When I Find You (Completed) (Not Edited)

Chapter 5

"Training today is simple. Cross the obstacle course in human form, run to the woods, strip as fast as you can, and lastly, in wolf form you shake the tail of a tracker," Hank rattled off to the group. The training group consisted of Jake, Adriane, Finn, and a few others that were expected to succeed the current higher ranks.

The obstacle course was stereotypical. Tire steps, about the size of normal car tires, were placed diagonally from the previous one. There were a total of twenty-four tires. Next was the climbing wall. Thick ropes were tied to the top, and draped until they hung about four feet off the ground. The wall itself was easily twenty-five feet tall. After that was the crawling obstacle. The amount they had to crawl was was about ten feet, and they had about two feet of leeway in height before their bodies met barbed wire. Lastly was a row of seven hurdles that they had to jump before sprinting their way into the forest.

"Line up," Hank commanded. Jake and Finn sprinted to be first, Finn arriving first over Jake. Adriane ended up being third. Everyone else precariously lined up after Adriane. Finn started off fast, quickly leaping through the tire steps. He also swiftly climbed the wall. His challenge was the crawling obstacle. On multiple occasions did his back arc up a tad bit too much. His hisses and curses under breath were easy for everyone to hear. They could tell Finn was eager to leave the torturing contraption, because he stood up when he was out.

Except he wasn't.

A cry of pain echoed across the field as the back of his shirt tore from the wire and thorns scratched their way deeply into his skin. He yanked himself forward, hissing at the same time the spectators cringed when they heard the sickening noises of metal leaving flesh. Finn still persisted though. Painfully making his way over hurtles. Adriane could see from where they stood across the field the skin knit itself together. Finn was already taking off his shredded shirt before he even reached the woods. A howl went up as the tracker took off after Finn

"Your turn," Hank said monotonously, giving Jake a little shove. Jake scowled over his shoulder at the Beta, but complied anyways. He started off good, going through most of the tires with ease. Then, on the very last one, Adriane snickered as she watched his one of his big feet get stuck in the tire. Jake went down like a tree, crashing into the ground. Adriane laughed harder. Jake heard this, and took the tire off his foot before chucking it in her direction. Adriane ducked, allowing the car tire to smack into someone behind them. There was an "Oof" that rang out behind her, and she had noticed the boy behind her had caught it. Jake got up, and continued through the course without a problem.

"Adriane. Next up," Hank said, waving her in the direction of the course. She took off, focusing on her footwork when she made it to the tire steps. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Adriane chanted in her head. Leaving the tires, she approached the climbing wall. Adriane had to admit, she was a bit nervous. Ever since she was little, she got queasy when she was above ground. Many times when she was younger, Adriane was forced to accompany Jake and baby Amber to the park. She would cry her eyes out when Jake would pull her to the one structure that climbed all the way up and the only way to get down was through the fire pole or down the ladder again. She was always scared to go both ways. She would clench the fire pole tightly, and just stand there, staring at the ground with terrified, watery eyes.

Adriane was brought back to the present when her hands gripped the rope. She eventually tightened her grip as she planted her feet against the wall. She climbed the wall slow and meticulously. Don't look down. Just don't look down. She made it to the top of the wall, only to realize it was a drop down instead of climbing. She felt herself freeze as her stomach plummeted. Her hands shot down as her fingers dug into the wood. Adriane was paralyzed with fear. As if realizing what happened, she heard Hank swear from behind.

"Adriane, calm down. You're alright. Take deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth. You just need to close your eyes. Imagine you're already on the ground. You're okay. Go on," Adriane didn't pay any attention to his words. She could only keep her eyes on the ground. It seemed to grow farther and farther as she watched. Then suddenly she was falling. The ground grew fast, she squeezed her eyes, waiting to be squashed and splattered across the grass.

It didn't happen.

She felt herself being embraced. Her mate. This is what her mate feels like. Her mate saved her. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into dark brown eyes. Then she realized it was Hank and she was in reality again. He set her down on her feet, gently holding her shoulders to keep her steady. Adriane couldn't believe she mistook Hank for her mate.

"Why don't you go back to the pack house? I completely forgot about your irrational fear of heights. Take a break and come see me later. We'll set a date for practice to make up for this." Adriane nodded numbly. She walked off, wavering a bit in her step at first. She glanced over to the wall to see the boy that was behind her in line jump down and take off towards the barbed wired exercise. He was the one that had pushed her off the top. Deep down she was thankful. He had knocked her out of the nightmare. But she also hated him for that specific reason. She had to endure the thought of dying while she fell. She walked off to the woods, making her way to the pack house. She heard footsteps, but paid no mind to them.

"Have you heard about Martha? From the way things are going, Alpha John may have to kick her out of the pack. She's becoming hazardous to the other members," Adriane's ears perked up. She hid behind a nearby tree as High Commander Mark and Lead Tracker Jeff walked by.

"Yeah, but can you blame her? Her mate was murdered in cold blood," Adriane furrowed her brows. Murder? Why hadn't she known about it? She stepped out of the woods. Jeff and Mark both stopped and stared at her.

"Hello, Adriane," the High Commander greeted warily.

"What is this about a murder? Why didn't I know about it?" Adriane asked with her eyes narrowed. She stepped closer to the two men, stopping a few feet away. She widened her stance and crossed her arms. Jeff glanced over to Mark.

"Look, Adriane, everything is handled and there is nothing to worry about," he evaded her questions. Adriane growled, watching with satisfaction as they both recoiled backwards.

"You will tell me about this murder," she told them with a commanding voice. Mark struggled against the command, but Jeff instantly lowered his head.

"The last search party we sent out looking for Amber was ambushed. No one came back when they were supposed to. Alpha asked me to send out some of my trackers. Everyone was mutilated beyond recognition," Jeff said quietly, wincing at being forced to tell what happened.

"Does Alpha John know who did it?" She notice them both flinch. Adriane never called her uncle, Alpha John.

"When my trackers reported back to us via mind-link, the kill must have just recently happened because the scents were still fresh. It was rogues. Alpha John told them to tail the rogues. His reasoning being they must have been related to Amber's kidnapping if they risked taking on a group of pack wolves searching for her. My trackers trailed them all the way down to Chicago where they lost their scents in the mixture of city smell," Jeff continued spilling. Mark looked away uncomfortably.

"And why wasn't I told of this?" Adriane's voice lowered considerably with anger.

"Alpha John instructed those who knew to keep it quiet. He didn't want the pack to become riled up and cause chaos. As for why he didn't tell you, we don't know," Adriane's blood was boiling. Why didn't Uncle John tell her? The pack was slightly understandable, but she should have been told. She thanked them through clenched teeth and stomped her way to the pack house. People stay cleared as she went through the commons area. Why didn't he tell me? I should had known about this. I could have been of service. This is bull shit. Every word she questioned herself with fueled her anger. Not soon enough, the pack house was in view. She stomped up the stairs and flung the front door open.

"Where is Alpha John!" She screamed into the house.