Chapter 35
Elliot
“You can’t be fucking serious,”I say as we approach the outdoor adventure park.
“Dead serious. This is listed as the number one team building activity in the area. Let’s go Pack Torrin!” Wells cheers happily as I furrow my brow.
I suppose that if Forrest is pack lead that we would indeed be Pack Torrin.
“We could hyphenate,” Forrest says and I turn to look at the other Alpha.
Is he really offering to hyphenate our pack name to include me? He must notice the look on my face, because he shrugs. “I didn’t have any attachment to my last name. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get rid of it, that’s why I took Wells’ last name as soon as we were official. Plus, Wells’ family is already Pack Torrin, along with a few of his brothers. Might be interesting to be Pack Torrin-Smith.”
Yeah, I was right about telling this man to be pack lead, it also took a lot of pressure off my shoulders in accepting pack life. With a heavy grunt of acknowledgment, we follow Wells to the cabin to get outfitted with the gear.
The harness is a little too tight on my crotch, and Forrest seems to have the same sentiment.
“Baby, I was only five pounds under the top weight limit. I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Forrest says.
“Those weight limits are bullshit. You’re fine,” Wells waves off his concern, and Forrest and I give each other concerned glances.
We follow our guide to the first launch point and he gives us a smile. “Welcome Pack Torrin,” he says with a chipper attitude. The man looks like a complete boy scout. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has every badge under the sun.
“Torrin-Smith, we just work shopped that on the walk up here,” Wells corrects him.
“Right, Pack Torrin-Smith. Wells tells me that you’re a newly formed pack and looking to forge a strong pack bond,” he says, making a weak showing of his arm muscle. “You’ve come to the right place. Gladys Adventure Park is the perfect place to build trust between pack mates. My name’s Teddy and I’ll be your guide today. Let’s start with the swing of death,” he says.
Forrest and I look at each other again. Meanwhile, Wells is just smiling at the term swing of death.
“What exactly is the swing of death?” I ask, keeping in step with our guide as he leads us to what looks like a massive foam wrecking ball and a spider web.
“You and your pack will work together to cross the web while the swing of death tries to take you out. It’s like a metaphor of pack life and the things that can tear you apart,” he says.
“Is he deadass?” I whisper to Forrest.
“I think he is,” Forrest says with a furrow in his brow. “Let’s just get this shit over with and then we can go home and enjoy whatever Claire made for tonight.”
“How do you think we can get through this as fast as possible?”
“I don’t know, but we need to get Wells the fuck away from this guy before he starts talking in his own metaphors.”
“Let’s ace this test,” Wells says excitedly.
Forrest looks at me with a sharp nod. “Whatever we have to do to get out of here. Let’s do it.”
We’re on the spider web, Wells is the smallest of all of us, and a professional athlete who apparently missed the fucking memo of working as a team. He’s like a goddamn spider monkey swinging across the fucking thing. Teddy hasn’t even swung the wrecking ball once.
“Alright, you go to the midpoint and I’ll follow,” Forrest says.
Just gotta get this shit over with, and I do as he says, doing my best to get across.
“Ball incoming, move two steps to the right,” Forrest directs, and I do as he says, and sure enough, I dodge the massive wrecking ball.
I take longer than I’d like to get across, but then I do the same for Forrest so he can get across too. We’re both Alphas in our prime, but at the end of that exercise, we’re both breathing a little heavy. Especially Forrest, there were a few parts you had to support your entire weight to get through the course.
“Great, on to the ropes course,” Teddy says.
Wells has a pep in his step following the man while Forrest and I lag behind. Thankfully, the ropes course isn’t too bad. We have to work together to collect flags in a certain amount of time or else Teddy said he would make us do it again, which is enough motivation for Forrest and me. Wells, on the other hand, I think is doing it for the love of the game.