CHAPTER 15

The girls and I walked into the gym to find people grouped around stretching or chatting. I scanned the room counting around forty members, not including the ten or so officers and leaders, or the squad of officially titled Knights that apparently came and left as requested, depending on their assigned missions. The New York academy wasn't massive but as a whole the Gray Knights had warriors around the world to protect the mundane from the dangers of the supernatural.

Kit and Billie led me to the treadmills that overlooked the benches and weight racks scattered in front of the wall of mirrors.

"We usually start with some cardio and strength training before technical sparring or boxing," Billie explained. I was more than happy to get a gym sesh in, needing to work out some of my pent up frustration. In a matter of minutes, I stretched and broke out into a light jog and then ran on the treadmill beside my two new friends. As I observed the hustle and bustle of the academy, my gaze found Griffin's toned, brawny body at the weight racks doing bench presses with Carter spotting. And I wish I hadn't. I didn't want to look but it didn't help that he was directly in front of me—I should have picked a different treadmill. But it would be worse if I moved now, so I had no choice but to stay where I was. It was going to take all my effort not to stare at him the whole time as his muscles worked to bench the heavy bar rack above him. He was dressed in a tight black tee that hugged his chest and arms, paired with black tech fleece track pants that showed off his muscular thighs. I didn't know what was sexier, seeing him in just a towel this morning or working out a sweat right now. In both scenarios he was wet.

His dark hair was not styled up like it usually seemed to be but instead lay flatter on top, falling slightly over his forehead. When he sat up on the bench after his first set, his eyes almost immediately found mine in the mirror and he winked at me when he caught me staring. I had to basically peel my eyeballs away from him and try not to die of embarrassment as I continued to run.

After about thirty minutes of cardio and another thirty of upper body weights—trying not to make eye contact again—we were ready for some training. I followed my friends to the boxing area. So far a good start to the morning. It helped that boxing was probably my strongest form of combat. At least that eased my nerves a bit.

I was grateful to see Sienna head to the sparring mats, meaning I wouldn't have to run into her for a while longer at least. Another thing I didn't need to stress about for the moment.

To my horror, Griffin and Carter followed us. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since they were a group but I was hoping not to have to encounter him too much either, especially when it came to training. I wasn't the most experienced fighter and I didn't want to look like a complete idiot. Plus like I had said, Griffin seemed like trouble that I did not need right now. Not to mention I did not like the spike to my heart rate that his presence annoyingly caused.

"Ladies," Griffin greeted as he approached. I nodded in response as he collected a skipping rope. Carter and Billie each claimed a punching bag while Kit led me to the gloves.

"Let's start with some drills, Vee," Kit called out as she picked up a set of gloves and pads.

"Sure." I grabbed the gloves from her and began strapping them on. We got right into it, throwing punches while she blocked, bouncing around on the balls of our feet. After about five minutes, when Griffin was done with his warm up, he casually strolled over to us.

"Kit, swap with me. I want to see what she's got." His raspy voice was calm. Of course he would want to test me straight away, I would never be so lucky as to just get through my first day without making a total fool of myself. But I was here now, here to train and learn, so I would just have to put on a brave face and give him all I had.

Kit laughed. "Alright, Griff." She handed him the pads, swapping over to gloves for herself.

Carter butted in. "What the fuck, Gray? Ditching me for the girl already? That's twice now." Downton Abbey didn't seem too happy about this—join the club. Apparently, Griffin was his usual sparring partner.

"You'll live," he replied dryly, his lips pulling up ever so slightly in amusement as he got into position across from me. Carter smirked at him.

"It's alright, Car. I'll bless you with my presence today," Kit confidently proclaimed. He looked pleased as he threw his arm over her shoulder and they walked over to the ring together. Once they got over the ropes, I caught a glimpse of Kit lunging towards him before I returned my attention to the devastatingly handsome guy in front of me.

I got into position. "Gray?" I questioned as I threw the first punch. He blocked it effortlessly and jabbed back at me with the pad. He smiled as I weaved under his arm and went in with another punch. The realisation hit me. "Wait, you're Griffin Gray, as in the Gray Knights?" I was shocked. He really didn't seem to care much about anything and yet here he was, literally the descendant of the founders of this whole operation.

"Don't act so surprised, Stone." He held the syllable of my last name to prove a point: that I was also a legacy or whatever. "Thea is my mother. Theodore Gray is my grandfather. Your mum was trained by him, alongside my mum." I hit him with another combo. "Me and you are not so different after all, are we, Apollo?" He jabbed across at me again. Keeping my gloves in front of me, I tilted my shoulder back to block it and then punched forward with my right arm. "They'd love for us to one day be running this place side by side, you and me." He bounced back, giving me one of his signature winks and I had to admit my heart skipped a beat. Stupid backstabbing heart. Whose side was it on? And what was he suggesting? Was he implying being more than just comrades or was I reading into it too much? Mr Big Shot Player over here wanted to what? Settle down and lead the Knights together?Please, that would be the day.

Although deep down I didn't think I'd mind if that day did ever come.

Get your shit together, Venus. You don't know the guy and you literally just broke up with your boyfriend.

I felt like such a traitor, even though River clearly betrayed me first. Not to mention killed someone! If it wasn't for me walking in on it all, I would have continued my life there like an ignorant little lovesick girl. I wouldn't make that mistake again, from now on my shields had to stay up. No boys.

God, my life was messy.

I let what Griffin said sink in as we continued to spar. I was pretty happy with how well I was keeping up with him, although he was probably taking it super easy on me.

