Bayne's POV
Camping? Seriously? Jeremy seriously wanted everyone to go on a camping trip to get some team bonding shit in? I don't understand that man, but I figured it would be a good opportunity to enhance their training, or simulate some kind of survival skills. As I packed my bag I heard some of the men in the back yard talking about the trip through my window.
"You think Bayne will make us train while we're out?" one man asked.
"Probably, but I can't say I blame her, that's all she's ever known." Another man said.
"Yah, but this trip is supposed to be fun, like a vacation." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I hadn't worked them that hard in the months I had been here, but if they wanted a break from training I wouldn't be responsible for their bodies' response on Monday. If they wanted to take the weekend off then Monday would be hell for them. I would work them twice as hard, and that would be if I felt generous.
"Don't let her hear you say that." A voice that I would know anywhere said, Aaron.
"Aaron, what are you doing here?" the first man said.
"Brian; you idiot, he's allowed to be outside when he wants to. I'm sorry Aaron, he didn't mean anything by his comment." The second man said.
"It's alright, Howie right?" Aaron asked.
"Yah." Howie said
"Well there's really no need to apologize for Brian's comment, I was just coming back from a run and happened to hear you conversation. I figured the nice thing to do would be to warn you about the fact that you are standing right below her bedroom window, and Bayne's hearing is at least twice as good as any alpha."
"Damn, that must be awesome." Brian said. I just huffed and continued packing my jeans and tanks.
"Not for us." Howie said as realization hit him.
"What do you mean?" Brian asked, obviously confused by the exchange between Aaron and Howie. I didn't hear anything after that and assumed that Howie and Brian left to avoid saying anything else that would get them in trouble. When I finished packing my bag I set it next to the door and went back to the window. There were people outside, laughing and playing with the kids, they all looked truly happy. I felt my eyebrows come together in a frown, why do I feel jealous?
"Bayne?" Aaron's voice came from the hall way. I quickly whipped the thought from my mind and went to the door. I picked up my bag and walked out the door with Aaron following a few steps behind.
~
"Alright, we'll set up camp here. Greg, take some men to get fire wood, the rest of us will set up the tents." Jeremy ordered. I took a quick look around the opening, trying to find something in the bushes, but the only thing I got was an occasional rodent. "Relax Bayne, this is supposed to be a fun weekend." I looked over to Jeremy and frowned.
"I expect that your men are up and ready for training by 5:00." I told him.
"Seriously? Come on, don't you know how to cut loose?" he questioned.
"The only thing I 'cut loose' is a person. If any of your men don't participate in the training they will not return on Monday." I turned away from him and came face to face with Aaron, his face said it all to which I just sighed and shook my head. "Your men can start their relaxing after noon." Aaron just smiled and gave me a small nod.
"They will thank you, and they might be a little more cooperative if given a sort of vacation." Aaron told me in a hushed tone.
"Whatever." I walked into the woods to run after pitching my tent, seeing as I was the only female on this trip I had one to myself. As I ran I picked up an unfamiliar scent, lemons, and not a very pleasant lemon, almost sour. I didn't ignore it, but I didn't go and investigate it. The scent was old, possibly a week, but I would bring the men past this way and take note of who notices the smell.
When I got back to the camp site I took one last look around, making sure there was truly nothing around. When I was sure everything checked out I sat down and stared at the fire, the whole time straining my ears to hear everything that was going on.
"Geese Bayne, relax. Nothing's going to happen." One of Jeremy's men said. I kept my head low but looked through my lashes at him. "We're perfectly safe, and still on pack land. The patrols are being led by the second elites, and no rogue would dare attack a group our size." He reasoned
"Didn't stop us," Aaron commented under his breath. I just huffed and shook my head. I brought out Sercko's dagger from my boot and started twirling it around in my hand.
"What's with the dagger?" One of the boys asked, he couldn't have been much older than 21.
"It's the last thing that drew my blood, and the first thing to be laced with chemically enhanced Wolvesbayne." I told him
"Is it silver?" he asked wide eyed. I nodded which only resulted in making his eyes grow bigger. "Why did you keep it?" by this time everyone had their eyes on me, waiting for my answer. I just kept my eyes on the dagger.
"Because this will be the dagger that kills the last Lead hunter." I said without emotion.
"So you're serious about killing this guy?" an older man asked
"Why wouldn't I be?" I frowned as I looked up at him.
"He's just human, what could he possibly do to a wolf like you?" I almost laughed at his ignorance.
