Chapter 46
CHAPTER 46
B reakfast the next morning was, as always, lively and fun. More so because of Wynter currently being the person to beat on the first obstacle.
“I’m going to give it a go today,” Blake said. “I really can’t put it off too much longer.”
Laughter was heard around the table, as was the sound of cutlery on plates.
“I’m going to try as well I know I’ll be really bad but it does look fun,” Tudor said before Alex touched his arm.
“Me, too. As long as I beat Bay, I’ll be happy,” Alex put in, grinning at his twin.
“There’s no way you’ll beat me,” Baylan boasted, full of confidence.
I’ll have a go as well, Puff announced through the pack link.
“In that case, all those here who have not yet had a go, join us at ten and we can all try it,” Blake said.
“Can we try it as well?” Forrest asked.
“You can,” Ares said. “I can make it easier for you all.”
“Not sure we’ll need it easier,” Kieran said.
Ares laughed. “We’ll see. This is the easier one after all.”
“I’ll be on standby,” Ajax said.
“Only a few have fallen off so far,” Ares said.
“And I was one of them,” Tatum said laughing. “Those balls pack a whack.”
“And don’t forget Battle fell as well,” Ares pointed out.
“That’s because you coated the climbing rope net in oil,” Battle pointed out with a laugh as he and Zeus appeared in the kitchen.
“Congratulations to the both of you,” Blake said, standing up.
Both Zeus and Battle were surprised they received hugs from everyone.
“Thank you. We’re both very happy,” Zeus told them.
“Battle, are you staying up in Olympus?” Blake asked him.
“No, sire. Zeus and I talked about it and he knows I’m needed here.”
“We did indeed,” Zeus said happily.
“Call me Blake, you are, after all, family now. We’ll have to find you both somewhere to live down here. You’re welcome here in the pack house, or we can build you a new house with the others.”
“We’ll let you know once we’ve decided,” Battle said.
“Fair enough, just know there is a place here if you need one.”
“Have you two had breakfast?” Baylan asked.
Battle shook his head. “No, my new mate is mean.”
Laughter was heard around the table.
“I believe I did feed you this morning and then you fed me in the shower,” Zeus pointed out.
Alex fake shuddered. “We didn’t need to know that, pops.”
“Did your food not get soggy?” Maddy asked, looking confused.
“It probably did, and they won’t be discussing that again while you are all around,” Martha chided, glaring at Zeus, not at all fazed by the fact she was glaring at the king of the gods.
“Sorry,” Zeus said, with a shrug not really meaning it. He looked at Maddy and Kieran and held his arms out.
They both jumped up and hugged him.
He turned his head to at Battle. “Kieran and Maddy are my grandchildren.” He drew back and the children sat down. Then he looked around the table until he saw Demi, Brook, and the twins. “Plus, Demi, otherwise known as Deimos, God of Fear, his mate Brook, and the twins, Forrest and Willow.”
“We’ve claimed Tobin as ours,” Demi added, grinning at the boy.
“Excellent, more grandchildren to spoil. Demi and Brook will also be new parents in three months.”
“Congratulations,” Brook said to them.
“You know Ares, but this is my other son, Daskalo, the God of Education. I’m sure you’ve met the twins.”
Battle nodded. “I have, hello again. This is still mind-blowing. You go your whole life never meeting a god and suddenly here they are.”
“Indeed, welcome to our world,” Blake replied. “But sit, have breakfast.” He motioned them towards a pair of empty chairs.
They both sat and food was passed to them. They ate as general chatter started up once again. Once they had finished, Zeus caught Demi’s and Brook’s attention. “Hera wants to throw you a baby shower.”
“She does?” Demi asked, surprised.
Zeus nodded. “Yep, as soon as she found out about the baby, that was the first thing she said. She’ll let you know when it’s all organised.”
“I’ll send a message and thank her,” Demi replied.
“Alright folks, those that are coming to the first obstacle, let’s go,” Blake announced, standing up.
Oz used magic to clear the table and everyone followed Blake out and over to the new pack lands.
“Alright everyone, as you know, this is the easy one. You just need to complete this section in the fastest time. The timer will start once you step on the first swinging axe. So, form a line and have at it,” Ares announced.
“This should be fun,” Hades said to Zeus, who, along with Frederick, suddenly appeared.
“Battle, you’re up first,” Blake shouted out.
Battle nodded and grinned. “As long as I beat Freddie, I’m happy,” he declared, walking up to the first platform. Taking a breath, he stepped onto the first wooden axe and ran across them and the rope bridge without stopping. The balls came nowhere near him.
“How does he do that?” General Gasgoyne marvelled, having walked over to join them along with General Delinga.
