Chapter Eight

I spent the next six months in Chicago and underwent rigorous training under Wentworth and his men. The groups were small and once you failed your mind was wiped by a witch and you went back to your old life. I felt at home even though I was the youngest by three years and I quickly became close friends with the other guys I was training with.

Most of them had green or blue dragons and one or two had a violet one. There were no yellow dragons in our unit and these were the best of the best. Training started at five am and we stopped at ten pm every day. It was hard and brutal and we even underwent torture training where we were tortured.

If I had been a boy when I walked into that building I was definitely a man after those first six months. We were taught how to fight with weapons, without weapons, with your dragon and without your dragon. There were vampires and wolves training with us and we would go head to head with each other.

We were taught how to read people and situations, how to improvise and Wentworth was suitably impressed when he realized that I sparred with my own dragon regularly. Lucas had done a good job with my training but now it was taken to a whole new level.

Abeloth seemed to prefer this life, he liked the discipline that it took and we worked hard to reach perfection. My training unit consisted of me, Jared, Omar and Felix. Jared was a wolf, Omar was a dragon like me and Felix was a vampire.

Wentworth was the only one in that unit that realized the value of me having a gray dragon since nobody had ever actually seen one before. The unit only looked at you when you reached the age of twenty and had passed through the Elite Hunter Team’s other training programs which made me a bit of a wild card.

“Soldiers,” Wentworth said loudly as we stood at ease in front of him.

“Sir!” we bellowed out.

“Your training is now complete and you truly are the best of the best out there. From now on you will receive your orders via a specialized phone that works only with your fingerprints, retina scans and voice. Lose it and lose your neck. You were trained to kill. Take the rest of the day and come see me in my office for your orders and relocations,” he said.

“Where are you hoping to go?” Felix asked me in his British accent as we sat down in the common area.

“Anywhere far away from Illinois,” I answered him honestly.

“Why?” he asked me.

“My father comes to Chicago regularly and I don’t particularly want to be found,” I said to him.

“I get that, my family’s a pain in the neck, literally,” he said and laughed at his own stupid joke.

“I heard a rumour that we might get paired off, work in teams of two instead of as a unit,” I said to him.

“Nice,” he said and smiled as he showed off his fangs.

“I still don’t understand how a future Sire ended up here,” Jared said as he joined us.

“My brother’s the future Sire, we’re twins actually. I’m the disappointment since I rejected my bonded half,” I said.

“Shit, you rejected the only person out there that will ever truly love you?” Jared asked.

“I did, it didn’t end so well for me,” I said and leaned back on the sofa.

“Aren’t you a future Alpha?” Felix asked him.

“Yes but I was sent here for training. Sure I’ll spend a year or two with the unit until I go back to my pack. My father feels this is good training for sniffing out traitors that can only help me in the future with pack dealings,” Jared said.

“At least we’ve made our own allegiances here and we’ll always have each other’s backs whether it be lair, coven or pack business,” I said and we all bumped fists together.

“I pity the ones that cross your path,” Felix said to me and laughed.

“Why? I’m a nice guy,” I said to him.

“Yes but you’re also the only person that’s ever caught a vampire running at full speed,” he said and I laughed.

“That’s Abeloth not me, he likes to hunt,” I said and Abeloth eagerly nodded in my head.

“Ryder, Wentworth asked to see you next,” Omar said as he walked down the stairs.

I stood up and made my way upstairs to Wentworth’s office. I knocked twice and opened the door. As was his usual custom he wasn’t sitting behind his desk and I stood at ease in front of it with my arms behind my back.

I had grown accustomed to wearing combat gear with boots as Wentworth liked the look of it. It was comfortable and ours were specifically designed to hold the many weapons we trained with. I had a few favourites among the knives and guns but I also especially liked the bow and arrow.

“Take a seat Ryder,” Wentworth said from behind me.

“Yes Sir,” I said and sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

“I’ve decided to send you on your own, you’re good enough to handle yourself and I can see that your performance will be enhanced by working alone,” he said.

“I don’t mind either way,” I said to him which was the truth. I had grown close to the guys in my unit but I also didn’t mind working alone.

