Hi folks! Sorry it took so long to update this, I fell Friday afternoon and hurt my leg so the pain killers the doctor gave me have made me a bit loopy, this is the first time I have been able to focus to get the editing on this done so I could turn it over for all you lovely people to read.

Any reviews, comments, bookmarks, subscriptions, or form of communication telling me what you think is greatly appreciated!

Chapter 3: Signing Up
John's POV
The Monday following graduation and the family dinner he returned to the enlistment office with all of his paperwork completed. There was a different recruitment officer there then the last time he was in. With a polite smile he turns in the papers and waits patiently for the recruiter to go through them.

Once he has done so the recruiter looks up at him with a tight smile as he remarks, "This seems to be in order, you will need to do the aptitude tests and the physical. Nate should be back in an hour, if you want to do the aptitude tests now, when he gets back he can give you the basic physical."

He nods, replying, "That works well, thank you," his tone polite as he accepts the packet of papers and a pen.

The recruiter quickly explains the rules, and he nods his understanding before taking a seat at one of the small desks pressed up against the wall. Most of the first few pages is all simple things that he figures anyone can answer. As he works his way through it, the information gets a bit harder, but still pretty easy for him. The second packet, the one related to the specialization is harder but still not as hard as some of the exams he had taken when testing out of classes and finishing his degree.

It is just over two hours later when he gets the aptitude tests done. He had been aware of the moment the other recruiter got back. Just as he was aware of the other applicant who had started his aptitude test roughly fifteen minutes after him and was still working on, and of the other three people, all humans, who had come through to discuss joining as well. From what he could tell, he was one of the youngest to enlist, and the only one under twenty to have already completed a bachelor's degree before doing so.

When he was done with the aptitude test, he stands, walking over to the desk and handing over the papers. The recruiter blinks at him owlishly, taking a quick glance through them before calling the other man over to take him over to the other side of the room to do the basic parts of a physical to see if he would be able to do a full one. Over the course of the next hour he is put through his pace, or he would be if he was human. The next hour is full of him running on a high resistance treadmill, doing push-ups and sit-ups, being weighed in, and his height taken. By the time he is done, he has barely even warmed up but he waits to see if there is anything else he needs to test out on. Since there is nothing else for him to do, they tell him to report to basic training at the camp in five weeks and give him all of the paperwork needed for it.

He nods, accepting the papers and bidding them farewell before heading out. Now that he has an idea as to what he will need to do, he heads back to the family home, inquiring of his father as to whether he can teach him how to use a gun with decent proficiency. His father, while not pleased with the idea that his son will be going off to war, does so, teaching him with a set of guns that he has under special licensing as a collector. It was occasionally difficult to work with him, but he did so, getting his skills to the point where he could hit his target with any of the guns. He could also use the small hand gun to hit at a distance of thirty meters safely and accurately.

When he is not working with his father on his aim and ability to shoot, he is busy with his second cousin Mitchell working on his human fighting ability. It was decided somewhere that if he was going to do this, it was going to be done with the most ability towards his surviving his deployment. While Mitchell does not stick to any one particular form of martial arts, he does teach him how to get out of holds, use pressure points, dodge the hell out of the way, and use the area around him as a weapon on self defense. Then while not working with Mitchell, he is working on his physical fitness. He is aware that he is smaller than most human men, let alone shifter men, so makes up for it by training himself into better shape so that he can do well. Despite this, he knows not to do his best because he does not need to let those in charge know exactly what he can do.

Two and a half weeks into the five week period he gets a packet in the mail detailing his contract for entering the army as a doctor, the length of his service, and his requirements for the entering of the officers program. After reviewing everything, he signs the two required documents, and sends them back. During week four he gets a notice telling him of a complete physical he has to take, when and where it is to be, and the papers he needs to take with him. Two days later he completes the physical, getting cleared to continue into boot camp. The same day he gets cleared for boot camp, his uncle watches his training with Mitchell. When he is done working with his cousin, he is called to his uncle's side.

"Yes, Uncle Eric?" he inquires polite, inclining his head to show respect to the pack alpha.

For a moment his uncle says nothing, then the tall man answers him, "While I am not pleased with the idea of one of my heirs being in the middle of a dangerous human filled area, I have accepted it. As such, I have decided to teach you the talent that I was taught when I entered the military by my alpha."

Silence falls between the two as the older shifter stares out at the family property and he waits for him to continue, he has the feeling that his uncle is not done speaking so he will wait before he speaks. Sure enough, he is correct and after a few minutes reflection he continues to speak.

"Do you know what our packs special talent is? It is not something that has ever been taught to outsiders, and to my knowledge none of the other packs have such a gift." His uncle inquires finally.

He gives a small shake of his head as he replies, "No sir, I know our pack has some of the best healers, and there has been a member of our family in the military for years though most have gotten out in recent years, many of our pack-mates have also gotten out or vanished."

