CHAPTER 6

Enzo walked along the trail, down to the Headquarters' area. His bear found peace in the early morning sun up on the mountain. But today it was restless. He couldn’t even sleep well.

His animal needed to come out. It roared and raged since he met Audrey.

He was almost there. He could see the top of the four main buildings at the crew’s base: his lab, comms tower, HQ and workshop.

It was still early, cool breeze passed through the trees around him, the sound of the forest, the smell of the damp earth, the heat of the sun. It was all he needed. Life was good, right?

His bear grumbled.

Fuck it.

He got to the HQ, took off his clothes and shifted into his bear, immersing himself in the green.

He missed this. His senses completely attuned to nature, instinct prevailing over reason.

His bear was powerful, but unruly. He learned to control it as much as he could, but being a channeler, made it difficult.

He tried to be as stoic as possible, controlling his emotions was always a priority.

If he let himself get carried away, the beast inside could take control and make life harder again.

His bear growled, it knew who was the master... and did not like it.

Even with the base a mile away, he picked up the scent of its steel. The beast found it almost offensive. It needed to be away from civilization.

He began a firm strut further away into his territory. He’d be back in a few hours, cleansed.

***

The sun was now high in the sky. He had almost got back home, but the untamed want remained. Audrey. The bear wanted her. Mate! it roared.

He had to be careful. This was a test. He had to restrain himself, she didn’t need a man with an uncontrollable beast inside.

He stepped into the clearing, the HQ area.

After he put on his clothes, he couldn’t stop smiling.

So many years ago, this was a place for men, beers and steaks. Now it was completely different, changed into the crew’s personal park.

Maverick and Raiden even installed a freaking slide and a swing. Just thinking about how much things had changed was crazy.

He laughed out loud and headed into the Comms Tower.

“Hey there,” Damien, the crew’s alpha, said, “you took a while,”

He looked as chill as always, typing stuff on a laptop beside the military grade radio equipment.

“Everything fine?”

“Sure, no signs of the Rot or anything, as usual.”

Damien grunted his approval.

“So,” he said, “you just wandered around?”

“Yeah, been a while since I just enjoyed the morning out in the woods.”

“Glad to hear it. You’ve been up working on your samples late at night. That can’t be healthy.”

“It’s a hobby.”

“Yeah, well, that hobby of yours might stress you out more than it should. Is there anything I should know about?”

“Nah, the usual.”

Enzo studied the anomalies that occurred in their territory. Tried to understand why they happened, but never really found anything of value. Never found an explanation. Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe I can’t find it with a lab test.

And what about Maverick and Faith’s child? That was impossible, by all accounts.

I’ll have to keep on doing tests.

Enzo grabbed a bottle of ice cold beer from the small fridge on the corner of the room and sat on the sofa they had there, the forest looked so peaceful at this hour.

“Where are the others?” he asked.

“Already left.”

“All of them?”

“Listen,” Damien said, turning to him, “I know something’s up, let’s get this over with, just spit it out.”

Enzo laughed, “what the hell are you talking about?”

Damien pointed at the bottle.

“You don’t usually drink beer when coming back from a tour.”

“I’m telling you I’m fine.”

“Don’t make me punch it out of you,” Damien said smiling.

“Make a move.”

They both laughed.

“Want a beer?” Enzo asked, grabbing a second one.

“Nah, I’m supposed to take Zoe to Rosenberg later today for dinner, she’d get mad if I started the party without her.”

Enzo laughed, “I understand.”

“Someday you will.”

Enzo didn’t say anything, just took a sip from his bottle.

“Oh, by the way, I heard your phone ringing a few hours ago.”

Enzo took his phone out and checked it. Unknown number. Four missed calls. Each twenty to thirty minutes apart, the last one over an hour ago.

He called back but no one answered. Damn it. Tried again and on the fourth ring her voice greeted him through the speaker.

“Yes, hello? Enzo?”

The hairs on his arms bristled, it was her. Audrey. Of course.

“Hi Audrey,” he said, standing up and walking away, not before turning to Damien, who typed away on the laptop, “everything okay?”

“Well...”

His bear growled. Fury welled up inside as he stepped out of the Comms Tower, was she in trouble?

Mate! The bear roared like a maniac.

“Sorry to bother you,” she continued, “it’s just that, we need to talk about some budget issues that—”

“Budget issues?”

“Let me tell you in person, okay?”

“Sure, yeah, can’t you tell me anything?”

“Nothing really bad, I promise, I... well, we need to talk.”

“Okay, I can be there at three.”

“I know you’re off duty today, don’t wanna be a pain in the ass.”

“It’s all right, don’t have anything to do, anyway.”

Working at the lab was out of the question, at least he’d be able to do something else. Shit. Truth be told, he was glad to have an excuse to see her.