“Since you’re still so young we’re sending you back to school. Something’s going on with the troubled boys there, they start acting differently, all bruised up at school and a few have disappeared. Councils from all over wants to know what’s going on there,” he said to me.

“I’ll be a troubled youth then,” I said and he smiled.

“Your name will be Ryder Miller, seventeen as you are now, expelled from your last school for fighting. Your persona will be the typical fighter, drinker, no nonsense, I hate the world attitude,” he said to me.

“I’m not much of a drinker but I’m sure I’ll manage,” I said to him.

“These people are human, so be careful not to kill anyone in your fights,” he said and I nodded.

“Where am I going?” I asked him.

“Monterey, California,” he said and I smiled. That was pretty far away and I was glad for the distance.

“Parents?” I asked him.

“You can make up your own back story for their absence, housing will be provided with a monthly allowance on top of your salary and the usual basics will be waiting for you, you fly out tonight and you start school on Monday,” he said.

“Yes Sir,” I said and took the envelope he held out to me.

“Check in every twelve hours,” he said and I nodded before leaving his office.

I kept my expression neutral as I went back downstairs and sat down on the sofa as Felix watched me. Omar was already packing his travel bag, he’d be travelling to Texas tonight with Jared.

“Are you really going to make me ask?” Felix asked me.

“Well you kind of just did,” I said as he shook his head at me.

“Where are we going?” he asked me.

“Wentworth’s sending me on a solo mission, California,” I said and smiled.

“Solo mission? Nobody ever goes on solo missions,” he said to me.

“I’m going back to high school,” I said and he burst out laughing.

“Sucks to be you,” he said.

“Yeah it does, all those girls looking to get laid, the free parties, sleeping in class,” I said and Felix stopped laughing.

“Asshole,” he said as I grinned at him.

Three hours later I was packed and ready to go. I had my back story and we were all driven to the airport together and then waited to board our separate flights. I had my new address in my jacket pocket and I knew exactly what was expected of me.

I tried to sleep on the plane for a bit since the flight was only four and a half hours to Los Angeles and then another hour and a half to Monterey. I kept to myself and closed my eyes as Abeloth bitched about the two children in front of us.

It was past midnight when I arrived in Monterey and I picked up the envelope that was waiting for me at the info desk. It held car keys, house keys and the location of the car. I made my way to the parking lots and found the car easily. It was a 2015 Ford F-50 truck with a few dents and scrapes. It was black and I loved it.

I drove around for a while familiarizing myself with the area, located the school and the closest stores to me. It was Sunday today and I had a whole day to prepare myself, I’d have to go grocery shopping too and then head to school on Monday.

The house was furnished but nothing special and located on Newton Street. It wasn’t too far from the school and I found a huge forest at the back of the school. I drove past a pay phone and wondered what Chase was doing. I hadn’t spoken to any of them in six months and I hadn't switched my own phone on in months since I had a team phone now.

“Hello,” his groggy voice answered the phone.

“It’s me,” I said.

“Where the hell are you Ryder? Are you okay?” Chase asked me all at once.

“I’m good, how are you?” I asked him.

“I’ve been worrying my ass off about you, everyone has,” he said in a whisper.

“Why are you whispering?” I asked him.

“Melissa’s moved in with me,” he said and I smiled.

“That’s great,” I said to him.

“Where are you, what have you been doing?” he asked me.

“Right now I’m in California and I’m working,” I said to him.

“Doing what? I miss you Ry, when are you coming home?” he asked.

“Can you keep a secret?” I asked him.

“Duh man,” he said and I laughed.

“I joined the Elite Hunter Team, so I’m working right now, how’s Mom and Dad?” I asked him.

“The fucking Elite Hunter Team?” he whisper-yelled at me.

“This is my first job and you can’t tell anyone. I just had to talk to you ... make sure you were okay,” I said to him.

“Mom and Dad are worried sick about you, they had a huge blow out after you left. Mom didn’t talk to Dad for weeks because he hit you. I know he has people looking for you so keep your head down,” he said to me.

“Thanks for the heads up, what about the Elders?” I asked him.

“Dad told them that he sent you away to clear your head,” he said.

“I have to go Chase, I’ll try and phone you again when I can,” I said and ended the call.