Changed

Chapter Ten

With Raya gone Veda slumped from the tree stump she had been sitting on and sat on the bumpy ground where she pulled her legs to her chest. Jax had walked back over to Ryker and his short friend and remained there as they joked about things in hushed whispers which was evident in their snickers every now and again.

Veda watched them out of curiosity for a few minutes but her mind quickly drifted to the noises that seemed to come from all around her in the woods. Her head snapped back and forth nervously as a new noise took the previous one's place.

It took a while of pure terror on Veda's part before Ryker finally noticed Veda's terrible state. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, pushing himself up from where he sat to walk over to her. Veda nodded quickly, even with her fear evident and he shook his head at her.

"What's your name?" The shorter man asked in an attempt to distract her. Veda latched onto the opportunity to get out of her head and took the hand Ryker offered her to go join the boys in their small circle.

"I'm Veda." Veda told them quietly, prompting the shorter soldier to thrust forward his hand for a handshake. Veda took his hand hesitantly and he gripped hers firmly for a moment before letting it go.

"Well, my name's Jasper Park. The big one who hit your head is Ryker Jackson. The nervous one who went with your friend was Walter Gatti, and out fearless leader Jaxon Reglin, although we call him Jax." Veda looked at each of them in turn, taking in their drastically different appearances in turn.

Jasper Park was by far the shortest of the four, though still quite a bit taller than Veda. His cropped black hair stuck up in spikes, making him seem a bit taller than he was. His white T-shirt hugged his stocky frame and his brown cargo shorts hugged his legs. Like the rest of them his clothes had holes and looked worn right down to his tennis shoes.

Ryker Jackson was the tallest of them with dark brown skin and cropped hair. His deep voice had already calmed Veda a few times, though he was a bit clumsy. His appearance was a bit tidier than that of Jasper's and he wore a short-sleeved, white button-up shirt with a pair of mud-caked jeans and work boots.

Then there was Jax. Veda couldn't get over how disturbingly green his eyes were, along with the pale blond hair that was cropped short just like the rest of them. White seemed to be consistent among their outfit choices. Like Jasper, Jax wore a white T-Shirt, but from there he wore a pair of camouflage pants and combat boots that seemed similar to those Veda used to see on vacationing soldiers in the city.

"What brings you into the middle of the woods? You're clearly not a forest surveyor, like we had thought." Jax inquired and Veda felt the nervousness form before rise as she quickly shook her head at him and stared down at the ground. "It was Raya's idea. She won't tell me." Veda told the truth, although she left out the whole reason they had to leave in the first place.

She could feel their stares burning into her but refused to look up as she reached down to fiddle with a few of the fallen leaves scattered across the ground. "W-Why are you guys in the woods stealing from people?" Veda asked softly in order to divert attention from herself. This made the men go quiet and Veda looked up curiously.

They were all looking away then which put Veda at ease and made her curiosity grow. "I guess we all have our secrets." Jax murmured as he stared out at the town streets where unsuspecting civilians walked about. Veda only nodded as she unclenched her legs to sit with her legs crossed like Jasper who hummed cheerfully to himself.

"Well what was your job then? Before you came to be with us anyhow?" Jasper broke from his humming to ask her this cheerfully and again all of the eyes were on her. She picked at the jeans for a moment, debating whether or not to tell them before shrugging to herself.

"I was in my second year as an apprentice technician. Raya and I left preparation school early so we could move out and start our lives early. At least, that's what Raya said." She told them with a shrug while they listened to her intently.

"I'm guessing Raya is your friend?" Jax asked and Veda nodded as she looked at him for a fleeting moment, meeting his eyes, and then quickly looking back to the ground. "What was her job?" Jasper asked cheerfully once more and Veda smiled at the chance to talk about her best friend.

"She was in her second year of apprenticeship too. She was going to be a doctor like her parents." Veda bragged, her voice growing a bit louder than before as she smiled up at them. She noticed the impressed looks on their faces and her smile grew, pride for her friend making her happier than she'd been for the past two days.

"Jax over here has some medical training too." Jasper mentioned, earning a sharp jab from Ryker and a stern look from Jax. Veda ignored those actions and smiled up at Jax cheerfully. "That's great! Raya loves talking about that stuff. I don't get a lot of it so maybe you two can be friends and talk about all of that!" Veda's voice was hopeful and the boys smiled at her.

"Hey, Walter's a bit of a tech wiz. Maybe you two can talk about that stuff when we get to the room." Jasper suggested but Veda quickly shook her head with a small laugh. "I couldn't even untangle wires. I doubt he'd want to talk about me about that stuff." Veda dismissed, earning some questioning stares from the boys, though no one pushed it as Jasper started singing softly, letting everyone tune into him.

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Another chapter down!!!! Man we're starting to get to the good stuff now! I was SUPER excited to introduce you to the guys. Not to play favorites or anything but I'm especially fond of Jaxon and Walter though you'll learn more about him in later chapters.

Not to put down on Jasper and Ryker because they are both pretty awesome too!!! Oh I can't wait for the rest of this book I'm so stinking excited!!!

I hope you guys are enjoying it as well so please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments or in my inbox!! And if you love it then go ahead and vote to show me your love!! <3 :)