Grey Owl: Book two

Chapter One

The past few weeks with the guys have been amazing, we were able to relax and do jobs around the city. We baby sat for a few families, helped out at the animal shelter and did some yard work for some of the elderly folks in the area. I don't think I have ever worked so hard, but it feels good to have gone out and helped. The guys also started to get more comfortable around me and vice versa. With any spare time I would go out with each one by themselves on dates. We went on simple and safe dates; dinner and a movie, bowling, picnic in the park and mini golf. We shared sweet and innocent kisses but I never let anything get too heated between me and any of the guys. This is my time to get to know them better before we end up having something crazy happening, which with how they keep disappearing more lately, I fear is going to pull us all under and leave us with barely enough time to breath.

We passed on the information about the Academy being targeted but they told us to not worry, that a few other teams would look into for now and they would let us know when we could help. I was happy we didn't have to dive right back into action but I could tell the guys were a little put out that they were not needed right away.

August was growing more confidant in everything he did too, even the things I did not approve of. He learned how to go downstairs but still had to work on going up. He also had a surprise party set up in my bathroom with toilet paper confetti once.

My parents had been home a few times but they were constantly busy and I never really saw them. I tried to keep myself busy and out of the house when they were home anyway. Things were starting to change though, I wasn't sure what it was but I was starting to feel the need to be ready at a moment's notice for anything.

I was standing on my balcony just watching cars drive by, kids playing just inside the fences and people walking their dogs. It was quiet and peaceful, but yet I had had a bad feeling turning in the pit of my stomach for the past few days. I could feel tension in the air and I wasn't sure why, I could tell the guys sensed something too but they hadn't said anything yet.

"Lilly?" I heard behind me. I turned toward my door where Rob stood, his hands casually in his pockets but a hard look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"The camping trip is coming up and I want to make sure you are ready for it," Rob said.

"Do we just need to go out and get some camping gear?" I asked confused.

"We have stuff but you will need some, but I want to make sure you are ready beyond that too. There will be a lot of people there and not all of them are academy, this is where we bring in new people and let them see what it means to be a part of this," Rob explained.

"How many people?" I ask, I knew they had made it out to be a big deal before but I didn't really think there were going to be tons and tons of people.

"We book an entire camp ground out for this, the only people you will run into is academy. We also generally fill the entire camp ground too," Rob said. I rose an eyebrow, that sounds like a lot more than I thought. I had originally thought that maybe they get a section of the camp ground and have everyone just sort of hang out and do team building activities. I thought it was a bit more girl scouts meets boy scouts with people of all ages.

"Thank you for letting me know," I say smiling.

"I looked at the weather for the weekend and it will be a little cold while we are there so you will need to pack warm." Rob said.

"What are we waiting for then? Time to go shopping!" I said as I grabbed my purse off the vanity.

I pulled on a pair of converse and followed Rob down to the basement where the other guys were playing with the kitten and having skee-ball competitions. I pulled August up into my arms and he snuggled under my chin, purring immediately.