“Luck,” Frederick said.
They watched him climb the rope net with no problems, not even wasps slowing him down. He then jumped onto the first balance beam and used the momentum to jump onto the monkey bars, crossing them without any problems and landing on the penultimate platform before running and jumping onto the rope swing and landing on the final platform.
He bowed to claps and cheers and walked back to join the others, a jaunt in his step and only mildly out of breath.
“Did I beat Freddie?” Battle asked Ares.
Ares laughed. “You did.”
“Yes!” he said.
Frederick groaned. “By how much? I did it in four minutes twenty.”
“And Wynter did it in three minutes thirty-one,” Tatum said.
“Battle did it in three minutes thirty,” Ares announced.
“Hell, yeah!” Battle shouted happily, fist pumping the air.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Frederick grumbled while everyone congratulated Battle.
“Alright, Blake, you’re up next,” Ares said.
Battle went and stood by Zeus. “Congratulations,” Zeus said, kissing his hand.
Battle beamed. “Thanks, Boo.”
They watched as the rest of the pack took to the course until only Puff and Tudor were left. Ares wouldn’t tell anyone else their times, saying he would tell them all at the end.
“Come on, Puff, you’re next,” Ares said to him.
“You’ve got this,” Mateo encouraged him.
Puff grinned and nodded, walking up to the first platform.
Puff took a breath and stepped onto the first obstacle. He managed to cross the swinging axes and the rope bridge. A ball grazed his shoulder, but he managed to stay on.
He heard the others cheering him and shouting encouragement.
Puff struggled a bit with the rope bridge, especially when the crabs started heading towards him, but he soon made it to the top and onto the balance bars. He managed them and the monkey bars, and finally the swing.
He laughed to himself. He didn’t care how long it had taken him, he had managed to complete it. He walked back to join the others, getting congratulations from everyone.
“Alright Tudor, you’re next,” Ares said.
“You can do this, sweetheart. Just take your time and have fun,” Alex told him.
“Fun right,” Tudor muttered, walking up to the platform.
You can do it, he heard Puff say to him.
Tudor didn’t even think about it, he stepped on the first wooden axe and ran, not stopping until he was over the rope bridge and climbing the rope net, ignoring the swarm of cockroaches heading towards him. He slid down the first balance beam and, like the others, jumped for the monkey swing. Making quick work of them, he finally swung on the rope and dropped down to the final platform. It was then that he heard the others clapping and cheering for him.
He grinned happily and walked back to the others, receiving congratulations from everyone. Alex pulled him into his arms and dropped a kiss on his head. “Well done, sweetheart.”
“Alright folks, here are the scores.” The scoreboard Saxon created became bigger and all the times appeared.
“Tudor, you won! You beat Battle and Wynter,” Alex crooned jubilantly.
“I can’t believe it,” Tudor said, stunned. He’d beaten Battle by one second.
Puff came halfway down the board, with both Mateo and Atticus beating him. Baylan, Alex, and Blake were tied at four minutes fifty-five. The others had varying times.
“I think we should have Frederick and Battle go against each other,” Blake said, looking at the cousins.
“I’m up for it,” Battle readily accepted.
“Me, too,” Frederick said. “It’s a shame we can’t do it at the same time though.” Just as he finished saying this, another identical obstacle appeared.
“Hey, more has been added to it,” Battle pointed out.
“It has, I couldn’t make it too easy for the both of you,” Ares said with a laugh.
“I don’t think Ares should be the timekeeper though,” Blake said. “I mean, he is Battle’s son-in-law, and even though Frederick is now his uncle-in-law, I’m sure son trumps that.”
“Paulo and I can be the timekeepers if you want,” General Gasgoyne said, looking at the dragon general.
“We can indeed.”
“Sorted. Frederick, Battle, take your positions,” Ares said.
They both walked to their first platform.
“My Battle is going to win hands down,” Zeus predicted, grinning at his brother.
“Nope, my Freddie will beat Battle, just wait and see,” Hades replied, full of confidence.
“On the count of three, gentlemen,” Ares called. “One, Two, Three!”
And with that, the cousins both jumped onto the first wooden axe.
As soon as Frederick had taken a few jumps, the axes started shaking violently.
“Seriously, you’re cheating?” Hades asked, glaring at his brother. “Oh, it’s so on.”
Battle had just made it to the rope bridge, when the sides vanished and all that was left was a swinging rope to walk over and balls coming at him from all angles. One of the balls hit him and he fell, but he managed to grab the rope and hold on. He swung himself under the rope and hooked his legs over the top and pulled himself to the end. He found it tricky to get the right way into the platform but he managed it, just as Frederick did.