***

The air conditioning unit rattled for the third time that day. It was hella distracting. Audrey would probably have to fix it with her own money, she wouldn’t spend the minimal budget the school had on that until more important stuff was taken care of first.

Darcy knocked on her door in her usual style, three times, a pause, then slowly opened the door.

“Enzo’s here, Miss Rodriguez, he says you two have a meeting?”

She was expecting him, sure, but her heart rate went instantly up, Just what is up with you? Chill.

“Send him in, please.”

She stood up, cleared her throat, then wondered about sitting down again, but it was too late, Enzo was at the door now.

“Hey!” she replied, a bit more brightly than she intended.

He wore casual, black slim fit jeans, and a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Focus, Audrey, focus.

He shook her hand and looked around the room.

“I can’t believe this is the principal’s office, it looks completely different!”

“I rearranged the furniture, it doesn’t look as cramped now, right?”

He chuckled, “Not at all, not at all.”

The room wasn’t exactly big, but she placed the main desk facing the door, below the high windows up on the opposite wall.

“Congratulations,” he continued, “it’s been two days and there isn’t a bunch of papers littering your desk. You should have seen how Chad worked in here.”

“Chad?”

“Chad Jones? The previous—”

“Oh, yeah! I’ve heard the stories, thank you.”

“No way, is that you?”

He pointed at a small photograph on her desk.

“Oh crap!” She grabbed it in a flash and pressed it against her chest, “this shouldn’t be here!”

“Oh come on, let me see it, you look great!”

“Shut up!”

“I mean it! I didn’t know you were a cheerleader.”

She knew her face was bright red now. How could she forget about the picture?

“I wasn’t,”

He rolled his eyes, smirking.

“Evidence says otherwise.”

She sighed, deflated, almost humiliated.

“I tried to but had to quit.”

“At least you got a picture out of it.”

This guy. Why is he so cute? I hate him!

She handed him the picture, “it was my senior year in High School, I wanted to try something different.”

For a brief second she noticed him checking her out.

“Why did you quit?”

She shrugged, wasn’t it obvious?

“Because you weren’t super thin, like cheerleaders are supposed to be?”

She stopped, what could she say? He was right.

“Well. Obviously, I—”

“Come on Audrey, did you have fun doing it?”

Yeah, it sure was. But she couldn’t stand the stares and hidden laughter of her peers. It was too much for the mood swinging, super hormonal kind of girl she was.

“Well,” she admitted, “we had a good team, but it didn’t work out for me in the end so I quit.”

“Shame.”

“Why?” she pouted.

“You look good in uniform, that’s all I’m saying,” he said.

Her body was on fire, her center started to wet. Just a bit. A man this hot flirting with her? Workplace relationships never work, Au. Back off.

“So,” he changed the subject, “what’s the problem?”

“I’m going to say it straight, no point in beating around the bush.”

“Shoot.”

“Yesterday I started looking into the school finances, and...”

She trailed off,

“And?”

“And we might be in a worse situation than I initially thought,” she turned to look at him, light hazel eyes be damned, “I think we’ll have to cancel the camping trip you scheduled for next month.”

Enzo threw his head back and groaned.

“Are you sure? The kids are pretty pumped about it, is there anything we can do?”

She looked down the sheet of paper, it was full of expenses and accounts payable.

“I’m sorry Enzo. I know the trip is a tradition and a lot of the students look forward to it, but we have to put our priorities straight.”

Enzo nodded.

“I mean,” he said, “I know we need to take care of that, but the trip is a bonding opportunity for students. Most of them never get out of town.”

She sighed, “I know, I’m sorry.”

The air conditioner began rattling again. The thing looked as if it was about to explode. After a few seconds, it quieted down.

Enzo didn’t say anything, just looked at her in silence. He leaned forward.

“What if we start a fundraiser?”

Her first reaction was a no. But why not?

“I... I think that’s a great idea.”

“I’ll have to talk to the kids, but I’m pretty sure we can come up with something.”

“Do you think they’ll want to help?”

Enzo shrugged, “only one way to find out,”

She laughed, “absolutely.”

“So, that’s it. I’ll start working on that. I’ll bring some speakers, students could play with their bands, or you know, rap, is that cool?”

“As long as there’s no violence in the lyrics, it’s all good.”

“Okay, we could sell cupcakes and all kinds of food.”

“Yes, I’ll even make some.”

“Damn, this is gonna be good.”

She was excited too. This was a man of action. He wanted something, he made it happen.

“I think I can make it work for the next weekend,” Enzo said, “what do you say?”

“Great, is there anything else I can do to make this work?”

Enzo thought for a second.

“Yeah,” he said with a smirk on his face, “don’t hide that picture, you look damn good as a cheerleader.”

He stood up, nodded his goodbye and left.