Raelia - from Kaiden's POV|| SLOW UPDATES ||

Chapter 4 - First SAS class

On Tuesday night Declan and Kaiden made their way to the forest for SAS class. It was a pretty small group last week with none of the new students there. Tom doesn't have much to say on a good day, and Skyla, well, it was generally safer not to try and talk to Skyla if you could avoid it.

Kaiden had was pretty sure that Alex had made the SAS class, despite her denial that she had completed the trial. That was mainly due to the intuition gift he couldn't help using when he was around her. He hadn't seen mainly likely candidates in the section of forest he was watching on Saturday, so he was looking forward to seeing who would join them on their adventures this year.

The first class was no gentle introduction. Hunter didn't believe in wasting time like that. The new students were often so excited about their first class that they got there early. This meant Kaiden and Declan had to use their stealthy skills as they made their way to the meeting point. They needed to be close enough to see and hear the newbies, but not give themselves away. Hunter would be sure to tell them later if they weren't careful enough.

When they got into position, they saw two fourth year students waiting.

"Know any of those guys?" Kaiden asked.

"The short one, Pippa, is in my equestrian class. She's pretty cool. I don't know the other guy though."

"Looks like a pretty small group this year."

"It's still early. I thought you said Alex was going to be in the class. And we both thought Sparker would get offered a place. Alex is probably just making him wait to the last minute to come down here."

Just as he said that, the two of them came in to view, walking towards the other two students already there.

"How long do you think it will take them to start asking where everyone else is?" Declan asked, remembering their first night of SAS the year before. They had started looking for Hunter pretty quickly, but that was mainly because trying to talk to Skyla became pretty awkward pretty quickly.

"I give them 5 minutes. And I bet Alex will be the first to ask"

"You're probably right. You usually are. I should know better than get you to bet on these things any way."

Kaiden was of course watching Alex closely, so he noticed that she didn't seem completely comfortable in the forest. Given that she was attacked just a few days earlier, it made sense that she would be nervous.

As if she felt him watching her, Alex turned to look straight to where he was standing. Kaiden was pretty sure she couldn't see him concealed in the shadows, but he held his breath and froze just the same.

Kaiden sensed Declan moving a bit to his side, and turned to look at him. Declan was trying very hard not to laugh out loud, but was only barely managing to contain himself.

The fourth year students started walking into the forest toward the distraction and away from the two of them. They were making enough noise that Kaiden dared ask Declan "What's so funny?"

"You. Your face when Alex looked in your direction. I have never seen you look so scared in your whole life. That was priceless."

"Whatever. Just keep quiet or Hunter will make us pay"

With a big smile on his face and an occasional little chuckle, Declan managed to silently make his way through the forest to where the fourth years were now caught up in a net.

When the same thing had happened to them last year, Skyla had been so concerned about not letting her hair get tangled in the net, she was not much help to them in getting out. Kaiden had ended up on the bottom of the net with Declan on top of him. It had taken them an embarrassingly long time to work out how to untangle themselves from each other and then free themselves from the net.

They were just settling in to watch the new group struggle to escape, assuming it would take them longer than it had taken them, when suddenly the net was sliced open and Alex tumbled ungraciously out. She seemed to be surprised that she was now on the ground, though she had obviously been the one to cut the net. Now she was searching the ground for something, oblivious to her classmates hanging above her, waiting for her to move out of their way.

Kaiden desperately wanted to ask Declan if he had seen how Alex had cut the net, but they were too close to make any noises like that. He would have to wait until later to solve that mystery.