They started climbing at the same time, but Frederick was having issues: the rope netting was covered in, going by the smell, honey … sticky honey. He cursed up a storm as he slowly climbed the rope net.
Battle wasn’t having it any easier, with rats, spiders, and snakes slowing him down.
Once at the top there was a new obstacle. This one has a hoop that could only be moved by it jumping over barriers — barriers that increased the further along they went.
Battle jumped and caught the ring and succeeded in clearing the first three barriers but was having issues with the last one.
He glanced to the side and saw his cousin making what looked like quick work over the barriers. Ignoring his cousin, he gritted his teeth and, after two more attempts, leapt past the last barrier.
Frederick had eked out a few seconds gain on Battle, finding the hoop jumps fairly easy. He jumped onto the platform. The next obstacle seemed to be a glass tunnel with no bottom. Figuring out he needed to use his hands and feet on both sides of the walls, he was happy his hands were sticky. He started pushing himself along the tunnel when water started coming down the walls.
Battle internally shook his head as he manoeuvred himself through the tunnel, cursing the gods under his breath. He managed to get to the end of the tunnel and landed on the platform. Now for the monkey bars.
Frederick was also cursing the gods as he got to the end of the tunnel just as Battle started on the monkey bars. He heard Battle curse and saw that his bars spun around. He jumped and caught the first bar just as huge flames suddenly shot up, trying to burn him to a crisp.
He made it to the end just as Battle did. They both sprinted for the final rope swing and landed on their platforms.
Battle leaned over, hands on his knees as he sucked in a few breaths.
He saw Frederick walking off his platform and joined him. “Somehow, I think our mates were cheating.”
Frederick nodded. “I think you're right, cuz.”
They got claps and cheers from everyone and the cousins stood in front of both Hades and Zeus, arms crossed over their chests.
“Really?” Frederick asked.
“What?” Zeus replied, trying to look innocent.
“Don’t ‘what,’ you know the two of you were cheating,” Battle said.
“Us?” Hades asked, pointing to himself and Zeus, trying for an affronted look at the very idea.
“Well, if it wasn’t you two, who was it?” Battle asked.
“There are a lot of magic users in this pack,” Zeus pointed out.
The cousins shook their heads and laughed.
“So, who won?” Kyle asked.
“Frederick did it in six minutes thirteen,” General Gasgoyne said.
“Battle did it in six minutes and thirteen as well,” General Delinga noted, turning the stopwatch around to show them.
“Thank goodness it was a draw, with all the cheating going on,” Han said, having arrived in time to see the cousins run the course.
As they were laughing, Blake’s phone rang. He stepped away to get some quiet.
“Blake Hayes,” he said on answering.
“Your Majesty, my name is Alpha Shepard Stanley from Middle Wallop. We've had warning that your father is headed for my pack. It’s not a large pack, just twenty adults and children.”
“Say no more. I can have a defence team with you as soon as possible. Shoot me your address and I’ll send them at once,” Blake told him. “Just so you know, it won’t just be wolves coming, but dragons, gargoyles, and other shifters.”
“Thank you,” Alpha Stanley said. “I’m sorry to contact you directly, but Alpha Kerry Woodley said I should.”
“No apologies needed. A team will be with you as soon as possible,” he said, hanging up.
Everyone was still chatting, so Blake whistled and silence descended. “Alpha Stanley, from Middle Wallop, has called for help. Barnabus is heading for his pack. I need people to go and help him protect the pack.”
“I’ll go,” Battle offered.
“As will I,” Julian said.
Three soldiers wearing the dragon military uniform suddenly appeared.
I need you three to help the defence team and stop an attack by Barnabus, Puff said to them.
“Yes, sire,” they replied.
Three gargoyles appeared courtesy of Alex.
“We heard,” one of them said. “We’ll do what we can.”
“Can I suggest we have Robin Coulson on the team as well? He’s an Eagle shifter,” Battle suggested.
A man suddenly appeared in front of them.
“Robin, we’re off to protect a pack from an attack. I thought you could help,” Battle told him.
“I can,” he said.
“I’ll come as well, so I can get a read on this demon,” Shiloh said.
“And I’ll also join,” Frederick added. “For the same reason as Shiloh.”
Blake checked his phone. “I have the address, everyone ready?”
Zeus pulled Battle to one side. “Be safe,”
Battle smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss. “Always, Boo. See you when we get back.”
He glanced to the side and saw Frederick saying bye to Hades.
“Remember, keep your wits about you. Barnabus can mimic powers. Take note of any that he uses, that will help us devise a plan to stop him. If you need extra help, call.” And with that, Blake nodded to Ares and the first defence team vanished.