The Midnight Watch

Chapter 9

I was hungry. Again.

That's all I could think of as we completed the assault course for the second time. A hurried breakfast of greenery and leftover deer meat had done very little to quell my hunger after two hours of pre-dawn training in wolf form, during which I had gotten my ass thoroughly handed to me.

Not to mention that my muscles ached from a night on the floor. I had probably got four hours of sleep altogether, which you will never sympathise with until you've tried sleeping on the floor. Seriously, try it. You back aches after about five seconds. Even the thought of sleep got me whining about beds again (under my breath of course).

"I mean ... seriously. Would it kill them to give us beds? It didn't bother me all that much yesterday, not until I realised just how much I need a bed."

Alex was few paces ahead of me, but he slowed down to give me a concerned look. "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything," I lied. I'd been waiting quite a while to pull off this particular trick. "Are you feeling okay? Hearing things is the second sign of madness."

Alex grunted, knowing he was beaten. "I hate you."

"Stop your mindless blabbering!" the instructor shouted at us from the shade of his tree. "More running, less talking."

I hopped over the first of a set of hurdles. This morning, a frost had hardened the mud, making the footing a lot easier. Unfortunately, it meant everyone else was running faster as well. Funny how the world works.

This time I would get no lucky breaks by figuring out the last obstacle — everyone already knew. Now it was just a race to the finish between the seventeen remaining candidates. I could still see the faces of the seven who had left only an hour ago. Five of Kai's group and two of Ethan's gave in when Tammie asked if anyone would like to go home.

One day, and seven people down without even being eliminated. I supposed that those who had left were probably not very dedicated in the first place. Or maybe they realised just how difficult it was to get a place in the Moon Guard. I'll admit, even I didn't know I was signing up for this.

"Get a bloody move on!"

The instructor was not brilliant at the whole motivation thing. His occasional comments seemed intended to inflict fear into stragglers.

My hands were rubbed raw as I dangled upside down from the rope that hung across the river. Yesterday, I had struggled to support my body weight and move at the same time, but today I was getting the hang of it. I put as much weight as possible on my legs, leaving my arms free to pull myself along.

The next obstacle was one of my least favourites, the net. Commando crawling through the mud, I did my best to avoid the worst puddles. I had only just got clean clothes, so getting filthy again was not on the To-Do list. Olivia somehow managed to kick me in the face as she exited. Accidently, I'm sure.

Once I emerged, panting for breath, I could see a crowd of half a dozen people who had already finished the course, having skipped the last obstacle. I dug into my last reserves of energy to break into a sprint. The look on Olivia's face when I overtook her made it all worth it.

I reached the instructor and doubled over, completely exhausted. I had got seventh place out of seventeen candidates, most of whom were a lot fitter than me. It was something to be proud of. But I needed to be in the top five if I wanted a spot in the patrol. A hand touched my shoulder tentatively. My gaze flickered up to Kai's half smile.

"Good job," he said.

I straightened up, returning his smile. His eyes widened when he saw my face, and I reached up to touch the rapidly forming bruise across my cheek. "What happened?"