"Sercko is not human, he's immortal, a Vampire. And he has done things that you could not bring yourself to imagine, things to innocent people." My grip on the dagger got tighter as memories flooded my mind.
"What has he done?" Greg asked. My gaze shot to him then to everyone around me.
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Some men frowned but dropped it, but others became angry.
"You've said that before, what could he have possibly done that would be so bad that you don't want to tell us?" a middle aged man that stood in the back during training yelled.
"He's held wolves captive while experimenting on them, kept their family under lock and key so they don't get any ideas about turning rogue. He's killed people in cold blood, killed mates in front of mates, brothers in front of sisters, mass murder, rape, and torture. That is what he's done, and that's just giving you a basic idea of what he's capable of." I told them, all the while not taking my eyes off the middle aged man. I watched as all their faces paled and their eyes were cast downward.
"What did he do to you?" Jeremy asked.
"Things beyond your imagination and comprehension, things you can't even see in your worst nightmare." I said as I looked down to the fire.
"Try me..." I looked up to see a man sitting across from me, he looked like he had seen his fair share of fights, maybe a few wars, but he didn't have a single scratch on him. I stood up and walked over to him. I put the dagger in front of him for him to take.
"What do you smell?" I asked him, his nose scrunched up as he took a good whiff.
"Silver and wolvesbayne?" he said with a shrug. I stood and lifted my shirt just enough for him to see the fresh scar on my side. It hadn't quite turned white yet and still looked rather fresh.
"This is just one of many." I told him as I lifted my shirt just under my bra, exposing the rest of my stomach and some of my lower back. His eyes bulged and his face paled as he took in my scars.
"How many do you have?" Greg asked.
"Too many to remember..."
"But, werewolves don't scar." The boy said in disbelief. I took the dagger back and turned toward the boy. I held it up so my hand was out in front of me, about the same height as my heart, the entire blade was encircled by my palm. The smell of burning flesh and blood surrounded us. When I reached the boy I sat next to him and opened my hand. As soon as the silver left my skin it started healing and closing up the wound. When it was completely healed I took the boys hand and barely tapped his palm with the dull side of the blade. Instantly he pulled his hand away and hissed in pain. His hand was red where the silver touched him, but there was no blood or burning flesh. It eventually looked like a sun burn, and then faded to a pink mark that resembled the pink flesh of a slapped check.
"Silver can leave a mark on a wolf, and so can wolvesbayne put them together and giving a wolf a scar isn't so hard after all."
"But our rapid healing keeps us from scaring... you just proved it on your hand." Greg mentioned.
"True, but that was just contact, on the outside, for a few seconds. Put the blade inside someone, for hours, days, even weeks. No wolf can truly heal from that." I put the dagger back in my boot. "Add verbena to the mix and you won't be healing until weeks after the dagger is removed."
"So what's the story behind some of your scars?" the middle aged man asked, I shook my head and looked at Aaron.
"The stories will give you nightmares. I will not subject you to that." I told him as I stood up and walked away.
"Bayne wait, please." Jeremy pleaded. I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "Just one?" he asked. I stared into his eyes for a few minutes, trying to get him to back down, but his alpha nature wouldn't let him. I growled and walked back over to the group, lifted the edge of my shirt, just above my left hip, but still towards my stomach where a small almost circular scar lay.
"During a training session one of my seven opponents got one hit in. After, I was escorted down to the basement, chained to the wall, and beat to a pulp. I was covered with bruises and they came in with a silver dagger laced with wolvesbayne, plunged it in without a second thought, twisted it 180°, and left it there. The next morning they came back and re-laced the dagger, then replaced it. Each time they replaced it they would turn it again. This went on for a little more than two weeks; all the while I was being injected with more wolvesbayne and verbena. I was given no food and little water. When they decided I had learned my lesson they took the dagger out, put a whole stem of the wolvesbayne flower into the wound and stitched me up. The next day I was back to training." The faces around me all mirrored each other, they were shocked and horrified. Some had closed their eyes to keep from getting sick; others bowed their heads in horror.
"What happened to the guy who hit you?" the boy asked.
"He was treated to a dinner fit for a king, congratulated and rewarded. Later that month he was promoted to a Lead somewhere in the south." I got up and started to walk away from them but turned to look back over my shoulder. "Later that year I was sent to kill him, he had gained too much power and had become a threat." Then I walked to the edge of the forest, stripped and left.