Chapter 19: Chapter 18 - Nat

Monday 7 December

~*Nat’s POV*~

Just as the noise in the foyer began to get out of hand, Takeshi emerged from his office with a folder in his hands.

He, too, had dressed casually for the day, with a light grey shirt with the top two buttons left undone and the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows, and a pair of blue jeans and black sneakers. His black hair hung loose to the tops of his shoulders, adding to his casual feel. He looked at the watch on his left wrist before striding over to the centre of the foyer.

“Okay, people. Listen up!” He looked around the room as the rabble of voices quieted. “We’ve got a lot to get through this morning before the fun can begin, so let’s make a start.”

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye over where Takeshi had appeared from, so I shifted my focus, making sure I kept an ear on what Takeshi was saying.

A tall, sturdy man leaned against the frame of the door to the office next to Takeshi’s, with his arms crossed. He was younger than Takeshi, but still a good decade or older than everyone else in the room. His short, dusky brown hair was messy, like he’d run his hands through it several times and then let it sit wherever it ended up. A well-maintained beard that already had speckles of grey appearing in small patches graced his face. He wore a dark grey t-shirt, fitted close to his chest, but not tightly, along with dark jeans and black boots. A leather jacket completed his rough, but incredibly bored look as he watched Takeshi.

Zelda nudged me with her elbow. She’d eased her way out of Tatum’s grasp and come to stand next to me while Takeshi was delivering his speech.

“That’s Spence,” she whispered when I turned my attention to her. “He’s Takeshi’s Beta. The second in charge around here.” Her focus was on Spence, just like mine had been.

I nodded in acknowledgement, returning my gaze to Spence and studied him curiously. Something about his bored appearance struck me as odd, but I couldn’t figure out what made me think that. Still leaning on the doorframe, he slowly swivelled his head to peer directly at me, like he had heard our whispered conversation. There was absolutely no expression on his face. I couldn’t decipher his temperament at all; there was no sign of annoyance at me staring at him, or happiness, or anything at all outside of boredom. He eventually shifted his gaze back to Takeshi, leaving no evidence that he’d ever looked our way at all.

“Don’t mind him,” Zelda continued. “He can be a bit of a hard nut to crack, but he’s harmless.”

“If you say so,” I said, unsure. Even though I couldn’t read Spence apart from the boredom, I didn’t get ‘harmless’ vibes from him at all. Something felt off, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what.

I looked around the room, assessing my fellow campers. There looked to be around twenty of us all together, split relatively evenly between males and females. I’d have to do a head count later when I wasn’t concentrating on what Takeshi was saying.

“… although this camp is designed to be a celebration of your final year of high school, we also use it as the try-outs for the Warrior Training Course that starts next month…”

My eyes wandered over to a group of three males in the back corner of the foyer. One had the look of a slightly fuzzy teddy bear about him; trim but cuddly. His slightly curly light brown hair, which looked like it hadn’t been cut in months, was messy but matched his beard, which, strangely, had a wide swath of white around his mouth and chin. He wore a baggy, orange t-shirt that hung loose over ancient, faded blue jeans, and sneakers that looked like they’d seen better days. He smiled generously at almost everything his colleagues were saying, and even when he wasn’t actively grinning, he tilted the corners of his mouth up, ready to release a chuckle at a moment’s notice.

“… will need to sit with myself, Spence and the other camp trainers during the last week of the camp to discuss their intentions of taking part in the Warrior Training…”

The next man in the group couldn’t have been more different if he’d tried to be. He wore an incredibly snug black t-shirt that showed off his biceps and muscled torso. He, too, wore old blue jeans, but where his friend’s jeans were more of a comfortable fit and clean, his were fitted perfectly and were grease-stained on his thighs, where he would have wiped his hands. His hair was dark, almost black, but had bronze highlights to the front, and though it was just as messy as his friend’s, he had had it closely cropped at the temples. He too branded facial hair, but his comprised a manicured moustache and two small tufts of hair directly under his bottom lip and chin. A chain hung loosely around his neck, lending him a bad boy swagger that he honestly didn’t need, considering the number of tattoos covering his arms and chest. He held himself with way too much confidence for someone so young.

“… successful at earning a place, the pack will provide them with a weekly wage for their services, as there will be little time for an external job…”

It was the last man of the trio that caught my eye the most and made the blush return to my cheeks with a vengeance.

