Camp Katya
1627 Words
The Jeep rumbled through a narrow pass flanked by ancient stone pillars, their surfaces etched with runes that pulsed faintly beneath the overcast sky, as if the camp itself were waking up to my presence. The air grew heavier the deeper we drove, thick with pine resin and something sharper—metallic, like blood, or magic left to ferment in the soil. Valik sat beside me, unusually quiet, his gaze fixed on the horizon with a kind of reverence I hadn’t seen in him since before everything fell apart.
“What kind of rig is this?” I asked, trying to strike up conversation with the Vampire across from me.
Vern blinked slowly, as if his brain was computing a response. Then, as if he finally understood, he said, “It is a GAZ-69. Built for the terrain and safety, not speed.”
“It’s got good bones,” I commented, drawing on Maria’s knowledge of vehicles. “So, it’s the sixty horsepower one?”
Vern gave a slow nod, his expression unreadable beneath the brim of his cap. “Sixty, yes. But it’ll climb a mountain before it breaks a sweat.”
I ran a hand along the edge of the doorframe, feeling the cold bite of metal beneath my fingertips. The Jeep looked like it had seen things, horrifying things. There was mud still crusted in the wheel wells, a faint scar along the hood where something had clawed at it. Not flashy, not fast, but it had presence. The kind that didn’t need to prove itself.
Valik let out a low chuckle, and I turned to him. Asking without words for an explanation.
“It’s not the horsepower that matters here,” he said, voice low. “It’s how well you hold together when the terrain gets ugly.”
I didn’t ask if he meant the Jeep or me. I knew.
Camp Katya revealed itself slowly, like a predator sizing up its prey. Low buildings crouched beneath the trees, their roofs holding steady under the weight of moss and time, while scattered figures moved with purpose between them. I felt eyes on me before I saw faces, and though no one spoke, the silence carried a message: I was expected. Had been since Logan booked the damn ticket.
Vern hopped out first, offering no words, only a glance that lingered just long enough to register. One of confusion and caution. The driver, whose name I hadn’t caught, barked a laugh that echoed off the trees and surrounding mountains. It was like a challenge, as if he was sizing me up before he gestured toward the main hall.
“Wolves get too hungry here,” he said, his voice flat. “Go eat.”
Laughing, Valik led me over to a structure with iron doors. “Welcome to Camp Katya, Jake. Try not to burn it down.”
“Well, the mosquitos might wanna keep outta a hungry wolf’s way,” I replied.
He laughed, “It’s going to be a fun two weeks, J. I’m glad you’re here.”
Our boots crunched against gravel, but one familiar face was enough to ground me. Especially since this dude knew me as well as my own brothers did. They knew my name, but not my reputation or what I was capable of. Not yet.
“It’s the only approved visit I could get,” I muttered in agitation. “I’m the primary guard for Princess Selene right now, and don’t think I’m blaming you. I’m not. I’m just the one she trusts to have her back when her apparently favourite brother is off training. Her words, not mine.”
I saw his eyes when I mentioned home and Selene. He adored his sister-in-law, and I could see it in how he forced the emotions down before he broke right there. Somewhere deep inside, he was still Valik. Still a young man learning control.
Still my best friend.
Suddenly, someone darted from the shadows, fangs bared, claws out. Squaring up, I braced myself and used a clothesline technique to lay the dumbass out for a few heartbeats. When he came to, he stared at me in awe. “Who… how…?”
Crouching, Valik shook his head, “Peiter, he spars with Vampire Lords back home. This is Jake, the best friend I was telling you and Sam about.”
“Digga, that was one helluva takedown,” the guy, Peiter said as he flipped into a standing position. “Great to finally meet, ja? I’m Peiter Von Hoist. One of Valik’s on Team Terror.”
I blinked, glancing at the brunet trying to look at anything except me. “You missed home that much, huh?”
His face flushed bright red, blotchy and telling. “What? No.”
