Wolves among men (32 page)

“
Would you rather me sit
on my hands and do nothing?”

“
That’s not it at all,” I
argued with a smile. “But in all honesty I would rather you be
safe.”

“
Ethan,” She sighed as she
stepped in front of me. “You can lock me up if you like but it
won’t keep me safe.”

“
Sure it would.” I
smirked.

“
And what if they found
me?”

“
I’d protect you, Cordy,
you know that.”

“
Yeah well let’s just say
you couldn’t and I had no way of protecting myself, what then?” I
sighed and rubbed the back of my neck nervously as I struggled to
find an answer. “You have a whole lot more to worry about then one
little girl.” I nodded. “Let me do this, let me help.”

“
Since when did you start
asking for my permission?” I smirked.

“
Since now.” I nodded and
reached over, pulling her into a quick hug. I didn’t want to say
yes but the truth was I couldn’t find a good reason to tell her
no.

“
Okay,” I sighed as she
pulled away from me. “Be careful.” I added as she smiled in
thanks.

“
I will.”

“
Ethan, you coming?” Matt
called to me, pulling my attention back to the task at hand. I
nodded and gave her one last quick hug before taking off in his
direction and following him out into the courtyard.

Chapter
Twenty-One

It took nearly an hour for Matt and me
to rally a decent enough group together and into position. I had no
idea where to start, hell I needed more than a little training
myself so I took my place behind Matt and waited along with the
others for him to begin. Twenty new faces sat on the ground looking
up at us expectantly. Some were old, some young and some eager
while others tried desperately to fight off the boredom that washed
over them as Matt paced the ground in front of them.

“
I bet you’re all
wondering why you’re here.” He smirked as he turned to face them.
“And I bet most of you don’t want to be here. It’s early and we all
have better things to do am I right?” He smiled as the younger kids
began to chuckle quietly. “I would like to start by thanking you
for coming.”

“
Why are we here?” a boy
barely in his teens asked from the front of the crowd.

“
Yeah, are we going to
fight soon?” a dark haired girl piped up.

“
That’s a good question.”
Matt sighed. “And I’m sorry that I don’t have a good answer for
that. To be honest with you all the odds are good that yes, we will
have to fight and that’s why we’re gathered out here.”

“
So you’re gonna make us
into soldiers?”

“
I am not going to make
you into anything. My job is to help you discover your true
potential in battle and hopefully learn to use it when the time
comes.” A defining hush fell over the small crowd as they looked
down and around them, everywhere but at us. A little boy thrust his
hand into the air and my heart jumped as I realized that he was no
more than a child.

“
What’s up, buddy?” Matt
smiled as he knelt down in front of the boy. He slowly lowered his
arm as his eyes darted to the ground.

“
I don’t know how to
fight,” he stammered as if almost embarrassed by his
honesty.

“
That’s okay. What’s your
name?” Matt replied softly.

“
Jason,” the boy
muttered.

“
Well, Jason, it’s nice to
meet you and you don’t have to fight anyone but if you want to
learn anyway you’re more than welcome to stay.” Matt stood as the
child’s posture began to relax. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must
be to struggle with the kind of fear they were facing and yet I was
facing it too. Maybe it just hadn’t had time to hit me or maybe it
already had and I just didn’t realize it. Either way when the day
came and it would, to leave everything behind and fight alongside
them I somehow knew that it would all come crashing in on
me.

I pulled myself from my thoughts and
turned my attention back to the soldier that stood in front of
us.

“
Today I need to know what
each and every one of you is capable of so I can get a better idea
of where to start. That is why today we move into the fields behind
us and each of you will come up against one of us.” He pointed to
Colt, me and himself as he spoke, “And we will judge where each of
you stands. No holding back.” He nodded to them. “Now let’s move
out.”

Silently and as if on cue we all stood
and began our trek out of the courtyard and through the factory
lobby.

“
Is this right?” I
whispered as Matt stopped to hold the door open for the
crowd.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
They’re so
young.”

“
We don’t really have a
choice, Ethan.” I sighed and shook my head.

“
It just doesn’t seem
right,” I muttered as I watched the last of them step into the
well-lit building.

“
Look,” Matt smiled as he
motioned for me to follow inside. “These kids are well aware of
what they’re getting themselves into.”

“
Are they?” He
nodded.

“
Yes, they were brought up
knowing that this might happen and they’re welcome to leave at any
time. No one is forcing them to fight.” I nodded as he patted my
shoulder. I didn’t have any choice in the matter but in some small
way knowing that they were more prepared for this then I was set me
at ease. I watched quietly as Matt stepped to the front of the
crowd and pushed open the door, inviting them all into the bright
summer sun.

“
Good luck,” I turned
quickly as Sam called out with a smile. She was bent over a small
table with a group of older looking ladies, peering over what
seemed to be blueprints of some kind.

“
We’ll need it.” She
smirked as she went back to the task she had set for herself. A
short second later I caught sight of Cordillia and Grant as she
took a rifle from his hands and looked over it closely, admiring it
as if she was more than eager to get started.

“
She’ll be fine.” Logan
smiled as he came to a stop at my side.

“
Am I that
obvious?”

