kiara had almost forgotten about that. Good mood dented, she grabbed her practically untouched bag from the back seat and headed back to her room. Silver headed towards his office to get a status report from Malachi. Mal was waiting for him when he got there. Lounging in one of the big leather chairs by the desk.

“How did it go?” His second asked. Silver walked past his friend to take his seat behind the wooden desk.

“Good I think.” He leaned back. “I think the wolf has calmed down now. I’d let her keep it in for too long. It was starting to show.”

“And you think it’s satisfied enough to let her enjoy the training camp unhindered?”

“Enjoy? Probably not. But experience it, yes.” Silver shrugged. Malachi smiled wickedly.

“I still remember all the fun we used to have during those things.” Sliver’s lips twitched into a small smile at the memories.

“We were a lot more mischievous and foolish than Kiara.”

“We hope.” Mal joked. But the reality of the situation hung heavy in the air. Although Malachi had never asked what Kiara’s animal was. He suspected. “I’ll go as chaperone.” He offered. “Keep an eye on the girls.” He included Helena and Sienna. The twins could get up to a lot of mischief when they thought they could get away with it. Silver considered it for a moment. Mal was essential to the running of the pack. But they did have back-ups in place for when he took time off. Skye was more than capable of filling in.

“Yes, thank you.” Mal nodded before heading to his room to pack for the spontaneous trip.

Kiara eyed the clothes in her messy draws. They would be gone for three weeks. But they would surely have laundry facilities. She wondered how much time she would have to wash her clothes in between all the training and exercises. In the end she packed three sports bras, three pairs of active leggings, four T-shirts and almost all her socks and undies. Just in case. She shoved the clothes into her backpack along with her toiletries and some pjs. There was still a little room left, so she decided to throw in a short denim skirt and a nicer red top than the ones she’d work out in. She also squished in a pair of black flats. Just in case she got a day off to explore the city. Kiara checked her watch. She still had almost an hour before the bus left. That gave her plenty of time to grab something from the kitchen and make her way down to the pickup point. She paused by the door before ducking back to her dresser. She’d almost forgotten her phone charger. “Oops.” She muttered. After doing another quick visual scan of the room, Kiara closed the door and headed out.

“Last chance to pee!” Cindy, another chaperone, called. The bus ride was going to take a couple of hours, then they’d be herded onto a plane. But at least the plane had toilets. Cindy really didn’t want to have to stop on the way to the airport. Kiara shifted from foot to foot. She didn’t think she had to pee. She’d just gone. But the sudden onset of nerves made her think she might need to go again. A couple of the guys had dumped their luggage next to the bus and wandered off to water a bush. Unfortunately, some hadn’t gone far enough. “Seriously?” Cindy wasn’t impressed. At least the girls decided to use the loo off of the garage. “Okay, everyone just get on the bus.” They hadn’t even left yet and she was already exasperated.

“This should be fun.” Mal said, sliding up behind her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Cindy asked, eyeing him from the corner of her eye.

“Lending a hand. I’m your back-up.” She was glad to hear that. They had been on one bad date years ago and things had been a little weird since. But she was glad to have him on board. Together they herded the juveniles onto the bus. Kiara sat alone toward the back of the bus. Ignoring the excited chatter of the others. She took her phone out of her pocket, popped in some earphones and settled in for a long ride.

Kiara looked up at the impressive marble and glass building before her. It was a hotel completely designed for shifters. It was even rumoured to have aquatic rooms for marine based shifters. But she didn’t know how that would work exactly. It towered over them with an impressive twenty stories. The Scarlett River alpha had rented out the whole place just for the training camp. Although it probably didn’t actually cost him anything, considering he owned half of it. There were juveniles from dozens of packs there. Not just wolves either. There were Cats, bears, Deer and even a couple snakes. Kiara had never seen so many shifters in one place before. It was a little overwhelming. She once again wished her uncle hadn’t forced her to participate. One slip up here, one glance of her monstrous wolf, and all these predatory shifters would be coming after her. “Breathe.” Mal said over her shoulder. “You’ll be fine.” He stepped around her and she suddenly realised she had been standing in the path of the moving crowd. Kiara caught sight of Sienna, smirking at her, out the corner of her eye.

“Just breathe.” She whispered to herself and began walking towards the group of other Rising Moon juveniles. Cindy had already checked them in and was handing out room keys. They were staying in pairs despite the hundreds of rooms in the hotel. Only Cindy and Mal got their own rooms, since they were the chaperones. Kiara was paired with a girl named Mika. They had seen each other around but didn’t run in the same circles. She just hoped Mika had no interest in suddenly trying to get to know her. Kiara wanted as much independence and privacy as she could get during the trip. She needn’t have worried.

“Why do I get stuck with the freak?” Mika complained when she was handed the room key. Some of the others chuckled under their breath.

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Cindy replied. “Just get over it and play nice. I don’t want to have to deal with your teenaged drama while we’re here.” It was unclear why Cindy had been chosen to go with them. She was a dominant wolf, but not very maternal. It was clear that getting stuck babysitting a bunch of juveniles wasn’t her idea.

“Well, can I switch with someone?” Cindy sighed, catching sight of three boys already hitting on some Deer girls.

“Do whatever you want.” She said.

Nick leaned against a cold marble wall in the lobby watching all the groups of shifters checking in. He was wearing a black rainmaker with “Trainer” printed across the back. There were several others milling about the crowd wearing the same. His arms were crossed, and dark strands of hair were threatening to fall into his eyes. He’d need to get a haircut soon. He caught sight of a tall man with long pale hair. Malachi. He’d know that guy anywhere. Silver Blake’s second in command attended every meeting his father had with the Rising Moon Alpha. Malachi was leading a noisy group of sixteen juveniles across the already noisy lobby. A short blonde woman he didn’t recognise, brought up the rear of the group. Her pretty face was set in a scowl as she lectured a boy about manners. Nick ignored her. He was scanning the group of Rising Moon juveniles. Somewhere in the group was Elaine’s daughter. His alpha had specifically invited the girl, and Silver’s own daughter’s, to the “camp”. The Blake twins were easy to spot. Tall blonde and identical, they’d be hard to miss. But he couldn’t tell which one was Elaine’s kid. He just hoped she was strong enough to withstand his father’s attention.