“Seriously? That’s exactly what you call Triple Trouble back home, so try again,” I said, coaxing him knowingly.
“Fine,” Valik said, rolling his eyes. “Yes. I called the group Team Terror because I missed home.”
Peiter scowled, “Nothing is wrong with missing home. We Vampires? We get homesick as well by times. I am a long way from home myself.”
Laughing, I shook my head, “Peiter, I think we’re going to be good friends. So, who’s this Sam you have here and are they anything like the one we got back home?”
“I am insulted, Wolf,” a female voice declared. The door of the mess hall swung outward, and a girl in full uniform stepped out. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her face void of makeup, and her hands full of bags that smelled suspiciously like food. “I am female, not a they.”
Catching myself before another verbal misstep could happen, I held out my hand. “You’re Sam? I’m Jacob, but I also go by Jake. I’m a Delta wolf and a master Tracker.”
“Quite the introduction,” she said, her red-ringed green eyes pinning me with a curious look. “Mated?”
“Not yet, but that’s not why I’m here. Just visiting my friend,” I said, holding myself with the confidence of my rank. “And yourself? I know Vampires, like Fox shifters, find their Mates younger than other species.”
She grinned, pulling a pin from her hair that allowed the strands to tumble down her back in gentle waves. Her accent, though laced with Russian intonation, was clearly on of United Kingdom resonance. “My Mate is at home, safe and sound with her parents. I am here to complete my Elite Guard training. By the way, my name is Samara Hyde. While Peiter here is from Hamburg, I’m from Lancaster, England.”
“Oh, sweet,” I said. “So you’re a member of the l***q?”
She rolled her eyes, “What is your point, Wolf?”
“I’d appreciate you dropping the ‘tude and calling me by name,” I said pointedly. “As for your Mate being another female? I get it. That’s your life, not mine. Live it, but I hope the friends of Valik can find it in their schedules to get to know me.”
Blinking, Samara let a slow, sly grin stretch across her face. “Good. You are no pushover. That’s going to work well for you in the long run; especially here.”
Rather than going into the mess hall, I was redirected with the group toward a smaller building. Looking up, I took in the signage that said: CK-B3-T6D. To anyone else, it was just a series of random numbers and letters. Yet, to my mind, it was a puzzle to be solved.
Tilting my head, I read and re-read the sign. Then it clicked.
“Camp Katya, Building Three,” I murmured.
The Vampires stood with stunned looks on their faces. Valik, on the other hand, was finally laughing. Not graciously or politely, but full, throaty belly laughs that had him doubled over on the cold ground.
He really lost it when he looked up through his brown hair and saw their faces when I finished decoding the sign. I c****d a brow, “Team Six Dorm?”
Both Vampires nodded slowly, confirming my words as their eyes reassessing me with newfound respect.
Valik was on the ground now, holding his stomach as if in pain as he laughed harder than he had in months. “This… this is what I meant when I said Jake wasn’t someone to play with. He’s the kind of guy that’ll play with his prey before taking the kill shot, but his mental brain power is amplified by his Tracker abilities.”
“He’s… brilliant,” Samara stated quietly. Her eyes were wide, taking in my supposedly average looks and build. “Understated, but brilliant.”
“You said you are a Delta, ja?” Peiter asked, his gaze filled with uncertainty. His eyes flicked to the tablet he was holding then back to me, as if wondering if I’d been telling the truth.
Nodding, I grinned. “Puzzle solving and complex conversation is my favourite way of shifting focus. If the enemy is watching me, they ain’t looking for my backup.”
“Nope,” Valik confirmed, humour still lacing his voice. “As for what you think you know about Delta wolves? I can guarantee that Jacob here is going to have the entire camp up in arms before he leaves. If anyone challenges him, stay out of it. Peiter got a close up of Jake’s power earlier.”
“Boy hits like a brick wall,” the male Vampire said, his hand rubbing against the spot where I’d clocked him earlier.
- Writer
