The Huntress

Chapter 26

I had completely killed the combat assessment the other day, when I told my roommate the score I had gotten her jaw had nearly hit the ground. She said that there were only a few people who did that well, and just a couple who had scored higher than me. I looked at the sheet of paper again that scored me at an eighty-seven out of one hundred and ten. I wasn't sure where the other twenty-three points were, but I wasn't really complaining.

It probably came from your hesitation, the ever-growing voice in my head said.

When my roommate was long gone, I took a look in my journal reading what I had written over the past couple days, the day of my assessment holding the most. I had nearly had a breakdown with all the stress of that day weighing down on me. I was honestly afraid someone would have noticed the hesitation when the werewolves came at me. Then again, even if they did notice the hesitation, their first assumption wouldn't be that I was in any way romantically involved with a werewolf. We were hunters and we didn't do that. It was unthinkable.

I had been getting on quite a few of the teachers' nerves the past couple days. It hadn't exactly been intentional, but I had felt like their classes had left some gaps in the actual facts of the creatures we hunted. Myth v. Fact had done nothing in the way to enlighten us on the myths of the creatures we hunted besides debunk things we saw in Hollywood's films, which we already knew. Yesterday I had asked what the point of the class even was if they weren't going to actually teach us anything.

I suppose I had been a little harsh on them, considering the class was intended for new hunters who knew little to nothing of our lives, what we did, and why. Though the longer I was within the walls of The Organization, the less I knew the answer to that last one myself.

And Ian, oh Ian. I'm pretty sure I had gotten under his skin the most. Things had been tense ever since the first day, mainly because I was pissed that his family was nice enough to let him be an instructor instead of having someone like my father who made me play student. Ian had tried hitting on me a couple times despite the rather-tense past we had, which wasn't even that distant. He apparently thought it was just a one-time deal that I had pushed him away. After all we would be the perfect match. Two secondary founding families uniting, just imagine the type of family that would create. That's what he'd said anyway. I hadn't taken the bait.

I walked into the locker room, changed into the clothes for combat and went back out with everyone else.

"What's up?" I asked a small group of people I had started talking to.

"Apparently we're sparring today. They're using our scores to match us up with people," Carter said pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

I nodded and watched as Ian and Klarke looked over the list, no doubt putting the finishing touches on the pairings. Klarke nodded and Ian watched her leave. When she was gone he wrote a few more things down and grabbed the whistle around his neck, bringing it to his mouth.

The ear splitting sound echoed off the walls and everyone flinched before quieting down.

"Alright we're sparring today and we're going to be working from the top down. This will take place over a couple days. I want each of you present for the first day so you know what's going on. After today, unless it's your day to spar you will either be dismissed or asked to continue training with Klarke in the other facility," Ian said.

"The first pair will go by themselves so everyone can see how it will be run, after that there will be three pairs going."

I felt bad for whoever the first pair was. There was no way I would ever want to be the example in front of what was easily one hundred people. I just thanked the powers that be that I had gotten a slightly lower score than some of the others. I would be near the top, but not at it.