Bells still had the precise stubble I had seen him with last week, and his black curls still poked out everywhere. Once again, he had donned the worn, light blue denim jacket, but this time had paired it with a pale grey t-shirt and rumpled black jeans. He hadn’t changed at all.

“… call out when I say your name, so I can tick you off our list. Then we can get a start on today’s first activity…”

My jaw dropped ever so slightly as I watched him joke and laugh with his friends. He was still delectable.

“… Drew...” “Here!” “… Briar…” “Here!” “… Lennon…”

I focused on each person in the room when they answered the call of their name, but couldn’t stop my focus from shifting back to Bells and his friends every few seconds. He was like a magnet to my eyes.

“… Cole…” “Here!” “… Robin…” “Here!” “… Bellamy…”

“Here!” Bells called out. I watched as he shifted his focus from his friends to Takeshi, so he could respond. As Takeshi continued with the list, Bells looked around the room before locking onto my gaze. He grinned at me and nodded hello.

To which, of course, I blushed at. I saw his grin get bigger before I dragged my eyes away, full of embarrassment.

“Ooh… Bells was the person you were looking for earlier?” Zelda whispered excitedly. I turned and glared at her. A huge smile crept over her face.

“Don’t you even think about telling…” I started to warn her.

“Hey Tatum!”

Oh, crap. Could she and Cody ever not try to embarrass me?

“… Dylan…” “Here!” “… Cody…” “Here!” “… Kadin…”

“Yes, my darling Zelda?” Tatum responded after Cody had called out her attendance.

“Your brother has an admirer.”

“Really?”

Zelda swung her thumb in my general direction.

“Really!” A massive smile crept over his face.

“… Piper…” “Here!” “… Tatum…”

The news that I apparently admired his brother distracted Tatum for all of three seconds whilst he was grinning like a fool at me until he realised everyone was staring at him.

“Oh, shit. Here!”

“Thank you, Mr. Okoro. If you would kindly leave Nat alone and pay attention, we could all get this over with much quicker.” Takeshi glared at him. A few people snickered. Some looked at me, but most remained focused on Tatum.

“Yes, Alpha. Sorry.” Tatum shifted his gaze to the floor, as Cody nudged him with her shoulder in a show of support.

“Right. Who’s next?… Jordan…” “Here!” “… Owen…”

“Here!” Bells’ tattooed friend called out. Filing that away for future reference, I couldn’t help but notice that many of the women in the foyer all gazed longingly towards Owen when he responded. I also noticed that Owen seemed very pleased with that fact.

“… Zelda…” “Here!”

Zelda elbowed me, forcing me to turn my eyes onto her. She beamed up at me and waggled her eyebrows and pursed her lips and made kissy noises with them. I rolled my eyes and returned my gaze to the crowd as I heard her giggle.

“… Rowan…” “Here!” “… Murphy…”

“Here!” This time it was the teddy bear that answered. His voice sounded exactly as I figured a teddy bear would sound. He was living up to the stereotype I had placed on him.

“… Natsu…”

“Here!” I called out. Everyone in the room I hadn’t already met turned to look at me with an interest in their eyes. Most looked away a couple of seconds later, but there were some eyes that lingered. One or two of those did not look decidedly friendly. I swallowed nervously. I was discovering that I really hated being the centre of attention.

Takeshi reeled off the last few names before closing his folder. “Right, everyone. Let’s take a quick break and meet outside in the courtyard in ten minutes.” Takeshi turned back towards his office and Spence, who, I noticed with interest, was still leaning against his doorframe, looking incredibly bored.

The camp attendees drifted away in different directions, all excitedly talking amongst themselves. Zelda grabbed my elbow and directed me towards Tatum and Cody.

“So…” she drew out, making sure Tatum and Cody’s attention were on us. “You and Bells, hey?”

Grins appeared on all their faces, ranging from cheeky on Cody, playful on Tatum, and wicked on Zelda’s own.

I groaned and rolled my eyes at them all. “You’re all delusional. I don’t know what any of you are on about.”

Cody laughed. “Let’s test that theory, shall we? He’s on his way over here right now.” She looked over my shoulder with an impossibly broad grin on her face. “Hi Bells!”

I could feel the blood drain from my face, and my eyes widened.

Well… Shit.