I just couldn't fathom that Thea was his mother. I couldn't fathom that she was anyone's mother. She didn't seem like she would have a maternal bone in her body and I could only wonder what type of childhood he must have had. Now that I thought about it though, they did have the same grey eyes. But Griffin's hair was so dark compared to her almost-silver locks. He must have got the darker looks from his father.

"What about your dad?" I asked. "Is he one of the other officers?"

"My dad bailed when I was a kid. He couldn't handle the Knights. He couldn't handle my mum." He didn't seem to have any emotion in his voice as he admitted that to me but I still couldn't help but feel for him.

"Oh." I sighed, wishing I hadn't pried. "I also grew up without a dad," I offered—as if that made it any better.

"We're like two peas in a pod."

I gave him a small, sad smile.

"You're quite good, you know." He broke the silence first.

"Well thank God for that. I'm going to have no hope with anything else, so that's a relief at least. My aunt trained us when I was younger. I kept up boxing as an outlet and form of exercise but didn't really train in anything else after we moved to Saint Claire," I explained.

"I could get used to watching you box." He looked amused as I hit him with some faster one-twos in response, ignoring that flirty declaration. No boys.

"Who's "us"?" He enquired in between blocking. He moved so effortlessly—he definitely had to be taking it easy on me.

I tried not to focus on how good he looked, hair slightly falling into his eyes and sweat beading on his neck.

"My younger sister, Celeste." My breath was getting heavier now as he upped the intensity at which he jabbed, keeping me on my toes.

"And she also didn't know?" He was referring to us being hunters.

"She found out when I did."

He nodded. "Let's do some split jabs."

We reset our position to start the drill. I could feel eyes watching us and when I took a quick second to look, Sienna's eyes were boring into me. I didn't have much time to react as Griffin threw his jab. I quickly slipped it and threw mine back at his opposite target pad.

"Good," he replied as we continued like that, moving around the space. He set the rhythm, going faster and faster until we were both panting for air. We were so engrossed that all the people around us seemed to disappear and it was just him and I and our jagged breath.

We went through a few more drills until the hour was up. I managed to not land on my ass which felt like a major achievement considering my partner was Griffin fucking Gray.

When we finished, he leaned into me as he pulled off his gloves, ducking his head down towards my face. "You kept up with me. Not bad for a girl who never knew she was a hunter. You'll be sweet with boxing but I still have so much more I could show you." I looked up at him, noticing his thick dark lashes as he held my gaze with a wicked grin.

"I'm sure you do," I replied, almost automatically.

I had no idea where this fire had come from. I was poking the beast when I really shouldn't be. But he brought out a different side of me. I was never like this with River. I was a calm, good girl. Our relationship just happened—blossomed from friendship. There was not really any crazy sexual tension or cheeky flirting. We had met when we were so young, there wasn't any time for that.

His smile became even more devilish, if that was even possible. He handed me a towel and wiped at his neck with his own. Once again, I found myself staring. I observed his dark features, similar to Rivers yet immensely different. Unlike every book I'd ever read, these two were not polar opposites, at least not in looks. I clearly had a type: tall, dark and handsome. Although that phrase often confused me with how vague it was. In this instance I meant ‘dark' in the literal sense of his features; his hair, brows, thick lashes and the warmer undertone of his tanned skin.Although, he also had that whole mysterious, aloof thing going for him, so I guess he fit the description in all senses.

He stood slightly taller than River, but where the wolf was stock, robust and bulky with strength, Griffin was leaner and sculpted like a Greek god. Still extremely muscular, every inch of his body was chiselled and defined from a lifetime of training. He was lither and I could tell it made him an agile fighter. His skin was an olive tone where River's was golden brown. Griffin's dark hair was cut shorter than the long tousled brown locks of the alpha, which were lightened by the sun. His greyish brown eyes were turbulent and piercing but somehow also held a soft quality. I met his gaze enough over the last day that I noticed they almost seemed to change colour, switching from a liquid mix of grey and cool brown to a more silvery tone. They were not as gentle as the honey colour of Rivers' yet they were hypnotising, maybe because they seemed so depthless.

Personality wise, they couldn't be more different. Griffin was an enigma and I'm sure he'd always be, but he seemed stoic and a bit withdrawn from everything around him. At the same time he was flirty and seductive. Funnily enough, he reminded me of a predator; smooth, calculated and cunning in order to draw in his prey. Beautiful and majestic but somewhat cold. I had no doubt that every flirty remark he made at me was predetermined and thought out. The perfect hunter. I'd always known wolves to be the beast of prey, but in order to fight them it made sense that the hunters had to be the true apex predator. Stealthy and swift. Quick thinking and tactical.

River on the other hand was warm, charismatic and loyal—as lovable as a puppy but strong and tough when he needed to be. Protective.

Somehow in the end, that ended up being the more dangerous type; the type that gains your trust and infiltrates your heart only to trick you and tear you apart.

I was thankfully pulled out of my thoughts when Kitana all but jumped on me. "You killed that girl!" She squealed. "Come on, let's take a break." She grabbed my hand, pulling me away from Griffin and towards the kitchen.

He called after me, "Regain your strength, weapon training is next. And get your protein in."

The buffet in the Diner was filled with fruits, juices, blenders, shakers and an array of nutrient powders. Everything buffed up gym heads would want as a snack. Griffin and Carter didn't join us but the girls ran me through how the rest of the day would pan out after they made me a vanilla protein shake and I snacked on a few berries. Once we had refuelled, it was time to head back out to the gym.