Outcast: The Alpha King’s Beloved by Blue Tears
CHAPTER 16 ROCK CLIMBING
Jennifer’s POV:
Taking revenge on Barbara made me feel better. I no longer felt depressed. That night, I finally had a good night’s rest.
Early the next morning, I headed straight to the training ground. I thought I’d get there first, but someone arrived even earlier than me. Anthony’s lone figure was standing on the training ground. The sun’s first few rays of light illuminated his silhouette, granting him a long, slender shadow. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and he was exceptionally tall. No wondered he attracted so many she-wolves.
I shook my head in secret, banishing those nasty thoughts from my head. I couldn’t afford to fantasize like this.
As the sun climbed in the sky, more and more werewolves came to the training ground. I greeted Anthony softly and then joined the team.
When all the trainees were standing in line, Anthony walked over. Carson cleared his throat to announce this morning’s task.
“In order to a*s*sess the results of your training, we have hidden fifty number plates in the depths of the jungle. Your task today is to find these plates. If you manage to find a plate, you can take tomorrow off. If not, you’ll receive double the training. The number plates each hold a rank. For example, whoever finds No. 1 will be ranked first place in the task, whereas whoever finds No. 50 will hold the 50th place.”
Everyone broke into an uproar. There were about one hundred trainees in total, but there were only fifty plates, which meant that only half of us would find the plates, at most.
Carson held up his hand to silence the trainees, then gave the order. Everyone began to run into the dense jungle.
The jungle was full of lush trees and climbing plants. Birds gathered in the depths of the jungle and let out screeching sounds. The nature of werewolves was released. Everyone cheered and jumped, and soon dispersed.
I soon found myself alone. I climbed an exceptionally dense tree in the jungle and spotted a shiny plate. But when I saw the number on the plate, my heart sank.
No. 50. I wanted No. 1. I wanted to get first place. I put it back to its original place and jumped off the tree. I didn’t roam around in that area any longer, because No. 1 wouldn’t show up at the same place where No. 50 appeared.
The deeper I ventured into the jungle, the more difficult the terrain became. The cries of birds and beasts gradually disappeared, and the surroundings grew terribly quiet.
I searched high and low until I finally caught a glimpse of the No. 1 plate. But just as I picked it up, a hand suddenly reached out from nowhere and snatched it from me.
“Thank you, but this is mine.”
Barbara held the plate up triumphantly.
f*uc*k!
I really wanted to curse. How did she get here? She was clumsy and good for nothing except making trouble.
She didn’t deserve the No. 1 plate, and I wasn’t about to let her get away with it. I pounced on her, but this only managed to knock the plate out of her hand.
I watched as the plate arced in the air and landed in someone’s hand.
Kevin?
Damn it!
Of course, Kevin was here; that’d explain how Barbara managed to make it this far. The s*cumb*ag and the b*tch —a perfect match. Just my luck.
“Jennifer.” Kevin’s eyes lit up. He sauntered over to me and exclaimed, “What a coincidence!”
I pursed my lips unhappily. “Really? Why do I highly doubt that?”
Kevin paused in his tracks for a moment. But soon he put on a smile which he thought was charming and handed me the plate.
“Jennifer, I saw you pick up the plate first. It’s rightfully yours.” Kevin spoke with a somewhat self-righteous tone.
“Kevin, what the hell are you doing?” Barbara was pissed off, but she didn’t dare to grab the plate from Kevin.
Kevin ignored her as though he was swatting away a fruit fly. I gingerly took the plate from him with doubt-filled eyes. But what he said was true. This plate belonged to me in the first place.
“Jennifer, I also found a plate, so I guess we both have the day off tomorrow. Care to go out with me?” Kevin licked his lips as he eyed me hungrily.
So that was the reason why he was willing to return the plate to me.
I felt sick to my stomach. I would rather receive double training for ten days than go out with this s*cumb*ag. Did he really think I didn’t know what he wanted?
Just as I opened my mouth to reject him, I felt a presence from behind me. I turned around and saw Anthony standing in the distance, eyeing us coldly.
I figured he was here to see who would get the No. 1 plate, but for some reason, he looked extremely unhappy. Anxious, I tried to figure out what to say to him. Was he dissatisfied, knowing I had let the plate fall into someone else’s hand?
“Jennifer, you’ll be training tomorrow,” Anthony said flatly. My eyebrows shot up. What the—?
“Mr. Jones, I have the plate, and it’s No. 1 no less…” I tried to defend myself and held up the plate for Anthony to see.
Anthony glanced at it but his expression didn’t change.
“Yes, you’ve finished this task on top. But you still have to attend training tomorrow. You know where to find me.”
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Watching his receding figure, my nerves started to calm down. Well, at least I was about to receive training from Anthony. It’d be worth sacrificing a day’s rest.
Kevin, on the other hand, looked disappointed. Since Anthony asked me to continue training tomorrow, I couldn’t go out with Kevin. Of course, even if I didn’t need to go to training, I wouldn’t have accepted his invitation—never in a million years.
I could see that Barbara was half gloating, half jealous. I knew she was taking ple@sure in the fact that I had lost my rest day, but she was jealous because Kevin hadn’t given her the plate, which allowed me to garner first place in the task.
“First place, huh? So what? It’s all because you’re just a slu*tty b*tch who can make men do whatever you want with a snap of your fingers,”
Barbara muttered viciously, but I didn’t have the time to deal with her. I needed to rest and recuperate for tomorrow’s training.
In the morning of the next day, I found Anthony standing on the training ground. But to my surprise, he led me far away from the training ground. It was not until we arrived at the foot of a steep cliff that I realized that the training today was rock climbing.
“Here you go.” Anthony threw a pair of mountain climbing gloves to me.
“Mr. Jones, all I need to do is climb to the top, right?” I asked. This was going to be a piece of cake!
Anthony put on his gloves. The wind blew in the background, and his cold voice wafted to my ears.
“Yes, as long as you get there as fast as me.”
I stared at him, wide-eyed. Ignoring my reaction, he said, “Let’s begin.”
As soon as he gave the order, I lunged forward and started climbed up along the cliff side. In the beginning, I was in the lead, but mere seconds later, Anthony had left me in the dust.
As the mountain wind blew, I sped up and competed with him in silence. He was stronger and faster, but I gradually caught up to him.
But when Anthony saw me, he picked up the pace as though he wasn’t even trying the first time.
Gritting my teeth, I did my best to catch up to him, but he was way too fast. As we neared the top and the gap between us was still huge, I started to grow anxious and I climbed recklessly. I stepped on a loose rock and lost my footing. Before I knew what was happening, I was plunging towards the ground.
“Ah!” I screamed.
My screams echoed across the valley. Anthony turned at the sound of my voice and tried to reach out and grab me, but it was too late. I was falling. I tried waving my arms, trying to catch a hold of something—anything. But I grabbed nothing. In the end, I landed on the ground with a sickening thud.