“
Kind of yeah.” He smirked
as we followed the crowd out into the parking lot.

“
So are you gonna fight
with us?”

“
No.” he shook his head.
“Matt doesn’t think it’s a good idea just yet but that doesn’t mean
I can’t watch.” I chuckled as we followed Matt around the corner of
the old building and into a large clearing that had tucked itself
away from prying eyes. The bare and weather-worn field was
surrounded by a thick line of trees that offered the seclusion we
craved and the space we needed to carry out our tests.

“
Old farmland?” I asked as
I came to a stop at Matt’s side. He nodded as the rest of the group
moved into place.

“
That’s what Grant said,
said it hasn’t been used for anything in years.”

“
Is there somewhere in
particular you want us?” a pup called from somewhere within the
group, the rest of them mumbled in agreement.

“
No, you will be moving
off to the side lines soon enough.” Matt moved in front of me and
waited as the group stopped moving and gave him their full
attention.

“
Okay, here’s how this is
going to work,” he began as he clasped his hands behind his back.
“I’m going to call you each up, three at a time and assign you a
partner.”

“
One of you guys?” a young
girl asked from the front lines. Matt nodded.

“
One of us. You’re going
to phase and do the best you can until your partner either decides
that the fight is over or you do. Are there any questions?” The
kids all shook their heads and satisfied with their responses, Matt
moved toward us with a smile. “You guys ready?” He grinned. Colt
nodded eagerly and began to phase as quick as that. It wasn’t long
after that Matt called the first two kids to the front and pointed
them toward us. I watched them shift and closed my eyes, ready for
the change and surprised at how easy it had become. I felt my body
shifting, my bones cracking and my mind changing but somehow it had
become easier, less painful with each change. I opened my eyes and
looked over to Colt. A grin spanned his face as he stood ready to
pounce.

I turned front and center as a brown
haired boy no older than twenty stood directly in front of me and
smiled. I watched as he began to shift, growing in height and
growling with each contortion of his once human frame. As quickly
as it had begun it was over and what was left of the boy had been
replaced by a gray fur clad beast with the deepest blue eyes I had
ever seen.

Without any warning, he lunged at me.
I dropped to the ground and dodged his attack sending him flying
into the ground behind us. He got to his feet quickly and eyed me
for a second before charging me once again. I tackled him head on.
Our body’s colliding with a sound like a freight train as I knocked
him off of his feet. He jumped up from the ground and swiped at me
from the left, I could feel the sting and tearing of flesh as his
claws ripped through my cheek.

Good move!
I thought as I grabbed his paw and with all the
force I had, flung him to the ground. I dropped down and shoved my
knee into his throat pining him as he snarled and struggled against
me.

“
Enough!” Matt called with
a smile. We looked up at him and I nodded as I got to my feet and
offered the boy my hand. He took it graciously and shook it as his
body began to quickly change back into the boy he was before. I
watched in amazement as his fur was replaced with skin as he shrank
in height and finished with no sign of our fight on him, not even a
bruise. It would never cease to amaze me how fluid the change
really was.

These fights went on for hours as we
tested their strength, their speed and their ability to pay
attention to more than one opponent and I couldn’t help but notice
Matt keeping a stern eye on me throughout the whole ordeal. It
wasn’t until nearly sundown that tired and weary, we returned to
the courtyard somehow smiling as we waited for Matt to give his
final speech.

“
You all did great out
there.” He smiled as the group erupted in proud whoops and hollers.
“Now I have a better idea of how to begin training you.” He
separated the group into three rows and began walking down each row
looking into the eyes of every soldier. At the first row, he
stopped and nodded to his cadets.

“
You will be trained on
brute strength. Everyone in this row showed an exceptional ability
to handle pain, to exert themselves for an extended period of time
and you each seemed to have the most power behind your strikes.”
The kids in the group began to cheer loudly, smiling and giving
each other high fives as Matt moved onto the next row.

“
Row two. You will all be
trained on speed, agility and your ability to go unseen. While you
lack the strength of the other team you more than make up for it in
your precision and ability to out maneuver your foe.” He nodded
happily as they joined in on the celebration and excitedly
congratulated each other.

“
Row three.” He called as
he moved on to the youngest and smallest of our troops. “You seemed
to have the greatest trouble in battle. You were bested easily and
most of you seemed unsure of yourselves so you will begin training
with me tomorrow and hopefully we can toughen some of you up before
the fight becomes real.” He stood in front of the three rows of
eager and excited men. A smile spanned his face as he looked out
over the crowd and nodded happily.

“
You all did well.
Tomorrow morning I want you all here, lined up in your rows. If you
choose not to fight, there will be no shame on you but if that is
your choice then I suggest you stay in bed tomorrow rather than
waste my time and we will find something more suitable for you to
do.” He turned around to face us slowly. “Anything you two want to
add?” he asked quietly. I shook my head and looked to Colt who
shared the gesture. “Okay then.” Matt turned back around and smiled
at the group.

“
We’re done for the day,
go get some food.” He grinned and with that our small crowd
scattered. Some toward the living quarters others toward the
building behind us but they all had one thing in common, the
satisfied smiles that each of them wore as they moved past us. Matt
walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulder as we made
our way into the main building.