Nodding, his uncle turns his light colored eyes towards him, "The special talent, one that very few have been able to learn even within our pack, is the ability to shield. Not just the sense shield that is used to keep the gifted from finding us when we run in wolf form, but a full shield that acts as an invisibility gift, making us unseen, unheard, unscented. I shall directly impart the knowledge to you the same way it was given to me when I was younger." He pauses for a moment, turning to face him the rest of the way. "May I?" the alpha wolf motions to his temple.

He nods slowly, once in acceptance, understanding his uncle is going to link with him and share the information the same way his granddame shares healing information. A moment later he can feel the slight brush of his uncles mind as he is pulled into the connection. Seconds after that, he feels as if he is a young wolf learning the talent from his father, going through the lessons of how to mask ever part of his being. The sharing lasts only moments but it feels as if he has lived through each of the memories, as his mind absorbs the knowledge.

After giving him some time to actually understand the lessons his uncle demands, "Show me."

Focusing internally he reviews the lessons quickly before walking himself through step by step the process. Within moments he has faded from awareness. He knows he is successful because he watches as his uncle looks around for him as he moves. He also feels the mental probe trying to find him but manages to keep his shields in place through it.

Finally his uncle commands "Drop them and explain the process to me."

Returning to where he had been standing he does so, his voice neutral as he explains the thrill of vanishing from sight, of masking his scent, of being untraceable. His uncle seems to find his explanation amusing but directs him to practice several times a day from now on in order to become able to do so at will with hardly any thought required. According to his uncle it is something he should be able to do without conscious thought, that way he will still be able to act normally while shielded. He thanks his uncle and returns home to sleep because he is suddenly feeling very tired.

Finally, when the five week period is complete he has one last dinner with his family before heading to bed. The following morning would be the first day of his basic training that would last for eight weeks. Then he would have a week off before having to start on his officer's classes and residency at the training hospital. His small bag was already packed with the few items he would take with him. In the morning he eats the healthy breakfast his mother had made him before kissing her on the cheek and catching a taxi to where he is supposed to go for boot camp.

The ride from his parent's house where he had been staying to the base is short it seems even though he knows it actually takes almost half hour. Upon getting there, he checks in with security and is taken to join the others that are waiting for formation.

While he waits for the commanding officer he glances around casually with his senses taking note of the amount of humans, shifters, and gifted within the group. Getting a note of the various feelings in the air, he mentally marks which ones will probably be issues. Within his training group there are nine different shifters including himself. He carefully notes to himself what each one is, with the tallest person in their training unit being the easiest one to do so with since he wears his obsidian scales openly, his scent is that of some type of snake, and with scales like those he is certain the answer is black cobra. The next easiest one to note is the smallest female in the group, she is has the underlying scent of a mouse. There is a darker colored man who holds himself as if he was raised by someone within the peerage, that one seems to be a bird of some sort according to his scent. There is a hyena in the group, though it takes him a few minutes to find the compact brown haired man that scent belongs to. He can smell cat too, though it takes a few minutes to identify all three of them. The first being a tall, golden-brown tone male with vibrant green eyes, the second being a female with more of a brass-gold tone female with narrow aquamarine eyes, while the last is a young man with dark brown hair with golden tones and grey eyes. The last shifter he can smell is a tall man with bronze gold hair and blue-green eyes. There are also two gifted ones in this group, both male according to scent though he has not figured which to it is.

Before he has a chance to do more than figure out who the shifters are a tall man with dark hair comes striding into the area with two others following close behind him. while he does not smell of shifter or gifted, he can tell that he has command and that he is used to being obeyed because he carries himself the same way his uncle does.

"Line up! Five lines of ten." the human barks out, and he falls in with the others, taking the third line because that is where he is closest to when everyone starts to obey. In less than three minutes everyone has found a spot, either because they were pulled in by someone nearby or because they are smart enough to do so on their own.

The next few hours go in a blur as they are briefed, given physicals of the how much can you do in this time range type, and assigned to units. Once all that is done, they are told to grab their things, lead to a barracks where they are assigned beds and small chests and the taken to get the supplies that they will need. By super time he is pleased that he had been smart enough to train at home, otherwise the pace they were putting them through would have been tiring. As it is, he does not try to get to know his fellow trainees yet preferring instead to waiting until he has seen how everyone behaves. One thing is for sure, he plans to try and befriend all of the shifters in their training group. After super they are showed to the showers which are not actually connected to the barracks, and told to get cleaned up before they have two hours before lights out.

He spends those two hours after his shower wandering around the base, alternating between being shielded and not as he does so. When the ten minute trumpets sound, he returns to his barracks to lay down, his mind mentally reviewing everything. As a iota he had also been taking inventory of his new group, seeing how healthy each of them were. He falls asleep considering what he has learned about the base and those he will be working with.

AN: I'm not British, however I do look up the gun laws for Britain to make this as accurate as I could, as long as his father kept the guns in an approved area and was fully licensed as a collector he would be able to have them. Also I used what I was told by a friend of his day of basic training for a friend entering the US military as my basis for what the first day of training was going to be like for John.