Twin Alphas

Chapter 12

Jeremy's POV

Bayne and Aaron had been in my pack for two months, and already my elites were fighting better and running farther, their human forms are getting stronger and they aren't questioning Bayne as much as they did the first couple of days. The training is far from a walk in the park, and seems to change every day.

The morning starts out the same way, Bayne gets everybody up at 4:00, then a forty mile run on two legs, then some hand to hand combat, a short water break, and then back to combat skills. Some days it's hand to hand, others its hand to wolf, and other times we do wolf to wolf. Bayne never does the same thing two days in a row, and every time she corrects at least five of my men on something. She said that Burt didn't do a great job training us, but it was better than starting from scratch. That didn't go too well with Burt but he kept his mouth shut. Bayne hadn't changed much, she was still closed off with everyone and if you asked about her past she would give the same answer. 'You don't want to know, and the less you know the safer you are.'

This morning, for some reason felt different, everything went the same way, but there was something in the air that made my wolf anxious. On the run I saw Bayne slow her pace a little and sniff through the surrounding woods. But she dismissed it after not finding anything. Her attitude didn't change much; she was still on edge through the whole training session.

"What do you think is wrong with Bayne?" Greg asked me after seeing Bayne look behind her several times like a paranoid girl walking down a dark ally.

"I don't know, but I felt uneasy the whole run. Maybe she feels the same thing I do." I answered as I studied Bayne's body language and facial expressions. "I can't quite read her face, and she isn't showing any signs of being in distress-" I was cut off by Greg's laughing.

"You think you can read her emotions when she doesn't show any? A statue would be easier to read." Greg looked at me as his smile dropped. "She's not the kind of person you can read."

"I know, but Aaron can practically read her mind when they are together, so how does he do it? What does he look for that I just can't see?" I kept studying Bayne as I spoke with Greg.

"He's been with her for a whole century; they've had time to get to know one another. Why are you so interested anyway?" he asked.

"I want to be able to connect with Bayne in a similar way Aaron does. I want to communicate with her just by looking at her." I was cut off again

"You sound like a teenage girl talking about her crush." He commented.

"Think about it, everyone in the pack knows how to communicate with each other without talking, and I'm getting used to understanding Aaron, but Bayne has a whole different language." I said defeated.

"Maybe we just need to spend some time with them, you know, away from training." Greg suggested halfheartedly, but his comment was unintentionally my new plan.

"Greg, you are a genius!" I told him. He looked at me questionably waiting for me to explain. "We'll go on a trip, just the warriors, and we'll get to know everyone there. Like team bonding and a trust exercise rolled into one." Greg just sighed and rubbed his face.

"When and where are we going?"

"This weekend, in the woods behind the pack house." That would give us two days to pack and tell everyone. And I knew just the place.

~

After telling all the elites about our camping trip I went to find Aaron and Bayne, they would probably be the hardest to convince into coming along, seeing as how Bayne is the kind of person who doesn't have fun and Aaron follows her lead, plus they aren't officially part of the pack. I would have to change that soon too. I was thinking about the best way to bring it up when I bumped into Aaron in the hall way.

"Hey, just the man I wanted to see, is Bayne around?" I figured it would be easier to get Bayne to go if I asked them at the same time, especially if I mentioned that it was so we got stronger as a team.

"Uh yah, she's in her room. I'll go get her." He said as he walked into her room without even knocking. A few seconds later he came back out of her room and Bayne was behind him. "What did you want to talk to us about?" he asked me

"I have planned a weekend camping trip for the elites this weekend, and was hoping you both would come too." I said quickly then held my breath waiting for their response.

"Camping trip?" Bayne raised an eyebrow at me, clearly not impressed.

"Yah, to build relationships within the pack and team bonding stuff..." I was getting nervous under her gaze and started fidgeting.

"Sounds like fun." Aaron said, but in a non-excited tone. I looked up and saw he was looking at Bayne, the same way he was when he was convincing her to stay at the pack house. My hope skyrocketed as she looked at him with a frown. Finally she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Fine." Was all she said before she closed the door in our faces. I let out a breath the breath I was holding and smiled.

"Thank you." I said to Aaron, he looked at me with confusion so I continued. "I was hoping I could get you to convince her the same way you did when she wouldn't stay here. I figured you could talk some sense into her." Aaron just chuckled and shook his head.

"I knew what you were doing the moment you asked me where she was, and to be honest, I'm surprised you think she listens to me." he chuckled a little more as he started to walk away.

"But she does... when you told her she needed to stay at the pack house she listened." I reminded him as I walked behind.

"That's just because what I said was true. She needed to shift back and we needed a way to track the people we're after. Plus she was losing some blood from her wounds, therefore she wasn't as stubborn."

"Then perhaps she's warming up to me, and the idea of being in a pack." Aaron looked at me then shook his head and smiled.